Frankl and Wang's sturdiness conjecture for IU-families

Let [n]={1,…,n}[n]=\{1,\ldots,n\}, let 2[n]2^{[n]} denote the power set of [n][n], and let an IU-family be a family G⊆2[n]\mathcal{G}\subseteq 2^{[n]} such that

F∩F′≠∅for all F,F′∈G,F\cap F'\neq\emptyset\quad\text{for all }F,F'\in\mathcal{G},

and

F∪F′≠[n]for all F,F′∈G.F\cup F'\neq[n]\quad\text{for all }F,F'\in\mathcal{G}.

Write β(G)\beta(\mathcal{G}) for the sturdiness of G\mathcal{G}. Frankl and Wang's conjecture. If G⊆2[n]\mathcal{G}\subseteq 2^{[n]} is an IU-family, then

β(G)≤2n−4.\beta(\mathcal{G})\leq 2^{n-4}.

The conjecture proposes a sharp upper bound on the local robustness, or sturdiness, of IU-families; the preceding IU-Theorem gives the corresponding maximum-size bound ∣G∣≤2n−2|\mathcal{G}|\leq 2^{n-2}. Its resolution is not indicated in the supplied text.

References

Primary source

Yongjiang Wu, Zhiyi Liu, Lihua Feng and Yongtao Li, “Two results on set families: sturdiness and intersection”, arXiv:2508.19723 (2026).

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