Alphabeta Math
TheoremStatement: Literature-sourcedProof: AI-adaptedprecheck passaudited 2026-08-26
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An L-intersecting family on [n] with ∣L∣=s has at most ∑i=0s(ni) members

Statement

Let F={F1,…,Fm} be an L-intersecting family on [n], where L⊆N is finite with ∣L∣=s. Then

m≤∑i=0s(ni).

Facts & Assumptions

Given: an L-intersecting family F={F1,…,Fm} on [n], ordered so that ∣F1∣≤⋯≤∣Fm∣, with ∣L∣=s.

[L1]

The multilinear monomials of total degree at most s span a space of dimension ∑i=0s(ni) on the cube (The functions {0,1}n→F obtained from xT with ∣T∣≤s are linearly independent, so they span a space of dimension ∑i=0s(ni)).

[F1]

Proof

technique · direct
1.1givenF1

If s>n, then [F1] makes the claimed right-hand side 2n=∣P([n])∣, so the bound follows from F⊆P([n]). Hence suppose s≤n. Work over R, and for each i define fi(x):=∏ℓ∈L, ℓ<∣Fi∣(⟨x,vFi⟩−ℓ). This is a polynomial of total degree at most s.

2.1L2step 1.1

Evaluating at vFi, [L2] gives ⟨vFi,vFi⟩=∣Fi∣, so every factor in fi(vFi) is a positive integer and therefore fi(vFi)≠0.

2.2L2step 1.1

If j<i, then ∣Fi∩Fj∣∈L and also ∣Fi∩Fj∣≤∣Fj∣≤∣Fi∣. Equality with ∣Fi∣ would force Fi⊆Fj and then Fi=Fj, impossible. So ∣Fi∩Fj∣ is an element of L strictly below ∣Fi∣, and [L2] makes the corresponding factor of fi(vFj) equal to 0.

3.1step 2.1step 2.2algebra

Let f~i be the multilinear reduction of fi. By the cube-agreement lemma, f~i(vFi)≠0 and f~i(vFj)=0 for j<i. If ∑icif~i=0 and j is the least index with cj≠0, evaluation at vFj kills the terms with index larger than j by the vanishing just proved and kills the earlier ones by minimality, leaving cjf~j(vFj)=0, a contradiction. Thus the functions are linearly independent.

4.1L1step 3.1∎

Each f~i is multilinear of total degree at most s, so [L1] places all of them in a vector space of dimension ∑i=0s(ni). Since they are independent, there can be at most that many of them. Hence m≤∑i=0s(ni).

Remarks

  • The ordering by size is the one-sided feature that removes the need for a uniformity hypothesis.

Depends on

Used by

Dependency tree · two levels

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Sources