Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-graph-theory-and-probabilistic-combinatorics-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2010/b/6/a/solution
Past exam of the graph Theory and Probabilistic Combinatorics course of the University of Oxford 2010 B 6 a Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-31
First take . For , independence of the Bernoulli trials givesFor and , Markov inequality yieldsDifferentiate the logarithm of the right-hand side to minimize it. The stationary point satisfieswhich is at least when . Substitution givesWhen , use the limit , giving the trivial bound .
For , take . On we have , so the same Markov inequality gives the same expression. Its minimizing is now nonpositive, yielding the stated lower-tail bound. No rounding of is needed, because the exponential event inclusion holds for real thresholds. The cases and are deterministic and follow directly, or by the corresponding limits.
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