Hamiltonian cycles in n‐extendable graphs

A graph G of order at least 2n+2 is said to be n‐extendable if G has a perfect matching and every set of n independent edges extends to a perfect matching in G. We prove that every pair of nonadjacent vertices x and y in a connected n‐extendable graph of order p satisfy deg_G x+deg_G y ≥ p ? n ? 1, then either G is hamiltonian or G is isomorphic to one of two exceptional graphs. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 40: 75–82, 2002     

Hamilton paths and cycles in vertex-transitive graphs of order

It is shown that every connected vertex-transitive graph of order 6p, where p is a prime, contains a Hamilton path. Moreover, it is shown that, except for the truncation of the Petersen graph, every connected vertex-transitive graph of order 6p which is not genuinely imprimitive contains a Hamilton cycle.     

Solution of a conjecture of Tewes and Volkmann regarding extendable cycles in in‐tournaments

A directed cycle C of a digraph D is extendable if there exists a directed cycle C′ in D that contains all vertices of C and an additional one. In 1989, Hendry defined a digraph D to be cycle extendable if it contains a directed cycle and every non‐Hamiltonian directed cycle of D is extendable. Furthermore, D is fully cycle extendable if it is cycle extendable and every vertex of D belongs to a directed cycle of length three. In 2001, Tewes and Volkmann extended these definitions in considering only directed cycles whose length exceed a certain bound 3≤k<n: a digraph D is k ‐extendable if every directed cycle of length t, where k≤t<n, is extendable. Moreover, D is called fully k ‐extendable if D is k ‐extendable and every vertex of D belongs to a directed cycle of length k. An in‐tournament is an oriented graph such that the in‐neighborhood of every vertex induces a tournament. This class of digraphs which generalizes the class of tournaments was introduced by Bang‐Jensen, Huang and Prisner in 1993. Tewes and Volkmann showed that every connected in‐tournament D of order n with minimum degree δ≥1 is ( ) ‐extendable. Furthermore, if D is a strongly connected in‐tournament of order n with minimum degree δ=2 or , then D is fully ( ) ‐extendable. In this article we shall see that if , every vertex of D belongs to a directed cycle of length , which means that D is fully ( ) ‐extendable. This confirms a conjecture of Tewes and Volkmann. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 63: 82–92, 2010     

Hamilton connectivity of line graphs and claw‐free graphs

Let G be a graph and let V₀ = {ν∈ V(G): d_G(ν) = 6}. We show in this paper that: (i) if G is a 6‐connected line graph and if |V₀| ≤ 29 or G[V₀] contains at most 5 vertex disjoint K₄'s, then G is Hamilton‐connected; (ii) every 8‐connected claw‐free graph is Hamilton‐connected. Several related results known before are generalized. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory     

On the extendability of certain semi-Cayley graphs of finite abelian groups

A connected graph Γ with at least 2n+2 vertices is said to be n-extendable if every matching of size n in Γ can be extended to a perfect matching. The aim of this paper is to study the 1-extendability and 2-extendability of certain semi-Cayley graphs of finite abelian groups, and the classification of connected 2-extendable semi-Cayley graphs of finite abelian groups is given. Thus the 1-extendability and 2-extendability of Cayley graphs of non-abelian groups which can be realized as such semi-Cayley graphs of abelian groups can be deduced. In particular, the 1-extendability and 2-extendability of connected Cayley graphs of generalized dicyclic groups and generalized dihedral groups are characterized.     

Thomassen's conjecture implies polynomiality of 1‐Hamilton‐connectedness in line graphs

A graph G is 1‐Hamilton‐connected if G?x is Hamilton‐connected for every x∈V(G), and G is 2‐edge‐Hamilton‐connected if the graph G+ X has a hamiltonian cycle containing all edges of X for any X?E⁺(G) = {xy| x, y∈V(G)} with 1≤|X|≤2. We prove that Thomassen's conjecture (every 4‐connected line graph is hamiltonian, or, equivalently, every snark has a dominating cycle) is equivalent to the statements that every 4‐connected line graph is 1‐Hamilton‐connected and/or 2‐edge‐Hamilton‐connected. As a corollary, we obtain that Thomassen's conjecture implies polynomiality of both 1‐Hamilton‐connectedness and 2‐edge‐Hamilton‐connectedness in line graphs. Consequently, proving that 1‐Hamilton‐connectedness is NP‐complete in line graphs would disprove Thomassen's conjecture, unless P = NP. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 69: 241–250, 2012     

Hourglasses and Hamilton cycles in 4‐connected claw‐free graphs

We show that if G is a 4‐connected claw‐free graph in which every induced hourglass subgraph S contains two non‐adjacent vertices with a common neighbor outside S, then G is hamiltonian. This extends the fact that 4‐connected claw‐free, hourglass‐free graphs are hamiltonian, thus proving a broader special case of a conjecture by Matthews and Sumner. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 48: 267–276, 2005     

Hamilton cycles in strong products of graphs

We prove that the strong product of any n connected graphs of maximum degree at most n contains a Hamilton cycle. In particular, G^Δ(G) is hamiltonian for each connected graph G, which answers in affirmative a conjecture of Bermond, Germa, and Heydemann. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 48: 299–321, 2005     

Hamilton cycle rich two‐factorizations of complete graphs

For all integers n ≥ 5, it is shown that the graph obtained from the n‐cycle by joining vertices at distance 2 has a 2‐factorization is which one 2‐factor is a Hamilton cycle, and the other is isomorphic to any given 2‐regular graph of order n. This result is used to prove several results on 2‐factorizations of the complete graph K_n of order n. For example, it is shown that for all odd n ≥ 11, K_n has a 2‐factorization in which three of the 2‐factors are isomorphic to any three given 2‐regular graphs of order n, and the remaining 2‐factors are Hamilton cycles. For any two given 2‐regular graphs of even order n, the corresponding result is proved for the graph K_n ‐ I obtained from the complete graph by removing the edges of a 1‐factor. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Nowhere‐zero 3‐flows in products of graphs

A graph G is an odd‐circuit tree if every block of G is an odd length circuit. It is proved in this paper that the product of every pair of graphs G and H admits a nowhere‐zero 3‐flow unless G is an odd‐circuit tree and H has a bridge. This theorem is a partial result to the Tutte's 3‐flow conjecture and generalizes a result by Imrich and Skrekovski [7] that the product of two bipartite graphs admits a nowhere‐zero 3‐flow. A byproduct of this theorem is that every bridgeless Cayley graph G = Cay(Γ,S) on an abelian group Γ with a minimal generating set S admits a nowhere‐zero 3‐flow except for odd prisms. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory     

Approximate Hamilton decompositions of random graphs

We show that if pn ? log n the binomial random graph G_n,p has an approximate Hamilton decomposition. More precisely, we show that in this range G_n,p contains a set of edge‐disjoint Hamilton cycles covering almost all of its edges. This is best possible in the sense that the condition that pn ? log n is necessary. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Random Struct. Alg., 2012     

Tetravalent half‐edge‐transitive graphs and non‐normal Cayley graphs

Let X be a vertex‐transitive graph, that is, the automorphism group Aut(X) of X is transitive on the vertex set of X. The graph X is said to be symmetric if Aut(X) is transitive on the arc set of X. suppose that Aut(X) has two orbits of the same length on the arc set of X. Then X is said to be half‐arc‐transitive or half‐edge‐transitive if Aut(X) has one or two orbits on the edge set of X, respectively. Stabilizers of symmetric and half‐arc‐transitive graphs have been investigated by many authors. For example, see Tutte [Canad J Math 11 (1959), 621–624] and Conder and Maru?i? [J Combin Theory Ser B 88 (2003), 67–76]. It is trivial to construct connected tetravalent symmetric graphs with arbitrarily large stabilizers, and by Maru?i? [Discrete Math 299 (2005), 180–193], connected tetravalent half‐arc‐transitive graphs can have arbitrarily large stabilizers. In this article, we show that connected tetravalent half‐edge‐transitive graphs can also have arbitrarily large stabilizers. A Cayley graph Cay(G, S) on a group G is said to be normal if the right regular representation R(G) of G is normal in Aut(Cay(G, S)). There are only a few known examples of connected tetravalent non‐normal Cayley graphs on non‐abelian simple groups. In this article, we give a sufficient condition for non‐normal Cayley graphs and by using the condition, infinitely many connected tetravalent non‐normal Cayley graphs are constructed. As an application, all connected tetravalent non‐normal Cayley graphs on the alternating group A₆ are determined. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory     

On Symmetric Cayley Graphs of Valency Eleven

A Cayley graph Γ=Cay(G,S)is said to be normal if G is normal in Aut Γ.In this paper,we investigate the normality problem of the connected 11-valent symmetric Cayley graphs Γ of finite nonabelian simple groups G,where the vertex stabilizer Av is soluble for A=Aut Γ and v ∈ VΓ.We prove that either Γ is normal or G=A5,A10,A54,A274,A549 or A1099.Further,11-valent symmetric nonnormal Cayley graphs of A5,A54 and A274 are constructed.This provides some more examples of nonnormal 11-valent symmetric Cayley graphs of finite nonabelian simple groups after the first graph of this kind(of valency 11)was constructed by Fang,Ma and Wang in 2011.     

Hamilton weights and Petersen minors*

A (1, 2)‐eulerian weight w of a cubic graph is called a Hamilton weight if every faithful circuit cover of the graph with respect to w is a set of two Hamilton circuits. Let G be a 3‐connected cubic graph containing no Petersen minor. It is proved in this paper that G admits a Hamilton weight if and only if G can be obtained from K₄ by a series of Δ?Y‐operations. As a byproduct of the proof of the main theorem, we also prove that if G is a permutation graph and w is a (1,2)‐eulerian weight of G such that (G, w) is a critical contra pair, then the Petersen minor appears “almost everywhere” in the graph G. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Graph Theory 38: 197–219, 2001     

Symmetric Hamilton cycle decompositions of complete graphs minus a 1‐factor

Let n≥2 be an integer. The complete graph K_n with a 1‐factor F removed has a decomposition into Hamilton cycles if and only if n is even. We show that K_n−F has a decomposition into Hamilton cycles which are symmetric with respect to the 1‐factor F if and only if n≡2, 4 mod 8. We also show that the complete bipartite graph K_{n, n} has a symmetric Hamilton cycle decomposition if and only if n is even, and that if F is a 1‐factor of K_{n, n}, then K_{n, n}−F has a symmetric Hamilton cycle decomposition if and only if n is odd. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Combin Designs 19:1‐15, 2010     

On cubic non‐Cayley vertex‐transitive graphs

In 1983, the second author [D. Maru?i?, Ars Combinatoria 16B (1983), 297–302] asked for which positive integers n there exists a non‐Cayley vertex‐transitive graph on n vertices. (The term non‐Cayley numbers has later been given to such integers.) Motivated by this problem, Feng [Discrete Math 248 (2002), 265–269] asked to determine the smallest valency ?(n) among valencies of non‐Cayley vertex‐transitive graphs of order n. As cycles are clearly Cayley graphs, ?(n)?3 for any non‐Cayley number n. In this paper a goal is set to determine those non‐Cayley numbers n for which ?(n) = 3, and among the latter to determine those for which the generalized Petersen graphs are the only non‐Cayley vertex‐transitive graphs of order n. It is known that for a prime p every vertex‐transitive graph of order p, p² or p³ is a Cayley graph, and that, with the exception of the Coxeter graph, every cubic non‐Cayley vertex‐transitive graph of order 2p, 4p or 2p² is a generalized Petersen graph. In this paper the next natural step is taken by proving that every cubic non‐Cayley vertex‐transitive graph of order 4p², p>7 a prime, is a generalized Petersen graph. In addition, cubic non‐Cayley vertex‐transitive graphs of order 2p^k, where p>7 is a prime and k?p, are characterized. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 69: 77–95, 2012     

Locally petersen graphs

A graph Γ is locally Petersen if, for each point t of Γ, the graph induced by Γ on all points adjacent to t is isomorphic to the Petersen graph. We prove that there are exactly three isomorphism classes of connected, locally Petersen graphs and further characterize these graphs by certain of their parameters.     

3‐Factor‐Criticality of Vertex‐Transitive Graphs

A graph of order n is p ‐factor‐critical, where p is an integer of the same parity as n, if the removal of any set of p vertices results in a graph with a perfect matching. 1‐factor‐critical graphs and 2‐factor‐critical graphs are factor‐critical graphs and bicritical graphs, respectively. It is well known that every connected vertex‐transitive graph of odd order is factor‐critical and every connected nonbipartite vertex‐transitive graph of even order is bicritical. In this article, we show that a simple connected vertex‐transitive graph of odd order at least five is 3‐factor‐critical if and only if it is not a cycle.     

A class of symmetric graphs with 2‐arc transitive quotients

Let Γ be an X‐symmetric graph admitting an X‐invariant partition ?? on V(Γ) such that Γ_?? is connected and (X, 2)‐arc transitive. A characterization of (Γ, X, ??) was given in [S. Zhou Eur J Comb 23 (2002), 741–760] for the case where |B|>|Γ(C)∩B|=2 for an arc (B, C) of Γ_??.We con‐sider in this article the case where |B|>|Γ(C)∩B|=3, and prove that Γ can be constructed from a 2‐arc transitive graph of valency 4 or 7 unless its connected components are isomorphic to 3 K ₂, C ₆ or K _{3, 3}. As a byproduct, we prove that each connected tetravalent (X, 2)‐transitive graph is either the complete graph K ₅ or a near n‐gonal graph for some n?4. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 65: 232–245, 2010     

Graphs with given group and given constant link

A graph L is called a link graph if there is a graph G such that for each vertex of G its neighbors induce a subgraph isomorphic to L. Such a G is said to have constant link .L Sabidussi proved that for any finite group F and any n ? 3 there are infinitely many n-regular connected graphs G with AutG ? Γ. We will prove a stronger result: For any finite group Γ and any link graph L with at least one isolated vertex and at least three vertices there are infinitely many connected graphs G with constant link L and AutG ? Γ.