On the Structure of Dense Triangle-Free Graphs

Abstract

As a consequence of an early result of Pach we show that every maximal triangle-free graph is either homomorphic with a member of a specific infinite sequence of graphs or contains the Petersen graph minus one vertex as a subgraph. From this result and further structural observations we derive that, if a (not necessarily maximal) triangle-free graph of order n has minimum degree δ[ges ]n/3, then the graph is either homomorphic with a member of the indicated family or contains the Petersen graph with one edge contracted. As a corollary we get a recent result due to Chen, Jin and Koh. Finally, we show that every triangle-free graph with δ>n/3 is either homomorphic with C₅ or contains the Möbius ladder. A major tool is the observation that every triangle-free graph with δ[ges ]n/3 has a unique maximal triangle-free supergraph.