Yuan–Zhang conjecture on exact Turán numbers of vertex-disjoint paths

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Let k1≥k2≥…≥km≥3k_1\geq k_2\geq\ldots\geq k_m\geq 3 with k1>3k_1>3, and let

Fm=Pk1∪Pk2∪…∪PkmF_m=P_{k_1}\cup P_{k_2}\cup\ldots\cup P_{k_m}

be the disjoint union of paths. For integers n≥m≥3n\geq m\geq 3, write c(n,a,b)c(n,a,b) and c(n,a)c(n,a) as in the preceding definition. Yuan–Zhang's conjecture. The Turán number of FmF_m is

ex⁡(n,Fm)=max⁡{c(n,k1,k1),c(n,k1+k2,k2),…,c(n,∑i=1mki,km),c(n,∑i=1m⌊ki/2⌋)+c},\operatorname{ex}(n,F_m)=\max\left\{c(n,k_1,k_1),c(n,k_1+k_2,k_2),\ldots,c\left(n,\sum_{i=1}^{m}k_i,k_m\right),c\left(n,\sum_{i=1}^{m}\left\lfloor k_i/2\right\rfloor\right)+c\right\},

where c=1c=1 if all of k1,k2,…,kmk_1,k_2,\ldots,k_m are odd, and c=0c=0 otherwise. This conjecture seeks the exact Turán number for every order nn of a graph excluding a prescribed union of vertex-disjoint paths, extending known results for matchings and for sufficiently large nn. Its resolution is not established in the supplied source context.

References

Primary source

Miao Dong, Bo Ning, Long-Tu Yuan and Xiao-Dong Zhang, “Exact Turán numbers of two vertex-disjoint paths”, arXiv:2511.01509 (2025).

Additional references

2 papers in this index state this conjecture (2017–2025). The statement above is taken from the most recent of them; the others are arXiv:1711.07734.

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