Exact Tur\'{a}n number of the Fano plane in the $\ell_2$-norm

Abstract

A classical object in hypergraph Tur\'{a}n theory is the Fano plane $\mathbb{F}$, the unique linear $3$-graph on seven vertices with seven edges. The Tur\'{a}n density and exact Tur\'{a}n number of $\mathbb{F}$, first proposed as a problem by S\'{o}s \cite{Sos76} in the 1970s, were determined through a sequence of works by De Caen-F\"{u}redi \cite{DCF00}, F\"{u}redi-Simonovits \cite{FS05}, Keevash-Sudakov \cite{KS05}, and Bellmann-Reiher \cite{BR19}. Addressing a conjecture of Balogh-Clemen-Lidick\'{y} \cite[Conjecture 3.1]{BCL22a}, we establish an Andr\'{a}sfai-Erd\H{o}s-S\'{o}s-type stability theorem for $\mathbb{F}$ in the $\ell_2$-norm: there exists a positive constant $\varepsilon$ such that for large $n$, every $\mathbb{F}$-free $3$-graph on $n$ vertices with minimum $\ell_2$-norm degree at least $(5/4 - \varepsilon)n^3$ must be bipartite. As a consequence, for large $n$, the balanced complete bipartite $3$-graph is the unique extremal construction for the $\ell_{2}$-norm Tur\'{a}n problem of $\mathbb{F}$, thereby confirming the conjecture of Balogh-Clemen-Lidick\'{y}. Our proof includes a refinement of a classical result by Ahlswede-Katona \cite{AK78} on counting stars, and the establishment of an Andr\'{a}sfai-Erd\H{o}s-S\'{o}s-type theorem for a multigraph Tur\'{a}n problem studied by Bellmann-Reiher \cite{BR19}, both of which are of independent interest.