Maximal independent sets and separating covers


American Mathematical Monthly, 118 (2011), 418–423.

The answer to the fourth problem in MGIII (what is the largest integer which is the product of positive integers with sum n?) turns out to be an inverse to the solution of the last problem (Katona's problem of determining the maximum number of subsets in a separating family with n elements). We give a combinatorial explanation for this relationship, via Moon and Moser's answer to another question (how many maximal independent sets can a graph on n vertices have?).

Download the paper:

Related links: