Unicycle graphs and uniquely restricted maximum matchings

A matching M is called uniquely restricted in a graph G if it is the unique perfect matching of the subgraph induced by the vertices that M saturates. G is a unicycle graph if it owns only one cycle. Golumbic, Hirst and Lewenstein observed that for a tree or a graph with only odd cycles the size of a maximum uniquely restricted matching is equal to the matching number of the graph. In this paper we characterize unicycle graphs enjoying this equality. Moreover, we describe unicycle graphs with only uniquely restricted maximum matchings. Using these findings, we show that unicycle graphs having only uniquely restricted maximum matchings can be recognized in polynomial time.     

Transversal hypergraphs to perfect matchings in bipartite graphs: Characterization and generation algorithms

A minimal blocker in a bipartite graph G is a minimal set of edges the removal of which leaves no perfect matching in G. We give an explicit characterization of the minimal blockers of a bipartite graph G. This result allows us to obtain a polynomial delay algorithm for finding all minimal blockers of a given bipartite graph. Equivalently, we obtain a polynomial delay algorithm for listing the anti‐vertices of the perfect matching polytope of G. We also provide generation algorithms for other related problems, including d‐factors in bipartite graphs, and perfect 2‐matchings in general graphs. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 53: 209–232, 2006     

Matching graphs

The matching graph M(G) of a graph G is that graph whose vertices are the maximum matchings in G and where two vertices M₁ and M₂ of M(G) are adjacent if and only if |M₁ − M₂| = 1. When M(G) is connected, this graph models a metric space whose metric is defined on the set of maximum matchings in G. Which graphs are matching graphs of some graph is not known in general. We determine several forbidden induced subgraphs of matching graphs and add even cycles to the list of known matching graphs. In another direction, we study the behavior of sequences of iterated matching graphs. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J. Graph Theory 29: 73–86, 1998     

Forcing matching numbers of fullerene graphs

The forcing number or the degree of freedom of a perfect matching M of a graph G is the cardinality of the smallest subset of M that is contained in no other perfect matchings of G. In this paper we show that the forcing numbers of perfect matchings in a fullerene graph are not less than 3 by applying the 2-extendability and cyclic edge-connectivity 5 of fullerene graphs obtained recently, and Kotzig’s classical result about unique perfect matching as well. This lower bound can be achieved by infinitely many fullerene graphs.     

On forcing matching number of boron-nitrogen fullerene graphs

Let G be a graph that admits a perfect matching M. A forcing set S for a perfect matching M is a subset of M such that it is contained in no other perfect matchings of G. The smallest cardinality of forcing sets of M is called the forcing number of M. Computing the minimum forcing number of perfect matchings of a graph is an NP-complete problem. In this paper, we consider boron-nitrogen (BN) fullerene graphs, cubic 3-connected plane bipartite graphs with exactly six square faces and other hexagonal faces. We obtain the forcing spectrum of tubular BN-fullerene graphs with cyclic edge-connectivity 3. Then we show that all perfect matchings of any BN-fullerene graphs have the forcing number at least two. Furthermore, we mainly construct all seven BN-fullerene graphs with the minimum forcing number two.     

On Unicyclic Graphs with Uniquely Restricted Maximum Matchings

A graph is called unicyclic if it owns only one cycle. A matching M is called uniquely restricted in a graph G if it is the unique perfect matching of the subgraph induced by the vertices that M saturates. Clearly, μ _r (G) ≤ μ(G), where μ _r (G) denotes the size of a maximum uniquely restricted matching, while μ(G) equals the matching number of G. In this paper we study unicyclic bipartite graphs enjoying μ _r (G) = μ(G). In particular, we characterize unicyclic bipartite graphs having only uniquely restricted maximum matchings. Finally, we present some polynomial time algorithms recognizing unicyclic bipartite graphs with (only) uniquely restricted maximum matchings.     

Drawing 4-Pfaffian graphs on the torus

We say that a graph G is k-Pfaffian if the generating function of its perfect matchings can be expressed as a linear combination of Pfaffians of k matrices corresponding to orientations of G. We prove that 3-Pfaffian graphs are 1-Pfaffian, 5-Pfaffian graphs are 4-Pfaffian and that a graph is 4-Pfaffian if and only if it can be drawn on the torus (possibly with crossings) so that every perfect matching intersects itself an even number of times. We state conjectures and prove partial results for k>5. The author was supported in part by NSF under Grant No. DMS-0200595 and DMS-0701033.     

Matchings and spanning trees in Boolean weighted graphs

It is shown that in a 0-sum Boolean weighted graph G the sum of the weights taken over all the spanning trees equals the sum of the weights taken over all the perfect matchings in the graph G − v, where v is any vertex of G. Several related theorems are proved which include parity results on perfect matchings and spanning trees in Eulerian graphs. The ideas on perfect matchings in 0-sum Boolean weighted graphs are generalized to matchings in any Boolean weighted graph.     

Graphs isomorphic to their maximum matching graphs

The maximum matching graph M（G） of a graph G is a simple graph whose vertices are the maximum matchings of G and where two maximum matchings are adjacent in M（G） if they differ by exactly one edge. In this paper, we prove that if a graph is isomorphic to its maximum matching graph, then every block of the graph is an odd cycle.     

Construction for bicritical graphs and k-extendable bipartite graphs

A graph G is said to be bicritical if G-u-v has a perfect matching for every choice of a pair of points u and v. Bicritical graphs play a central role in decomposition theory of elementary graphs with respect to perfect matchings. As Plummer pointed out many times, the structure of bicritical graphs is far from completely understood. This paper presents a concise structure characterization on bicritical graphs in terms of factor-critical graphs and transversals of hypergraphs. A connected graph G with at least 2k+2 points is said to be k-extendable if it contains a matching of k lines and every such matching is contained in a perfect matching. A structure characterization for k-extendable bipartite graphs is given in a recursive way. Furthermore, this paper presents an O(mn) algorithm for determining the extendability of a bipartite graph G, the maximum integer k such that G is k-extendable, where n is the number of points and m is the number of lines in G.     

Graph theoretic approach to parallel gene assembly

We study parallel complexity of signed graphs motivated by the highly complex genetic recombination processes in ciliates. The molecular gene assembly operations have been modeled by operations of signed graphs, i.e., graphs where the vertices have a sign + or −. In the optimization problem for signed graphs one wishes to find the parallel complexity by which the graphs can be reduced to the empty graph. We relate parallel complexity to matchings in graphs for some natural graph classes, especially bipartite graphs. It is shown, for instance, that a bipartite graph G has parallel complexity one if and only if G has a unique perfect matching. We also formulate some open problems of this research topic.     

On Perfect k-Matchings

In this paper, we generalize the notions of perfect matchings, perfect 2-matchings to perfect k-matchings and give a necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of perfect k-matchings. We show that a bipartite graph G contains a perfect k-matching if and only if it contains a perfect matching. Moreover, for regular graphs, we provide a sufficient condition for the existence of perfect k-matching in terms of the edge connectivity.     

Factor-Critical Graphs with Given Number of Maximum Matchings

A connected graph G is said to be factor-critical if G − ν has a perfect matching for every vertex ν of G. In this paper, the factor-critical graphs G with |V(G)| maximum matchings and with |V(G)| + 1 ones are characterized, respectively. From this, some special bicritical graphs are characterized. This work is supported by the Ph.D. Programs Foundation of Ministry of Education of China (No.20070574006) and the NNSF(10201019) of China.     

Equimatchable factor-critical graphs

A simple graph G(X, E) is factor-critical if the induced subgraph 〈X – x〉 admits a perfect matching for every vertex x of G. It is equimatchable if every maximal matching of G is maximum. The equimatchable non-factor-critical graphs have been studied by Lesk, Plummer, and Pulleyblank. In this paper, we study the equimatchable factor-critical graphs; in particular we show that if such a graph is two-connected, it is hamiltonian.     

Random Graph Coverings I: General Theory and Graph Connectivity

In this paper we describe a simple model for random graphs that have an n-fold covering map onto a fixed finite base graph. Roughly, given a base graph G and an integer n, we form a random graph by replacing each vertex of G by a set of n vertices, and joining these sets by random matchings whenever the corresponding vertices are adjacent in G. The resulting graph covers the original graph in the sense that the two are locally isomorphic. We suggest possible applications of the model, such as constructing graphs with extremal properties in a more controlled fashion than offered by the standard random models, and also "randomizing" given graphs. The main specific result that we prove here (Theorem 1) is that if is the smallest vertex degree in G, then almost all n-covers of G are -connected. In subsequent papers we will address other graph properties, such as girth, expansion and chromatic number. Received June 21, 1999/Revised November 16, 2000 RID="*" ID="*" Work supported in part by grants from the Israel Academy of Aciences and the Binational Israel-US Science Foundation.     

Bounding the Size of Equimatchable Graphs of Fixed Genus

A graph G is said to be equimatchable if every matching in G extends to (i.e., is a subset of) a maximum matching in G. In an earlier paper with Saito, the authors showed that there are only a finite number of 3-connected equimatchable planar graphs. In the present paper, this result is extended by showing that in a surface of any fixed genus (orientable or non-orientable), there are only a finite number of 3-connected equimatchable graphs having a minimal embedding of representativity at least three. (In fact, if the graphs considered are non-bipartite, the representativity three hypothesis may be dropped.) The proof makes use of the Gallai-Edmonds decomposition theorem for matchings.      

On Perfect Matching Coverings and Even Subgraph Coverings

A perfect matching covering of a graph G is a set of perfect matchings of G such that every edge of G is contained in at least one member of it. Berge conjectured that every bridgeless cubic graph admits a perfect matching covering of order at most 5 (we call such a collection of perfect matchings a Berge covering of G). A cubic graph G is called a Kotzig graph if G has a 3‐edge‐coloring such that each pair of colors forms a hamiltonian circuit (introduced by R. Häggkvist, K. Markström, J Combin Theory Ser B 96 (2006), 183–206). In this article, we prove that if there is a vertex w of a cubic graph G such that , the graph obtained from by suppressing all degree two vertices is a Kotzig graph, then G has a Berge covering. We also obtain some results concerning the so‐called 5‐even subgraph double cover conjecture.     

Perfect matchings after vertex deletions

This paper considers some classes of graphs which are easily seen to have many perfect matchings. Such graphs can be considered robust with respect to the property of having a perfect matching if under vertex deletions (with some mild restrictions), the resulting subgraph continues to have a perfect matching. It is clear that you can destroy the property of having a perfect matching by deleting an odd number of vertices, by upsetting a bipartition or by deleting enough vertices to create an odd component. One class of graphs we consider is the m×m lattice graph (or grid graph) for m even. Matchings in such grid graphs correspond to coverings of an m×m checkerboard by dominoes. If in addition to the easy conditions above, we require that the deleted vertices be apart, the resulting graph has a perfect matching. The second class of graphs we consider is a k-fold product graph consisting of k copies of a given graph G with the ith copy joined to the i+1st copy by a perfect matching joining copies of the same vertex. We show that, apart from some easy restrictions, we can delete any vertices from the kth copy of G and find a perfect matching in the product graph with k suitably large.     

Semistrong edge coloring of graphs

Weakening the notion of a strong (induced) matching of graphs, in this paper, we introduce the notion of a semistrong matching. A matching M of a graph G is called semistrong if each edge of M has a vertex, which is of degree one in the induced subgraph G[M]. We strengthen earlier results by showing that for the subset graphs and for the Kneser graphs the sizes of the maxima of the strong and semistrong matchings are equal and so are the strong and semistrong chromatic indices. Similar properties are conjectured for the n‐dimensional cube. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 49: 39–47, 2005