A note on restricted online Ramsey numbers of matchings (Q2048542)

Summary: Consider the following game between Builder and Painter. We take some families of graphs \(\mathcal{G}_1,\ldots,\mathcal{G}_t\) and an integer \(n\) such that \(n \geq R(\mathcal{G}_1,\ldots,\mathcal{G}_t)\). In each turn, Builder picks an edge of initially uncoloured \(K_n\) and Painter colours that edge with some colour \(i \in \left\{ 1,\ldots,t \right\}\) of her choice. The game ends when a graph \(G_i\) in colour \(i\) for some \(G_i \in \mathcal{G}_i\) and some \(i\) is created. The restricted online Ramsey number \(\tilde{R}(\mathcal{G}_1,\ldots,\mathcal{G}_t;n)\) is the minimum number of turns that Builder needs to guarantee the game to end. In a recent paper, \textit{J. Briggs} and \textit{C. Cox} [Electron. J. Comb. 27, No. 3, Research Paper P3.49, 16 p. (2020; Zbl 1441.05154)] studied the restricted online Ramsey numbers of matchings and determined a general upper bound for them. They proved that for \(n=3r-1=R_2(r K_2)\) we have \(\tilde{R}_2(r K_2;n) \leq n-1\) and asked whether this was tight. In this short note, we provide a general lower bound for these Ramsey numbers. As a corollary, we answer this question of Briggs and Cox, and confirm that for \(n=3r-1\) we have \(\tilde{R}_2(r K_2;n) = n-1\). We also show that for \(n'=4r-2=R_3(r K_2)\) we have \(\tilde{R}_3(r K_2;n^\prime) = 5r-4\).