On n-Hamiltonian line graphs

With each nonempty graph G one can associate a graph L(G), called the line graph of G, with the property that there exists a one-to-one correspondence between E(G) and V(L(G)) such that two vertices of L(G) are adjacent if and only if the corresponding edges of G are adjacent. For integers m ≥ 2, the mth iterated line graph L^m(G) of G is defined to be L(L^m-1(G)). A graph G of order p ≥ 3 is n-Hamiltonian, 0 ≤ n ≤ p ? 3, if the removal of any k vertices, 0 ≤ k ≤ n, results in a Hamiltonian graph. It is shown that if G is a connected graph with δ(G) ≥ 3, where δ(G) denotes the minimum degree of G, then L²(G) is (δ(G) ? 3)-Hamiltonian. Furthermore, if G is 2-connected and δ(G) ≥ 4, then L²(G) is (2δ(G) ? 4)-Hamiltonian. For a connected graph G which is neither a path, a cycle, nor the graph K(1, 3) and for any positive integer n, the existence of an integer k such that L^m(G) is n-Hamiltonian for every m ≥ k is exhibited. Then, for the special case n = 1, bounds on (and, in some cases, the exact value of) the smallest such integer k are determined for various classes of graphs.     

Spanning Connectivity of the Power of a Graph and Hamilton-Connected Index of a Graph

Let G = (V, E) be a connected graph. The hamiltonian index h(G) (Hamilton-connected index hc(G)) of G is the least nonnegative integer k for which the iterated line graph L ^k (G) is hamiltonian (Hamilton-connected). In this paper we show the following. (a) If |V(G)| ≥ k + 1 ≥ 4, then in G ^k , for any pair of distinct vertices {u, v}, there exists k internally disjoint (u, v)-paths that contains all vertices of G; (b) for a tree T,  h(T) ≤ hc(T) ≤ h(T) + 1, and for a unicyclic graph G,  h(G) ≤ hc(G) ≤ max{h(G) + 1, k′ + 1}, where k′ is the length of a longest path with all vertices on the cycle such that the two ends of it are of degree at least 3 and all internal vertices are of degree 2; (c) we also characterize the trees and unicyclic graphs G for which hc(G) = h(G) + 1.     

Odd‐angulated graphs and cancelling factors in box products

Under what conditions is it true that if there is a graph homomorphism G □ H → G □ T, then there is a graph homomorphism H→ T? Let G be a connected graph of odd girth 2k + 1. We say that G is (2k + 1)‐angulated if every two vertices of G are joined by a path each of whose edges lies on some (2k + 1)‐cycle. We call G strongly (2k + 1)‐angulated if every two vertices are connected by a sequence of (2k + 1)‐cycles with consecutive cycles sharing at least one edge. We prove that if G is strongly (2k + 1)‐angulated, H is any graph, S, T are graphs with odd girth at least 2k + 1, and ?: G□ H→S□T is a graph homomorphism, then either ? maps G□{h} to S□{t_h} for all h∈V(H) where t_h∈V(T) depends on h; or ? maps G□{h} to {s_h}□ T for all h∈V(H) where s_h∈V(S) depends on h. This theorem allows us to prove several sufficient conditions for a cancelation law of a graph homomorphism between two box products with a common factor. We conclude the article with some open questions. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 58:221‐238, 2008     

Hamilton-connected indices of graphs

Let G be an undirected graph that is neither a path nor a cycle. Clark and Wormald [L.H. Clark, N.C. Wormald, Hamiltonian-like indices of graphs, ARS Combinatoria 15 (1983) 131-148] defined hc(G) to be the least integer m such that the iterated line graph L^m(G) is Hamilton-connected. Let be the diameter of G and k be the length of a longest path whose internal vertices, if any, have degree 2 in G. In this paper, we show that . We also show that κ³(G)≤hc(G)≤κ³(G)+2 where κ³(G) is the least integer m such that L^m(G) is 3-connected. Finally we prove that hc(G)≤|V(G)|−Δ(G)+1. These bounds are all sharp.     

Upper Bounds for the Rainbow Connection Numbers of Line Graphs

A path in an edge-colored graph G, where adjacent edges may be colored the same, is called a rainbow path if no two edges of it are colored the same. A nontrivial connected graph G is rainbow connected if for any two vertices of G there is a rainbow path connecting them. The rainbow connection number of G, denoted rc(G), is defined as the smallest number of colors such that G is rainbow connected. In this paper, we mainly study the rainbow connection number rc(L(G)) of the line graph L(G) of a graph G which contains triangles. We get two sharp upper bounds for rc(L(G)), in terms of the number of edge-disjoint triangles of G. We also give results on the iterated line graphs.     

Hall parameters of complete and complete bipartite graphs

Given a graph G, for each υ ∈V(G) let L(υ) be a list assignment to G. The well‐known choice number c(G) is the least integer j such that if |L(υ)| ≥j for all υ ∈V(G), then G has a proper vertex colouring ? with ?(υ) ∈ L (υ) (?υ ∈V(G)). The Hall number h(G) is like the choice number, except that an extra non‐triviality condition, called Hall's condition, has to be satisfied by the list assignment. The edge‐analogue of the Hall number is called the Hall index, h′(G), and the total analogue is called the total Hall number, h″(G), of G. If the stock of colours from which L(υ) is selected is restricted to a set of size k, then the analogous numbers are called k‐restricted, or restricted, Hall parameters, and are denoted by h_k(G), h′_k(G) and h″_k(G). Our main object in this article is to determine, or closely bound, h′(K), h″(K_n), h′(K_m,n) and h′_k(K_m,n). We also answer some hitherto unresolved questions about Hall parameters. We show in particular that there are examples of graphs G with h′(G)?h′(G ? e)>1. We show that there are examples of graphs G and induced subgraphs H with h_k(G)<h_k(H) [this phenomenon cannot occur with unrestricted Hall numbers]. We also give an example of a graph G and an integer k such that h_k(G)<χ(G)<h(G). © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 41: 208–237, 2002     

Connectivity of iterated line graphs

Let k≥0 be an integer and L^k(G) be the kth iterated line graph of a graph G. Niepel and Knor proved that if G is a 4-connected graph, then κ(L²(G))≥4δ(G)−6. We show that the connectivity of G can be relaxed. In fact, we prove in this note that if G is an essentially 4-edge-connected and 3-connected graph, then κ(L²(G))≥4δ(G)−6. Similar bounds are obtained for essentially 4-edge-connected and 2-connected (1-connected) graphs.     

Iterated clique graphs with increasing diameters

A simple argument by Hedman shows that the diameter of a clique graph G differs by at most one from that of K(G), its clique graph. Hedman described examples of a graph G such that diam(K(G)) = diam(G) + 1 and asked in general about the existence of graphs such that diam(Kⁱ(G)) = diam(G) + i. Examples satisfying this equality for i = 2 have been described by Peyrat, Rall, and Slater and independently by Balakrishnan and Paulraja. The authors of the former work also solved the case i = 3 and i = 4 and conjectured that such graphs exist for every positive integer i. The cases i ≥ 5 remained open. In the present article, we prove their conjecture. For each positive integer i, we describe a family of graphs G such that diam(Kⁱ(G)) = diam(G) + i. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J. Graph Theory 28: 147–154, 1998     

Graph norms and Sidorenko’s conjecture

Let H and G be two finite graphs. Define h _H (G) to be the number of homomorphisms from H to G. The function h _H (·) extends in a natural way to a function from the set of symmetric matrices to ℝ such that for A _G , the adjacency matrix of a graph G, we have h _H (A _G ) = h _H (G). Let m be the number of edges of H. It is easy to see that when H is the cycle of length 2n, then h _H (·)^1/m is the 2n-th Schatten-von Neumann norm. We investigate a question of Lovász that asks for a characterization of graphs H for which the function h _H (·)^1/m is a norm.     

Iterated line graphs are maximally ordered

A graph G is k‐ordered if for every ordered sequence of k vertices, there is a cycle in G that encounters the vertices of the sequence in the given order. We prove that if G is a connected graph distinct from a path, then there is a number t_G such that for every t ≥ t_G the t‐iterated line graph of G, L^t (G), is (δ(L^t (G)) + 1)‐ordered. Since there is no graph H which is (δ(H)+2)‐ordered, the result is best possible. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 52: 171–180, 2006     

The wiener index of graphs of arbitrary girth and their line graphs

We consider the invariant W(G) of a simple connected undirected graph G which is equal to the sum of distances between all pairs of its vertices in the natural metric (the Wiener index). We show that, for every g ≥ 5, there is a planar graph G of girth g satisfying W(L(G)) = W(G), where L(G) is the line graph of G.     

The minimum degree of Ramsey‐minimal graphs

We write H → G if every 2‐coloring of the edges of graph H contains a monochromatic copy of graph G. A graph H is G‐minimal if H → G, but for every proper subgraph H′ of H, H′ ? G. We define s(G) to be the minimum s such that there exists a G‐minimal graph with a vertex of degree s. We prove that s(K_k) = (k ? 1)² and s(K_a,b) = 2 min(a,b) ? 1. We also pose several related open problems. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 54: 167–177, 2007     

On connectivities of tree graphs

Let T(G) be the tree graph of a graph G with cycle rank r. Then κ(T(G)) ? m(G) ? r, where κ(T(G)) and m(G) denote the connectivity of T(G) and the length of a minimum cycle basis for G, respectively. Moreover, the lower bound of m(G) ? r is best possible.     

Lower bounds for lower Ramsey numbers

For any graph G, let i(G) and μ;(G) denote the smallest number of vertices in a maximal independent set and maximal clique, respectively. For positive integers m and n, the lower Ramsey number s(m, n) is the largest integer p so that every graph of order p has i(G) ≤ m or μ;(G) ≤ n. In this paper we give several new lower bounds for s (m, n) as well as determine precisely the values s(1, n).     

Minimum degree conditions for -linked graphs

For a fixed multigraph H with vertices w₁,…,w_m, a graph G is H-linked if for every choice of vertices v₁,…,v_m in G, there exists a subdivision of H in G such that v_i is the branch vertex representing w_i (for all i). This generalizes the notions of k-linked, k-connected, and k-ordered graphs.Given a connected multigraph H with k edges and minimum degree at least two and n7.5k, we determine the least integer d such that every n-vertex simple graph with minimum degree at least d is H-linked. This value D(H,n) appears to equal the least integer d^′ such that every n-vertex graph with minimum degree at least d^′ is b(H)-connected, where b(H) is the maximum number of edges in a bipartite subgraph of H.     

Some extremal results in cochromatic and dichromatic theory

For a graph G, the cochromatic number of G, denoted z(G), is the least m for which there is a partition of the vertex set of G having order m. where each part induces a complete or empty graph. We show that if {G_n} is a family of graphs where G_n has o(n² log²(n)) edges, then z(G_n) = o(n). We turn our attention to dichromatic numbers. Given a digraph D, the dichromatic number of D is the minimum number of parts the vertex set of D must be partitioned into so that each part induces an acyclic digraph. Given an (undirected) graph G, the dichromatic number of G, denoted d(G), is the maximum dichromatic number of all orientations of G. Let m be an integer; by d(m) we mean the minimum size of all graphs G where d(G) = m. We show that d(m) = θ(m² ln²(m)).     

Diameters of iterated clique graphs of chordal graphs

The clique graph K(G) of a graph is the intersection graph of maximal cliques of G. The iterated clique graph Kⁿ(G) is inductively defined as K(K^n?1(G)) and K¹(G) = K(G). Let the diameter diam(G) be the greatest distance between all pairs of vertices of G. We show that diam(Kⁿ(G)) = diam(G) — n if G is a connected chordal graph and n ≤ diam(G). This generalizes a similar result for time graphs by Bruce Hedman.     

Steiner Numbers in Graphs

Abstract

The Steiner distance d(S) of a set S of vertices in a connected graph G is the minimum size of a connected subgraph of G that contains S. The Steiner number s(G) of a connected graph G of order p is the smallest positive integer m for which there exists a set S of m vertices of G such that d(S) = p—1. A smallest set S of vertices of a connected graph G of order p for which d(S) = p—1 is called a Steiner spanning set of G. It is shown that every connected graph has a unique Steiner spanning set. If G is a connected graph of order p and k is an integer with 0 ≤ k ≤ p—1, then the kth Steiner number sk(G) of G is the smallest positive integer m for which there exists a set S of m vertices of G such that d(S) = k. The sequence s_o(G),s₁ (G),…,8_p-1(G) is called the Steiner sequence of G. Steiner sequences for trees are characterized.     

On Spanning Disjoint Paths in Line Graphs

Spanning connectivity of graphs has been intensively investigated in the study of interconnection networks (Hsu and Lin, Graph Theory and Interconnection Networks, 2009). For a graph G and an integer s > 0 and for ${u, v \in V(G)}$ with u ≠ v, an (s; u, v)-path-system of G is a subgraph H consisting of s internally disjoint (u,v)-paths. A graph G is spanning s-connected if for any ${u, v \in V(G)}$ with u ≠ v, G has a spanning (s; u, v)-path-system. The spanning connectivity κ*(G) of a graph G is the largest integer s such that G has a spanning (k; u, v)-path-system, for any integer k with 1 ≤ k ≤ s, and for any ${u, v \in V(G)}$ with u ≠ v. An edge counter-part of κ*(G), defined as the supereulerian width of a graph G, has been investigated in Chen et al. (Supereulerian graphs with width s and s-collapsible graphs, 2012). In Catlin and Lai (Graph Theory, Combinatorics, and Applications, vol. 1, pp. 207–222, 1991) proved that if a graph G has 2 edge-disjoint spanning trees, and if L(G) is the line graph of G, then κ*(L(G)) ≥ 2 if and only if κ(L(G)) ≥ 3. In this paper, we extend this result and prove that for any integer k ≥ 2, if G ₀, the core of G, has k edge-disjoint spanning trees, then κ*(L(G)) ≥ k if and only if κ(L(G)) ≥ max{3, k}.     

Connected subgraphs with small degree sums in 3‐connected planar graphs

It is well‐known that every planar graph has a vertex of degree at most five. Kotzig proved that every 3‐connected planar graph has an edge xy such that deg(x) + deg (y) ≤ 13. In this article, considering a similar problem for the case of three or more vertices that induce a connected subgraph, we show that, for a given positive integer t, every 3‐connected planar graph G with |V(G)| ≥ t has a connected subgraph H of order t such that Σ_x∈V(H) deg_G(x) ≤ 8t − 1. As a tool for proving this result, we consider decompositions of 3‐connected planar graphs into connected subgraphs of order at least t and at most 2t − 1. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Graph Theory 30: 191–203, 1999