Enumeration of perfect matchings of graphs with reflective symmetry by Pfaffians

The Pfaffian method enumerating perfect matchings of plane graphs was discovered by Kasteleyn. We use this method to enumerate perfect matchings in a type of graphs with reflective symmetry which is different from the symmetric graphs considered in [J. Combin. Theory Ser. A 77 (1997) 67, MATCH—Commun. Math. Comput. Chem. 48 (2003) 117]. Here are some of our results: (1) If G is a reflective symmetric plane graph without vertices on the symmetry axis, then the number of perfect matchings of G can be expressed by a determinant of order |G|/2, where |G| denotes the number of vertices of G. (2) If G contains no subgraph which is, after the contraction of at most one cycle of odd length, an even subdivision of K_2,3, then the number of perfect matchings of G×K₂ can be expressed by a determinant of order |G|. (3) Let G be a bipartite graph without cycles of length 4s, s{1,2,…}. Then the number of perfect matchings of G×K₂ equals ∏(1+θ²)^m_θ, where the product ranges over all non-negative eigenvalues θ of G and m_θ is the multiplicity of eigenvalue θ. Particularly, if T is a tree then the number of perfect matchings of T×K₂ equals ∏(1+θ²)^m_θ, where the product ranges over all non-negative eigenvalues θ of T and m_θ is the multiplicity of eigenvalue θ.     

Independence and coloring properties of direct products of some vertex-transitive graphs

Let α(G) and χ(G) denote the independence number and chromatic number of a graph G, respectively. Let G×H be the direct product graph of graphs G and H. We show that if G and H are circular graphs, Kneser graphs, or powers of cycles, then α(G×H)=max{α(G)|V(H)|,α(H)|V(G)|} and χ(G×H)=min{χ(G),χ(H)}.     

On the domination number of the cartesian product of the cycle of length n and any graph

Let γ(G) denote the domination number of a graph G and let C_n□G denote the cartesian product of C_n, the cycle of length n?3, and G. In this paper, we are mainly concerned with the question: which connected nontrivial graphs satisfy γ(C_n□G)=γ(C_n)γ(G)? We prove that this equality can only hold if n≡1 (mod 3). In addition, we characterize graphs which satisfy this equality when n=4 and provide infinite classes of graphs for general n≡1 (mod 3).     

On the index of tricyclic graphs with perfect matchings

Let T(2k) be the set of all tricyclic graphs on 2k(k?2) vertices with perfect matchings. In this paper, we discuss some properties of the connected graphs with perfect matchings, and then determine graphs with the largest index in T(2k).     

On Optimal Orientations of Cartesian Products of Trees

. Let d(D) (resp., d(G)) denote the diameter and r(D) (resp., r(G)) the radius of a digraph D (resp., graph G). Let G×H denote the cartesian product of two graphs G and H. An orientation D of G is said to be (r, d)-invariant if r(D)=r(G) and d(D)=d(G). Let {T _i }, i=1,…,n, where n≥2, be a family of trees. In this paper, we show that the graph ∏ _{i =1} ⁿ T _i admits an (r, d)-invariant orientation provided that d(T ₁)≥d(T ₂)≥4 for n=2, and d(T ₁)≥5 and d(T ₂)≥4 for n≥3. Received: July 30, 1997 Final version received: April 20, 1998     

Unicyclic graphs with bicyclic inverses

A graph is nonsingular if its adjacency matrix A(G) is nonsingular. The inverse of a nonsingular graph G is a graph whose adjacency matrix is similar to A(G)^?1 via a particular type of similarity. Let H denote the class of connected bipartite graphs with unique perfect matchings. Tifenbach and Kirkland (2009) characterized the unicyclic graphs in H which possess unicyclic inverses. We present a characterization of unicyclic graphs in H which possess bicyclic inverses.     

Hamiltonicity and pancyclicity of cartesian products of graphs

The cartesian product of a graph G with K₂ is called a prism over G. We extend known conditions for hamiltonicity and pancyclicity of the prism over a graph G to the cartesian product of G with paths, cycles, cliques and general graphs. In particular we give results involving cubic graphs and almost claw-free graphs.We also prove the following: Let G and H be two connected graphs. Let both G and H have a 2-factor. If Δ(G)≤g^′(H) and Δ(H)≤g^′(G) (we denote by g^′(F) the length of a shortest cycle in a 2-factor of a graph F taken over all 2-factorization of F), then G□H is hamiltonian.     

The Terwilliger algebra of a distance-regular graph of negative type

Let Γ denote a distance-regular graph with diameter D?3. Assume Γ has classical parameters (D,b,α,β) with b<-1. Let X denote the vertex set of Γ and let A∈Mat_X(C) denote the adjacency matrix of Γ. Fix x∈X and let A^∗∈Mat_X(C) denote the corresponding dual adjacency matrix. Let T denote the subalgebra of Mat_X(C) generated by A,A^∗. We call T the Terwilliger algebra of Γ with respect to x. We show that up to isomorphism there exist exactly two irreducible T-modules with endpoint 1; their dimensions are D and 2D-2. For these T-modules we display a basis consisting of eigenvectors for A^∗, and for each basis we give the action of A.     

Maximum nullity of outerplanar graphs and the path cover number

Let G=(V,E) be a graph with V={1,2,…,n}. Define S(G) as the set of all n×n real-valued symmetric matrices A=[a_ij] with a_ij≠0,i≠j if and only if ij∈E. By M(G) we denote the largest possible nullity of any matrix A∈S(G). The path cover number of a graph G, denoted P(G), is the minimum number of vertex disjoint paths occurring as induced subgraphs of G which cover all the vertices of G.There has been some success with relating the path cover number of a graph to its maximum nullity. Johnson and Duarte [5], have shown that for a tree T,M(T)=P(T). Barioli et al. [2], show that for a unicyclic graph G,M(G)=P(G) or M(G)=P(G)-1. Notice that both families of graphs are outerplanar. We show that for any outerplanar graph G,M(G)?P(G). Further we show that for any partial 2-path G,M(G)=P(G).     

A Property About Minimum Edge- and Minimum Clique-Cover of a Graph

 Let G be a graph with n vertices, and denote as γ(G) (as θ(G)) the cardinality of a minimum edge cover (of a minimum clique cover) of G. Let E (let C) be the edge-vertex (the clique-vertex) incidence matrix of G; write then P(E)={x∈ℜ ⁿ :Ex≤1,x≥0}, P(C)={x∈ℜ ⁿ :Cx≤1,x≥0}, α _E (G)=max{1 ^T x subject to x∈P(E)}, and α _C (G)= max{1 ^T x subject to x∈P(C)}. In this paper we prove that if α _E (G)=α _C (G), then γ(G)=θ(G). Received: May 20, 1998?Final version received: April 12, 1999     

On forcing matching number of boron-nitrogen fullerene graphs

Let G be a graph that admits a perfect matching M. A forcing set S for a perfect matching M is a subset of M such that it is contained in no other perfect matchings of G. The smallest cardinality of forcing sets of M is called the forcing number of M. Computing the minimum forcing number of perfect matchings of a graph is an NP-complete problem. In this paper, we consider boron-nitrogen (BN) fullerene graphs, cubic 3-connected plane bipartite graphs with exactly six square faces and other hexagonal faces. We obtain the forcing spectrum of tubular BN-fullerene graphs with cyclic edge-connectivity 3. Then we show that all perfect matchings of any BN-fullerene graphs have the forcing number at least two. Furthermore, we mainly construct all seven BN-fullerene graphs with the minimum forcing number two.     

Chromatic number, clique subdivisions, and the conjectures of Hajós and Erdős-Fajtlowicz

For a graph G, let χ(G) denote its chromatic number and σ(G) denote the order of the largest clique subdivision in G. Let H(n) be the maximum of χ(G)=σ(G) over all n-vertex graphs G. A famous conjecture of Hajós from 1961 states that σ(G) ≥ χ(G) for every graph G. That is, H(n)≤1 for all positive integers n. This conjecture was disproved by Catlin in 1979. Erd?s and Fajtlowicz further showed by considering a random graph that H(n)≥cn ^1/2/logn for some absolute constant c>0. In 1981 they conjectured that this bound is tight up to a constant factor in that there is some absolute constant C such that χ(G)=σ(G) ≤ Cn ^1/2/logn for all n-vertex graphs G. In this paper we prove the Erd?s-Fajtlowicz conjecture. The main ingredient in our proof, which might be of independent interest, is an estimate on the order of the largest clique subdivision which one can find in every graph on n vertices with independence number α.     

Representability and Specht problem for G-graded algebras

Let W be an associative PI-algebra over a field F of characteristic zero, graded by a finite group G. Let idG(W) denote the T-ideal of G-graded identities of W. We prove: 1. [G-graded PI-equivalence] There exists a field extension K of F and a finite-dimensional Z/2Z×G-graded algebra A over K such that idG(W)=idG(A^∗) where A^∗ is the Grassmann envelope of A. 2. [G-graded Specht problem] The T-ideal idG(W) is finitely generated as a T-ideal. 3. [G-graded PI-equivalence for affine algebras] Let W be a G-graded affine algebra over F. Then there exists a field extension K of F and a finite-dimensional algebra A over K such that idG(W)=idG(A).     

Well-covered graphs and factors

A maximum independent set of vertices in a graph is a set of pairwise nonadjacent vertices of largest cardinality α. Plummer [Some covering concepts in graphs, J. Combin. Theory 8 (1970) 91-98] defined a graph to be well-covered, if every independent set is contained in a maximum independent set of G. Every well-covered graph G without isolated vertices has a perfect [1,2]-factor F_G, i.e. a spanning subgraph such that each component is 1-regular or 2-regular. Here, we characterize all well-covered graphs G satisfying α(G)=α(F_G) for some perfect [1,2]-factor F_G. This class contains all well-covered graphs G without isolated vertices of order n with α?(n-1)/2, and in particular all very well-covered graphs.     

Distance-hereditary graphs are clique-perfect

In this paper, we show that the clique-transversal number τ_C(G) and the clique-independence number α_C(G) are equal for any distance-hereditary graph G. As a byproduct of proving that τ_C(G)=α_C(G), we give a linear-time algorithm to find a minimum clique-transversal set and a maximum clique-independent set simultaneously for distance-hereditary graphs.     

Independence polynomials of k-tree related graphs

An independent set of a graph G is a set of pairwise non-adjacent vertices. Let α(G) denote the cardinality of a maximum independent set and f_s(G) for 0≤s≤α(G) denote the number of independent sets of s vertices. The independence polynomial defined first by Gutman and Harary has been the focus of considerable research recently. Wingard bounded the coefficients f_s(T) for trees T with n vertices: for s≥2. We generalize this result to bounds for a very large class of graphs, maximal k-degenerate graphs, a class which includes all k-trees. Additionally, we characterize all instances where our bounds are achieved, and determine exactly the independence polynomials of several classes of k-tree related graphs. Our main theorems generalize several related results known before.     

Generalizing D-graphs

Let ω₀(G) denote the number of odd components of a graph G. The deficiency of G is defined as def(G)=max_X⊆V(G)(ω₀(G-X)-|X|), and this equals the number of vertices unmatched by any maximum matching of G. A subset X⊆V(G) is called a Tutte set (or barrier set) of G if def(G)=ω₀(G-X)-|X|, and an extreme set if def(G-X)=def(G)+|X|. Recently a graph operator, called the D-graph D(G), was defined that has proven very useful in examining Tutte sets and extreme sets of graphs which contain a perfect matching. In this paper we give two natural and related generalizations of the D-graph operator to all simple graphs, both of which have analogues for many of the interesting and useful properties of the original.     

Some results on the spectral radii of bicyclic graphs

A bicyclic graph is a connected graph in which the number of edges equals the number of vertices plus one. Let Δ(G) and ρ(G) denote the maximum degree and the spectral radius of a graph G, respectively. Let B(n) be the set of bicyclic graphs on n vertices, and B(n,Δ)={G∈B(n)∣Δ(G)=Δ}. When Δ≥(n+3)/2 we characterize the graph which alone maximizes the spectral radius among all the graphs in B(n,Δ). It is also proved that for two graphs G₁ and G₂ in B(n), if Δ(G₁)>Δ(G₂) and Δ(G₁)≥⌈7n/9⌉+9, then ρ(G₁)>ρ(G₂).     

On tricyclic graphs of a given diameter with minimal energy

The energy of a graph is defined as the sum of the absolute values of all the eigenvalues of the graph. Let G(n,d) be the class of tricyclic graphs G on n vertices with diameter d and containing no vertex disjoint odd cycles C_p,C_q of lengths p and q with p+q≡2(mod4). In this paper, we characterize the graphs with minimal energy in G(n,d).     

On a general class of graph polynomials

Let $\text{F}$ be a family of connected graphs. With each element α ∈ $\text{F}$, we can associate a weight w_α. Let G be a graph. An F-cover of G is a spanning subgraph of G in which every component belongs to $\text{F}$. With every F-cover we can associate a monomial π(C) = Π_αw_α, where the product is taken over all components of the cover. The F-polynomial of G is Σπ(C), where the sum is taken over all F-covers in G. We obtain general results for the complete graph and complete bipartite graphs, and we show that many of the well-known graph polynomials are special cases of more general F-polynomials.