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