Dirac-type conditions for hamiltonian paths and cycles in 3-uniform hypergraphs

A hamiltonian path (cycle) in an n-vertex 3-uniform hypergraph is a (cyclic) ordering of the vertices in which every three consecutive vertices form an edge. For large n, we prove an analog of the celebrated Dirac theorem for graphs: there exists n0 such that every n-vertex 3-uniform hypergraph H, n⩾n0, in which each pair of vertices belongs to at least n/2−1 (⌊n/2⌋) edges, contains a hamiltonian path (cycle, respectively). Both results are easily seen to be optimal.