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Extremal results for odd cycles in sparse pseudorandom graphs

We consider extremal problems for subgraphs of pseudorandom graphs. For graphs $F$ and $Γ$ the generalized Turán density $π_F(Γ)$ denotes the density of a maximum subgraph of $Γ$, which contains no copy of~$F$. Extending classical Turán type results for odd cycles, we show that $π_{F}(Γ)=1/2$ provided $F$ is an odd cycle and $Γ$ is a sufficiently pseudorandom graph. In particular, for $(n,d,λ)$-graphs $Γ$, i.e., $n$-vertex, $d$-regular graphs with all non-trivial eigenvalues in the interval $[-λ,λ]$, our result holds for odd cycles of length $\ell$, provided \[ λ^{\ell-2}\ll \frac{d^{\ell-1}}n\log(n)^{-(\ell-2)(\ell-3)}\,. \] Up to the polylog-factor this verifies a conjecture of Krivelevich, Lee, and Sudakov. For triangles the condition is best possible and was proven previously by Sudakov, Szabó, and Vu, who addressed the case when $F$ is a complete graph. A construction of Alon and Kahale (based on an earlier construction of Alon for triangle-free $(n,d,λ)$-graphs) shows that our assumption on $Γ$ is best possible up to the polylog-factor for every odd $\ell\geq 5$.