Introducing subclasses of basic chordal graphs

Basic chordal graphs arose when comparing clique trees of chordal graphs and compatible trees of dually chordal graphs. They were defined as those chordal graphs whose clique trees are exactly the compatible trees of its clique graph.In this work, we consider some subclasses of basic chordal graphs, like hereditary basic chordal graphs, basic DV and basic RDV graphs, we characterize them and we find some other properties they have, mostly involving clique graphs.     

Clique trees of chordal graphs: leafage and 3-asteroidals

Chordal graphs were characterized as those graphs having a tree, called clique tree, whose vertices are the cliques of the graph and for every vertex in the graph, the set of cliques that contain it form a subtree of clique tree. In this work, we study the relationship between the clique trees of a chordal graph and its subgraphs. We will prove that clique trees can be described locally and all clique trees of a graph can be obtained from clique trees of subgraphs. In particular, we study the leafage of chordal graphs, that is the minimum number of leaves among the clique trees of the graph. It is known that interval graphs are chordal graphs without 3-asteroidals. We will prove a generalization of this result using the framework developed in the present article. We prove that in a clique tree that realizes the leafage, for every vertex of degree at least 3, and every choice of 3 branches incident to it, there is a 3−asteroidal in these branches.     

On coloring problems with local constraints

We show complexity results for some generalizations of the graph coloring problem on two classes of perfect graphs, namely clique trees and unit interval graphs. We deal with the μ-coloring problem (upper bounds for the color on each vertex), the precoloring extension problem (a subset of vertices colored beforehand), and a problem generalizing both of them, the (γ, μ)-coloring problem (lower and upper bounds for the color on each vertex). We characterize the complexity of all those problems on clique trees of different heights, providing polytime algorithms for the cases that are easy. These results have two interesting corollaries: first, one can observe on clique trees of different heights the increasing complexity of the chain k-coloring, μ-coloring, (γ, μ)-coloring, list-coloring. Second, clique trees of height 2 are the first known example of a class of graphs where μ-coloring is polynomial time solvable and precoloring extension is NP-complete, thus being at the same time the first example where μ-coloring is polynomially solvable and (γ, μ)-coloring is NP-complete. Last, we show that the μ-coloring problem on unit interval graphs is NP-complete. These results answer three questions from [Ann. Oper. Res. 169(1) (2009), 3–16].     

Convex domination in the composition and cartesian product of graphs

In this paper we characterize the convex dominating sets in the composition and Cartesian product of two connected graphs. The concepts of clique dominating set and clique domination number of a graph are defined. It is shown that the convex domination number of a composition G[H] of two non-complete connected graphs G and H is equal to the clique domination number of G. The convex domination number of the Cartesian product of two connected graphs is related to the convex domination numbers of the graphs involved.     

Disjoint clique cutsets in graphs without long holes

A biclique cutset is a cutset that induces the disjoint union of two cliques. A hole is an induced cycle with at least five vertices. A graph is biclique separable if it has no holes and each induced subgraph that is not a clique contains a clique cutset or a biclique cutset. The class of biclique separable graphs contains several well‐studied graph classes, including triangulated graphs. We prove that for the class of biclique separable graphs, the recognition problem, the vertex coloring problem, and the clique problem can be solved efficiently. Our algorithms also yield a proof that biclique separable graphs are perfect. Our coloring algorithm is actually more general and can be applied to graphs that can be decomposed via a special type of biclique cutset. Our algorithms are based on structural results on biclique separable graphs developed in this paper. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 48: 277–298, 2005     

Approximating the minimum clique cover and other hard problems in subtree filament graphs

Subtree filament graphs are the intersection graphs of subtree filaments in a tree. This class of graphs contains subtree overlap graphs, interval filament graphs, chordal graphs, circle graphs, circular-arc graphs, cocomparability graphs, and polygon-circle graphs. In this paper we show that, for circle graphs, the clique cover problem is NP-complete and the h-clique cover problem for fixed h is solvable in polynomial time. We then present a general scheme for developing approximation algorithms for subtree filament graphs, and give approximation algorithms developed from the scheme for the following problems which are NP-complete on circle graphs and therefore on subtree filament graphs: clique cover, vertex colouring, maximum k-colourable subgraph, and maximum h-coverable subgraph.     

Matroid representation of clique complexes

In this paper, we approach the quality of a greedy algorithm for the maximum weighted clique problem from the viewpoint of matroid theory. More precisely, we consider the clique complex of a graph (the collection of all cliques of the graph) which is also called a flag complex, and investigate the minimum number k such that the clique complex of a given graph can be represented as the intersection of k matroids. This number k can be regarded as a measure of “how complex a graph is with respect to the maximum weighted clique problem” since a greedy algorithm is a k-approximation algorithm for this problem. For any k>0, we characterize graphs whose clique complexes can be represented as the intersection of k matroids. As a consequence, we can see that the class of clique complexes is the same as the class of the intersections of partition matroids. Moreover, we determine how many matroids are necessary and sufficient for the representation of all graphs with n vertices. This number turns out to be n-1. Other related investigations are also given.     

Bounds for the b-chromatic number of some families of graphs

In this paper we obtain some upper bounds for the b-chromatic number of K_1,s-free graphs, graphs with given minimum clique partition and bipartite graphs. These bounds are given in terms of either the clique number or the chromatic number of a graph or the biclique number for a bipartite graph. We show that all the bounds are tight.     

Distance-regular graphs of large diameter that are completely regular clique graphs

A connected graph is said to be a completely regular clique graph with parameters (s, c), \(s, c \in {\mathbb {N}}\), if there is a collection \(\mathcal {C}\) of completely regular cliques of size \(s+1\) such that every edge is contained in exactly c members of \(\mathcal {C}\). It is known that many families of distance-regular graphs are completely regular clique graphs. In this paper, we determine completely regular clique graph structures, i.e., the choices of \(\mathcal {C}\), of all known families of distance-regular graphs with unbounded diameter. In particular, we show that all distance-regular graphs in this category are completely regular clique graphs except the Doob graphs, the twisted Grassmann graphs and the Hermitean forms graphs. We also determine parameters (s, c); however, in a few cases we determine only s and give a bound on the value c. Our result is a generalization of a series of works by J. Hemmeter and others who determined distance-regular graphs in this category that are bipartite halves of bipartite distance-regular graphs.     

Coloring intersection graphs of x-monotone curves in the plane

A class of graphs G is χ-bounded if the chromatic number of the graphs in G is bounded by some function of their clique number. We show that the class of intersection graphs of simple families of x-monotone curves in the plane intersecting a vertical line is χ-bounded. As a corollary, we show that the class of intersection graphs of rays in the plane is χ-bounded, and the class of intersection graphs of unit segments in the plane is χ-bounded.     

Equivariant collapses and the homotopy type of iterated clique graphs

The clique graph K(G) of a simple graph G is the intersection graph of its maximal complete subgraphs, and we define iterated clique graphs by K⁰(G)=G, Kⁿ⁺¹(G)=K(Kⁿ(G)). We say that two graphs are homotopy equivalent if their simplicial complexes of complete subgraphs are so. From known results, it can be easily inferred that Kⁿ(G) is homotopy equivalent to G for every n if G belongs to the class of clique-Helly graphs or to the class of dismantlable graphs. However, in both of these cases the collection of iterated clique graphs is finite up to isomorphism. In this paper, we show two infinite classes of clique-divergent graphs that satisfy G?Kⁿ(G) for all n, moreover Kⁿ(G) and G are simple-homotopy equivalent. We provide some results on simple-homotopy type that are of independent interest.     

Computing clique and chromatic number of circular-perfect graphs in polynomial time

A main result of combinatorial optimization is that clique and chromatic number of a perfect graph are computable in polynomial time (Grötschel et al. in Combinatorica 1(2):169–197, 1981). Perfect graphs have the key property that clique and chromatic number coincide for all induced subgraphs; we address the question whether the algorithmic results for perfect graphs can be extended to graph classes where the chromatic number of all members is bounded by the clique number plus one. We consider a well-studied superclass of perfect graphs satisfying this property, the circular-perfect graphs, and show that for such graphs both clique and chromatic number are computable in polynomial time as well. In addition, we discuss the polynomial time computability of further graph parameters for certain subclasses of circular-perfect graphs. All the results strongly rely upon Lovász’s Theta function.     

Amply regular graphs and block designs

We study the amply regular diameter d graphs Γ such that for some vertex a the set of vertices at distance d from a is the set of points of a 2-design whose set of blocks consists of the intersections of the neighborhoods of points with the set of vertices at distance d-1 from a. We prove that the subgraph induced by the set of points is a clique, a coclique, or a strongly regular diameter 2 graph. For diameter 3 graphs we establish that this construction is a 2-design for each vertex a if and only if the graph is distance-regular and for each vertex a the subgraph Γ₃(a) is a clique, a coclique, or a strongly regular graph. We obtain the list of admissible parameters for designs and diameter 3 graphs under the assumption that the subgraph induced by the set of points is a Seidel graph. We show that some of the parameters found cannot correspond to distance-regular graphs.     

Bounding the Clique‐Width of H‐Free Chordal Graphs

A graph is H‐free if it has no induced subgraph isomorphic to H. Brandstädt, Engelfriet, Le, and Lozin proved that the class of chordal graphs with independence number at most 3 has unbounded clique‐width. Brandstädt, Le, and Mosca erroneously claimed that the gem and co‐gem are the only two 1‐vertex P₄‐extensions H for which the class of H‐free chordal graphs has bounded clique‐width. In fact we prove that bull‐free chordal and co‐chair‐free chordal graphs have clique‐width at most 3 and 4, respectively. In particular, we find four new classes of H‐free chordal graphs of bounded clique‐width. Our main result, obtained by combining new and known results, provides a classification of all but two stubborn cases, that is, with two potential exceptions we determine all graphs H for which the class of H‐free chordal graphs has bounded clique‐width. We illustrate the usefulness of this classification for classifying other types of graph classes by proving that the class of ‐free graphs has bounded clique‐width via a reduction to K₄‐free chordal graphs. Finally, we give a complete classification of the (un)boundedness of clique‐width of H‐free weakly chordal graphs.     

Safe separators for treewidth

A set of vertices S⊆V is called a safe separator for treewidth, if S is a separator of G, and the treewidth of G equals the maximum of the treewidth over all connected components W of G-S of the graph, obtained by making S a clique in the subgraph of G, induced by W∪S. We show that such safe separators are a very powerful tool for preprocessing graphs when we want to compute their treewidth. We give several sufficient conditions for separators to be safe, allowing such separators, if existing, to be found in polynomial time. In particular, every inclusion minimal separator of size one or two is safe, every minimum separator of size three that does not split off a component with only one vertex is safe, and every inclusion minimal separator that is an almost clique is safe; an almost clique is a set of vertices W such that there is a v∈W with W-{v} a clique. We report on experiments that show significant reductions of instance sizes for graphs from probabilistic networks and frequency assignment.     

Geometric aspects of 2-walk-regular graphs

A t-walk-regular graph is a graph for which the number of walks of given length between two vertices depends only on the distance between these two vertices, as long as this distance is at most t. Such graphs generalize distance-regular graphs and t-arc-transitive graphs. In this paper, we will focus on 1- and in particular 2-walk-regular graphs, and study analogues of certain results that are important for distance-regular graphs. We will generalize Delsarte?s clique bound to 1-walk-regular graphs, Godsil?s multiplicity bound and Terwilliger?s analysis of the local structure to 2-walk-regular graphs. We will show that 2-walk-regular graphs have a much richer combinatorial structure than 1-walk-regular graphs, for example by proving that there are finitely many non-geometric 2-walk-regular graphs with given smallest eigenvalue and given diameter (a geometric graph is the point graph of a special partial linear space); a result that is analogous to a result on distance-regular graphs. Such a result does not hold for 1-walk-regular graphs, as our construction methods will show.     

The clique operator on matching and chessboard graphs

Given positive integers m,n, we consider the graphs G_n and G_m,n whose simplicial complexes of complete subgraphs are the well-known matching complex M_n and chessboard complex M_m,n. Those are the matching and chessboard graphs. We determine which matching and chessboard graphs are clique-Helly. If the parameters are small enough, we show that these graphs (even if not clique-Helly) are homotopy equivalent to their clique graphs. We determine the clique behavior of the chessboard graph G_m,n in terms of m and n, and show that G_m,n is clique-divergent if and only if it is not clique-Helly. We give partial results for the clique behavior of the matching graph G_n.     

Clique-critical graphs: Maximum size and recognition

The clique graph of G, K(G), is the intersection graph of the family of cliques (maximal complete sets) of G. Clique-critical graphs were defined as those whose clique graph changes whenever a vertex is removed. We prove that if G has m edges then any clique-critical graph in K^-1(G) has at most 2m vertices, which solves a question posed by Escalante and Toft [On clique-critical graphs, J. Combin. Theory B 17 (1974) 170-182]. The proof is based on a restatement of their characterization of clique-critical graphs. Moreover, the bound is sharp. We also show that the problem of recognizing clique-critical graphs is NP-complete.     

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

A graph is clique-perfect if the cardinality of a maximum clique-independent set equals the cardinality of a minimum clique-transversal, for all its induced subgraphs. A graph G is coordinated if the chromatic number of the clique graph of H 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 cliqueperfect 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, two superclasses of triangle-free graphs.     

The clique operator on circular-arc graphs

A circular-arc graphG is the intersection graph of a collection of arcs on the circle and such a collection is called a model of G. Say that the model is proper when no arc of the collection contains another one, it is Helly when the arcs satisfy the Helly Property, while the model is proper Helly when it is simultaneously proper and Helly. A graph admitting a Helly (resp. proper Helly) model is called a Helly (resp. proper Helly) circular-arc graph. The clique graphK(G) of a graph G is the intersection graph of its cliques. The iterated clique graphKⁱ(G) of G is defined by K⁰(G)=G and Kⁱ⁺¹(G)=K(Kⁱ(G)). In this paper, we consider two problems on clique graphs of circular-arc graphs. The first is to characterize clique graphs of Helly circular-arc graphs and proper Helly circular-arc graphs. The second is to characterize the graph to which a general circular-arc graph K-converges, if it is K-convergent. We propose complete solutions to both problems, extending the partial results known so far. The methods lead to linear time recognition algorithms, for both problems.