Optimal covers with Hamilton cycles in random graphs

A packing of a graph G with Hamilton cycles is a set of edge-disjoint Hamilton cycles in G. Such packings have been studied intensively and recent results imply that a largest packing of Hamilton cycles in G_n,p a.a.s. has size {box drawings light up and right}δ(G_n,p)/2{box drawings light up and left}. Glebov, Krivelevich and Szabó recently initiated research on the 'dual' problem, where one asks for a set of Hamilton cycles covering all edges of G. Our main result states that for log (Formula presented.), a.a.s. the edges of G_n,p can be covered by {box drawings light up and left}{increment}(G_n,p)/2{box drawings light up and left} Hamilton cycles. This is clearly optimal and improves an approximate result of Glebov, Krivelevich and Szabó, which holds for p ≤ n^-1+ε. Our proof is based on a result of Knox, Kühn and Osthus on packing Hamilton cycles in pseudorandom graphs.