Problem Statement
Is there some function $f$ such that for all $k\geq 1$ if a finite graph $G$ has chromatic number $\geq f(k)$ then $G$ has $k$ edge disjoint cycles on the same set of vertices?
Categories:
Graph Theory
Progress
A problem of Erdős and Hajnal.This was resolved in the negative by Janzer, Steiner, and Sudakov [JSS24] - in fact, this fails even at $k=2$. Janzer, Steiner, and Sudakov proved that there exists a constant $c>0$ such that, for all large $n$, there exists a graph on $n$ vertices with chromatic number\[\geq c\frac{\log\log n}{\log\log \log n}\]which contains no $4$-regular subgraph.
Source: erdosproblems.com/641 | Last verified: January 15, 2026