An Erdös-Ko-Rado theorem for direct products (Q2563525)

Let \(n_i\) and \(k_i\) be integers for \(i=1,2,\dots,d\), such that \(n_i\geq 2k_i\). Let \(X_1,X_2,\dots,X_d\) denote pairwise disjoint sets with \(|X_i|= n_i\). Let \(\mathcal H\) be the family of those \((k_1+k_2+\cdots+k_d)\)-element sets which intersect \(X_i\) in exactly \(k_i\) elements for \(i=1,2,\dots,d\). It is shown that if \({\mathcal F}\subset{\mathcal H}\) is an intersecting family, then \(|{\mathcal F}|/|{\mathcal H}|\leq \max_i k_i/n_i\), which is the best possible result. The proof is based on an eigenvalue argument of \textit{L. Lovász} [IEEE Trans. Inform. Theory 25, 1-7 (1979; Zbl 0395.94021)]. A Katona-type proof [J. Comb. Theory, Ser. B 13, 183-184 (1972; Zbl 0262.05002)] based on cyclic permutations is given for the case \(d=2\).