Minimum Cost Homomorphism Dichotomy for Oriented Cycles

For digraphs D and H, a mapping f : V(D) → V(H) is a homomorphism of D to H if uv ∈ A(D) implies f(u) f(v) ∈ A(H). If, moreover, each vertex u ∈ V(D) is associated with costs c _i (u), i ∈ V(H), then the cost of the homomorphism f is ∑ _{u ∈V(D)} c _f(u)(u). For each fixed digraph H, we have the minimum cost homomorphism problem for H (abbreviated MinHOM(H)). The problem is to decide, for an input graph D with costs c _i (u), u ∈ V(D), i ∈ V(H), whether there exists a homomorphism of D to H and, if one exists, to find one of minimum cost. We obtain a dichotomy classification for the time complexity of MinHOM(H) when H is an oriented cycle. We conjecture a dichotomy classification for all digraphs with possible loops.     

Group Chromatic Number of Graphs without K5-Minors

 Let G be a graph with a fixed orientation and let A be a group. Let F(G,A) denote the set of all functions f: E(G) ↦A. The graph G is A -colorable if for any function f∈F(G,A), there is a function c: V(G) ↦A such that for every directed e=u v∈E(G), c(u)−c(v)≠f(e). The group chromatic numberχ₁(G) of a graph G is the minimum m such that G is A-colorable for any group A of order at least m under a given orientation D. In [J. Combin. Theory Ser. B, 56 (1992), 165–182], Jaeger et al. proved that if G is a simple planar graph, then χ₁(G)≤6. We prove in this paper that if G is a simple graph without a K ₅-minor, then χ₁(G)≤5. Received: August 18, 1999 Final version received: December 12, 2000     

Bounds on the Distance Two-Domination Number of a Graph

 For a graph G = (V, E), a subset D⊆V(G) is said to be distance two-dominating set in G if for each vertex u∈V−D, there exists a vertex v∈D such that d(u,v)≤2. The minimum cardinality of a distance two-dominating set in G is called a distance two-domination number and is denoted by γ₂(G). In this note we obtain various upper bounds for γ₂(G) and characterize the classes of graphs attaining these bounds. Received: May 31, 1999 Final version received: July 13, 2000     

Computation of Topological Indices of Some Graphs

Let G=(V,E) be a simple connected graph with vertex set V and edge set E. The Wiener index of G is defined by W(G)=∑_{x,y}⊆V d(x,y), where d(x,y) is the length of the shortest path from x to y. The Szeged index of G is defined by Sz(G)=∑ _e=uv∈E n _u (e|G)n _v (e|G), where n _u (e|G) (resp. n _v (e|G)) is the number of vertices of G closer to u (resp. v) than v (resp. u). The Padmakar–Ivan index of G is defined by PI(G)=∑ _e=uv∈E [n _eu (e|G)+n _ev (e|G)], where n _eu (e|G) (resp. n _ev (e|G)) is the number of edges of G closer to u (resp. v) than v (resp. u). In this paper we find the above indices for various graphs using the group of automorphisms of G. This is an efficient method of finding these indices especially when the automorphism group of G has a few orbits on V or E. We also find the Wiener indices of a few graphs which frequently arise in mathematical chemistry using inductive methods.     

On Connected [g,f +1]-Factors in Graphs

Let G = (V (G),E(G)) be a graph with vertex set V (G) and edge set E(G), and g and f two positive integral functions from V (G) to Z⁺-{1} such that g(v) ≤ f(v) ≤ d_G(v) for all v ∈V (G), where d_G(v) is the degree of the vertex v. It is shown that every graph G, including both a [g,f]-factor and a hamiltonian path, contains a connected [g,f +1]-factor. This result also extends Kano’s conjecture concerning the existence of connected [k,k+1]-factors in graphs. * The work of this author was supported by NSFC of China under Grant No. 10271065, No. 60373025. † The work of these authors was also supported in part by the US Department of Energy’s Genomes to Life program (http://doegenomestolife.org/) under project, “Carbon Sequestration in Synechococcus sp.: From Molecular Machines to Hierarchical Modeling” (www.genomes2life.org) and by National Science Foundation (NSF/DBI-0354771,NSF/ITR-IIS-0407204).     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">f</Emphasis>-Colorings of some graphs of <Emphasis Type="Italic">f</Emphasis>-class 1

An f-coloring of a graph G is an edge-coloring of G such that each color appears at each vertex v V（G） at most f（v） times. The minimum number of colors needed to f-color G is called the f-chromatic index of G and is denoted by X′f（G）. Any simple graph G has the f-chromatic index equal to △f（G） or △f（G） ＋ 1, where △f（G） =max v V（G）{[d（v）/f（v）]}. If X′f（G） = △f（G）, then G is of f-class 1; otherwise G is of f-class 2. In this paper, a class of graphs of f-class 1 are obtained by a constructive proof. As a result, f-colorings of these graphs with △f（G） colors are given.     

On the adjacent-vertex-strongly-distinguishing total coloring of graphs

For any vertex u∈V(G), let T_N(U)={u}∪{uv|uv∈E(G), v∈v(G)}∪{v∈v(G)|uv∈E(G)}and let f be a total k-coloring of G. The total-color neighbor of a vertex u of G is the color set C_f(u)={f(x)|x∈TN(U)}. For any two adjacent vertices x and y of V(G)such that C_f(x)≠C_f(y), we refer to f as a k-avsdt-coloring of G("avsdt"is the abbreviation of"adjacent-vertex-strongly- distinguishing total"). The avsdt-coloring number of G, denoted by X_(ast)(G), is the minimal number of colors required for a avsdt-coloring of G. In this paper, the avsdt-coloring numbers on some familiar graphs are studied, such as paths, cycles, complete graphs, complete bipartite graphs and so on. We proveΔ(G) 1≤X_(ast)(G)≤Δ(G) 2 for any tree or unique cycle graph G.     

Partial Parity (g,f )-Factors and Subgraphs Covering Given Vertex Subsets

 Let G be a graph and W a subset of V(G). Let g,f:V(G)→Z be two integer-valued functions such that g(x)≤f(x) for all x∈V(G) and g(y)≡f(y) (mod 2) for all y∈W. Then a spanning subgraph F of G is called a partial parity (g,f)-factor with respect to W if g(x)≤deg _F (x)≤f(x) for all x∈V(G) and deg _F (y)≡f(y) (mod 2) for all y∈W. We obtain a criterion for a graph G to have a partial parity (g,f)-factor with respect to W. Furthermore, by making use of this criterion, we give some necessary and sufficient conditions for a graph G to have a subgraph which covers W and has a certain given property. Received: June 14, 1999?Final version received: August 21, 2000     

A Generalization of the Gallai–Roy Theorem

 A well-known and essential result due to Roy ([4], 1967) and independently to Gallai ([3], 1968) is that if D is a digraph with chromatic number χ(D), then D contains a directed path of at least χ(D) vertices. We generalize this result by showing that if ψ(D) is the minimum value of the number of the vertices in a longest directed path starting from a vertex that is connected to every vertex of D, then χ(D) ≤ψ(D). For graphs, we give a positive answer to the following question of Fajtlowicz: if G is a graph with chromatic number χ(G), then for any proper coloring of G of χ(G) colors and for any vertex v∈V(G), there is a path P starting at v which represents all χ(G) colors. Received: May 20, 1999 Final version received: December 24, 1999     

The geodetic numbers of graphs and digraphs

For every two vertices u and v in a graph G,a u-v geodesic is a shortest path between u and v.Let I(u,v)denote the set of all vertices lying on a u-v geodesic.For a vertex subset S,let I(S) denote the union of all I(u,v)for u,v∈S.The geodetic number g(G)of a graph G is the minimum cardinality of a set S with I(S)=V(G).For a digraph D,there is analogous terminology for the geodetic number g(D).The geodetic spectrum of a graph G,denoted by S(G),is the set of geodetic numbers of all orientations of graph G.The lower geodetic number is g~-(G)=minS(G)and the upper geodetic number is g~ (G)=maxS(G).The main purpose of this paper is to study the relations among g(G),g~-(G)and g~ (G)for connected graphs G.In addition,a sufficient and necessary condition for the equality of g(G)and g(G×K_2)is presented,which improves a result of Chartrand,Harary and Zhang.