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.      

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.     

On the maximal number of certain subgraphs inK r -free graphs

Given two graphsH andG, letH(G) denote the number of subgraphs ofG isomorphic toH. We prove that ifH is a bipartite graph with a one-factor, then for every triangle-free graphG withn verticesH(G) H(T ₂(n)), whereT ₂(n) denotes the complete bipartite graph ofn vertices whose colour classes are as equal as possible. We also prove that ifK is a completet-partite graph ofm vertices,r > t, n max(m, r – 1), then there exists a complete (r – 1)-partite graphG* withn vertices such thatK(G) K(G*) holds for everyK _r -free graphG withn vertices. In particular, in the class of allK _r -free graphs withn vertices the complete balanced (r – 1)-partite graphT _r–1(n) has the largest number of subgraphs isomorphic toK _t (t < r),C ₄,K _2,3. These generalize some theorems of Turán, Erdös and Sauer.Dedicated to Paul Turán on his 80th Birthday     

On bipartite zero-divisor graphs

A (finite or infinite) complete bipartite graph together with some end vertices all adjacent to a common vertex is called a complete bipartite graph with a horn. For any bipartite graph G, we show that G is the graph of a commutative semigroup with 0 if and only if it is one of the following graphs: star graph, two-star graph, complete bipartite graph, complete bipartite graph with a horn. We also prove that a zero-divisor graph is bipartite if and only if it contains no triangles. In addition, we give all corresponding zero-divisor semigroups of a class of complete bipartite graphs with a horn and determine which complete r-partite graphs with a horn have a corresponding semigroup for r≥3.     

Isometric path numbers of graphs

An isometric path between two vertices in a graph G is a shortest path joining them. The isometric path number of G, denoted by ip(G), is the minimum number of isometric paths needed to cover all vertices of G. In this paper, we determine exact values of isometric path numbers of complete r-partite graphs and Cartesian products of 2 or 3 complete graphs.     

Two characterizations of interchange graphs of complete m-partite graphs

A graph G is m-partite if its points can be partitioned into m subsets V₁,…,V_m such that every line joins a point in V_i with a point in V_j, i ≠ j. A complete m-partite graph contains every line joining V_i with V_j. A complete graph K_p has every pair of its p points adjacent. The nth interchange graph I_n(G) of G is a graph whose points can be identified with the K_n+1's of G such that two points are adjacent whenever the corresponding K_n+1's have a K_n in common.Interchange graphs of complete 2-partite and 3-partite graphs have been characterized, but interchange graphs of complete m-partite graphs for m > 3 do not seem to have been investigated. The main result of this paper is two characterizations of interchange graphs of complete m-partite graphs for m ≥ 2.     

Claw‐free circular‐perfect graphs

The circular chromatic number of a graph is a well‐studied refinement of the chromatic number. Circular‐perfect graphs form a superclass of perfect graphs defined by means of this more general coloring concept. This article studies claw‐free circular‐perfect graphs. First, we prove that if G is a connected claw‐free circular‐perfect graph with χ(G)>ω(G), then min{α(G), ω(G)}=2. We use this result to design a polynomial time algorithm that computes the circular chromatic number of claw‐free circular‐perfect graphs. A consequence of the strong perfect graph theorem is that minimal imperfect graphs G have min{α(G), ω(G)}=2. In contrast to this result, it is shown in Z. Pan and X. Zhu [European J Combin 29(4) (2008), 1055–1063] that minimal circular‐imperfect graphs G can have arbitrarily large independence number and arbitrarily large clique number. In this article, we prove that claw‐free minimal circular‐imperfect graphs G have min{α(G), ω(G)}≤3. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 65: 163–172, 2010     

On the strong perfect graph conjecture

A graph G is perfect if for every induced subgraph H of G the chromatic number χ(H) equals the largest number ω(H) of pairwise adjacent vertices in H. Berge's famous Strong Perfect Graph Conjecture asserts that a graph G is perfect if and only if neither G nor its complement G¯ contains an odd chordless cycle of length at least 5. Its resolution has eluded researchers for more than 20 years. We prove that the conjecture is true for a class of graphs that we describe by forbidden configurations.     

Game chromatic number of strong product graphs

The graph coloring game is a two-player game in which the two players properly color an uncolored vertex of G alternately. The first player wins the game if all vertices of G are colored, and the second wins otherwise. The game chromatic number of a graph G is the minimum integer k such that the first player has a winning strategy for the graph coloring game on G with k colors. There is a lot of literature on the game chromatic number of graph products, e.g., the Cartesian product and the lexicographic product. In this paper, we investigate the game chromatic number of the strong product of graphs, which is one of major graph products. In particular, we completely determine the game chromatic number of the strong product of a double star and a complete graph. Moreover, we estimate the game chromatic number of some King's graphs, which are the strong products of two paths.     

Edge domatic numbers of complete n- partite graphs

An edge dominating set of a graph is a set of edgesD such that every edge not inD is adjacent to an edge inD. An edge domatic partition of a graph G =(V, E) is a collection of pairwise disjoint edge dominating sets of G whose union isE. The maximum size of an edge domatic partition of G is called the edge domatic number of G. In this paper we study the edge domatic numbers of completen-partite graphs. In particular, we give exact values for the edge domatic numbers of complete 3-partite graphs and balanced complete n-partite graphs with oddn.     

The circular chromatic number of series‐parallel graphs

In this article, we consider the circular chromatic number χ_c(G) of series‐parallel graphs G. It is well known that series‐parallel graphs have chromatic number at most 3. Hence, their circular chromatic numbers are at most 3. If a series‐parallel graph G contains a triangle, then both the chromatic number and the circular chromatic number of G are indeed equal to 3. We shall show that if a series‐parallel graph G has girth at least 2 ⌊(3k − 1)/2⌋, then χ_c(G) ≤ 4k/(2k − 1). The special case k = 2 of this result implies that a triangle free series‐parallel graph G has circular chromatic number at most 8/3. Therefore, the circular chromatic number of a series‐parallel graph (and of a K₄‐minor free graph) is either 3 or at most 8/3. This is in sharp contrast to recent results of Moser [5] and Zhu [14], which imply that the circular chromatic number of K₅‐minor free graphs are precisely all rational numbers in the interval [2, 4]. We shall also construct examples to demonstrate the sharpness of the bound given in this article. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Graph Theory 33: 14–24, 2000     

A Characterization of b‐Perfect Graphs

A b‐coloring is a coloring of the vertices of a graph such that each color class contains a vertex that has a neighbor in all other color classes, and the b‐chromatic number of a graph G is the largest integer k such that G admits a b‐coloring with k colors. A graph is b‐perfect if the b‐chromatic number is equal to the chromatic number for every induced subgraph of G. We prove that a graph is b‐perfect if and only if it does not contain as an induced subgraph a member of a certain list of 22 graphs. This entails the existence of a polynomial‐time recognition algorithm and of a polynomial‐time algorithm for coloring exactly the vertices of every b‐perfect graph. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 71:95–122, 2012     

On the Acyclic Chromatic Number of Hamming Graphs

An acyclic coloring of a graph G is a proper coloring of the vertex set of G such that G contains no bichromatic cycles. The acyclic chromatic number of a graph G is the minimum number k such that G has an acyclic coloring with k colors. In this paper, acyclic colorings of Hamming graphs, products of complete graphs, are considered. Upper and lower bounds on the acyclic chromatic number of Hamming graphs are given. Gretchen L. Matthews: The work of this author is supported by NSA H-98230-06-1-0008.     

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)     

Outerplanar and Planar Oriented Cliques

The clique number of an undirected graph G is the maximum order of a complete subgraph of G and is a well‐known lower bound for the chromatic number of G. Every proper k‐coloring of G may be viewed as a homomorphism (an edge‐preserving vertex mapping) of G to the complete graph of order k. By considering homomorphisms of oriented graphs (digraphs without cycles of length at most 2), we get a natural notion of (oriented) colorings and oriented chromatic number of oriented graphs. An oriented clique is then an oriented graph whose number of vertices and oriented chromatic number coincide. However, the structure of oriented cliques is much less understood than in the undirected case. In this article, we study the structure of outerplanar and planar oriented cliques. We first provide a list of 11 graphs and prove that an outerplanar graph can be oriented as an oriented clique if and only if it contains one of these graphs as a spanning subgraph. Klostermeyer and MacGillivray conjectured that the order of a planar oriented clique is at most 15, which was later proved by Sen. We show that any planar oriented clique on 15 vertices must contain a particular oriented graph as a spanning subgraph, thus reproving the above conjecture. We also provide tight upper bounds for the order of planar oriented cliques of girth k for all .     

Hajós Theorem For Colorings Of Edge-Weighted Graphs

Hajós theorem states that every graph with chromatic number at least k can be obtained from the complete graph K _k by a sequence of simple operations such that every intermediate graph also has chromatic number at least k. Here, Hajós theorem is extended in three slightly different ways to colorings and circular colorings of edge-weighted graphs. These extensions shed some new light on the Hajós theorem and show that colorings of edge-weighted graphs are most natural extension of usual graph colorings.* Supported in part by the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport of Slovenia, Research Program P0–0507–0101.     

Chromaticity of complete 6-partite graphs with certain star or matching deleted II

Let P(G,λ) be the chromatic polynomial of a graph G. Two graphs G and H are said to be chromatically equivalent, denoted G～H, if P(G,λ)=P (H,λ). We write [G]={H|H～G}. If[G]={G}, then G is said to be chromatically unique. In this paper, we first characterize certain complete 6-partite graphs with 6n+1 vertices according to the number of 7-independent partitions of G. Using these results, we investigate the chromaticity of G with certain star or matching deleted. As a by-product, many new families of chromatically unique complete 6-partite graphs with certain star or matching deleted are obtained.     

On minimally b-imperfect graphs

A b-coloring is a coloring of the vertices of a graph such that each color class contains a vertex that has a neighbour in all other color classes. The b-chromatic number of a graph G is the largest integer k such that G admits a b-coloring with k colors. A graph is b-perfect if the b-chromatic number is equal to the chromatic number for every induced subgraph H of G. A graph is minimally b-imperfect if it is not b-perfect and every proper induced subgraph is b-perfect. We give a list of minimally b-imperfect graphs, conjecture that a graph is b-perfect if and only if it does not contain a graph from this list as an induced subgraph, and prove this conjecture for diamond-free graphs, and graphs with chromatic number at most three.     

List Coloring of Random and Pseudo-Random Graphs

choice number of a graph G is the minimum integer k such that for every assignment of a set S(v) of k colors to every vertex v of G, there is a proper coloring of G that assigns to each vertex v a color from S(v). It is shown that the choice number of the random graph G(n, p(n)) is almost surely whenever . A related result for pseudo-random graphs is proved as well. By a special case of this result, the choice number (as well as the chromatic number) of any graph on n vertices with minimum degree at least in which no two distinct vertices have more than common neighbors is at most . Received: October 13, 1997