Maximum k-colorable subgraphs

A lower bound is established on the number of edges in a maximum k-colorable subgraph of a loopless graph G. For the special case of 3-regular graphs, lower bounds are also determined on the maximum number of edges in a bipartite subgraph whose color classes are of equal size.     

Density Conditions For Triangles In Multipartite Graphs

We consider the problem of finding a large or dense triangle-free subgraph in a given graph G. In response to a question of P. Erdős, we prove that, if the minimum degree of G is at least 9|V (G)|/10, the largest triangle-free subgraphs are precisely the largest bipartite subgraphs in G. We investigate in particular the case where G is a complete multipartite graph. We prove that a finite tripartite graph with all edge densities greater than the golden ratio has a triangle and that this bound is best possible. Also we show that an infinite-partite graph with finite parts has a triangle, provided that the edge density between any two parts is greater than 1/2.     

On a bipartition problem of Bollobás and Scott

The bipartite density of a graph G is max {|E(H)|/|E(G)|: H is a bipartite subgraph of G}. It is NP-hard to determine the bipartite density of any triangle-free cubic graph. A biased maximum bipartite subgraph of a graph G is a bipartite subgraph of G with the maximum number of edges such that one of its partite sets is independent in G. Let $ \mathcal{H} $ \mathcal{H} denote the collection of all connected cubic graphs which have bipartite density $ \tfrac{4} {5} $ \tfrac{4} {5} and contain biased maximum bipartite subgraphs. Bollobás and Scott asked which cubic graphs belong to $ \mathcal{H} $ \mathcal{H} . This same problem was also proposed by Malle in 1982. We show that any graph in $ \mathcal{H} $ \mathcal{H} can be reduced, through a sequence of three types of operations, to a member of a well characterized class. As a consequence, we give an algorithm that decides whether a given graph G belongs to $ \mathcal{H} $ \mathcal{H} . Our algorithm runs in polynomial time, provided that G has a constant number of triangles that are not blocks of G and do not share edges with any other triangles in G.     

A note on bipartite subgraphs of triangle-free regular graphs

Lower bounds on the size of a maximum bipartite subgraph of a triangle-free r-regular graph are presented.     

Game-perfect graphs

A graph coloring game introduced by Bodlaender (Int J Found Comput Sci 2:133–147, 1991) as coloring construction game is the following. Two players, Alice and Bob, alternately color vertices of a given graph G with a color from a given color set C, so that adjacent vertices receive distinct colors. Alice has the first move. The game ends if no move is possible any more. Alice wins if every vertex of G is colored at the end, otherwise Bob wins. We consider two variants of Bodlaender’s graph coloring game: one (A) in which Alice has the right to have the first move and to miss a turn, the other (B) in which Bob has these rights. These games define the A-game chromatic number resp. the B-game chromatic number of a graph. For such a variant g, a graph G is g-perfect if, for every induced subgraph H of G, the clique number of H equals the g-game chromatic number of H. We determine those graphs for which the game chromatic numbers are 2 and prove that the triangle-free B-perfect graphs are exactly the forests of stars, and the triangle-free A-perfect graphs are exactly the graphs each component of which is a complete bipartite graph or a complete bipartite graph minus one edge or a singleton. From these results we may easily derive the set of triangle-free game-perfect graphs with respect to Bodlaender’s original game. We also determine the B-perfect graphs with clique number 3. As a general result we prove that complements of bipartite graphs are A-perfect.      

Large Induced Forests in Triangle-Free Planar Graphs

Given a planar graph G, what is the largest subset of vertices of G that induces a forest? Albertson and Berman [2] conjectured that every planar graph has an induced subgraph on at least half of the vertices that is a forest. For bipartite planar graphs, Akiyama and Wanatabe [1] conjectured that there is always an induced forest of size at least 5n/8. Here we prove that every triangle-free (and therefore every bipartite) planar graph on n vertices has an induced forest of size at least (17n+24)/32.     

A characterization of triangle-free tolerance graphs

We prove that a triangle-free graph G is a tolerance graph if and only if there exists a set of consecutively ordered stars that partition the edges of G. Since tolerance graphs are weakly chordal, a tolerance graph is bipartite if and only if it is triangle-free. We, therefore, characterize those tolerance graphs that are also bipartite. We use this result to show that in general, the class of interval bigraphs properly contains tolerance graphs that are triangle-free (and hence bipartite).     

Bipartite density of triangle-free subcubic graphs

A graph is subcubic if its maximum degree is at most 3. The bipartite density of a graph G is defined as b(G)=max{|E(B)|/|E(G)|:B is a bipartite subgraph of G}. It was conjectured by Bondy and Locke that if G is a triangle-free subcubic graph, then and equality holds only if G is in a list of seven small graphs. The conjecture has been confirmed recently by Xu and Yu. This note gives a shorter proof of this result.     

On a Closure Concept in Claw-Free Graphs

IfGis a claw-free graph, then there is a graphcl(G) such that (i) Gis a spanning subgraph ofcl(G), (ii) cl(G) is a line graph of a triangle-free graph, and (iii) the length of a longest cycle inGand incl(G) is the same. A sufficient condition for hamiltonicity in claw-free graphs, the equivalence of some conjectures on hamiltonicity in 2-tough graphs and the hamiltonicity of 7-connected claw-free graphs are obtained as corollaries.     

Bipartite Subgraphs of Graphs with Maximum Degree Three

We prove that for a connected graph G with maximum degree 3 there exists a bipartite subgraph of G containing almost of the edges of G. Furthermore, we completely characterize the set of all extremal graphs, i.e. all connected graphs G=(V, E) with maximum degree 3 for which no bipartite subgraph has more than of the edges; |E| denotes the cardinality of E. For 2-edge-connected graphs there are two kinds of extremal graphs which realize the lower bound . Received: July 17, 1995 / Revised: April 5, 1996     

Hereditary modular graphs

In a hereditary modular graphG, for any three verticesu, v, w of an isometric subgraph ofG, there exists a vertex of this subgraph that is simultaneously on some shortestu, v-path,u, w-path andv, w-path. It is shown that the hereditary modular graphs are precisely those bipartite graphs which do not contain any isometric cycle of length greater than four. There is a polynomial-time algorithm available which decides whether a given (bipartite) graph is hereditary modular or not. Finally, the chordal bipartite graphs are characterized by forbidden isometric subgraphs.     

Extreme degrees in random graphs

Let G* be a simple undirected graph on n labeled vertices. A general approach to the investigation of the probability distribution of extreme degrees in a random subgraph of G* is given. As an example of the application of the method, we consider the case when G* is a complete bipartite graph.     

Geodesic subgraphs

Define a geodesic subgraph of a graph to be a subgraph H with the property that any geodesic of two points of H is in H. The trivial geodesic subgraphs are the complete graphs K_n' n ≧ 0, and G itself. We characterize all (finite, simple, connected) graphs with only the trivial geodesic subgraphs, and give an algorithm for their construction. We do this also for triangle-free graphs.     

Proper path‐factors and interval edge‐coloring of (3,4)‐biregular bigraphs

An interval coloring of a graph G is a proper coloring of E(G) by positive integers such that the colors on the edges incident to any vertex are consecutive. A (3,4)‐biregular bigraph is a bipartite graph in which each vertex of one part has degree 3 and each vertex of the other has degree 4; it is unknown whether these all have interval colorings. We prove that G has an interval coloring using 6 colors when G is a (3,4)‐biregular bigraph having a spanning subgraph whose components are paths with endpoints at 3‐valent vertices and lengths in {2, 4, 6, 8}. We provide several sufficient conditions for the existence of such a subgraph. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory     

A Min–Max Property of Chordal Bipartite Graphs with Applications

We show that if G is a bipartite graph with no induced cycles on exactly 6 vertices, then the minimum number of chain subgraphs of G needed to cover E(G) equals the chromatic number of the complement of the square of line graph of G. Using this, we establish that for a chordal bipartite graph G, the minimum number of chain subgraphs of G needed to cover E(G) equals the size of a largest induced matching in G, and also that a minimum chain subgraph cover can be computed in polynomial time. The problems of computing a minimum chain cover and a largest induced matching are NP-hard for general bipartite graphs. Finally, we show that our results can be used to efficiently compute a minimum chain subgraph cover when the input is an interval bigraph.     

Every 3‐connected claw‐free Z8‐free graph is Hamiltonian

A biclique of a graph G is a maximal induced complete bipartite subgraph of G. Given a graph G, the biclique matrix of G is a {0,1,?1} matrix having one row for each biclique and one column for each vertex of G, and such that a pair of 1, ?1 entries in a same row corresponds exactly to adjacent vertices in the corresponding biclique. We describe a characterization of biclique matrices, in similar terms as those employed in Gilmore's characterization of clique matrices. On the other hand, the biclique graph of a graph is the intersection graph of the bicliques of G. Using the concept of biclique matrices, we describe a Krausz‐type characterization of biclique graphs. Finally, we show that every induced P₃ of a biclique graph must be included in a diamond or in a 3‐fan and we also characterize biclique graphs of bipartite graphs. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 63: 1–16, 2010     

Partial characterizations of clique-perfect and coordinated graphs: Superclasses of triangle-free graphs

A graph G is clique-perfect if the cardinality of a maximum clique-independent set of H equals the cardinality of a minimum clique-transversal of H, for every induced subgraph H of G. A graph G is coordinated if the minimum number of colors that can be assigned to the cliques of H in such a way that no two cliques with non-empty intersection receive the same color equals the maximum number of cliques of H with a common vertex, for every induced subgraph H of G. Coordinated graphs are a subclass of perfect graphs. The complete lists of minimal forbidden induced subgraphs for the classes of clique-perfect and coordinated graphs are not known, but some partial characterizations have been obtained. In this paper, we characterize clique-perfect and coordinated graphs by minimal forbidden induced subgraphs when the graph is either paw-free or {gem, W₄, bull}-free, both superclasses of triangle-free graphs.     

Triangle-free graphs with no six-vertex induced path

The graphs with no five-vertex induced path are still not understood. But in the triangle-free case, we can do this and one better; we give an explicit construction for all triangle-free graphs with no six-vertex induced path. Here are three examples: the 16-vertex Clebsch graph, the graph obtained from an 8-cycle by making opposite vertices adjacent, and the graph obtained from a complete bipartite graph by subdividing a perfect matching. We show that every connected triangle-free graph with no six-vertex induced path is an induced subgraph of one of these three (modulo some twinning and duplication).     

A note on the complexity of finding regular subgraphs

Given a graph G and an integer r, does there exist a regular subgraph of G with degree r? In this note we establish NP-completeness for the r-regular subgraph problem for each r ? 3 and certain restrictions on G. In particular, the cubic subgraph problem is NP-complete even for the simple case where G is a bipartite planar graph with maximum degree 4.     

The bipartite edge frustration of composite graphs

The smallest number of edges that have to be deleted from a graph to obtain a bipartite spanning subgraph is called the bipartite edge frustration of G and denoted by φ(G). In this paper we determine the bipartite edge frustration of some classes of composite graphs.