On the number of noncritical vertices in strongly connected digraphs

By definition, a vertex w of a strongly connected (or, simply, strong) digraph D is noncritical if the subgraph D — w is also strongly connected. We prove that if the minimal out (or in) degree k of D is at least 2, then there are at least k noncritical vertices in D. In contrast to the case of undirected graphs, this bound cannot be sharpened, for a given k, even for digraphs of large order. Moreover, we show that if the valency of any vertex of a strong digraph of order n is at least 3/4n, then it contains at least two noncritical vertices. The proof makes use of the results of the theory of maximal proper strong subgraphs established by Mader and developed by the present author. We also construct a counterpart of this theory for biconnected (undirected) graphs.     

Convex Sets in Acyclic Digraphs

A non-empty set X of vertices of an acyclic digraph is called connected if the underlying undirected graph induced by X is connected and it is called convex if no two vertices of X are connected by a directed path in which some vertices are not in X. The set of convex sets (connected convex sets) of an acyclic digraph D is denoted by and its size by co(D) (cc(D)). Gutin et al. (2008) conjectured that the sum of the sizes of all convex sets (connected convex sets) in D equals Θ(n · co(D)) (Θ(n · cc(D))) where n is the order of D. In this paper we exhibit a family of connected acyclic digraphs with and . We also show that the number of connected convex sets of order k in any connected acyclic digraph of order n is at least n − k + 1. This is a strengthening of a theorem of Gutin and Yeo.     

Generating 3-vertex connected spanning subgraphs

In this paper we present an algorithm to generate all minimal 3-vertex connected spanning subgraphs of an undirected graph with n vertices and m edges in incremental polynomial time, i.e., for every K we can generate K (or all) minimal 3-vertex connected spanning subgraphs of a given graph in O(K²log(K)m²+K²m³) time, where n and m are the number of vertices and edges of the input graph, respectively. This is an improvement over what was previously available and is the same as the best known running time for generating 2-vertex connected spanning subgraphs. Our result is obtained by applying the decomposition theory of 2-vertex connected graphs to the graphs obtained from minimal 3-vertex connected graphs by removing a single edge.     

Acyclically pushable bipartite permutation digraphs: An algorithm

Given a digraph D=(V,A) and an X⊆V, D^X denotes the digraph obtained from D by reversing those arcs with exactly one end in X. A digraph D is called acyclically pushable when there exists an X⊆V such that D^X is acyclic. Huang, MacGillivray and Yeo have recently characterized, in terms of two excluded induced subgraphs on 7 and 8 nodes, those bipartite permutation digraphs which are acyclically pushable. We give an algorithmic proof of their result. Our proof delivers an O(m²) time algorithm to decide whether a bipartite permutation digraph is acyclically pushable and, if yes, to find a set X such that D^X is acyclic. (Huang, MacGillivray and Yeo's result clearly implies an O(n⁸) time algorithm to decide but the polynomiality of constructing X was still open.)We define a strongly acyclic digraph as a digraph D such that D^X is acyclic for every X. We show how a result of Conforti et al [Balanced cycles and holes in bipartite graphs, Discrete Math. 199 (1-3) (1999) 27-33] can be essentially regarded as a characterization of strongly acyclic digraphs and also provides linear time algorithms to find a strongly acyclic orientation of an undirected graph, if one exists. Besides revealing this connection, we add simplicity to the structural and algorithmic results first given in Conforti et al [Balanced cycles and holes in bipartite graphs, Discrete Math. 199 (1-3) (1999) 27-33]. In particular, we avoid decomposing the graph into triconnected components.We give an alternate proof of a theorem of Huang, MacGillivray and Wood characterizing acyclically pushable bipartite tournaments. Our proof leads to a linear time algorithm which, given a bipartite tournament as input, either returns a set X such that D^X is acyclic or a proof that D is not acyclically pushable.     

Facets of the balanced (acyclic) induced subgraph polytope

A signed graph is a graph whose edges are labelled positive or negative. A signed graph is said to be balanced if the set of negative edges form a cut. The balanced induced subgraph polytopeP(G) of a graphG is the convex hull of the incidence vectors of all node sets that induce balanced subgraphs ofG. In this paper we exhibit various (rank) facet defining inequalities. We describe several methods with which new facet defining inequalities ofP(G) can be constructed from known ones. Finding a maximum weighted balanced induced subgraph of a series parallel graph is a polynomial problem. We show that for this class of graphsP(G) may have complicated facet defining inequalities. We derive analogous results for the polytope of acyclic induced subgraphs.Research supported in part by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada; the second author has also been supported by C.P. Rail.     

An algorithm for finding input–output constrained convex sets in an acyclic digraph

A set X of vertices of an acyclic graph is convex if any vertex on a directed walk between elements of X is itself in X. We construct an algorithm for generating all input–output constrained convex (IOCC) sets in an acyclic digraph, which uses several novel ideas. We show that the time complexity of our algorithm significantly improves the best one known from the literature. IOCC sets of acyclic digraphs are of interest in the area of modern embedded processor technology.     

On critically connected digraphs

A digraph is called critically connected if it is connected, but the deletion of any vertex destroys the connectivity. We prove that every critically connected finite digraph has at least two vertices of outdegree one. As an application, we show that for n ≧ 2, there is no n-connected, non-complete, finite digraph such that the deletion of any n vertices results in a disconnected digraph.     

Cycle factors in strongly connected local tournaments

A digraph without loops, multiple arcs and directed cycles of length two is called a local tournament if the set of in-neighbors as well as the set of out-neighbors of every vertex induces a tournament. A digraph is 2-connected if the removal of an arbitrary vertex results in a strongly connected digraph.In 2004 and 2005, Li and Shu investigated the structure of strongly connected, but not 2-connected tournaments. Using their structural results they were able to give sufficient conditions for a strongly connected tournament T to have complementary cycles or a k-cycle factor, i.e. a set of k vertex disjoint cycles that span the vertex set of T.Inspired by the articles of Li and Shu we develop in this paper the structure necessary for a strongly connected local tournament to be not cycle complementary. Using this structure, we are able to generalize and transfer various results of Li and Shu to the class of local tournaments.     

Bounded degree acyclic decompositions of digraphs

An acyclic decomposition of a digraph is a partition of the edges into acyclic subgraphs. Trivially every digraph has an acyclic decomposition into two subgraphs. It is proved that for every integer s2 every digraph has an acyclic decomposition into s subgraphs such that in each subgraph the outdegree of each vertex v is at most . For all digraphs this degree bound is optimal.     

The closure of the set of roots of strongly connected reliability polynomials is the entire complex plane

The strongly connected reliabilityscRel(D,p) of a digraph D is the probability that the spanning subgraph of D consisting of the operational arcs is strongly connected, given that the vertices always operate, but each arc is independently operational with probability p∈[0,1]. We show that the closure of the set of roots of strongly connected reliability polynomials is the whole complex plane.     

Double-super-connected digraphs

A strongly connected digraph D is said to be super-connected if every minimum vertex-cut is the out-neighbor or in-neighbor set of a vertex. A strongly connected digraph D is said to be double-super-connected if every minimum vertex-cut is both the out-neighbor set of a vertex and the in-neighbor set of a vertex. In this paper, we characterize the double-super-connected line digraphs, Cartesian product and lexicographic product of two digraphs. Furthermore, we study double-super-connected Abelian Cayley digraphs and illustrate that there exist double-super-connected digraphs for any given order and minimum degree.     

On commutativity of two unary digraph operations: Subdividing and line-digraphing

For a digraph D, let L(D) and S(D) denote its line digraph and subdivision digraph, respectively. The motivation of this paper is to solve the digraph equation L(S(D))=S(L(D)). We show that L(S(D)) and S(L(D)) are cospectral if and only if D and L(D) have the same number of arcs. Further, we characterize the situation that L(S(D)) and S(L(D)) are isomorphic. Our approach introduces the new notion, the proper image D^* of a digraph D, and a new type of connectedness for digraphs. The concept D^* plays an important role in the main result of this paper. It is also useful in other aspects of the study of line digraphs. For example, L(D) is connected if and only if D^* is connected; L(D) is functional (contrafunctional) if and only if D^* is functional (contrafunctional). Some related results are also presented.     

Every finite strongly connected digraph of stability 2 has a Hamiltonian path

Two circuits C₁ and C₂ in a digraph are called consistent circuits if and only if their intersection is either empty, a singleton or a subpath of both C₁ and C₂. It is proved that Every finite strongly connected digraph of G of stability at most 2 is spanned by two consistent circuits. As a consequence, every finite strongly connected digraph of stability two has a Hamiltonian path.     

The competition number of a graph whose holes do not overlap much

Let D be an acyclic digraph. The competition graph of D is a graph which has the same vertex set as D and has an edge between u and v if and only if there exists a vertex x in D such that (u,x) and (v,x) are arcs of D. For any graph G, G together with sufficiently many isolated vertices is the competition graph of some acyclic digraph. The competition number k(G) of G is the smallest number of such isolated vertices.A hole of a graph is an induced cycle of length at least four. Kim (2005) [8] conjectured that the competition number of a graph with h holes is at most h+1. Recently, Li and Chang (2009) [11] showed that the conjecture is true when the holes are independent. In this paper, we show that the conjecture is true though the holes are not independent but mutually edge-disjoint.     

On homomorphisms to acyclic local tournaments

A homomorphism of a digraph to another digraph is an edgepreserving vertex mapping. A local tournament is a digraph in which the inset as well as the outset of each vertex induces a tournament. Thus acyclic local tournaments generalize both directed paths and transitive tournaments. In both these cases there is a simple characterization of homomorphic preimages. Namely, if H is a directed path, or a transitive tournament, then G admits a homomorphism to H if and only if each oriented path which admits a homomorphism to G also admits a homomorphism to H. We prove that this result holds for all acyclic local tournaments. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Maximally connected digraphs

This paper introduces a new parameter I = I(G) for a loopless digraph G, which can be thought of as a generalization of the girth of a graph. Let k, λ, δ, and D denote respectively the connectivity, arc-connectivity, minimum degree, and diameter of G. Then it is proved that λ = δ if D ? 2I and κ k = δ if D ? 2I - 1. Analogous results involving upper bounds for k and λ are given for the more general class of digraphs with loops. Sufficient conditions for a digraph to be super-λ and super-k are also given. As a corollary, maximally connected and superconnected iterated line digraphs and (undirected) graphs are characterized.     

The competition number of a graph and the dimension of its hole space

The competition graph of a digraph D is a (simple undirected) graph which has the same vertex set as D and has an edge between x and y if and only if there exists a vertex v in D such that (x,v) and (y,v) are arcs of D. For any graph G, G together with sufficiently many isolated vertices is the competition graph of some acyclic digraph. The competition number k(G) of G is the smallest number of such isolated vertices. In general, it is hard to compute the competition number k(G) for a graph G and it has been one of the important research problems in the study of competition graphs to characterize a graph by its competition number. Recently, the relationship between the competition number and the number of holes of a graph has been studied. A hole of a graph is a cycle of length at least 4 as an induced subgraph. In this paper, we conjecture that the dimension of the hole space of a graph is not smaller than the competition number of the graph. We verify this conjecture for various kinds of graphs and show that our conjectured inequality is indeed an equality for connected triangle-free graphs.