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Problem #167: If $G$ is a graph with at most $k$ edge disjoint triangles...

If $G$ is a graph with at most $k$ edge disjoint triangles then can $G$ be made triangle-free after removing at most $2k$ edges?

Problem Statement

If $G$ is a graph with at most $k$ edge disjoint triangles then can $G$ be made triangle-free after removing at most $2k$ edges?
Categories: Graph Theory

Progress

A problem of Tuza. It is trivial that $G$ can be made triangle-free after removing at most $3k$ edges. The examples of $K_4$ and $K_5$ show that $2k$ would be best possible.

The trivial bound of $\leq 3k$ was improved to $\leq (3-\frac{3}{23}+o(1))k$ by Haxell [Ha99].

Kahn and Park [KaPa22] have proved this is true for random graphs.

Source: erdosproblems.com/167 | Last verified: January 13, 2026

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