Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-graph-theory-and-probabilistic-combinatorics-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2010/b/6/a/solution

First take . For , independence of the Bernoulli trials gives
For and , Markov inequality yields
Differentiate the logarithm of the right-hand side to minimize it. The stationary point satisfies
which is at least when . Substitution gives
When , 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.

New to topics? Read the docs here!