Gerke–Marciniszyn–Steger sparse counting lemma

Let HH be a fixed graph. For each vertex xV(H)x\in V(H), let VxV_x be a pairwise disjoint set of nn vertices, and let G(H,n,m)\mathcal G(H,n,m) be the family of graphs with vertex set xV(H)Vx\bigcup_{x\in V(H)}V_x and exactly mm edges between VxV_x and VyV_y for every {x,y}E(H)\{x,y\}\in E(H). Let G(H,n,m,ε)\mathcal G(H,n,m,\varepsilon) be the subfamily in which every such bipartite graph is ε\varepsilon-regular. Define

m2(H)=max{E(H)1V(H)2:HH, V(H)3}.m_2(H)=\max\left\{\frac{|E(H')|-1}{|V(H')|-2}:H'\subseteq H,\ |V(H')|\geq 3\right\}.

Let F(H,n,m,δ)\mathcal F(H,n,m,\delta) consist of graphs containing fewer than

(1δ)nV(H)(mn2)E(H)(1-\delta)n^{|V(H)|}\left(\frac{m}{n^2}\right)^{|E(H)|}

canonical copies of HH. Counting Lemma. For any β>0\beta>0 and δ>0\delta>0, there exist constants ε>0\varepsilon>0, C>0C>0, and n0>0n_0>0 such that for all mCn21/m2(H)m\geq Cn^{2-1/m_2(H)} and nn0n\geq n_0,

F(H,n,m,δ)G(H,n,m,ε)βm(n2m)E(H).|\mathcal F(H,n,m,\delta)\cap\mathcal G(H,n,m,\varepsilon)|\leq\beta^m {n^2\choose m}^{|E(H)|}.

The sparse counting lemma would provide quantitative control on the number of copies of a fixed graph in sparse regular configurations, complementing the resolved sparse embedding lemma (the KŁR conjecture). Its general form remains widely open.

Sources & referencesView supporting material

Primary source

Warach Veeranonchai, “Probabilistic counting lemma for K_4”, arXiv:2603.29938 (2026).

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