Given a $k$-uniform hypergraph $H$, the Ramsey number $R(H;q)$ is the smallest integer $N$ such that any $q$-coloring of the edges of the complete $k$-uniform hypergraph on $N$ vertices contains a monochromatic copy of $H$. When $H$ is a complete hypergraph, a classical argument of Erdős, Hajnal, and Rado reduces the general problem to the case of uniformity $k = 3$. In this talk, we will survey constructions that lift Ramsey numbers to higher uniformities and discuss recent progress on quantitative bounds for $R(H;q)$ for certain families of hypergraphs. This is joint work with Ayush Basu, Dániel Dobák, Pavel Pudlák, and Vojtěch Rödl.

Nowhere-zero flows of unsigned graphs were introduced by Tutte in 1954 as a dual problem to vertex-coloring of (unsigned) planar graphs. The definition of nowhere-zero flows on signed graphs naturally comes from the study of embeddings of graphs in non-orientable surfaces, where nowhere-zero flows emerge as the dual notion to local tensions.  Nowhere-zero flows in signed graphs were introduced by Edmonds and Johnson in 1970 for expressing algorithms on matchings, but systematically studied first by Bouchet in 1983. Bouchet also stated a conjecture which occupies a central place in the area of signed graphs: Every flow-admissible signed graph admits a nowhere-zero 6-flow.  There is a significant difference in the flows of signed graphs and unsigned graphs. In this talk I will talk about the progress on the development of the flow theory of signed graphs.

We prove that for all positive integers $k$ and $d$, the class of $K_{1,d}$-free graphs not containing the $k$-ladder or the $k$-wheel as an induced minor has a bounded tree-independence number. Our proof uses a generalization of the concept of brambles to tree-independence number. This is based on joint work with Claire Hilaire, Martin Milanič, and Sebastian Wiederrecht.

We will discuss two symmetry breaking parameters: distinguishing number and fixing number. Despite being introduced independently, they share meaningful connections. In particular, we show that if a tree is 2-distinguishable with order at least 3, it suffices to fix at most 4/11 of the vertices and if a tree is $d$-distinguishable, $d \geq 3$, it suffices to fix at most $\frac{d-1}{d+1}$ of the vertices. We also characterize the $d$-distinguishable trees with radius $r$, for any $d \geq 2$ and $r \geq 1$. This is joint work with Calum Buchanan, Peter Dankleman, Isabel Harris, Paul Horn, and Emily Rivett-Carnac.

Lehel's conjecture states that every 2-edge-colouring of the complete graph $K_n$ admits a partition of its vertices into two monochromatic cycles. This was proven for sufficiently large n by Luczak, Rödl, and Szemerédi (1998), extended by Allen (2008), and fully resolved by Bessy and Thomassé in 2010. We consider a rainbow version of Lehel’s conjecture for properly edge-coloured complete graphs. We prove that for any properly edge-coloured $K_n$ with sufficiently large n, there exists a partition of the vertex set into two rainbow cycles, each containing no two edges of the same colour. This is joint work with Pedro Araújo, Xiaochuan Liu, Taísa Martins, Walner Mendonça, Luiz Moreira, and Vinicius Fernandes dos Santos.

We prove that for any circle graph $H$ with at least one edge and for any positive integer $k$, there exists an integer $t=t(k,H)$ so that every graph $G$ either has a vertex-minor isomorphic to the disjoint union of $k$ copies of $H$, or has a $t$-perturbation with no vertex-minor isomorphic to $H$. Using the same techniques, we also prove that for any planar multigraph $H$, every binary matroid either has a minor isomorphic to the cycle matroid of $kH$, or is a low-rank perturbation of a binary matroid with no minor isomorphic to the cycle matroid of $H$. This is joint work with Rutger Campbell, J. Pascal Gollin, Meike Hatzel, O-joung Kwon, Rose McCarty, and Sebastian Wiederrecht.

The matroid intersection problem is a fundamental problem in combinatorial optimization. In this problem we are given two matroids and the goal is to find the largest common independent set in both matroids. This problem was introduced and solved by Edmonds in the 70s. The importance of matroid intersection stems from the large variety of combinatorial optimization problems it captures; well-known examples in computer science include bipartite matching and packing of spanning trees/arborescences. In this talk, we introduce a “sparsifer” for the matroid intersection problem and use it to design algorithms for two problems closely related to streaming: a one-way communication protocol and a streaming algorithm in the random-order streaming model. This is a joint-work with François Sellier.

We formulate a geometric version of the Erdős-Hajnal conjecture that applies to finite projective geometries rather than graphs. In fact, we give a natural extension of the ‘multicoloured’ version of the Erdős-Hajnal conjecture. Roughly, our conjecture states that every colouring of the points of a finite projective geometry of dimension $n$ not containing a fixed colouring of a fixed projective geometry $H$ must contain a subspace of dimension polynomial in $n$ avoiding some colour. When $H$ is a ‘triangle’, there are three different colourings, all of which we resolve. We handle the case that $H$ is a ‘rainbow’ triangle by proving that rainbow-triangle-free colourings of projective geometries are exactly those that admit a certain decomposition into two-coloured pieces. This is closely analogous to a theorem of Gallai on rainbow-triangle-free coloured complete graphs. The two non-rainbow colourings of $H$ are handled via a recent breakthrough result in additive combinatorics due to Kelley and Meka. This is joint work with Carolyn Chun, James Dylan Douthitt, Wayne Ge, Matthew E. Kroeker, and Peter Nelson.