Equimatchable Graphs on Surfaces

A graph G is equimatchable if each matching in G is a subset of a maximum‐size matching and it is factor critical if has a perfect matching for each vertex v of G. It is known that any 2‐connected equimatchable graph is either bipartite or factor critical. We prove that for 2‐connected factor‐critical equimatchable graph G the graph is either or for some n for any vertex v of G and any minimal matching M such that is a component of . We use this result to improve the upper bounds on the maximum number of vertices of 2‐connected equimatchable factor‐critical graphs embeddable in the orientable surface of genus g to if and to if . Moreover, for any nonnegative integer g we construct a 2‐connected equimatchable factor‐critical graph with genus g and more than vertices, which establishes that the maximum size of such graphs is . Similar bounds are obtained also for nonorientable surfaces. In the bipartite case for any nonnegative integers g, h, and k we provide a construction of arbitrarily large 2‐connected equimatchable bipartite graphs with orientable genus g, respectively nonorientable genus h, and a genus embedding with face‐width k. Finally, we prove that any d‐degenerate 2‐connected equimatchable factor‐critical graph has at most vertices, where a graph is d‐degenerate if every its induced subgraph contains a vertex of degree at most d.     

A relaxation of the strong Bordeaux Conjecture

Let be k nonnegative integers. A graph G is ‐colorable if the vertex set can be partitioned into k sets , such that the subgraph , induced by , has maximum degree at most for . Let denote the family of plane graphs with neither adjacent 3‐cycles nor 5‐cycles. Borodin and Raspaud (2003) conjectured that each graph in is (0, 0, 0)‐colorable (which was disproved very recently). In this article, we prove that each graph in is (1, 1, 0)‐colorable, which improves the results by Xu (2009) and Liu‐Li‐Yu (2016).     

On Crossing Numbers of Complete Tripartite and Balanced Complete Multipartite Graphs

The crossing number cr(G) of a graph G is the minimum number of crossings in a drawing of G in the plane with no more than two edges intersecting at any point that is not a vertex. The rectilinear crossing number of G is the minimum number of crossings in a such drawing of G with edges as straight line segments. Zarankiewicz proved in 1952 that . We generalize the upper bound to and prove . We also show that for n large enough, and , with the tighter rectilinear lower bound established through the use of flag algebras. A complete multipartite graph is balanced if the partite sets all have the same cardinality. We study asymptotic behavior of the crossing number of the balanced complete r‐partite graph. Richter and Thomassen proved in 1997 that the limit as of over the maximum number of crossings in a drawing of exists and is at most . We define and show that for a fixed r and the balanced complete r‐partite graph, is an upper bound to the limit superior of the crossing number divided by the maximum number of crossings in a drawing.     

Minors in ‐ Chromatic Graphs,II

Let denote the graph obtained from the complete graph by deleting the edges of some ‐subgraph. The author proved earlier that for each fixed s and , every graph with chromatic number has a minor. This confirmed a partial case of the corresponding conjecture by Woodall and Seymour. In this paper, we show that the statement holds already for much smaller t, namely, for .     

Partition functions and a generalized coloring‐flow duality for embedded graphs

Let G be a finite group and a class function. Let be a directed graph with for each vertex a cyclic order of the edges incident to it. The cyclic orders give a collection F of faces of H. Define the partition function , where denotes the product of the κ‐values of the edges incident with v (in cyclic order), where the inverse is taken for edges leaving v. Write , where the sum runs over irreducible representations λ of G with character and with for every λ. When H is connected, it is proved that , where 1 is the identity element of G. Among the corollaries, a formula for the number of nowhere‐identity G‐flows on H is derived, generalizing a result of Tutte. We show that these flows correspond bijectively to certain proper G‐colorings of a covering graph of the dual graph of H. This correspondence generalizes coloring‐flow duality for planar graphs.     

A simple formula for the number of spanning trees of line graphs

Suppose is a loopless graph and is the graph obtained from G by subdividing each of its edges k () times. Let be the set of all spanning trees of G, be the line graph of the graph and be the number of spanning trees of . By using techniques from electrical networks, we first obtain the following simple formula: Then we find it is in fact equivalent to a complicated formula obtained recently using combinatorial techniques in [F. M. Dong and W. G. Yan, Expression for the number of spanning trees of line graphs of arbitrary connected graphs, J. Graph Theory. 85 (2017) 74–93].     

Approximations to m‐Colored Complete Infinite Hypergraphs

Given an edge coloring of a graph with a set of m colors, we say that the graph is exactly m‐colored if each of the colors is used. In 1999, Stacey and Weidl, partially resolving a conjecture of Erickson from 1994, showed that for a fixed natural number and for all sufficiently large k, there is a k‐coloring of the complete graph on such that no complete infinite subgraph is exactly m‐colored. In the light of this result, we consider the question of how close we can come to finding an exactly m‐colored complete infinite subgraph. We show that for a natural number m and any finite coloring of the edges of the complete graph on with m or more colors, there is an exactly ‐colored complete infinite subgraph for some satisfying ; this is best possible up to the additive constant. We also obtain analogous results for this problem in the setting of r‐uniform hypergraphs. Along the way, we also prove a recent conjecture of the second author and investigate generalizations of this conjecture to r‐uniform hypergraphs.     

Spanning Trees with Vertices Having Large Degrees

Let G be a connected simple graph, and let f be a mapping from to the set of integers. This paper is concerned with the existence of a spanning tree in which each vertex v has degree at least . We show that if for any nonempty subset , then a connected graph G has a spanning tree such that for all , where is the set of neighbors v of vertices in S with , , and is the degree of x in T. This is an improvement of several results, and the condition is best possible.     

Face 2‐Colorable Embeddings with Faces of Specified Lengths

Suppose and are arbitrary lists of positive integers. In this article, we determine necessary and sufficient conditions on M and N for the existence of a simple graph G, which admits a face 2‐colorable planar embedding in which the faces of one color have boundary lengths and the faces of the other color have boundary lengths . Such a graph is said to have a planar ‐biembedding. We also determine necessary and sufficient conditions on M and N for the existence of a simple graph G whose edge set can be partitioned into r cycles of lengths and also into t cycles of lengths . Such a graph is said to be ‐decomposable.     

Uniquely Cycle‐Saturated Graphs

Given a graph F, a graph G is uniquely F‐saturated if F is not a subgraph of G and adding any edge of the complement to G completes exactly one copy of F. In this article, we study uniquely ‐saturated graphs. We prove the following: (1) a graph is uniquely C₅‐saturated if and only if it is a friendship graph. (2) There are no uniquely C₆‐saturated graphs or uniquely C₇‐saturated graphs. (3) For , there are only finitely many uniquely ‐saturated graphs (we conjecture that in fact there are none). Additionally, our results show that there are finitely many k‐friendship graphs (as defined by Kotzig) for .     

Smallest domination number and largest independence number of graphs and forests with given degree sequence

For a sequence d of nonnegative integers, let and be the sets of all graphs and forests with degree sequence d, respectively. Let , , , and where is the domination number and is the independence number of a graph G. Adapting results of Havel and Hakimi, Rao showed in 1979 that can be determined in polynomial time. We establish the existence of realizations with , and with and that have strong structural properties. This leads to an efficient algorithm to determine for every given degree sequence d with bounded entries as well as closed formulas for and .     

The decycling number and maximum genus of cubic graphs

Let and denote the minimum size of a decycling set and maximum genus of a graph G, respectively. For a connected cubic graph G of order n, it is shown that . Applying the formula, we obtain some new results on the decycling number and maximum genus of cubic graphs. Furthermore, it is shown that the number of vertices of a decycling set S in a k‐regular graph G is , where c and are the number of components of and the number of edges in , respectively. Therefore, S is minimum if and only if is minimum. As an application, this leads to a lower bound for of a k‐regular graph G. In many cases this bound may be sharp.     

Strong Chromatic Index of Sparse Graphs

A coloring of the edges of a graph G is strong if each color class is an induced matching of G. The strong chromatic index of G, denoted by , is the least number of colors in a strong edge coloring of G. Chang and Narayanan (J Graph Theory 73(2) (2013), 119–126) proved recently that for a 2‐degenerate graph G. They also conjectured that for any k‐degenerate graph G there is a linear bound , where c is an absolute constant. This conjecture is confirmed by the following three papers: in (G. Yu, Graphs Combin 31 (2015), 1815–1818), Yu showed that . In (M. Debski, J. Grytczuk, M. Sleszynska‐Nowak, Inf Process Lett 115(2) (2015), 326–330), D?bski, Grytczuk, and ?leszyńska‐Nowak showed that . In (T. Wang, Discrete Math 330(6) (2014), 17–19), Wang proved that . If G is a partial k‐tree, in (M. Debski, J. Grytczuk, M. Sleszynska‐Nowak, Inf Process Lett 115(2) (2015), 326–330), it is proven that . Let be the line graph of a graph G, and let be the square of the line graph . Then . We prove that if a graph G has an orientation with maximum out‐degree k, then has coloring number at most . If G is a k‐tree, then has coloring number at most . As a consequence, a graph with has , and a k‐tree G has .     

Chordal 2‐Connected Graphs and Spanning Trees

We present a transformation on a chordal 2‐connected simple graph that decreases the number of spanning trees. Based on this transformation, we show that for positive integers n, m with , the threshold graph having n vertices and m edges that consists of an ‐clique and vertices of degree 2 is the only graph with the fewest spanning trees among all 2‐connected chordal graphs on n vertices and m edges.     

More on foxes

An edge in a k‐connected graph G is called k‐contractible if the graph obtained from G by contracting e is k‐connected. Generalizing earlier results on 3‐contractible edges in spanning trees of 3‐connected graphs, we prove that (except for the graphs if ) (a) every spanning tree of a k‐connected triangle free graph has two k‐contractible edges, (b) every spanning tree of a k‐connected graph of minimum degree at least has two k‐contractible edges, (c) for , every DFS tree of a k‐connected graph of minimum degree at least has two k‐contractible edges, (d) every spanning tree of a cubic 3‐connected graph nonisomorphic to K₄ has at least many 3‐contractible edges, and (e) every DFS tree of a 3‐connected graph nonisomorphic to K₄, the prism, or the prism plus a single edge has two 3‐contractible edges. We also discuss in which sense these theorems are best possible.     

Locally Symmetric Graphs of Girth 4

We classify the family of connected, locally symmetric graphs of girth 4 (finite and infinite). They are all regular, with the exception of the complete bipartite graph . There are, up to isomorphism, exactly four such k‐regular graphs for every , one for , two for , and exactly three for every infinite cardinal k. In the last paragraph, we consider locally symmetric graphs of girth >4.     

On Rooted Packings,Decompositions, and Factors of Graphs

In this article, we study so‐called rooted packings of rooted graphs. This concept is a mutual generalization of the concepts of a vertex packing and an edge packing of a graph. A rooted graph is a pair , where G is a graph and . Two rooted graphs and are isomorphic if there is an isomorphism of the graphs G and H such that S is the image of T in this isomorphism. A rooted graph is a rooted subgraph of a rooted graph if H is a subgraph of G and . By a rooted ‐packing into a rooted graph we mean a collection of rooted subgraphs of isomorphic to such that the sets of edges are pairwise disjoint and the sets are pairwise disjoint. In this article, we concentrate on studying maximum ‐packings when H is a star. We give a complete classification with respect to the computational complexity status of the problems of finding a maximum ‐packing of a rooted graph when H is a star. The most interesting polynomial case is the case when H is the 2‐edge star and S contains the center of the star only. We prove a min–max theorem for ‐packings in this case.     

On the Circular Chromatic Number of Graph Powers

This article intends to study some functors from the category of graphs to itself such that, for any graph G, the circular chromatic number of is determined by that of G. In this regard, we investigate some coloring properties of graph powers. We show that provided that . As a consequence, we show that if , then . In particular, and has no subgraph with circular chromatic number equal to . This provides a negative answer to a question asked in (X. Zhu, Discrete Math, 229(1–3) (2001), 371–410). Moreover, we investigate the nth multichromatic number of subdivision graphs. Also, we present an upper bound for the fractional chromatic number of subdivision graphs. Precisely, we show that .     

Nowhere‐zero 3‐flow and ‐connectedness in graphs with four edge‐disjoint spanning trees

Given a zero‐sum function with , an orientation D of G with in for every vertex is called a β‐orientation. A graph G is ‐connected if G admits a β‐orientation for every zero‐sum function β. Jaeger et al. conjectured that every 5‐edge‐connected graph is ‐connected. A graph is ‐extendable at vertex v if any preorientation at v can be extended to a β‐orientation of G for any zero‐sum function β. We observe that if every 5‐edge‐connected essentially 6‐edge‐connected graph is ‐extendable at any degree five vertex, then the above‐mentioned conjecture by Jaeger et al. holds as well. Furthermore, applying the partial flow extension method of Thomassen and of Lovász et al., we prove that every graph with at least four edge‐disjoint spanning trees is ‐connected. Consequently, every 5‐edge‐connected essentially 23‐edge‐connected graph is ‐extendable at any degree five vertex.     

On the Minimum Number of Spanning Trees in k‐Edge‐Connected Graphs

We show that a k‐edge‐connected graph on n vertices has at least spanning trees. This bound is tight if k is even and the extremal graph is the n‐cycle with edge multiplicities . For k odd, however, there is a lower bound , where . Specifically, and . Not surprisingly, c₃ is smaller than the corresponding number for 4‐edge‐connected graphs. Examples show that . However, we have no examples of 5‐edge‐connected graphs with fewer spanning trees than the n‐cycle with all edge multiplicities (except one) equal to 3, which is almost 6‐regular. We have no examples of 5‐regular 5‐edge‐connected graphs with fewer than spanning trees, which is more than the corresponding number for 6‐regular 6‐edge‐connected graphs. The analogous surprising phenomenon occurs for each higher odd edge connectivity and regularity.