Inequalities of Nordhaus-Gaddum type for doubly connected domination number

A set S of vertices of a connected graph G is a doubly connected dominating set if every vertex not in S is adjacent to some vertex in S and the subgraphs induced by S and V−S are connected. The doubly connected domination numberγ_cc(G) is the minimum size of such a set. We prove that when G and are both connected of order n, and we describe the two infinite families of extremal graphs achieving the bound.     

Independence polynomials of k-tree related graphs

An independent set of a graph G is a set of pairwise non-adjacent vertices. Let α(G) denote the cardinality of a maximum independent set and f_s(G) for 0≤s≤α(G) denote the number of independent sets of s vertices. The independence polynomial defined first by Gutman and Harary has been the focus of considerable research recently. Wingard bounded the coefficients f_s(T) for trees T with n vertices: for s≥2. We generalize this result to bounds for a very large class of graphs, maximal k-degenerate graphs, a class which includes all k-trees. Additionally, we characterize all instances where our bounds are achieved, and determine exactly the independence polynomials of several classes of k-tree related graphs. Our main theorems generalize several related results known before.     

Excessive factorizations of bipartite multigraphs

An excessive factorization of a multigraph G is a set F={F₁,F₂,…,F_r} of 1-factors of G whose union is E(G) and, subject to this condition, r is minimum. The integer r is called the excessive index of G and denoted by . We set if an excessive factorization does not exist. Analogously, let m be a fixed positive integer. An excessive[m]-factorization is a set M={M₁,M₂,…,M_k} of matchings of G, all of size m, whose union is E(G) and, subject to this condition, k is minimum. The integer k is denoted by and called the excessive [m]-index of G. Again, we set if an excessive [m]-factorization does not exist. In this paper we shall prove that, for bipartite multigraphs, both the parameters and are computable in polynomial time, and we shall obtain an efficient algorithm for finding an excessive factorization and excessive [m]-factorization, respectively, of any bipartite multigraph.     

Facet-inducing web and antiweb inequalities for the graph coloring polytope

For a graph G and its complement , we define the graph coloring polytope P(G) to be the convex hull of the incidence vectors of star partitions of . We examine inequalities whose support graphs are webs and antiwebs appearing as induced subgraphs in G. We show that for an antiweb in G the corresponding inequality is facet-inducing for P(G) if and only if is critical with respect to vertex colorings. An analogous result is also proved for the web inequalities.     

Covering line graphs with equivalence relations

An equivalence graph is a disjoint union of cliques, and the equivalence number of a graph G is the minimum number of equivalence subgraphs needed to cover the edges of G. We consider the equivalence number of a line graph, giving improved upper and lower bounds: . This disproves a recent conjecture that is at most three for triangle-free G; indeed it can be arbitrarily large.To bound we bound the closely related invariant σ(G), which is the minimum number of orientations of G such that for any two edges e,f incident to some vertex v, both e and f are oriented out of v in some orientation. When G is triangle-free, . We prove that even when G is triangle-free, it is NP-complete to decide whether or not σ(G)≤3.     

Improved induced matchings in sparse graphs

An induced matching in a graph G=(V,E) is a matching M such that (V,M) is an induced subgraph of G. Clearly, among two vertices with the same neighbourhood (called twins) at most one is matched in any induced matching, and if one of them is matched then there is another matching of the same size that matches the other vertex. Motivated by this, Kanj et al. [10] studied induced matchings in twinless graphs. They showed that any twinless planar graph contains an induced matching of size at least and that there are twinless planar graphs that do not contain an induced matching of size greater than . We improve both these bounds to , which is tight up to an additive constant. This implies that the problem of deciding whether a planar graph has an induced matching of size k has a kernel of size at most 28k. We also show for the first time that this problem is fixed parameter tractable for graphs of bounded arboricity.Kanj et al. also presented an algorithm which decides in -time whether an n-vertex planar graph contains an induced matching of size k. Our results improve the time complexity analysis of their algorithm. However, we also show a more efficient -time algorithm. Its main ingredient is a new, O^∗(4^l)-time algorithm for finding a maximum induced matching in a graph of branch width at most l.     

Vertex coloring acyclic digraphs and their corresponding hypergraphs

We consider vertex coloring of an acyclic digraph in such a way that two vertices which have a common ancestor in receive distinct colors. Such colorings arise in a natural way when bounding space for various genetic data for efficient analysis. We discuss the corresponding down-chromatic number and derive an upper bound as a function of , the maximum number of descendants of a given vertex, and the degeneracy of the corresponding hypergraph. Finally, we determine an asymptotically tight upper bound of the down-chromatic number in terms of the number of vertices of and .     

On global domination critical graphs

A dominating set of a graph G=(V,E) is a subset S⊆V such that every vertex not in S is adjacent to at least one vertex of S. The domination number of G is the cardinality of a smallest dominating set. The global domination number, γ_g(G), is the cardinality of a smallest set S that is simultaneously a dominating set of both G and its complement . Graphs for which γ_g(G−e)>γ_g(G) for all edges e∈E are characterized, as are graphs for which γ_g(G−e)<γ_g(G) for all edges e∈E whenever is disconnected. Progress is reported in the latter case when is connected.     

Total domination and total domination subdivision number of a graph and its complement

A set S of vertices of a graph G=(V,E) with no isolated vertex is a total dominating set if every vertex of V(G) is adjacent to some vertex in S. The total domination numberγ_t(G) is the minimum cardinality of a total dominating set of G. The total domination subdivision numbersd_γt(G) is the minimum number of edges that must be subdivided in order to increase the total domination number. We consider graphs of order n?4, minimum degree δ and maximum degree Δ. We prove that if each component of G and has order at least 3 and , then and if each component of G and has order at least 2 and at least one component of G and has order at least 3, then . We also give a result on stronger than a conjecture by Harary and Haynes.     

Distance-two labelings of digraphs

For positive integers j?k, an L(j,k)-labeling of a digraph D is a function f from V(D) into the set of nonnegative integers such that |f(x)-f(y)|?j if x is adjacent to y in D and |f(x)-f(y)|?k if x is of distance two to y in D. Elements of the image of f are called labels. The L(j,k)-labeling problem is to determine the -number of a digraph D, which is the minimum of the maximum label used in an L(j,k)-labeling of D. This paper studies -numbers of digraphs. In particular, we determine -numbers of digraphs whose longest dipath is of length at most 2, and -numbers of ditrees having dipaths of length 4. We also give bounds for -numbers of bipartite digraphs whose longest dipath is of length 3. Finally, we present a linear-time algorithm for determining -numbers of ditrees whose longest dipath is of length 3.     

Domination subdivision numbers of trees

A set S of vertices of a graph G=(V,E) is a dominating set if every vertex of V(G)?S is adjacent to some vertex in S. The domination number γ(G) is the minimum cardinality of a dominating set of G. The domination subdivision number  is the minimum number of edges that must be subdivided in order to increase the domination number. Velammal showed that for any tree T of order at least 3, . In this paper, we give two characterizations of trees whose domination subdivision number is 3 and a linear algorithm for recognizing them.     

Forwarding and optical indices of a graph

Motivated by wavelength-assignment problems for all-to-all traffic in optical networks, we study graph parameters related to sets of paths connecting all pairs of vertices. We consider sets of both undirected and directed paths, under minimisation criteria known as edge congestion and wavelength count; this gives rise to four parameters of a graph G: its edge forwarding index π(G), arc forwarding index , undirected optical index , and directed optical index .In the paper we address two long-standing open problems: whether the equality holds for all graphs, and whether indices π(G) and are hard to compute. For the first problem, we give an example of a family of planar graphs {G_k} such that . For the second problem, we show that determining either π(G) or is NP-hard.