Difference-isomorphic graph families

Many well-studied problems in extremal combinatorics deal with the maximum possible size of a family of objects in which every pair of objects satisfies a given restriction. One problem of this type was recently raised by Alon, Gujgiczer, Körner, Milojević and Simonyi. They asked to determine the maximum size of a family $\mathcal{G}$ of graphs on $[n]$, such that for every two $G_1,G_2 \in \mathcal{G}$, the graphs $G_1 \setminus G_2$ and $G_2 \setminus G_1$ are isomorphic. We completely resolve this problem by showing that this maximum is exactly $2^{\frac{1}{2}\big(\binom{n}{2} - \lfloor \frac{n}{2}\rfloor\big)}$ and characterizing all the extremal constructions. We also prove an analogous result for $r$-uniform hypergraphs.

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Publication Details

Journal
Journal of Combinatorial Theory Series B
Published
2026-06-25
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jctb.2026.06.001
Primary Topic
Limits and Structures in Graph Theory
Type
preprint
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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preprint

Difference-isomorphic graph families

Zhihan Jin, Benny Sudakov, Lior Gishboliner
Journal of Combinatorial Theory Series B
Limits and Structures in Graph Theory
preprint

Difference-isomorphic graph families

Zhihan Jin, Benny Sudakov, Lior Gishboliner
preprint en

Abstract

Many well-studied problems in extremal combinatorics deal with the maximum possible size of a family of objects in which every pair of objects satisfies a given restriction. One problem of this type was recently raised by Alon, Gujgiczer, Körner, Milojević and Simonyi. They asked to determine the maximum size of a family $\mathcal{G}$ of graphs on $[n]$, such that for every two $G_1,G_2 \in \mathcal{G}$, the graphs $G_1 \setminus G_2$ and $G_2 \setminus G_1$ are isomorphic. We completely resolve this problem by showing that this maximum is exactly $2^{\frac{1}{2}\big(\binom{n}{2} - \lfloor \frac{n}{2}\rfloor\big)}$ and characterizing all the extremal constructions. We also prove an analogous result for $r$-uniform hypergraphs.

Journal of Combinatorial Theory Series BVol. 180
Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
Peace, Justice and strong institutions
Openalex Percentile: Top 98%
Limits and Structures in Graph Theory
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