Graphs whose acyclic graphoidal covering number is one less than its maximum degree

An acyclic graphoidal cover of a graph G is a collection ψ of paths in G such that every path in ψ has at least two vertices, every vertex of G is an internal vertex of at most one path in ψ and every edge of G is in exactly one path in ψ. The minimum cardinality of an acyclic graphoidal cover of G is called the acyclic graphoidal covering number of G and is denoted by η_a. In this paper we characterize the class of graphs G for which η_a=Δ−1 where Δ is the maximum degree of a vertex in G.     

Remarks on the bondage number of planar graphs

The bondage number b(G) of a nonempty graph G is the cardinality of a smallest set of edges whose removal from G results in a graph with domination number greater than the domination number γ(G) of G. In 1998, J.E. Dunbar, T.W. Haynes, U. Teschner, and L. Volkmann posed the conjecture b(G)Δ(G)+1 for every nontrivial connected planar graph G. Two years later, L. Kang and J. Yuan proved b(G)8 for every connected planar graph G, and therefore, they confirmed the conjecture for Δ(G)7. In this paper we show that this conjecture is valid for all connected planar graphs of girth g(G)4 and maximum degree Δ(G)5 as well as for all not 3-regular graphs of girth g(G)5. Some further related results and open problems are also presented.     

The extreme set condition of a graph

Let G be a simple graph. The size of any largest matching in G is called the matching number of G and is denoted by ν(G). Define the deficiency of G, def(G), by the equation def(G)=|V(G)|−2ν(G). A set of points X in G is called an extreme set if def(G−X)=def(G)+|X|. Let c₀(G) denote the number of the odd components of G. A set of points X in G is called a barrier if c₀(G−X)=def(G)+|X|. In this paper, we obtain the following:

(1) Let G be a simple graph containing an independent set of size i, where i2. If X is extreme in G for every independent set X of size i in G, then there exists a perfect matching in G.

(2) Let G be a connected simple graph containing an independent set of size i, where i2. Then X is extreme in G for every independent set X of size i in G if and only if G=(U,W) is a bipartite graph with |U|=|W|i, and |Γ(Y)||U|−i+m+1 for any Y U, |Y|=m (1mi−1).

(3) Let G be a connected simple graph containing an independent set of size i, where i2. Then X is a barrier in G for every independent set X of size i in G if and only if G=(U,W) is a bipartite graph with |U|=|W|=i, and |Γ(Y)|m+1 for any Y U, |Y|=m (1mi−1).     

ContributionsAcyclic graphoidal covers and path partitions in a graph

An acyclic graphoidal cover of a graph G is a collection ψ of paths in G such that every path in ψ has at least two vertices, every vertex of G is an internal vertex of at most one path in ψ and every edge of G is in exactly one path in ψ. The minimum cardinality of an acyclic graphoidal cover of G is called the acyclic graphoidal covering number of G and is denoted by η_a. A path partition of a graph G is a collection P of paths in G such that every edge of G is in exactly one path in P. The minimum cardinality of a path partition of G is called the path partition number of G and is denoted by π. In this paper we determine η_a and π for several classes of graphs and obtain a characterization of all graphs with Δ 4 and η_a = Δ − 1. We also obtain a characterization of all graphs for which η_a = π.     

On L(d,1)-labelings of graphs

Given a graph G and a positive integer d, an L(d,1)-labeling of G is a function f that assigns to each vertex of G a non-negative integer such that if two vertices u and v are adjacent, then |f(u)−f(v)|d; if u and v are not adjacent but there is a two-edge path between them, then |f(u)−f(v)|1. The L(d,1)-number of G, λ_d(G), is defined as the minimum m such that there is an L(d,1)-labeling f of G with f(V){0,1,2,…,m}. Motivated by the channel assignment problem introduced by Hale (Proc. IEEE 68 (1980) 1497–1514), the L(2,1)-labeling and the L(1,1)-labeling (as d=2 and 1, respectively) have been studied extensively in the past decade. This article extends the study to all positive integers d. We prove that λ_d(G)Δ²+(d−1)Δ for any graph G with maximum degree Δ. Different lower and upper bounds of λ_d(G) for some families of graphs including trees and chordal graphs are presented. In particular, we show that the lower and the upper bounds for trees are both attainable, and the upper bound for chordal graphs can be improved for several subclasses of chordal graphs.     

Maximal chordal subgraphs

An algorithm for finding maximal chordal subgraphs is developed that has worst-case time complexity of O(|E|Δ), where |E| is the number of edges in G and Δ is the maximum vertex degree in G. The study of maximal chordal subgraphs is motivated by their usefulness as computationally efficient structures with which to approximate a general graph. Two examples are given that illustrate potential applications of maximal chordal subgraphs. One provides an alternative formulation to the maximum independent set problem on a graph. The other involves a novel splitting scheme for solving large sparse systems of linear equations.     

Reconstruction of infinite locally finite connected graphs

Let G be an infinite locally finite connected graph. We study the reconstructibility of G in relation to the structure of its end set . We prove that an infinite locally finite connected graph G is reconstructible if there exists a finite family (Ω_i)_0i (n2) of pairwise finitely separable subsets of such that, for all x,y,x′,y′V(G) and every isomorphism f of G−{x,y} onto G−{x′,y′} there is a permutation π of {0,…,n−1} such that for 0i<n. From this theorem we deduce, as particular consequences, that G is reconstructible if it satisfies one of the following properties: (i) G contains no end-respecting subdivision of the dyadic tree and has at least two ends of maximal order; (ii) the set of thick ends or the one of thin ends of G is finite and of cardinality greater than one. We also prove that if almost all vertices of G are cutvertices, then G is reconstructible if it contains a free end or if it has at least a vertex which is not a cutvertex.     

Graphs having distance-n domination number half their order

For any positive integer n and any graph G a set D of vertices of G is a distance-n dominating set, if every vertex vV(G)−D has exactly distance n to at least one vertex in D. The distance-n domination number γ_=n(G) is the smallest number of vertices in any distance-n dominating set. If G is a graph of order p and each vertex in G has distance n to at least one vertex in G, then the distance-n domination number has the upper bound p/2 as Ore's upper bound on the classical domination number. In this paper, a characterization is given for graphs having distance-n domination number equal to half their order, when the diameter is greater or equal 2n−1. With this result we confirm a conjecture of Boland, Haynes, and Lawson.     

Ramsey linear families and generalized subdivided graphs

The following results are obtained. (i) Let p, d, and k be fixed positive integers, and let G be a graph whose vertex set can be partitioned into parts V₁, V₂,…, V_a such that for each i at most d vertices in V₁ … V_i have neighbors in V_i+1 and r(K_k, V_i) p | V(G) |, where V_i denotes the subgraph of G induced by V_i. Then there exists a number c depending only on p, d, and k such that r(K_k, G)c | V(G) |. (ii) Let d be a positive integer and let G be a graph in which there is an independent set I V(G) such that each component of G−I has at most d vertices and at most two neighbors in I. Then r(G,G)c | V(G) |, where c is a number depending only on d. As a special case, r(G, G) 6 | V(G) | for a graph G in which all vertices of degree at least three are independent. The constant 6 cannot be replaced by one less than 4.     

Strong equality of domination parameters in trees

We study the concept of strong equality of domination parameters. Let P₁ and P₂ be properties of vertex subsets of a graph, and assume that every subset of V(G) with property P₂ also has property P₁. Let ψ₁(G) and ψ₂(G), respectively, denote the minimum cardinalities of sets with properties P₁ and P₂, respectively. Then ψ₁(G)ψ₂(G). If ψ₁(G)=ψ₂(G) and every ψ₁(G)-set is also a ψ₂(G)-set, then we say ψ₁(G) strongly equals ψ₂(G), written ψ₁(G)≡ψ₂(G). We provide a constructive characterization of the trees T such that γ(T)≡i(T), where γ(T) and i(T) are the domination and independent domination numbers, respectively. A constructive characterization of the trees T for which γ(T)=γ_t(T), where γ_t(T) denotes the total domination number of T, is also presented.     

Networks with small stretch number

In a previous work, the authors introduced the class of graphs with bounded induced distance of order k (BID(k) for short), to model non-reliable interconnection networks. A network modeled as a graph in BID(k) can be characterized as follows: if some nodes have failed, as long as two nodes remain connected, the distance between these nodes in the faulty graph is at most k times the distance in the non-faulty graph. The smallest k such that GBID(k) is called stretch number of G. We show an odd characteristic of the stretch numbers: every rational number greater or equal 2 is a stretch number, but only discrete values are admissible for smaller stretch numbers. Moreover, we give a new characterization of classes BID(2−1/i), i1, based on forbidden induced subgraphs. By using this characterization, we provide a polynomial time recognition algorithm for graphs belonging to these classes, while the general recognition problem is Co-NP-complete.     

Connectivity of generalized prisms over G

The problem of building larger graphs with a given graph as an induced subgraph is one which can arise in various applications and in particular can be important when constructing large communications networks from smaller ones. What one can conclude from this paper is that generalized prisms over G may provide an important such construction because the connectivity of the newly created graph is larger than that of the original (connected) graph, regardless of the permutation used.

For a graph G with vertices labeled 1,2,…, n and a permutation in S_n, the generalized prisms over G, (G) (also called a permutation graph), consists of two copies of G, say G_x and G_y, along with the edges (x_i, y_(i), for 1≤i≤n. The purpose of this paper is to examine the connectivity of generalized prisms over G. In particular, upper and lower bounds are found. Also, the connectivity and edge-connectivity are determined for generalized prisms over trees, cycles, wheels, n-cubes, complete graphs, and complete bipartite graphs. Finally, the connectivity of the generalized prism over G, (G), is determined for all in the automorphism group of G.     

Rectangular drawings of plane graphs without designated corners

This paper addresses the problem of finding rectangular drawings of plane graphs, in which each vertex is drawn as a point, each edge is drawn as a horizontal or a vertical line segment, and the contour of each face is drawn as a rectangle. A graph is a 2–3 plane graph if it is a plane graph and each vertex has degree 3 except the vertices on the outer face which have degree 2 or 3. A necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of a rectangular drawing has been known only for the case where exactly four vertices of degree 2 on the outer face are designated as corners in a 2–3 plane graph G. In this paper we establish a necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of a rectangular drawing of G for the general case in which no vertices are designated as corners. We also give a linear-time algorithm to find a rectangular drawing of G if it exists.     

On approximation intractability of the path–distance–width problem

Path–distance–width of a graph G=(V,E), denoted by pdw(G), is the minimum integer k satisfying that there is a nonempty subset of SV such that the number of the nodes with distance i from S is at most k for any nonnegative integer i. It is known that given a positive integer k and a graph G, the decision problem pdw(G)k is NP-complete even if G is a tree (Yamazaki et al. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 1203, Springer, Berlin, 1997, pp. 276–287). In this paper, we show that it is NP-hard to approximate the path–distance–width of a graph within a ratio for any >0, even for trees.     

Generalization of two results of Hilton on total-colourings of a graph

We generalize two results of Hilton on total-colourings of a graph. The first generalized result unifies several previous results/proof techniques of Bermond, Chen, Chew, Fu, Hilton, Wang, and Yap. Applying the second generalized result, we prove that if G K_{n, n} is such that Δ(G) = n − 1 and the complement of G with respect to K_{n, n} contains a 1-factor, then its total chromatic number is Δ(G) + 1.     

A special k-coloring for a connected k-chromatic graph

For each positive integer k we consider the smallest positive integer f(k) (dependent only on k) such that the following holds: Each connected graph G with chromatic number χ(G) = k can be properly vertex colored by k colors so that for each pair of vertices x_o and x_p in any color class there exist vertices x₁, x₂, …, x_p-1 of the same class with dist(x_i, x_i+1) f(k) for each i, 0 i p − 1. Thus, the graph is k-colorable with the vertices of each color class placed throughout the graph so that no subset of the class is at a distance > f(k) from the remainder of the class.

We prove that f(k) < 12k when the order of the graph is k(k − 2) + 1.     

Magic Labeling of Disjoint Union Graphs

Let G be a graph with vertex set V (G), edge set E(G) and maximum degree Δ respectively. G is called degree-magic if it admits a labelling of the edges by integers {1, 2, …,|E(G)|} such that for any vertex v the sum of the labels of the edges incident with v is equal to (1+|E(G)|)/2·d(v), where d(v) is the degree of v. Let f be a proper edge coloring of G such that for each vertex v ∈ V (G),|{e:e ∈ E_v, f(e) ≤ Δ/2}|=|{e:e ∈ E_v, f(e) > Δ/2}|, and such an f is called a balanced edge coloring of G. In this paper, we show that if G is a supermagic even graph with a balanced edge coloring and m ≥ 1, then (2m + 1)G is a supermagic graph. If G is a d-magic even graph with a balanced edge coloring and n ≥ 2, then nG is a d-magic graph. Results in this paper generalise some known results.     

Weighted domination in triangle-free graphs

A weighted graph (G,w) is a graph G together with a positive weight-function on its vertex set w : V(G)→R^>0. The weighted domination number γ_w(G) of (G,w) is the minimum weight w(D)=∑_vDw(v) of a set DV(G) such that every vertex xV(D)−D has a neighbor in D. If ∑_vV(G)w(v)=|V(G)|, then we speak of a normed weighted graph. Recently, we proved that

for normed weighted bipartite graphs (G,w) of order n such that neither G nor the complement has isolated vertices. In this paper we will extend these Nordhaus–Gaddum-type results to triangle-free graphs.     

Bandwidth of the composition of two graphs

The bandwidth B(G) of a graph G is the minimum of the quantity max{|f(x)−f(y)| : xyE(G)} taken over all proper numberings f of G. The composition of two graphs G and H, written as G[H], is the graph with vertex set V(G)×V(H) and with (u₁,v₁) is adjacent to (u₂,v₂) if either u₁ is adjacent to u₂ in G or u₁=u₂ and v₁ is adjacent to v₂ in H. In this paper, we investigate the bandwidth of the composition of two graphs. Let G be a connected graph. We denote the diameter of G by D(G). For two distinct vertices x,yV(G), we define w_G(x,y) as the maximum number of internally vertex-disjoint (x,y)-paths whose lengths are the distance between x and y. We define w(G) as the minimum of w_G(x,y) over all pairs of vertices x,y of G with the distance between x and y is equal to D(G). Let G be a non-complete connected graph and let H be any graph. Among other results, we prove that if |V(G)|=B(G)D(G)−w(G)+2, then B(G[H])=(B(G)+1)|V(H)|−1. Moreover, we show that this result determines the bandwidth of the composition of some classes of graphs composed with any graph.     

On-line algorithms for ordered sets and comparability graphs

We discuss several results concerning on-line algorithms for ordered sets and comparability graphs. The main new result is on the problem of on-line transitive orientation. We view on-line transitive orientation of a comparability graph G as a two-person game. In the ith round of play, 1 i | V(G)|, player A names a graph G_i such that G_i is isomorphic to a subgraph of G, |V(G_i)| = i, and G_i−1 is an induced subgraph of G_i if i> 1. Player B must respond with a transitive orientation of G_i which extends the transitive orientation given to G_i−1 in the previous round of play. Player A wins if and only if player B fails to give a transitive orientation to G_i for some i, 1 i |V(G)|. Our main result shows that player A has at most three winning moves. We also discuss applications to on-line clique covering of comparability graphs, and we mention some open problems.