Vertex‐disjoint cycles of length at most four each of which contains a specified vertex*

We obtain a sharp minimum degree condition δ (G) ≥ of a graph G of order n ≥ 3k guaranteeing that, for any k distinct vertices, G contains k vertex‐disjoint cycles of length at most four each of which contains one of the k prescribed vertices. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Graph Theory 37: 37–47, 2001     

Vertex‐disjoint cycles containing prescribed vertices

Enomoto 7 conjectured that if the minimum degree of a graph G of order n ≥ 4k ? 1 is at least the integer , then for any k vertices, G contains k vertex‐disjoint cycles each of which contains one of the k specified vertices. We confirm the conjecture for n ≥ ck² where c is a constant. Furthermore, we show that under the same condition the cycles can be chosen so that each has length at most six. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 42: 276–296, 2003     

Covering a graph with cycles

Let k and n be two integers such that k ≥ 0 and n ≥ 3(k + 1). Let G be a graph of order n with minimum degree at least ?(n + k)/2?. Then G contains k + 1 independent cycles covering all the vertices of G such that k of them are triangles. © 1995, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Vertex‐pancyclicity of hypertournaments

A hypertournament or a k‐tournament, on n vertices, 2≤k≤n, is a pair T=(V, E), where the vertex set V is a set of size n and the edge set E is the collection of all possible subsets of size k of V, called the edges, each taken in one of its k! possible permutations. A k‐tournament is pancyclic if there exists (directed) cycles of all possible lengths; it is vertex‐pancyclic if moreover the cycles can be found through any vertex. A k‐tournament is strong if there is a path from u to v for each pair of distinct vertices u and v. A question posed by Gutin and Yeo about the characterization of pancyclic and vertex‐pancyclic hypertournaments is examined in this article. We extend Moon's Theorem for tournaments to hypertournaments. We prove that if k≥8 and n≥k + 3, then a k‐tournament on n vertices is vertex‐pancyclic if and only if it is strong. Similar results hold for other values of k. We also show that when n≥7, k≥4, and n≥k + 2, a strong k‐tournament on n vertices is pancyclic if and only if it is strong. The bound n≥k+ 2 is tight. We also find bounds for the generalized problem when we extend vertex‐pancyclicity to require d edge‐disjoint cycles of each possible length and extend strong connectivity to require d edge‐disjoint paths between each pair of vertices. Our results include and extend those of Petrovic and Thomassen. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 63: 338–348, 2010     

Edge disjoint Hamilton cycles in sparse random graphs of minimum degree at least k

Let G_n,m,k denote the space of simple graphs with n vertices, m edges, and minimum degree at least k, each graph G being equiprobable. Let G have property A_k, if G contains ⌊(k − 1)/2⌋ edge disjoint Hamilton cycles, and, if k is even, a further edge disjoint matching of size ⌊n/2⌋. We prove that, for k ≥ 3, there is a constant C_k such that if 2m ≥ C_kn then A_k occurs in G_n,m,k with probability tending to 1 as n → ∞. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J. Graph Theory 34: 42–59, 2000     

The gallai-younger conjecture for planar graphs

Younger conjectured that for everyk there is ag(k) such that any digraphG withoutk vertex disjoint cycles contains a setX of at mostg(k) vertices such thatG–X has no directed cycles. Gallai had previously conjectured this result fork=1. We prove this conjecture for planar digraphs. Specifically, we show that ifG is a planar digraph withoutk vertex disjoint directed cycles, thenG contains a set of at mostO(klog(k)log(log(k))) vertices whose removal leaves an acyclic digraph. The work also suggests a conjecture concerning an extension of Vizing's Theorem for planar graphs.     

Edge disjoint Hamilton cycles in graphs

Let G be a graph of order n and k ≥ 0 an integer. It is conjectured in [8] that if for any two vertices u and v of a 2(k + 1)‐connected graph G,d _G (u,v) = 2 implies that max{d(u;G), d(v;G)} ≥ (n/2) + 2k, then G has k + 1 edge disjoint Hamilton cycles. This conjecture is true for k = 0, 1 (see cf. [3] and [8]). It will be proved in this paper that the conjecture is true for every integer k ≥ 0. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Graph Theory 35: 8–20, 2000     

Graph decompositions without isolated vertices III

Let G be a graph of order n, and n = Σ^k_i=1 a_i be a partition of n with a_i ≥ 2. In this article we show that if the minimum degree of G is at least 3k−2, then for any distinct k vertices v₁,…, v_k of G, the vertex set V(G) can be decomposed into k disjoint subsets A₁,…, A_k so that |A_i| = a_i,v_iisA_i is an element of A_i and “the subgraph induced by A_i contains no isolated vertices” for all i, 1 ≥ i ≥ k. Here, the bound on the minimum degree is sharp. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Edge‐disjoint Hamiltonian cycles in hypertournaments

We introduce a method for reducing k‐tournament problems, for k ≥ 3, to ordinary tournaments, that is, 2‐tournaments. It is applied to show that a k‐tournament on n ≥ k + 1 + 24d vertices (when k ≥ 4) or on n ≥ 30d + 2 vertices (when k = 3) has d edge‐disjoint Hamiltonian cycles if and only if it is d‐edge‐connected. Ironically, this is proved by ordinary tournament arguments although it only holds for k ≥ 3. We also characterizatize the pancyclic k‐tournaments, a problem posed by Gutin and Yeo.(Our characterization is slightly incomplete in that we prove it only for n large compared to k.). © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory     

A Local Property of Large Polyhedral Maps on Compact 2-Dimensional Manifolds

We prove that each polyhedral map G on a compact 2-manifold, which has large enough vertices, contains a k-path, a path on k vertices, such that each vertex of it has, in G, degree at most 6k; this bound being best possible for k even. Moreover, if G has large enough vertices of degree >6k, than it contains a k-path such that each its vertex has degree, in G, at most 5k; this bound is best possible for any k. Received: December 8, 1997 Revised: April 27, 1998     

A vertex cover with chorded 4-cycles

Let k be an integer with k ≥ 2 and G a graph with order n > 4k. We prove that if the minimum degree sum of any two nonadjacent vertices is at least n + k, then G contains a vertex cover with exactly k components such that k−1 of them are chorded 4-cycles. The degree condition is sharp in general.     

Partitions of a graph into paths with prescribed endvertices and lengths

For a graph G, let σ₂(G) denote the minimum degree sum of a pair of nonadjacent vertices. We conjecture that if |V(G)| = n = Σ^k_{i = 1} a_i and σ₂(G) ≥ n + k − 1, then for any k vertices v₁, v₂,…, v_k in G, there exist vertex‐disjoint paths P₁, P₂,…, P_k such that |V(P_i)| = a_i and v_i is an endvertex of P_i for 1 ≤ i ≤ k. In this paper, we verify the conjecture for the cases where almost all a_i ≤ 5, and the cases where k ≤ 3. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Graph Theory 34: 163–169, 2000     

Graphs with unavoidable subgraphs with large degrees

Let ??(n, m) denote the class of simple graphs on n vertices and m edges and let G ∈ ?? (n, m). There are many results in graph theory giving conditions under which G contains certain types of subgraphs, such as cycles of given lengths, complete graphs, etc. For example, Turan's theorem gives a sufficient condition for G to contain a K_{k + 1} in terms of the number of edges in G. In this paper we prove that, for m = αn², α > (k - 1)/2k, G contains a K_{k + 1}, each vertex of which has degree at least f(α)n and determine the best possible f(α). For m = ?n²/4? + 1 we establish that G contains cycles whose vertices have certain minimum degrees. Further, for m = αn², α > 0 we establish that G contains a subgraph H with δ(H) ≥ f(α, n) and determine the best possible value of f(α, n).     

Graphic Sequences Have Realizations Containing Bisections of Large Degree

A bisection of a graph is a balanced bipartite spanning sub‐graph. Bollobás and Scott conjectured that every graph G has a bisection H such that deg_H(v) ≥ ?deg_G(v)/2? for all vertices v. We prove a degree sequence version of this conjecture: given a graphic sequence π, we show that π has a realization G containing a bisection H where deg_H(v) ≥ ?(deg_G(v) ? 1)/2? for all vertices v. This bound is very close to best possible. We use this result to provide evidence for a conjecture of Brualdi (Colloq. Int. CNRS, vol. 260, CNRS, Paris) and Busch et al. (2011), that if π and π ? k are graphic sequences, then π has a realization containing k edge‐disjoint 1‐factors. We show that if the minimum entry δ in π is at least n/2 + 2, then π has a realization containing edge‐disjoint 1‐factors. We also give a construction showing the limits of our approach in proving this conjecture. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory     

Claw‐free graphs and 2‐factors that separate independent vertices

In this article, we prove that a line graph with minimum degree δ≥7 has a spanning subgraph in which every component is a clique of order at least three. This implies that if G is a line graph with δ≥7, then for any independent set S there is a 2‐factor of G such that each cycle contains at most one vertex of S. This supports the conjecture that δ≥5 is sufficient to imply the existence of such a 2‐factor in the larger class of claw‐free graphs. It is also shown that if G is a claw‐free graph of order n and independence number α with δ≥2n/α?2 and n≥3α³/2, then for any maximum independent set S, G has a 2‐factor with α cycles such that each cycle contains one vertex of S. This is in support of a conjecture that δ≥n/α≥5 is sufficient to imply the existence of a 2‐factor with α cycles, each containing one vertex of a maximum independent set. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 69: 251–263, 2012     

Vertex disjoint equivalent subgraphs of order 3

Let k be a fixed integer at least 3. It is proved that every graph of order (2k ? 1 ? 1/k)n + O(1) contains n vertex disjoint induced subgraphs of order k such that these subgraphs are equivalent to each other and they are equivalent to one of four graphs: a clique, an independent set, a star, or the complement of a star. In particular, by substituting 3 for k, it is proved that every graph of order 14n/3 + O(1) contains n vertex disjoint induced subgraphs of order 3 such that they are equivalent to each other. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 56: 159–166, 2007     

Cycle‐minors and subdivisions of wheels

In this paper we prove two results. The first is an extension of a result of Dirac which says that any set of n vertices of an n‐connected graph lies in a cycle. We prove that if V′ is a set of at most 2n vertices in an n‐connected graph G, then G has, as a minor, a cycle using all of the vertices of V′. The second result says that if G is an n+1‐connected graph with maximum vertex degree Δ then G contains a subgraph that is a subdivision of W_2n if and only if Δ≥2n. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 62: 100–108, 2009     

Edge disjoint cycles through specified vertices

We give a sufficient condition for a simple graph G to have k pairwise edge‐disjoint cycles, each of which contains a prescribed set W of vertices. The condition is that the induced subgraph G[W] be 2k‐connected, and that for any two vertices at distance two in G[W], at least one of the two has degree at least |V(G)|/2 + 2(k ? 1) in G. This is a common generalization of special cases previously obtained by Bollobás/Brightwell (where k = 1) and Li (where W = V(G)). A key lemma is of independent interest. Let G be the complement of a bipartite graph with partite sets X, Y. If G is 2k connected, then G contains k Hamilton cycles that are pairwise edge‐disjoint except for edges in G[Y]. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory     

A constructive characterization of trees with at least k disjoint maximum matchings

Let H = F(v) ⊕ G(w) denote the graph obtained from F and G by identifying vertices v of F and w of G; H will be said to be obtained by surgery on F and G. A matching of a graph is a collection of edges, no two of which are incident with the same vertex. This paper presents a constructive characterization of the set S_k (k ≥ 2) of trees which have at least k disjoint maximum matchings. There are three types of surgery such that, for each k ≥ 2, S_k is the set of all trees obtainable from a star K_1.n (n ≥ k) by a finite sequence of the specified surgical operations. A constructive characterization is also given for trees with two disjoint maximum indepent vertex sets.     

Partitioning complete multipartite graphs by monochromatic trees

The tree partition number of an r‐edge‐colored graph G, denoted by t_r(G), is the minimum number k such that whenever the edges of G are colored with r colors, the vertices of G can be covered by at most k vertex‐disjoint monochromatic trees. We determine t₂(K(n₁, n₂,…, n_k)) of the complete k‐partite graph K(n₁, n₂,…, n_k). In particular, we prove that t₂(K(n, m)) = ? (m‐2)/2ⁿ? + 2, where 1 ≤ n ≤ m. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 48: 133–141, 2005