The ACO Seminar (2025–2026)

Let $B(2d-1, d)$ be the subgraph of the hypercube $\mathcal{Q}_{2d-1}$ induced by its two largest layers. Duffus, Frankl and Rödl proposed the problem of finding the asymptotics for the logarithm of the number of maximal independent sets in $B(2d-1, d)$. Ilinca and Kahn determined the logarithmic asymptotics and reiterated the question of what their order of magnitude is. We determine the number of maximal independent sets in $B(2d-1,d)$ and describe their typical structure. The proof uses a new variation of Sapozhenko's Graph Container Lemma, a new isoperimetric lemma, a theorem of Hujter and Tuza on the number of maximal independent sets in triangle-free graphs and a stability version of their result by Kahn and Park, among other tools. Joint work with Ce Chen and Ramon Garcia.