Problem

Source: ELMO Shortlist 2012, C7

Tags: combinatorics proposed, combinatorics



Consider a graph $G$ with $n$ vertices and at least $n^2/10$ edges. Suppose that each edge is colored in one of $c$ colors such that no two incident edges have the same color. Assume further that no cycles of size $10$ have the same set of colors. Prove that there is a constant $k$ such that $c$ is at least $kn^\frac{8}{5}$ for any $n$. David Yang.