Asymmetric Homomorphism Thresholds for Graphs of Large Odd Girth

Abstract

We determine the asymmetric homomorphism threshold from graphs of odd girth at least $7$ to triangle-free graphs, showing that $\delta_{\mathrm{hom}}(\{C_3,C_5\},\{C_3\})=\frac{1}{9}$. Equivalently, for every $\varepsilon>0$, every $n$-vertex graph of odd girth at least $7$ and minimum degree at least $(1/9+\varepsilon)n$ admits a homomorphism to a triangle-free graph of size bounded by a function of $\varepsilon$, while there exist graphs of odd girth at least $7$ and minimum degree at least $(1/9-\varepsilon)n$ for which no such bounded-size triangle-free homomorphic image exists. More generally, for every $t\geq 3$, we prove $\delta_{\mathrm{hom}}(\{C_3,C_5\},\{K_t\})=\frac{1}{3t}$. In particular, for every proper monotone class $\mathcal C$ of graphs, the threshold for graphs of odd girth at least $7$ to admit a homomorphism to a bounded-size graph in $\mathcal C$ is positive. We further extend this phenomenon to arbitrary odd girth: for every $k\geq 2$ and every proper monotone subclass $\mathcal C$ of the class of graphs of odd girth at least $2k-1$, the threshold for graphs of odd girth at least $2k+3$ to admit a homomorphism to a bounded-size graph in $\mathcal C$ is positive. These results disprove conjectures of Gishboliner, Hurley and Wigderson and exhibit a sharp contrast with the corresponding zero chromatic-threshold results. Our lower-bound constructions are based on high-dimensional Borsuk graphs, while the matching upper bounds use regularity arguments to recover the structure underlying these constructions.