Corrine Yap (Rutgers): A Topological Turán Problem

The classical Turán problem asks: given a graph H, how many edges can an n-vertex graph have while containing no isomorphic copy of H? By viewing (k+1)-uniform hypergraphs as k-dimensional simplicial complexes, we can ask a topological version of this, first posed by Nati Linial: given a k-dimensional simplicial complex S, how many facets can an n-vertex k-dimensional simplicial complex have while containing no homeomorphic copy of S? Until recently, little was known for k greater than 2. In this talk, we give an answer for general k using dependent random choice - a method that has produced powerful results in extremal graph theory, additive combinatorics, and Ramsey theory. Joint work with Jason Long and Bhargav Narayanan.