Inequalities for the first‐fit chromatic number

The First‐Fit (or Grundy) chromatic number of G, written as χ_FF(G), is defined as the maximum number of classes in an ordered partition of V(G) into independent sets so that each vertex has a neighbor in each set earlier than its own. The well‐known Nordhaus‐‐Gaddum inequality states that the sum of the ordinary chromatic numbers of an n‐vertex graph and its complement is at most n + 1. Zaker suggested finding the analogous inequality for the First‐Fit chromatic number. We show for n ≥ 10 that ?(5n + 2)/4? is an upper bound, and this is sharp. We extend the problem for multicolorings as well and prove asymptotic results for infinitely many cases. We also show that the smallest order of C₄‐free bipartite graphs with χ_FF(G) = k is asymptotically 2k² (the upper bound answers a problem of Zaker [9]). © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 59: 75–88, 2008     

Acyclic and oriented chromatic numbers of graphs

The oriented chromatic number χ_o(G ^→) of an oriented graph G ^→ = (V, A) is the minimum number of vertices in an oriented graph H ^→ for which there exists a homomorphism of G ^→ to H ^→. The oriented chromatic number χ_o(G) of an undirected graph G is the maximum of the oriented chromatic numbers of all the orientations of G. This paper discusses the relations between the oriented chromatic number and the acyclic chromatic number and some other parameters of a graph. We shall give a lower bound for χ_o(G) in terms of χ_a(G). An upper bound for χ_o(G) in terms of χ_a(G) was given by Raspaud and Sopena. We also give an upper bound for χ_o(G) in terms of the maximum degree of G. We shall show that this upper bound is not far from being optimal. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

The chromatic numbers of double coverings of a graph

If we fix a spanning subgraph H of a graph G, we can define a chromatic number of H with respect to G and we show that it coincides with the chromatic number of a double covering of G with co-support H. We also find a few estimations for the chromatic numbers of H with respect to G.     

Construction of wavelet sets with certain self-similarity properties

A measurable set Q ⊂ R ⁿ is a wavelet set for an expansive matrix A if F ⁻¹ _(ΧQ) is an A-dilation wavelet. Dai, Larson, and Speegle [7] discovered the existence of wavelet sets in R _n associated with any real n ×n expansive matrix. In this work, we construct a class of compact wavelet sets which do not contain the origin and which are, up to a certain linear transformation, finite unions of integer translates of an integral selfaffine tile associated with the matrix B = A ^t. Some of these wavelet sets may have good potential for applications because of their tractable geometric shapes.     

Dimension,Graph and Hypergraph Coloring

There is a natural way to associate with a poset P a hypergraph H _P, called the hypergraph of incomparable pairs, so that the dimension of P is the chromatic number of H _P. The ordinary graph G _P of incomparable pairs determined by the edges in H _P of size 2 can have chromatic number substantially less than H _P. We give a new proof of the fact that the dimension of P is 2 if and only if G _P is bipartite. We also show that for each t 2, there exists a poset P _t for which the chromatic number of the graph of incomparable pairs of P _t is at most 3 t – 4, but the dimension of P _t is at least (3 / 2) ^{t – 1}. However, it is not known whether there is a function f: NN so that if P is a poset and the graph of incomparable pairs has chromatic number at most t, then the dimension of P is at most f(t).     

Equitable total coloring of <Emphasis Type="Italic">F</Emphasis><Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis></Subscript> ⋁ <Emphasis Type="Italic">W</Emphasis><Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis></Subscript>

The minimum number of total independent partition sets of V ∪ E of graph G(V,E) is called the total chromatic number of G denoted by χ _t (G). If the difference of the numbers of any two total independent partition sets of V ∪ E is no more than one, then the minimum number of total independent partition sets of V ∪ E is called the equitable total chromatic number of G, denoted by χ _et (G). In this paper, we obtain the equitable total chromatic number of the join graph of fan and wheel with the same order. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 10771091).     

The fractional chromatic number of infinite graphs

The fractional chromatic number of a graph G is the infimum of the total weight that can be assigned to the independent sets of G in such a way that, for each vertex v of G, the sum of the weights of the independent sets containing v is at least 1. In this note we give a graph a graph whose fractional chromatic number is strictly greater than the supremum of the fractional chromatic numbers of its finite subgraphs. This answers a question of Zhu. We also give some grphs for which the fractional chromatic number is not attined, answering another of Zhu. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Set vertex colorings and joins of graphs

For a nontrivial connected graph G, let c: V (G) → ℕ be a vertex coloring of G where adjacent vertices may be colored the same. For a vertex v of G, the neighborhood color set NC(v) is the set of colors of the neighbors of v. The coloring c is called a set coloring if NC(u) ≠ NC(v) for every pair u, v of adjacent vertices of G. The minimum number of colors required of such a coloring is called the set chromatic number x _s (G). A study is made of the set chromatic number of the join G+H of two graphs G and H. Sharp lower and upper bounds are established for x _s (G + H) in terms of x _s (G), x _s (H), and the clique numbers ω(G) and ω(H).     

New Results on the Queens_n 2 Graph Coloring Problem

For the Queens_n ² graph coloring problems no chromatic numbers are available for n > 9 except where n is not a multiple of 2 or 3. In this paper we propose an exact algorithm that takes advantage of the particular structure of these graphs. The algorithm works on the independent sets of the graph rather than on the vertices to be colored. It combines branch and bound, for independent set assignment, with a clique based filtering procedure. A first experimentation of this approach provided the coloring number values ranging for n = 10 to n = 14.     

Relaxed chromatic numbers of graphs

Given any family of graphsP, theP chromatic number _p (G) of a graphG is the smallest number of classes into whichV(G) can be partitioned such that each class induces a subgraph inP. We study this for hereditary familiesP of two broad types: the graphs containing no subgraph of a fixed graphH, and the graphs that are disjoint unions of subgraphs ofH. We generalize results on ordinary chromatic number and we computeP chromatic number for special choices ofP on special classes of graphs.Research supported in part by ONR Grant N00014-85K0570 and by a grant from the University of Illinois Research Board.     

Coloring of distance graphs with intervals as distance sets

Let D be a set of positive integers. The distance graph G(Z,D) with distance set D is the graph with vertex set Z in which two vertices x,y are adjacent if and only if |x−y|D. The fractional chromatic number, the chromatic number, and the circular chromatic number of G(Z,D) for various D have been extensively studied recently. In this paper, we investigate the fractional chromatic number, the chromatic number, and the circular chromatic number of the distance graphs with the distance sets of the form D_m,[k,k^′]={1,2,…,m}−{k,k+1,…,k^′}, where m, k, and k^′ are natural numbers with m≥k^′≥k. In particular, we completely determine the chromatic number of G(Z,D_m,[2,k^′]) for arbitrary m, and k^′.     

Orientations of graphs with uncountable chromatic number

Motivated by an old conjecture of P. Erdős and V. Neumann‐Lara, our aim is to investigate digraphs with uncountable dichromatic number and orientations of undirected graphs with uncountable chromatic number. A graph has uncountable chromatic number if its vertices cannot be covered by countably many independent sets, and a digraph has uncountable dichromatic number if its vertices cannot be covered by countably many acyclic sets. We prove that, consistently, there are digraphs with uncountable dichromatic number and arbitrarily large digirth; this is in surprising contrast with the undirected case: any graph with uncountable chromatic number contains a 4‐cycle. Next, we prove that several well‐known graphs (uncountable complete graphs, certain comparability graphs, and shift graphs) admit orientations with uncountable dichromatic number in ZFC. However, we show that the statement “every graph G of size and chromatic number ω₁ has an orientation D with uncountable dichromatic number” is independent of ZFC. We end the article with several open problems.     

Finite-tight sets

We introduce two notions of tightness for a set of measurable functions — the finite-tightness and the Jordan finite-tightness with the aim to extend certain compactness results (as biting lemma or Saadoune-Valadier’s theorem of stable compactness) to the unbounded case. These compactness conditions highlight their utility when we look for some alternatives to Rellich-Kondrachov theorem or relaxed lower semicontinuity of multiple integrals. Finite-tightness locates the great growths of a set of measurable mappings on a finite family of sets of small measure. In the Euclidean case, the Jordan finite-tight sets form a subclass of finite-tight sets for which the finite family of sets of small measure is composed by d-dimensional intervals. The main result affirms that each tight set H ⊆ W ^1,1 for which the set of the gradients ∇H is a Jordan finite-tight set is relatively compact in measure. This result offers very good conditions to use fiber product lemma for obtaining a relaxed lower semicontinuity condition.      

Intersecting self-similar Cantor sets

We define a self-similar set as the (unique) invariant set of an iterated function system of certain contracting affine functions. A topology on them is obtained (essentially) by inducing theC ¹-topology of the function space. We prove that the measure function is upper semi-continuous and give examples of discontinuities. We also show that the dimension is not upper semicontinuous. We exhibit a class of examples of self-similar sets of positive measure containing an open set. IfC ₁ andC ₂ are two self-similar setsC ₁ andC ₂ such that the sum of their dimensionsd(C ₁)+d(C ₂) is greater than one, it is known that the measure of the intersection setC ₂–C ₁ has positive measure for almost all self-similar sets. We prove that there are open sets of self-similar sets such thatC ₂–C ₁ has arbitrarily small measure.     

Weak Borel chromatic numbers

Given a graph G whose set of vertices is a Polish space X, the weak Borel chromatic number of G is the least size of a family of pairwise disjoint G ‐independent Borel sets that covers all of X. Here a set of vertices of a graph G is independent if no two vertices in the set are connected by an edge. We show that it is consistent with an arbitrarily large size of the continuum that every closed graph on a Polish space either has a perfect clique or has a weak Borel chromatic number of at most ?₁. We observe that some weak version of Todorcevic's Open Coloring Axiom for closed colorings follows from MA. Slightly weaker results hold for F_σ‐graphs. In particular, it is consistent with an arbitrarily large size of the continuum that every locally countable F_σ‐graph has a Borel chromatic number of at most ?₁. We refute various reasonable generalizations of these results to hypergraphs (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Random lifts of graphs: Independence and chromatic number

For a graph G, a random n‐lift of G has the vertex set V(G)×[n] and for each edge [u, v] ∈ E(G), there is a random matching between {u}×[n] and {v}×[n]. We present bounds on the chromatic number and on the independence number of typical random lifts, with G fixed and n→∞. For the independence number, upper and lower bounds are obtained as solutions to certain optimization problems on the base graph. For a base graph G with chromatic number χ and fractional chromatic number χ_f, we show that the chromatic number of typical lifts is bounded from below by const ? and also by const ? χ_f/log²χ_f (trivially, it is bounded by χ from above). We have examples of graphs where the chromatic number of the lift equals χ almost surely, and others where it is a.s. O(χ/logχ). Many interesting problems remain open. © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Random Struct. Alg., 20, 1–22, 2002     

Subsets of rectifiable curves in Hilbert space-the analyst’s TSP

We study one dimensional sets (Hausdorff dimension) lying in a Hilbert space. The aim is to classify subsets of Hilbert spaces that are contained in a connected set of finite Hausdorff length. We do so by extending and improving results of Peter Jones and Kate Okikiolu for sets in ℝ^d. Their results formed the basis of quantitative rectifiability in ℝ^d. We prove a quantitative version of the following statement: a connected set of finite Hausdorff length (or a subset of one), is characterized by the fact that inside balls at most scales aroundmost points of the set, the set lies close to a straight line segment (which depends on the ball). This is done via a quantity, similar to the one introduced in [Jon90], which is a geometric analogue of the Square function. This allows us to conclude that for a given set K, the ℓ₂ norm of this quantity (which is a function of K) has size comparable to a shortest (Hausdorff length) connected set containing K. In particular, our results imply that, with a correct reformulation of the theorems, the estimates in [Jon90, Oki92] are independent of the ambient dimension.     

Fractional chromatic number and circular chromatic number for distance graphs with large clique size

An Erratum has been published for this article in Journal of Graph Theory 48: 329–330, 2005 . Let M be a set of positive integers. The distance graph generated by M, denoted by G(Z, M), has the set Z of all integers as the vertex set, and edges ij whenever |i?j| ∈ M. We investigate the fractional chromatic number and the circular chromatic number for distance graphs, and discuss their close connections with some number theory problems. In particular, we determine the fractional chromatic number and the circular chromatic number for all distance graphs G(Z, M) with clique size at least |M|, except for one case of such graphs. For the exceptional case, a lower bound for the fractional chromatic number and an upper bound for the circular chromatic number are presented; these bounds are sharp enough to determine the chromatic number for such graphs. Our results confirm a conjecture of Rabinowitz and Proulx 22 on the density of integral sets with missing differences, and generalize some known results on the circular chromatic number of distance graphs and the parameter involved in the Wills' conjecture 26 (also known as the “lonely runner conjecture” 1 ). © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 47: 129–146, 2004     

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.      

The circular chromatic number of a digraph

We introduce the circular chromatic number χ_c of a digraph and establish various basic results. They show that the coloring theory for digraphs is similar to the coloring theory for undirected graphs when independent sets of vertices are replaced by acyclic sets. Since the directed k‐cycle has circular chromatic number k/(k – 1), for k ≥ 2, values of χ_c between 1 and 2 are possible. We show that in fact, χ_c takes on all rational values greater than 1. Furthermore, there exist digraphs of arbitrarily large digirth and circular chromatic number. It is NP‐complete to decide if a given digraph has χ_c at most 2. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 46: 227–240, 2004