Small sets in union-closed families (Q2111780)

Summary: Our aim in this note is to show that, for any \(\epsilon>0\), there exists a union-closed family \(\mathcal F\) with (unique) smallest set \(S\) such that no element of \(S\) belongs to more than a fraction \(\epsilon\) of the sets in \(\mathcal{F}\). More precisely, we give an example of a union-closed family with smallest set of size \(k\) such that no element of this set belongs to more than a fraction \((1+o(1))\frac{\log_2 k}{2k}\) of the sets in \(\mathcal{F}\). We also give explicit examples of union-closed families containing `small' sets for which we have been unable to verify the Union-Closed Conjecture.