Subgraph densities in signed graphons and the local Sidorenko conjecture

We prove inequalities between the densities of various bipartite subgraphs in signed graphs and graphons. One of the main inequalities is that the density of any bipartite graph with girth r cannot exceed the density of the r-cycle. This study is motivated by Sidorenko’s conjecture, which states that the density of a bipartite graph F with m edges in any graph G is at least the m-th power of the edge density of G. Another way of stating this is that the graph G with given edge density minimizing the number of copies of F is, asymptotically, a random graph. We prove that this is true locally, i.e., for graphs G that are “close” to a random graph.