An analytic theory of extremal hypergraph problems

In this paper extremal problems for uniform hypergraphs are studied in the general setting of hereditary properties. It turns out that extremal problems about edges are particular cases of a general analyic problem about a recently introduced graph parameter. The paper builds a basis for the systematic study of this parameter and illustrates a range of various proof tools. It is shown that extremal problems about the number of edges of uniform hypergraphs are asymptotically equivalent to extremal problems about the largest eigenvalue; this result is new even for 2-graphs. Several concrete problems are adressed and solutions to many more are suggested. A number of open problems are raised and directions for further studies are outlined.