A Class of 2-Colorable Orthogonal Double Covers of Complete Graphs by Hamiltonian Paths

K _n by a graph G is a collection ? of n spanning subgraphs of K _n , all isomorphic to G, such that any two members of ? share exactly one edge and every edge of K _n is contained in exactly two members of ?. In the 1980's Hering posed the problem to decide the existence of an ODC for the case that G is an almost-hamiltonian cycle, i.e. a cycle of length n−1. It is known that the existence of an ODC of K _n by a hamiltonian path implies the existence of ODCs of K _4n and K _16n , respectively, by almost-hamiltonian cycles. Horton and Nonay introduced 2-colorable ODCs and showed: If for n≥3 and a prime power q≥5 there are an ODC of K _n by a hamiltonian path and a 2-colorable ODC of K _q by a hamiltonian path, then there is an ODC of K _qn by a hamiltonian path. We construct 2-colorable ODCs of K _n and K _2n , respectively, by hamiltonian paths for all odd square numbers n≥9. Received: January 27, 2000     

More orthogonal double covers of complete graphs by Hamiltonian paths

An orthogonal double cover (ODC) of the complete graph K_n by a graph G is a collection G of n spanning subgraphs of K_n, all isomorphic to G, such that any two members of G share exactly one edge and every edge of K_n is contained in exactly two members of G. In the 1980s Hering posed the problem to decide the existence of an ODC for the case that G is an almost-Hamiltonian cycle, i.e. a cycle of length n-1. It is known that the existence of an ODC of K_n by a Hamiltonian path implies the existence of ODCs of K_4n and of K_16n, respectively, by almost-Hamiltonian cycles. Horton and Nonay introduced two-colorable ODCs and showed: If there are an ODC of K_n by a Hamiltonian path for some n?3 and a two-colorable ODC of K_q by a Hamiltonian path for some prime power q?5, then there is an ODC of K_qn by a Hamiltonian path. In [U. Leck, A class of 2-colorable orthogonal double covers of complete graphs by hamiltonian paths, Graphs Combin. 18 (2002) 155-167], two-colorable ODCs of K_n and K_2n, respectively, by Hamiltonian paths were constructed for all odd square numbers n?9. Here we continue this work and construct cyclic two-colorable ODCs of K_n and K_2n, respectively, by Hamiltonian paths for all n of the form n=4k²+1 or n=(k²+1)/2 for some integer k.     

Hamiltonian cycles in n‐extendable graphs

A graph G of order at least 2n+2 is said to be n‐extendable if G has a perfect matching and every set of n independent edges extends to a perfect matching in G. We prove that every pair of nonadjacent vertices x and y in a connected n‐extendable graph of order p satisfy deg_G x+deg_G y ≥ p ? n ? 1, then either G is hamiltonian or G is isomorphic to one of two exceptional graphs. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 40: 75–82, 2002     

Symmetric Hamilton cycle decompositions of complete graphs minus a 1‐factor

Let n≥2 be an integer. The complete graph K_n with a 1‐factor F removed has a decomposition into Hamilton cycles if and only if n is even. We show that K_n−F has a decomposition into Hamilton cycles which are symmetric with respect to the 1‐factor F if and only if n≡2, 4 mod 8. We also show that the complete bipartite graph K_{n, n} has a symmetric Hamilton cycle decomposition if and only if n is even, and that if F is a 1‐factor of K_{n, n}, then K_{n, n}−F has a symmetric Hamilton cycle decomposition if and only if n is odd. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Combin Designs 19:1‐15, 2010     

Cyclic even cycle systems of the complete graph

In this article, it is proved that for each even integer m?4 and each admissible value n with n>2m, there exists a cyclic m‐cycle system of K_n, which almost resolves the existence problem for cyclic m‐cycle systems of K_n with m even. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Combin Designs 20:23–39, 2012     

Packing tight Hamilton cycles in 3‐uniform hypergraphs

Let H be a 3‐uniform hypergraph with n vertices. A tight Hamilton cycle C ? H is a collection of n edges for which there is an ordering of the vertices v₁,…,v_n such that every triple of consecutive vertices {v_i,v_i+1,v_i+2} is an edge of C (indices are considered modulo n ). We develop new techniques which enable us to prove that under certain natural pseudo‐random conditions, almost all edges of H can be covered by edge‐disjoint tight Hamilton cycles, for n divisible by 4. Consequently, we derive the corollary that random 3‐uniform hypergraphs can be almost completely packed with tight Hamilton cycles whp, for n divisible by 4 and p not too small. Along the way, we develop a similar result for packing Hamilton cycles in pseudo‐random digraphs with even numbers of vertices. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Random Struct. Alg., 2011     

Hamiltonian decomposition of Cayley graphs of ordersp 2 andpq

In this paper, it is proved that any connected Cayley graph on an abelian group of order pq orp ² has a hamiltonian decomposition, wherep andq are odd primes. This result answers partially a conjecture of Alspach concerning hamiltonian decomposition of 2k-regular connected Cayley graphs on abelian groups.     

Large set of P3‐decompositions

Let G=(V(G),E(G)) be a graph. A (n,G, λ)‐GD is a partition of the edges of λK_n into subgraphs (G‐blocks), each of which is isomorphic to G. The (n,G,λ)‐GD is named as graph design for G or G‐decomposition. The large set of (n,G,λ)‐GD is denoted by (n,G,λ)‐LGD. In this work, we obtain the existence spectrum of (n,P₃,λ)‐LGD. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Combin Designs 10: 151–159, 2002; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/jcd.10008     

Forest leaves and four‐cycles

In this article, we find necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of a 4‐cycle system of K_n − E(F) for any forest F of K_n. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Graph Theory 33: 161–166, 2000     

A complete solution to the existence problem for 1‐rotational k‐cycle systems of Kv

The necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of a 1‐rotational k‐cycle system of the complete graph K_v are established. The proof provides an algorithm able to determine, directly and explicitly, an odd k‐cycle system of K_v whenever such a system exists. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Combin Designs 17: 283–293, 2009     

On the spectrum for Km+2 \ Km designs

The spectrum problem for the decomposition of K_n into copies of the graph K_m+2 \ K_m is solved for n ≡ 0 or 1 (mod 2m + 1). © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

On hamiltonian cycles in the prism over the odd graphs

The Kneser graph K(n, k) has as its vertex set all k‐subsets of an n‐set and two k‐subsets are adjacent if they are disjoint. The odd graph O_k is a special case of Kneser graph when n = 2k + 1. A long standing conjecture claims that O_k is hamiltonian for all k>2. We show that the prism over O_k is hamiltonian for all k even. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 68:177‐188, 2011     

Catenarian Numbers

An integer n is called catenarian if, whenever L/K is an n-dimensional field extension, all maximal chains of fields going from K to L have the same length. Catenarian field extensions and catenarian groups are defined analogously. If n is an even positive integer, 6n is non-catenarian. If n ≥ 3 is odd, there exist infinitely many odd primes p such that p ² n is non-catenarian. A finite-dimensional field extension is catenarian iff its maximal separable subextension is. If q < p are odd primes where q divides p ? 1 (resp., q divides p + 1), every (resp., not every) group of order p ² q is catenarian.     

Multipartite Ramsey numbers for odd cycles

In this paper we study multipartite Ramsey numbers for odd cycles. We formulate the following conjecture: Let n≥5 be an arbitrary positive odd integer; then, in any two‐coloring of the edges of the complete 5‐partite graph K((n?1)/2, (n?1)/2, (n?1)/2, (n?1)/2, 1) there is a monochromatic C_n, a cycle of length n. This roughly says that the Ramsey number for C_n (i.e. 2n?1 ) will not change (somewhat surprisingly) if four large “holes” are allowed. Note that this would be best possible as the statement is not true if we delete from K_2n?1 the edges within a set of size (n+ 1)/2. We prove an approximate version of the above conjecture. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 61:12‐21, 2009     

On orthogonal double covers by trees

A collection 𝒫 of n spanning subgraphs of the complete graph K_n is said to be an orthogonal double cover (ODC) if every edge of K_n belongs to exactly two members of 𝒫 and every two elements of 𝒫 share exactly one edge. We consider the case when all graphs in 𝒫 are isomorphic to some tree G and improve former results on the existence of ODCs, especially for trees G of short diameter and for trees of G on few vertices. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Combin Designs 5:433–441, 1997     

On Cyclotomic Numbers and the Reduction Map for the K-Theory of the Integers

We apply the recently proven compatibility of Beilinson and Soulé elements in K-theory to investigate density of rational primes p, for which the reduction map K _2n+1() K_{2n+1}(F_p)is nontrivial. Here n is an even, positive integer and F_p denotes the field of p elements. In the proof we use arithmetic of cyclotomic numbers which come from Soulé elements. Divisibility properties of the numbers are related to the Vandiver conjecture on the class group of cyclotomic fields. Using the K-theory of the integers, we compute an upper bound on the divisibility of these cyclotomic numbers.     

Double coverings of 2‐paths by Hamilton cycles*

A double Dudeney set in K_n is a multiset of Hamilton cycles in K_n having the property that each 2‐path in K_n lies in exactly two of the cycles. A double Dudeney set in K_n has been constructed when n ≥ 4 is even. In this paper, we construct a double Dudeney set in K_n when n ≥ 3 is odd. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Combin Designs 10: 195–206, 2002; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ) DOI 10.1002/jcd.10003     

Resolvable even‐cycle systems with a 1‐rotational automorphism

In this article, necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of a 1‐rotationally resolvable even‐cycle system of λK_v are given, which are eventually for the existence of a resolvable even‐cycle system of λK_v. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Combin Designs 11: 394–407, 2003; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/jcd.10058     

Atomic Latin squares of order eleven

A Latin square is pan‐Hamiltonian if the permutation which defines row i relative to row j consists of a single cycle for every i ≠ j. A Latin square is atomic if all of its conjugates are pan‐Hamiltonian. We give a complete enumeration of atomic squares for order 11, the smallest order for which there are examples distinct from the cyclic group. We find that there are seven main classes, including the three that were previously known. A perfect 1‐factorization of a graph is a decomposition of that graph into matchings such that the union of any two matchings is a Hamiltonian cycle. Each pan‐Hamiltonian Latin square of order n describes a perfect 1‐factorization of K_n,n, and vice versa. Perfect 1‐factorizations of K_n,n can be constructed from a perfect 1‐factorization of K_n+1. Six of the seven main classes of atomic squares of order 11 can be obtained in this way. For each atomic square of order 11, we find the largest set of Mutually Orthogonal Latin Squares (MOLS) involving that square. We discuss algorithms for counting orthogonal mates, and discover the number of orthogonal mates possessed by the cyclic squares of orders up to 11 and by Parker's famous turn‐square. We find that the number of atomic orthogonal mates possessed by a Latin square is not a main class invariant. We also define a new sort of Latin square, called a pairing square, which is mapped to its transpose by an involution acting on the symbols. We show that pairing squares are often orthogonal mates for symmetric Latin squares. Finally, we discover connections between our atomic squares and Franklin's diagonally cyclic self‐orthogonal squares, and we correct a theorem of Longyear which uses tactical representations to identify self‐orthogonal Latin squares in the same main class as a given Latin square. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The existence of a 2‐factor in K1, n‐free graphs with large connectivity and large edge‐connectivity

In this article, we study the existence of a 2‐factor in a K_{1, n}‐free graph. Sumner [J London Math Soc 13 (1976), 351–359] proved that for n?4, an (n?1)‐connected K_{1, n}‐free graph of even order has a 1‐factor. On the other hand, for every pair of integers m and n with m?n?4, there exist infinitely many (n?2)‐connected K_{1, n}‐free graphs of even order and minimum degree at least m which have no 1‐factor. This implies that the connectivity condition of Sumner's result is sharp, and we cannot guarantee the existence of a 1‐factor by imposing a large minimum degree. On the other hand, Ota and Tokuda [J Graph Theory 22 (1996), 59–64] proved that for n?3, every K_{1, n}‐free graph of minimum degree at least 2n?2 has a 2‐factor, regardless of its connectivity. They also gave examples showing that their minimum degree condition is sharp. But all of them have bridges. These suggest that the effects of connectivity, edge‐connectivity and minimum degree to the existence of a 2‐factor in a K_{1, n}‐free graph are more complicated than those to the existence of a 1‐factor. In this article, we clarify these effects by giving sharp minimum degree conditions for a K_{1, n}‐free graph with a given connectivity or edge‐connectivity to have a 2‐factor. Copyright © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 68:77‐89, 2011