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For a real number<jats:inline-formula><jats:alternatives><jats:tex-math>$$s&gt;2$$<\/jats:tex-math><mml:math xmlns:mml=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1998\/Math\/MathML\"><mml:mrow><mml:mi>s<\/mml:mi><mml:mo>&gt;<\/mml:mo><mml:mn>2<\/mml:mn><\/mml:mrow><\/mml:math><\/jats:alternatives><\/jats:inline-formula>, we prove that every graph on<jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic>vertices with average degree<jats:inline-formula><jats:alternatives><jats:tex-math>$$d\\ge s$$<\/jats:tex-math><mml:math xmlns:mml=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1998\/Math\/MathML\"><mml:mrow><mml:mi>d<\/mml:mi><mml:mo>\u2265<\/mml:mo><mml:mi>s<\/mml:mi><\/mml:mrow><\/mml:math><\/jats:alternatives><\/jats:inline-formula>contains a subgraph of average degree at least<jats:italic>s<\/jats:italic>on at most<jats:inline-formula><jats:alternatives><jats:tex-math>$$nd^{-\\frac{s}{s-2}}(\\log d)^{O_s(1)}$$<\/jats:tex-math><mml:math xmlns:mml=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1998\/Math\/MathML\"><mml:mrow><mml:mi>n<\/mml:mi><mml:msup><mml:mi>d<\/mml:mi><mml:mrow><mml:mo>-<\/mml:mo><mml:mfrac><mml:mi>s<\/mml:mi><mml:mrow><mml:mi>s<\/mml:mi><mml:mo>-<\/mml:mo><mml:mn>2<\/mml:mn><\/mml:mrow><\/mml:mfrac><\/mml:mrow><\/mml:msup><mml:msup><mml:mrow><mml:mo>(<\/mml:mo><mml:mo>log<\/mml:mo><mml:mi>d<\/mml:mi><mml:mo>)<\/mml:mo><\/mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:msub><mml:mi>O<\/mml:mi><mml:mi>s<\/mml:mi><\/mml:msub><mml:mrow><mml:mo>(<\/mml:mo><mml:mn>1<\/mml:mn><mml:mo>)<\/mml:mo><\/mml:mrow><\/mml:mrow><\/mml:msup><\/mml:mrow><\/mml:math><\/jats:alternatives><\/jats:inline-formula>vertices. This is optimal up to the polylogarithmic factor, and resolves a conjecture of Feige and Wagner. In addition, we show that every graph with<jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic>vertices and average degree at least<jats:inline-formula><jats:alternatives><jats:tex-math>$$n^{1-\\frac{2}{s}+\\varepsilon }$$<\/jats:tex-math><mml:math xmlns:mml=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1998\/Math\/MathML\"><mml:msup><mml:mi>n<\/mml:mi><mml:mrow><mml:mn>1<\/mml:mn><mml:mo>-<\/mml:mo><mml:mfrac><mml:mn>2<\/mml:mn><mml:mi>s<\/mml:mi><\/mml:mfrac><mml:mo>+<\/mml:mo><mml:mi>\u03b5<\/mml:mi><\/mml:mrow><\/mml:msup><\/mml:math><\/jats:alternatives><\/jats:inline-formula>contains a subgraph of average degree at least<jats:italic>s<\/jats:italic>on<jats:inline-formula><jats:alternatives><jats:tex-math>$$O_{\\varepsilon ,s}(1)$$<\/jats:tex-math><mml:math xmlns:mml=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1998\/Math\/MathML\"><mml:mrow><mml:msub><mml:mi>O<\/mml:mi><mml:mrow><mml:mi>\u03b5<\/mml:mi><mml:mo>,<\/mml:mo><mml:mi>s<\/mml:mi><\/mml:mrow><\/mml:msub><mml:mrow><mml:mo>(<\/mml:mo><mml:mn>1<\/mml:mn><mml:mo>)<\/mml:mo><\/mml:mrow><\/mml:mrow><\/mml:math><\/jats:alternatives><\/jats:inline-formula>vertices, which is also optimal up to the constant hidden in the<jats:italic>O<\/jats:italic>(.) notation, and resolves a conjecture of Verstra\u00ebte.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1007\/s00493-024-00091-6","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,4,15]],"date-time":"2024-04-15T07:01:50Z","timestamp":1713164510000},"page":"785-800","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Small Subgraphs with Large Average Degree"],"prefix":"10.1007","volume":"44","author":[{"given":"Oliver","family":"Janzer","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Benny","family":"Sudakov","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Istv\u00e1n","family":"Tomon","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,4,15]]},"reference":[{"issue":"1","key":"91_CR1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"53","DOI":"10.1007\/s003730200002","volume":"18","author":"N Alon","year":"2002","unstructured":"Alon, N., Hoory, S., Linial, N.: The Moore bound for irregular graphs. 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