We determine the asymptotics of the number of independent sets of size $\lfloor \beta 2^{d-1} \rfloor$ in the discrete hypercube $Q_d = \{0,1\}^d$ for any fixed $\beta \in (0,1)$ as $d \to \infty$ , extending a result of Galvin for $\beta \in (1-1/\sqrt{2},1)$ . Moreover, we prove a multivariate local central limit theorem for structural features of independent sets in $Q_d$ drawn according to the hard-core model at any fixed fugacity $\lambda>0$ . In proving these results we develop several general tools for performing combinatorial enumeration using polymer models and the cluster expansion from statistical physics along with local central limit theorems.

Lower bounds are given for the independence ratio in graphs satisfying certain girth and maximum degree requirements. In particular, the independence ratio of a graph with maximum degree Δ and girth at least six is at least (2Δ − 1)/(Δ2 + 2Δ − 1). Sharper bounds are given for cubic graphs.