Distance-Hereditary Comparability Graphs

We study the class of the distance-hereditary comparability graphs, that is, those graphs which admit a transitive orientation and are completely decomposable with respect to the split decomposition. We provide a characterization in terms of forbidden subgraphs. We also provide further characterizations and one of them, based on the split decomposition, is used to devise a recognizing algorithm working in linear time. Finally, we show how to build distance-hereditary comparability graphs.     

On minimal forbidden subgraph characterizations of balanced graphs

A graph is balanced if its clique-matrix contains no edge–vertex incidence matrix of an odd chordless cycle as a submatrix. While a forbidden induced subgraph characterization of balanced graphs is known, there is no such characterization by minimal forbidden induced subgraphs. In this work, we provide minimal forbidden induced subgraph characterizations of balanced graphs restricted to graphs that belong to one of the following graph classes: complements of bipartite graphs, line graphs of multigraphs, and complements of line graphs of multigraphs. These characterizations lead to linear-time recognition algorithms for balanced graphs within the same three graph classes.     

Graphs with bounded induced distance

In this work we introduce the class of graphs with bounded induced distance of order k, (BID(k) for short). A graph G belongs to BID(k) if the distance between any two nodes in every connected induced subgraph of G is at most k times their distance in G. These graphs can model communication networks in which node failures may occur: at a given time, if sender and receiver are still connected, any message can be delivered through a path (that, due to node failures, could be longer than the shortest one) the length of which is at most k times the best possible. In this work we first provide two characterizations of graphs belonging to BID(k): one based on the stretch number (a new invariant introduced here), and the other based on cycle-chord conditions. After that, we investigate classes with order k⩽2. In this context, we note that the class BID(1) is the well known class of distance-hereditary graphs, and we show that 3/2 is a lower bound for the order k of graphs that are not distance-hereditary. Then, we characterize graphs in BID(3/2) by means of forbidden induced subgraphs, and we also show that graphs in BID(2) have a more complex characterization. We prove that the recognition problem for the generic class BID(k) is Co-NP-complete. Finally, we show that the split composition can be used to generate graphs in BID(k).     

Triangle-free graphs and forbidden subgraphs

The relation of chromatic aspects and the existence of certain induced subgraphs of a triangle-free graph will be investigated. Based on a characterization statement of Pach, some results on the chromatic number of triangle-free graphs with certain forbidden induced subgraphs will be refined by describing their structure in terms of homomorphisms. In particular, we introduce chordal triangle-free graphs as a natural superclass of chordal bipartite graphs and describe the structure of the maximal triangle-free members. Finally, we improve on the upper bound for the chromatic number of triangle-free sK₂-free graphs by 1 for s2 giving the tight bound for s=3.     

Partial characterizations of circle graphs

A circle graph is the intersection graph of a family of chords on a circle. There is no known characterization of circle graphs by forbidden induced subgraphs that do not involve the notions of local equivalence or pivoting operations. We characterize circle graphs by a list of minimal forbidden induced subgraphs when the graph belongs to one of the following classes: linear domino graphs, P₄-tidy graphs, and tree-cographs. We also completely characterize by minimal forbidden induced subgraphs the class of unit Helly circle graphs, which are those circle graphs having a model whose chords have all the same length, are pairwise different, and satisfy the Helly property.     

On the Jump Number Problem in Hereditary Classes of Bipartite Graphs

We prove a necessary condition for polynomial solvability of the jump number problem in classes of bipartite graphs characterized by a finite set of forbidden induced bipartite subgraphs. For some classes satisfying this condition, we propose polynomial algorithms to solve the jump number problem.     

Minimally non-Pfaffian graphs

We consider the question of characterizing Pfaffian graphs. We exhibit an infinite family of non-Pfaffian graphs minimal with respect to the matching minor relation. This is in sharp contrast with the bipartite case, as Little [C.H.C. Little, A characterization of convertible (0,1)-matrices, J. Combin. Theory Ser. B 18 (1975) 187–208] proved that every bipartite non-Pfaffian graph contains a matching minor isomorphic to K_3,3. We relax the notion of a matching minor and conjecture that there are only finitely many (perhaps as few as two) non-Pfaffian graphs minimal with respect to this notion.We define Pfaffian factor-critical graphs and study them in the second part of the paper. They seem to be of interest as the number of near perfect matchings in a Pfaffian factor-critical graph can be computed in polynomial time. We give a polynomial time recognition algorithm for this class of graphs and characterize non-Pfaffian factor-critical graphs in terms of forbidden central subgraphs.     

Restricted unimodular chordal graphs

A chordal graph is called restricted unimodular if each cycle of its vertex‐clique incidence bipartite graph has length divisible by 4. We characterize these graphs within all chordal graphs by forbidden induced subgraphs, by minimal relative separators, and in other ways. We show how to construct them by starting from block graphs and multiplying vertices subject to a certain restriction, which leads to a linear‐time recognition algorithm. We show how they are related to other classes such as distance‐hereditary chordal graphs and strongly chordal graphs. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Graph Theory 30: 121–136, 1999     

Paths in bipartite graphs with color-inverting involutions

We consider connected bipartite graphs that have a color-inverting involution and do not contain an induced path of length 5. It is shown that such graphs have a color-preserving involution or a dominating edge, or else contain one of two simple forbidden subgraphs.     

Polar cographs

Polar graphs are a natural extension of some classes of graphs like bipartite graphs, split graphs and complements of bipartite graphs. A graph is (s,k)-polar if there exists a partition A,B of its vertex set such that A induces a complete s-partite graph (i.e., a collection of at most s disjoint stable sets with complete links between all sets) and B a disjoint union of at most k cliques (i.e., the complement of a complete k-partite graph).Recognizing a polar graph is known to be NP-complete. These graphs have not been extensively studied and no good characterization is known. Here we consider the class of polar graphs which are also cographs (graphs without induced path on four vertices). We provide a characterization in terms of forbidden subgraphs. Besides, we give an algorithm in time O(n) for finding a largest induced polar subgraph in cographs; this also serves as a polar cograph recognition algorithm. We examine also the monopolar cographs which are the (s,k)-polar cographs where min(s,k)?1. A characterization of these graphs by forbidden subgraphs is given. Some open questions related to polarity are discussed.     

Stable 2-pairs and (X,Y)-intersection graphs

Given two fixed graphs X and Y, the (X,Y)-intersection graph of a graph G is a graph where

1. each vertex corresponds to a distinct induced subgraph in G isomorphic to Y, and

2. two vertices are adjacent iff the intersection of their corresponding subgraphs contains an induced subgraph isomorphic to X.

This notion generalizes the classical concept of line graphs since the (K₁,K₂)-intersection graph of a graph G is precisely the line graph of G.

Let ( , respectively) denote the family of line graphs of bipartite graphs (bipartite multigraphs, respectively), and refer to a pair (X,Y) as a 2-pair if Y contains exactly two induced subgraphs isomorphic to X. Then and , respectively, are the smallest families amongst the families of (X,Y)-intersection graphs defined by so called hereditary 2-pairs and hereditary non-compact 2-pairs. Furthermore, they can be characterized through forbidden induced subgraphs. With this motivation, we investigate the properties of a 2-pair (X,Y) for which the family of (X,Y)-intersection graphs coincides with (or ). For this purpose, we introduce a notion of stability of a 2-pair and obtain the desired characterization for such stable 2-pairs. An interesting aspect of the characterization is that it is based on a graph determined by the structure of (X,Y).     

Neighbourhood-Perfect Line Graphs

We show that the line graph of any balanced hypergraph is neighbourhood-perfect. This result is a hypergraphic extension of a recent theorem in [GKLM] saying that the line graphs of bipartite graphs are neighbourhood-perfect. The note contains also a graphical extension of the same theorem: the characterization of all graphs with neighbourhood-perfect line graph. The proof relies on a characterization of neighbourhood-perfect graphs among line graphs in terms of forbidden induced subgraphs.     

Partial characterizations of circular‐arc graphs

A circular‐arc graph is the intersection graph of a family of arcs on a circle. A characterization by forbidden induced subgraphs for this class of graphs is not known, and in this work we present a partial result in this direction. We characterize circular‐arc graphs by a list of minimal forbidden induced subgraphs when the graph belongs to any of the following classes: P₄ ‐free graphs, paw‐free graphs, claw‐free chordal graphs and diamond‐free graphs. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 61: 289–306, 2009     

On the vertex packing problem

A forbidden subgraphs characterization of the class of graphs that arise from bipartite graphs, odd holes, and graphs with no complement of a diamond via repeated substitutions is given. This characterization allows us to solve the vertex packing problem for the graphs in this class.     

Mixed unit interval graphs

The class of intersection graphs of unit intervals of the real line whose ends may be open or closed is a strict superclass of the well-known class of unit interval graphs. We pose a conjecture concerning characterizations of such mixed unit interval graphs, verify parts of it in general, and prove it completely for diamond-free graphs. In particular, we characterize diamond-free mixed unit interval graphs by means of an infinite family of forbidden induced subgraphs, and we show that a diamond-free graph is mixed unit interval if and only if it has intersection representations using unit intervals such that all ends of the intervals are integral.     

Well-Quasi-Ordering versus Clique-Width: New Results on Bigenic Classes

Daligault, Rao and Thomassé asked whether a hereditary class of graphs well-quasi-ordered by the induced subgraph relation has bounded clique-width. Lozin, Razgon and Zamaraev recently showed that this is not true for classes defined by infinitely many forbidden induced subgraphs. However, in the case of finitely many forbidden induced subgraphs the question remains open and we conjecture that in this case the answer is positive. The conjecture is known to hold for classes of graphs defined by a single forbidden induced subgraph H, as such graphs are well-quasi-ordered and are of bounded clique-width if and only if H is an induced subgraph of P ₄. For bigenic classes of graphs, i.e. ones defined by two forbidden induced subgraphs, there are several open cases in both classifications. In the present paper we obtain a number of new results on well-quasi-orderability of bigenic classes, each of which supports the conjecture.     

On orthogonal ray graphs

An orthogonal ray graph is an intersection graph of horizontal and vertical rays (half-lines) in the xy-plane. An orthogonal ray graph is a 2-directional orthogonal ray graph if all the horizontal rays extend in the positive x-direction and all the vertical rays extend in the positive y-direction. We first show that the class of orthogonal ray graphs is a proper subset of the class of unit grid intersection graphs. We next provide several characterizations of 2-directional orthogonal ray graphs. Our first characterization is based on forbidden submatrices. A characterization in terms of a vertex ordering follows immediately. Next, we show that 2-directional orthogonal ray graphs are exactly those bipartite graphs whose complements are circular arc graphs. This characterization implies polynomial-time recognition and isomorphism algorithms for 2-directional orthogonal ray graphs. It also leads to a characterization of 2-directional orthogonal ray graphs by a list of forbidden induced subgraphs. We also show a characterization of 2-directional orthogonal ray trees, which implies a linear-time algorithm to recognize such trees. Our results settle an open question of deciding whether a (0,1)-matrix can be permuted to avoid the submatrices .     

A forbidden subgraph characterization of line-polar bipartite graphs

A graph is polar if the vertex set can be partitioned into A and B in such a way that the subgraph induced by A is a complete multipartite graph and the subgraph induced by B is a disjoint union of cliques. Polar graphs are a common generalization of bipartite, cobipartite, and split graphs. However, recognizing polar graphs is an NP-complete problem in general. This led to the study of the polarity of special classes of graphs such as cographs and chordal graphs, cf. Ekim et al. (2008) [7] and [5]. In this paper, we study the polarity of line graphs and call a graph line-polar if its line graph is polar. We characterize line-polar bipartite graphs in terms of forbidden subgraphs. This answers a question raised in the fist reference mentioned above. Our characterization has already been used to develop a linear time algorithm for recognizing line-polar bipartite graphs, cf. Ekim (submitted for publication) [6].     

Partial Characterizations of Circular-Arc Graphs

A circular-arc graph is the intersection graph of a family of arcs on a circle. A characterization by forbidden induced subgraphs for this class of graphs is not known, and in this work we present a partial result in this direction. We characterize circular-arc graphs by a list of minimal forbidden induced subgraphs when the graph belongs to the following classes: diamond-free graphs, P₄-free graphs, paw-free graphs, and claw-free chordal graphs.     

Clique-perfectness of complements of line graphs

The clique-transversal number τ_c(G) of a graph G is the minimum size of a set of vertices meeting all the cliques. The clique-independence number α_c(G) of G is the maximum size of a collection of vertex-disjoint cliques. A graph is clique-perfect if these two numbers are equal for every induced subgraph of G. Unlike perfect graphs, the class of clique-perfect graphs is not closed under graph complementation nor is a characterization by forbidden induced subgraphs known. Nevertheless, partial results in this direction have been obtained. For instance, in [Bonomo, F., M. Chudnovsky and G. Durán, Partial characterizations of clique-perfect graphs I: Subclasses of claw-free graphs, Discrete Appl. Math. 156 (2008), pp. 1058–1082], a characterization of those line graphs that are clique-perfect is given in terms of minimal forbidden induced subgraphs. Our main result is a characterization of those complements of line graphs that are clique-perfect, also by means of minimal forbidden induced subgraphs. This implies an O(n²) time algorithm for deciding the clique-perfectness of complements of line graphs and, for those that are clique-perfect, finding α_c and τ_c.