On three zero‐sum Ramsey‐type problems

For a graph G whose number of edges is divisible by k, let R(G,Z_k) denote the minimum integer r such that for every function f: E(K_r) ↦ Z_k there is a copy G¹ of G in K_r so that Σe∈E(G¹) f(e) = 0 (in Z_k). We prove that for every integer k₁ R(K_n, Z_k) ≤ n + O(k³ log k) provided n is sufficiently large as a function of k and k divides ( 2n). If, in addition, k is an odd prime‐power then R(K_n, Z_k) ≤ n + 2k ‐ 2 and this is tight if k is a prime that divides n. A related result is obtained for hypergraphs. It is further shown that for every graph G on n vertices with an even number of edges R(G,Z₂) ≤ n + 2. This estimate is sharp. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.