Degree sum and connectivity conditions for dominating cycles

For a graph G, let σ_k(G) be the minimum degree sum of an independent set of k vertices. Ore showed that if G is a graph of order n?3 with σ₂(G)?n then G is hamiltonian. Let κ(G) be the connectivity of a graph G. Bauer, Broersma, Li and Veldman proved that if G is a 2-connected graph on n vertices with σ₃(G)?n+κ(G), then G is hamiltonian. On the other hand, Bondy showed that if G is a 2-connected graph on n vertices with σ₃(G)?n+2, then each longest cycle of G is a dominating cycle. In this paper, we prove that if G is a 3-connected graph on n vertices with σ₄(G)?n+κ(G)+3, then G contains a longest cycle which is a dominating cycle.     

Removable matchings and hamiltonian cycles

For a graph G, let σ₂(G) denote the minimum degree sum of two nonadjacent vertices (when G is complete, we let σ₂(G)=∞). In this paper, we show the following two results: (i) Let G be a graph of order n≥4k+3 with σ₂(G)≥n and let F be a matching of size k in G such that G−F is 2-connected. Then G−F is hamiltonian or G≅K₂+(K₂∪K_n−4) or ; (ii) Let G be a graph of order n≥16k+1 with σ₂(G)≥n and let F be a set of k edges of G such that G−F is hamiltonian. Then G−F is either pancyclic or bipartite. Examples show that first result is the best possible.     

Long cycles in graphs without hamiltonian paths

For a graph G, p(G) and c(G) denote the order of a longest path and a longest cycle of G, respectively. Bondy and Locke [J.A. Bondy, S.C. Locke, Relative length of paths and cycles in 3-connected graphs, Discrete Math. 33 (1981) 111-122] consider the gap between p(G) and c(G) in 3-connected graphs G. Starting with this result, there are many results appeared in this context, see [H. Enomoto, J. van den Heuvel, A. Kaneko, A. Saito, Relative length of long paths and cycles in graphs with large degree sums, J. Graph Theory 20 (1995) 213-225; M. Lu, H. Liu, F. Tian, Relative length of longest paths and cycles in graphs, Graphs Combin. 23 (2007) 433-443; K. Ozeki, M. Tsugaki, T. Yamashita, On relative length of longest paths and cycles, preprint; I. Schiermeyer, M. Tewes, Longest paths and longest cycles in graphs with large degree sums, Graphs Combin. 18 (2002) 633-643]. In this paper, we investigate graphs G with p(G)−c(G) at most 1 or at most 2, but with no hamiltonian paths. Let G be a 2-connected graph of order n, which has no hamiltonian paths. We show two results as follows: (i) if , then p(G)−c(G)≤1, and (ii) if σ₄(G)≥n+3, then p(G)−c(G)≤2.     

On degree sum conditions for long cycles and cycles through specified vertices

Let G be a graph. For S⊂V(G), let Δ_k(S) denote the maximum value of the degree sums of the subsets of S of order k. In this paper, we prove the following two results. (1) Let G be a 2-connected graph. If Δ₂(S)≥d for every independent set S of order κ(G)+1, then G has a cycle of length at least min{d,|V(G)|}. (2) Let G be a 2-connected graph and X a subset of V(G). If Δ₂(S)≥|V(G)| for every independent set S of order κ(X)+1 in G[X], then G has a cycle that includes every vertex of X. This suggests that the degree sum of nonadjacent two vertices is important for guaranteeing the existence of these cycles.     

Edge degrees and dominating cycles

The edge degree d(e) of the edge e=uv is defined as the number of neighbours of e, i.e., |N(u)∪N(v)|-2. Two edges are called remote if they are disjoint and there is no edge joining them. In this article, we prove that in a 2-connected graph G, if d(e₁)+d(e₂)>|V(G)|-4 for any remote edges e₁,e₂, then all longest cycles C in G are dominating, i.e., G-V(C) is edgeless. This lower bound is best possible.As a corollary, it holds that if G is a 2-connected triangle-free graph with σ₂(G)>|V(G)|/2, then all longest cycles are dominating.     

Subpancyclicity of line graphs and degree sums along paths

A graph is called subpancyclic if it contains a cycle of length ? for each ? between 3 and the circumference of the graph. We show that if G is a connected graph on n?146 vertices such that d(u)+d(v)+d(x)+d(y)>(n+10/2) for all four vertices u,v,x,y of any path P=uvxy in G, then the line graph L(G) is subpancyclic, unless G is isomorphic to an exceptional graph. Moreover, we show that this result is best possible, even under the assumption that L(G) is hamiltonian. This improves earlier sufficient conditions by a multiplicative factor rather than an additive constant.     

Finding large cycles in Hamiltonian graphs

We show how to find in Hamiltonian graphs a cycle of length n^{Ω(1/loglogn)}=exp(Ω(logn/loglogn)). This is a consequence of a more general result in which we show that if G has a maximum degree d and has a cycle with k vertices (or a 3-cyclable minor H with k vertices), then we can find in O(n³) time a cycle in G of length k^Ω(1/logd). From this we infer that if G has a cycle of length k, then one can find in O(n³) time a cycle of length k^{Ω(1/(log(n/k)+loglogn))}, which implies the result for Hamiltonian graphs. Our results improve, for some values of k and d, a recent result of Gabow (2004) [11] showing that if G has a cycle of length k, then one can find in polynomial time a cycle in G of length . We finally show that if G has fixed Euler genus g and has a cycle with k vertices (or a 3-cyclable minor H with k vertices), then we can find in polynomial time a cycle in G of length f(g)k^Ω(1), running in time O(n²) for planar graphs.     

A degree sum condition for long cycles passing through a linear forest

Let G be a (k+m)-connected graph and F be a linear forest in G such that |E(F)|=m and F has at most k-2 components of order 1, where k?2 and m?0. In this paper, we prove that if every independent set S of G with |S|=k+1 contains two vertices whose degree sum is at least d, then G has a cycle C of length at least min{d-m,|V(G)|} which contains all the vertices and edges of F.     

Edge-dominating cycles in graphs

A set S of vertices in a graph G is said to be an edge-dominating set if every edge in G is incident with a vertex in S. A cycle in G is said to be a dominating cycle if its vertex set is an edge-dominating set. Nash-Williams [Edge-disjoint hamiltonian circuits in graphs with vertices of large valency, Studies in Pure Mathematics, Academic Press, London, 1971, pp. 157-183] has proved that every longest cycle in a 2-connected graph of order n and minimum degree at least is a dominating cycle. In this paper, we prove that for a prescribed positive integer k, under the same minimum degree condition, if n is sufficiently large and if we take k disjoint cycles so that they contain as many vertices as possible, then these cycles form an edge-dominating set. Nash-Williams’ Theorem corresponds to the case of k=1 of this result.     

Finding minimum dominating cycles in permutation graphs

A dominating cycle for a graph G = (V, E) is a subset C of V which has the following properties: (i) the subgraph of G induced by C has a Hamiltonian cycle, and (ii) every vertex of V is adjacent to some vertex of C. In this paper, we develop an O(n²) algorithm for finding a minimum cardinality dominating cycle in a permutation graph. We also show that a minimum cardinality dominating cycle in a permutation graph always has an even number of vertices unless it is isomorphic to C₃.     

An upper bound on the domination number of a graph with minimum degree 2

A set S of vertices in a graph G is a dominating set of G if every vertex of V(G)?S is adjacent to some vertex in S. The minimum cardinality of a dominating set of G is the domination number of G, denoted as γ(G). Let P_n and C_n denote a path and a cycle, respectively, on n vertices. Let k₁(F) and k₂(F) denote the number of components of a graph F that are isomorphic to a graph in the family {P₃,P₄,P₅,C₅} and {P₁,P₂}, respectively. Let L be the set of vertices of G of degree more than 2, and let G−L be the graph obtained from G by deleting the vertices in L and all edges incident with L. McCuaig and Shepherd [W. McCuaig, B. Shepherd, Domination in graphs with minimum degree two, J. Graph Theory 13 (1989) 749-762] showed that if G is a connected graph of order n≥8 with δ(G)≥2, then γ(G)≤2n/5, while Reed [B.A. Reed, Paths, stars and the number three, Combin. Probab. Comput. 5 (1996) 277-295] showed that if G is a graph of order n with δ(G)≥3, then γ(G)≤3n/8. As an application of Reed’s result, we show that if G is a graph of order n≥14 with δ(G)≥2, then .     

Large cycles in 4-connected graphs

The first result states that every 4-connected graph G with minimum degree δ and connectivity κ either contains a cycle of length at least 4δ−κ−4 or every longest cycle in G is a dominating cycle. The second result states that any such graph under the additional condition δ≥α either contains a cycle of length at least 4δ−κ−4 or is hamiltonian, where α denotes the independence number of G. Both results are sharp in all respects.     

Hamiltonicity of 4-connected graphs

Let σk（G） denote the minimum degree sum of k independent vertices in G and α（G） denote the number of the vertices of a maximum independent set of G. In this paper we prove that if G is a 4-connected graph of order n and σ5（G） 〉 n ＋ 3σ（G） ＋ 11, then G is Hamiltonian.     

Hamilton cycles in claw-heavy graphs

A graph G on n≥3 vertices is called claw-heavy if every induced claw (K_1,3) of G has a pair of nonadjacent vertices such that their degree sum is at least n. In this paper we show that a claw-heavy graph G has a Hamilton cycle if we impose certain additional conditions on G involving numbers of common neighbors of some specific pair of nonadjacent vertices, or forbidden induced subgraphs. Our results extend two previous theorems of Broersma, Ryjá?ek and Schiermeyer [H.J. Broersma, Z. Ryjá?ek, I. Schiermeyer, Dirac’s minimum degree condition restricted to claws, Discrete Math. 167-168 (1997) 155-166], on the existence of Hamilton cycles in 2-heavy graphs.     

A fast parallel algorithm for finding Hamiltonian cycles in dense graphs

Suppose that 0<η<1 is given. We call a graph, G, on n vertices an η-Chvátal graph if its degree sequence d₁≤d₂≤?≤d_n satisfies: for k<n/2, d_k≤min{k+ηn,n/2} implies d_n−k−ηn≥n−k. (Thus for η=0 we get the well-known Chvátal graphs.) An -algorithm is presented which accepts as input an η-Chvátal graph and produces a Hamiltonian cycle in G as an output. This is a significant improvement on the previous best -algorithm for the problem, which finds a Hamiltonian cycle only in Dirac graphs (δ(G)≥n/2 where δ(G) is the minimum degree in G).     

A degree sum condition for graphs to be prism hamiltonian

Win, in 1975, and Jackson and Wormald, in 1990, found the best sufficient conditions on the degree sum of a graph to guarantee the properties of “having a k-tree” and “having a k-walk”, respectively. The property of “being prism hamiltonian” is an intermediate property between “having a 2-tree” and “having a 2-walk”. Thus, it is natural to ask what is the best degree sum condition for graphs to be prism hamiltonian. As an answer to this problem, in this paper, we show that a connected graph G of order n with σ₃(G)≥n is prism hamiltonian. The degree sum condition “σ₃(G)≥n” is best possible.     

A generalization of Tutte’s theorem on Hamiltonian cycles in planar graphs

In 1956, W.T. Tutte proved that a 4-connected planar graph is hamiltonian. Moreover, in 1997, D.P. Sanders extended this to the result that a 4-connected planar graph contains a hamiltonian cycle through any two of its edges. We prove that a planar graph G has a cycle containing a given subset X of its vertex set and any two prescribed edges of the subgraph of G induced by X if |X|≥3 and if X is 4-connected in G. If X=V(G) then Sanders’ result follows.     

Degree sum conditions for oriented forests in digraphs

Let F be an oriented forest with n vertices and m arcs and D be a digraph without loops and multiple arcs. In this note we prove that D contains a subdigraph isomorphic to F if D has at least n vertices and min{d⁺(u)+d⁺(v),d⁻(u)+d⁻(v),d⁺(u)+d⁻(v)}≥2m−1 for every pair of vertices u,v∈V(D) with uv∉A(D). This is a common generalization of two results of Babu and Diwan, one on the existence of forests in graphs under a degree sum condition and the other on the existence of oriented forests in digraphs under a minimum degree condition.     

Pan-H-Linked Graphs

Let H be a multigraph, possibly containing loops. An H-subdivision is any simple graph obtained by replacing the edges of H with paths of arbitrary length. Let H be an arbitrary multigraph of order k, size m, n ₀(H) isolated vertices and n ₁(H) vertices of degree one. In Gould and Whalen (Graphs Comb. 23:165–182, 2007) it was shown that if G is a simple graph of order n containing an H-subdivision H{\mathcal{H}} and d(G) 3 \fracn+m-k+n₁(H)+2n₀(H)2{\delta(G) \ge \frac{n+m-k+n_1(H)+2n_0(H)}{2}}, then G contains a spanning H-subdivision with the same ground set as H{\mathcal{H}} . As a corollary to this result, the authors were able to obtain Dirac’s famed theorem on hamiltonian graphs; namely that if G is a graph of order n ≥ 3 with d(G) 3 \fracn2{\delta(G)\ge\frac{n}{2}} , then G is hamiltonian. Bondy (J. Comb. Theory Ser. B 11:80–84, 1971) extended Dirac’s theorem by showing that if G satisfied the condition d(G) 3 \fracn2{\delta(G) \ge \frac{n}{2}} then G was either pancyclic or a complete bipartite graph. In this paper, we extend the result from Gould and Whalen (Graphs Comb. 23:165–182, 2007) in a similar manner. An H-subdivision H{\mathcal{H}} in G is 1-extendible if there exists an H-subdivision H^*{\mathcal{H}^{*}} with the same ground set as H{\mathcal{H}} and |H^*| = |H| + 1{|\mathcal{H}^{*}| = |\mathcal{H}| + 1} . If every H-subdivision in G is 1-extendible, then G is pan-H-linked. We demonstrate that if H is sufficiently dense and G is a graph of large enough order n such that d(G) 3 \fracn+m-k+n₁(H)+2n₀(H)2{\delta(G) \ge \frac{n+m-k+n_1(H)+2n_0(H)}{2}} , then G is pan-H-linked. This result is sharp.     

Wide diameter of Cartesian graph bundles

Fault tolerance and transmission delay of networks are important concepts in network design. The notions are strongly related to connectivity and diameter of a graph, and have been studied by many authors. Wide diameter of a graph combines studying connectivity with the diameter of a graph. Diameter with width k of a graph G, k-diameter, is defined as the minimum integer d for which there exist at least k internally disjoint paths of length at most d between any two distinct vertices in G. Denote by D_c(G) the c-diameter of G and κ(G) the connectivity of G. In the context of computer networks, wide diameters of Cartesian graph products have been recently studied by many authors. Cartesian graph bundles is a class of graphs that is a generalization of the Cartesian graph products. Let G be a Cartesian graph bundle with fiber F over base B, 0<a≤κ(F), and 0<b≤κ(B). We prove that D_a+b(G)≤D_a(F)+D_b(B)+1. Moreover, if G is a graph bundle with fiber F≠K₂ over base B≠K₂, then D_a+b(G)≤D_a(F)+D_b(B). The bounds are tight.