Use the random alteration method. Take arbitrarily large divisible by , and sample a binomial random graph with edge probability . Let count cycles of lengths . For each length , its expected count is at most , so
The sum is empty if . By the Markov inequality, with probability tending to one.
Set . The expected number of independent -vertex sets is
because the negative exponent has order , dominating the term of order . Thus with probability tending to one there is no independent set of size .
Choose a realization having both properties. Delete one vertex from each of its short cycles, using at most deletions. The induced remaining graph has at least vertices and girth at least . Deletion cannot create a new independent set, so . Every colour class is independent, giving
In particular a graph of the required girth and chromatic number exists. This proves graphs of arbitrarily high girth and chromatic number rather than invoking that existence theorem.
A -colouring assigns one of colours to every vertex so that adjacent vertices have different colours. The chromatic number is the least such . An independent set contains no adjacent pair, and the independence number is the maximum size of such a set.
For a concrete first example, start with the five-cycle and apply the Mycielski construction times. Each application raises the chromatic number by one and preserves triangle-freeness. The resulting graph has chromatic number and contains no triangle, hence no complete graph for .
We next prove the stronger high-girth assertion by the probabilistic method. For a large integer , take
If counts cycles of lengths , then
By the first moment method, with probability tending to one .
Let . The expected number of independent sets of size is at most
because dominates . Hence with positive probability has fewer than short cycles and .
Delete one vertex from each cycle of length at most . The remaining graph has no such cycle, has at least vertices, and still has . Since each colour class is independent,
This proves that there are graphs of arbitrarily high girth and chromatic number.
For the final claim, begin instead with
The expected number of triangles is
so with probability tending to one . Put . The expected number of independent -sets is bounded by
because the positive term is whereas the negative term has order .
Thus some such has fewer than triangles and no independent set of size . Delete one vertex from every triangle; more than vertices remain and the graph is triangle-free. Take any induced subgraph on exactly vertices. Vertex deletion cannot increase the independence number, so the resulting graph satisfies
This is the triangle-free graph with sub-power independence number construction.