Non-Cayley Vertex-Transitive Graphs of Order Twice the Product of Two Odd Primes

For a positive integer n, does there exist a vertex-transitive graph Γ on n vertices which is not a Cayley graph, or, equivalently, a graph Γ on n vertices such that Aut Γ is transitive on vertices but none of its subgroups are regular on vertices? Previous work (by Alspach and Parsons, Frucht, Graver and Watkins, Marusic and Scapellato, and McKay and the second author) has produced answers to this question if n is prime, or divisible by the square of some prime, or if n is the product of two distinct primes. In this paper we consider the simplest unresolved case for even integers, namely for integers of the form n = 2pq, where 2 < q < p, and p and q are primes. We give a new construction of an infinite family of vertex-transitive graphs on 2pq vertices which are not Cayley graphs in the case where p ≡ 1 (mod q). Further, if p ? 1 (mod q), p ≡ q ≡ 3(mod 4), and if every vertex-transitive graph of order pq is a Cayley graph, then it is shown that, either 2pq = 66, or every vertex-transitive graph of order 2pq admitting a transitive imprimitive group of automorphisms is a Cayley graph.     

Triangulations of orientable surfaces by complete tripartite graphs

Orientable triangular embeddings of the complete tripartite graph K_n,n,n correspond to biembeddings of Latin squares. We show that if n is prime there are at least e^{nlnn-n(1+o(1))} nonisomorphic biembeddings of cyclic Latin squares of order n. If n=kp, where p is a large prime number, then the number of nonisomorphic biembeddings of cyclic Latin squares of order n is at least e^{plnp-p(1+lnk+o(1))}. Moreover, we prove that for every n there is a unique regular triangular embedding of K_n,n,n in an orientable surface.     

Automorphisms of imbedded graphs

If a linear graph is imbedded in a surface to form a map, then the map has a group of automorphisms which is a subgroup (usually, a proper subgroup) of the automorphism group of the graph. In this note it will be shown that, for any imbedding of K_n in an orientable surface, the order of the automorphism group of the resulting map is a divisor of n(n − 1), and that the order equals n(n − 1) if and only if n is a prime power. The explicit construction of imbeddings of K_Q, q = p^m with map automorphism group of order q(q − 1) gives rise to new types of regular map. There are also tenous connections with the theory of Frobenius groups.     

Classification of reflexible regular embeddings and self-Petrie dual regular embeddings of complete bipartite graphs

In this paper, we classify the reflexible regular orientable embeddings and the self-Petrie dual regular orientable embeddings of complete bipartite graphs. The classification shows that for any natural number n, say (p₁,p₂,…,p_k are distinct odd primes and a_i>0 for each i?1), there are t distinct reflexible regular embeddings of the complete bipartite graph K_n,n up to isomorphism, where t=1 if a=0, t=2^k if a=1, t=2^k+1 if a=2, and t=3·2^k+1 if a?3. And, there are s distinct self-Petrie dual regular embeddings of K_n,n up to isomorphism, where s=1 if a=0, s=2^k if a=1, s=2^k+1 if a=2, and s=2^k+2 if a?3.     

Regular maps of graphs of order 4<Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis>

A 2-cell embedding f : X → S of a graph X into a closed orientable surface S can be described combinatorially by a pair M = (X;ρ ) called a map, where ρ is a product of disjoint cycle permutations each of which is the permutation of the arc set of X initiated at the same vertex following the orientation of S . It is well known that the automorphism group of M acts semi-regularly on the arc set of X and if the action is regular, then the map M and the embedding f are called regular. Let p and q be primes. Du et al. [J. Algebraic Combin., 19, 123-141 (2004)] classified the regular maps of graphs of order pq . In this paper all pairwise non-isomorphic regular maps of graphs of order 4 p are constructed explicitly and the genera of such regular maps are computed. As a result, there are twelve sporadic and six infinite families of regular maps of graphs of order 4 p ; two of the infinite families are regular maps with the complete bipartite graphs K2p,2p as underlying graphs and the other four infinite families are regular balanced Cayley maps on the groups Z4p , Z22 × Zp and D4p .     

Amply regular graphs with Hoffman’s condition

It is known that, if the minimal eigenvalue of a graph is ?2, then the graph satisfies Hoffman’s condition: for any generated complete bipartite subgraph K _1,3 (a 3-claw) with parts {p} and {q ₁, q ₂, q ₃}, any vertex distinct from p and adjacent to the vertices q ₁ and q ₂ is adjacent to p but not adjacent to q ₃. We prove the converse statement for amply regular graphs containing a 3-claw and satisfying the condition µ > 1.     

Strongly regular graphs with Hoffman’s condition

It is known that if the minimal eigenvalue of a graph is ?2, then the graph satisfies Hoffman’s condition; i.e., for any generated complete bipartite subgraph K _1,3 with parts {p} and {q ₁, q ₂, q ₃}, any vertex distinct from p and adjacent to two vertices from the second part is not adjacent to the third vertex and is adjacent to p. We prove the converse statement, formulated for strongly regular graphs containing a 3-claw and satisfying the condition gm > 1.     

On a conjecture of Brouwer involving the connectivity of strongly regular graphs

In this paper, we study a conjecture of Andries E. Brouwer from 1996 regarding the minimum number of vertices of a strongly regular graph whose removal disconnects the graph into non-singleton components.We show that strongly regular graphs constructed from copolar spaces and from the more general spaces called Δ-spaces are counterexamples to Brouwer?s Conjecture. Using J.I. Hall?s characterization of finite reduced copolar spaces, we find that the triangular graphs T(m), the symplectic graphs Sp(2r,q) over the field Fq (for any q prime power), and the strongly regular graphs constructed from the hyperbolic quadrics O⁺(2r,2) and from the elliptic quadrics O⁻(2r,2) over the field F₂, respectively, are counterexamples to Brouwer?s Conjecture. For each of these graphs, we determine precisely the minimum number of vertices whose removal disconnects the graph into non-singleton components. While we are not aware of an analogue of Hall?s characterization theorem for Δ-spaces, we show that complements of the point graphs of certain finite generalized quadrangles are point graphs of Δ-spaces and thus, yield other counterexamples to Brouwer?s Conjecture.We prove that Brouwer?s Conjecture is true for many families of strongly regular graphs including the conference graphs, the generalized quadrangles GQ(q,q) graphs, the lattice graphs, the Latin square graphs, the strongly regular graphs with smallest eigenvalue −2 (except the triangular graphs) and the primitive strongly regular graphs with at most 30 vertices except for few cases.We leave as an open problem determining the best general lower bound for the minimum size of a disconnecting set of vertices of a strongly regular graph, whose removal disconnects the graph into non-singleton components.     

Forest embeddings in regular graphs of large girth

This paper deals with the enumeration of distinct embeddings (both induced and partial) of arbitrary graphs in regular graphs of large girth. A simple explicit recurrence formula is presented for the number of embeddings of an arbitrary forest F in an arbitrary regular graph G of sufficiently large girth. This formula (and hence the number of embeddings) depends only on the order and degree of regularity of G, and the degree sequence and component structure (multiset of component orders) of F. A concept called c-subgraph regularity is introduced which generalizes the familiar notion of regularity in graphs. (Informally, a graph is c-subgraph regular if its vertices cannot be distinguished on the basis of embeddings of graphs of order less than or equal to c.) A central result of this paper is that if G is regular and has girth g, then G is (g ? 1)-subgraph regular.     

Regular orientable embeddings of complete bipartite graphs

In this paper, it will be shown that the isomorphism classes of regular orientable embeddings of the complete bipartite graph K_n,n are in one‐to‐one correspondence with the permutations on n elements satisfying a given criterion, and the isomorphism classes of them are completely classified when n is a product of any two (not necessarily distinct) prime numbers. For other n, a lower bound of the number of those isomorphism classes of K_n,n is obtained. As a result, many new regular orientable embeddings of the complete bipartite graph are constructed giving an answer of Nedela‐?koviera's question raised in 12 . © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory     

The Semi-Arc Automorphism Group of a Graph with Application to Map Enumeration

A map is a connected topological graph cellularly embedded in a surface. For a given graph Γ, its genus distribution of rooted maps and embeddings on orientable and non-orientable surfaces are separately investigated by many researchers. By introducing the concept of a semi-arc automorphism group of a graph and classifying all its embeddings under the action of its semi-arc automorphism group, we find the relations between its genus distribution of rooted maps and genus distribution of embeddings on orientable and non-orientable surfaces, and give some new formulas for the number of rooted maps on a given orientable surface with underlying graph a bouquet of cycles B_n, a closed-end ladder L_n or a Ringel ladder R_n. A general scheme for enumerating unrooted maps on surfaces(orientable or non-orientable) with a given underlying graph is established. Using this scheme, we obtained the closed formulas for the numbers of non-isomorphic maps on orientable or non-orientable surfaces with an underlying bouquet B_n in this paper.     

Unbalanced bipartite factorizations of complete bipartite graphs

We construct a new infinite family of factorizations of complete bipartite graphs by factors all of whose components are copies of a (fixed) complete bipartite graph K_p,q. There are simple necessary conditions for such factorizations to exist. The family constructed here demonstrates sufficiency in many new cases. In particular, the conditions are always sufficient when q=p+1.     

Annular embeddings of permutations for arbitrary genus

In the symmetric group on a set of size 2n, let P2n denote the conjugacy class of involutions with no fixed points (equivalently, we refer to these as “pairings”, since each disjoint cycle has length 2). Harer and Zagier explicitly determined the distribution of the number of disjoint cycles in the product of a fixed cycle of length 2n and the elements of P2n. Their famous result has been reproved many times, primarily because it can be interpreted as the genus distribution for 2-cell embeddings in an orientable surface, of a graph with a single vertex attached to n loops. In this paper we give a new formula for the cycle distribution when a fixed permutation with two cycles (say the lengths are p,q, where p+q=2n) is multiplied by the elements of P2n. It can be interpreted as the genus distribution for 2-cell embeddings in an orientable surface, of a graph with two vertices, of degrees p and q. In terms of these graphs, the formula involves a parameter that allows us to specify, separately, the number of edges between the two vertices and the number of loops at each of the vertices. The proof is combinatorial, and uses a new algorithm that we introduce to create all rooted forests containing a given rooted forest.     

Labelling of some planar graphs with a condition at distance two

The problem of vertex labeling with a condition at distance two in a graph, is a variation of Hale’s channel assignment problem, which was first explored by Griggs and Yeh. For positive integerp ≥q, the λ _p,q -number of graph G, denoted λ(G;p, q), is the smallest span among all integer labellings ofV(G) such that vertices at distance two receive labels which differ by at leastq and adjacent vertices receive labels which differ by at leastp. Van den Heuvel and McGuinness have proved that λ(G;p, q) ≤ (4q-2) Δ+10p+38q-24 for any planar graphG with maximum degree Δ. In this paper, we studied the upper bound of λ _p ,q-number of some planar graphs. It is proved that λ(G;p, q) ≤ (2q?1)Δ + 2(2p?1) ifG is an outerplanar graph and λ(G;p,q) ≤ (2q?1) Δ + 6p - 4q - 1 if G is a Halin graph.     

Amply regular graphs with Hoffman’s condition

It is known that, if the minimal eigenvalue of a graph is −2, then the graph satisfies Hoffman’s condition: for any generated complete bipartite subgraph K _1,3 (a 3-claw) with parts {p} and {q ₁, q ₂, q ₃}, any vertex distinct from p and adjacent to the vertices q ₁ and q ₂ is adjacent to p but not adjacent to q ₃. We prove the converse statement for amply regular graphs containing a 3-claw and satisfying the condition μ > 1.     

On the composition factors of a group with the same prime graph as B n (5)

Let G be a finite group. The prime graph of G is a graph whose vertex set is the set of prime divisors of |G| and two distinct primes p and q are joined by an edge, whenever G contains an element of order pq. The prime graph of G is denoted by Γ(G). It is proved that some finite groups are uniquely determined by their prime graph. In this paper, we show that if G is a finite group such that Γ(G) = Γ(B _n (5)), where n ? 6, then G has a unique nonabelian composition factor isomorphic to B _n (5) or C _n (5).     

A new characterization ofA p wherep andp − 2 are primes

Based on the prime graph of a finite simple group, its order is the product of its order components (see [4]). It is known that Suzuki-Ree groups [6],PSL ₂(q) [8] andE ₈(q) [7] are uniquely determined by their order components. In this paper we prove that the simple groupsA _p are also uniquely determined by their order components, wherep andp − 2 are primes.     

Classification of regular embeddings of hypercubes of odd dimension

By a regular embedding of a graph into a closed surface we mean a 2-cell embedding with the automorphism group acting regularly on flags. Recently, Kwon and Nedela [Non-existence of nonorientable regular embeddings of n-dimensional cubes, Discrete Math., to appear] showed that no regular embeddings of the n-dimensional cubes Q_n into nonorientable surfaces exist for any positive integer n>2. In 1997, Nedela and Škoviera [Regular maps from voltage assignments and exponent groups, European J. Combin. 18 (1997) 807-823] presented a construction giving for each solution of the congruence a regular embedding M_e of the hypercube Q_n into an orientable surface. It was conjectured that all regular embeddings of Q_n into orientable surfaces can be constructed in this way. This paper gives a classification of regular embeddings of hypercubes Q_n into orientable surfaces for n odd, proving affirmatively the conjecture of Nedela and Škoviera for every odd n.     

A note on acyclic edge coloring of complete bipartite graphs

An acyclic edge coloring of a graph is a proper edge coloring such that there are no bichromatic (2-colored) cycles. The acyclic chromatic index of a graph is the minimum number k such that there is an acyclic edge coloring using k colors and is denoted by a^′(G). Let Δ=Δ(G) denote the maximum degree of a vertex in a graph G. A complete bipartite graph with n vertices on each side is denoted by K_n,n. Alon, McDiarmid and Reed observed that a^′(K_p−1,p−1)=p for every prime p. In this paper we prove that a^′(K_p,p)≤p+2=Δ+2 when p is prime. Basavaraju, Chandran and Kummini proved that a^′(K_n,n)≥n+2=Δ+2 when n is odd, which combined with our result implies that a^′(K_p,p)=p+2=Δ+2 when p is an odd prime. Moreover we show that if we remove any edge from K_p,p, the resulting graph is acyclically Δ+1=p+1-edge-colorable.     

Minimum genus embeddings of the complete graph

In this paper,the problem of construction of exponentially many minimum genus embeddings of complete graphs in surfaces are studied.There are three approaches to solve this problem.The first approach is to construct exponentially many graphs by the theory of graceful labeling of paths;the second approach is to find a current assignment of the current graph by the theory of current graph;the third approach is to find exponentially many embedding(or rotation) schemes of complete graph by finding exponentially many distinct maximum genus embeddings of the current graph.According to this three approaches,we can construct exponentially many minimum genus embeddings of complete graph K_(12s+8) in orientable surfaces,which show that there are at least 10/3×(200/9)~s distinct minimum genus embeddings for K_(12s+8) in orientable surfaces.We have also proved that K_(12s+8) has at least 10/3×(200/9)~s distinct minimum genus embeddings in non-orientable surfaces.