Some properties of contraction-critical 5-connected graphs

Let k be a positive integer and let G be a k-connected graph. An edge of G is called k-contractible if its contraction still results in a k-connected graph. A non-complete k-connected graph G is called contraction-critical if G has no k-contractible edge. Let G be a contraction-critical 5-connected graph, Su proved in [J. Su, Vertices of degree 5 in contraction-critical 5-connected graphs, J. Guangxi Normal Univ. 17 (3) (1997) 12-16 (in Chinese)] that each vertex of G is adjacent to at least two vertices of degree 5, and thus G has at least vertices of degree 5. In this paper, we further study the properties of contraction-critical 5-connected graph. In the process, we investigate the structure of the subgraph induced by the vertices of degree 5 of G. As a result, we prove that a contraction-critical 5-connected graph G has at least vertices of degree 5.     

Subgraph induced by the set of degree 5 vertices in a contraction critically 5-connected graph

An edge of a 5-connected graph is said to be contractible if the contraction of the edge results in a 5-connected graph. A 5-connected graph with no contractible edge is said to be contraction critically 5-connected. Let G be a contraction critically 5-connected graph and let H be a component of the subgraph induced by the set of degree 5 vertices of G. Then it is known that |V(H)|≥4. We prove that if |V(H)|=4, then , where stands for the graph obtained from K₄ by deleting one edge. Moreover, we show that either |N_G(V(H))|=5 or |N_G(V(H))|=6 and around H there is one of two specified structures called a -configuration and a split -configuration.     

Maximum bipartite subgraphs of cubic triangle-free planar graphs

Thomassen recently proved, using the Tutte cycle technique, that if G is a 3-connected cubic triangle-free planar graph then G contains a bipartite subgraph with at least edges, improving the previously known lower bound . We extend Thomassen’s technique and further improve this lower bound to .     

Perfectness and imperfectness of unit disk graphs on triangular lattice points

Given a finite set of 2-dimensional points P⊆R² and a positive real d, a unit disk graph, denoted by (P,d), is an undirected graph with vertex set P such that two vertices are adjacent if and only if the Euclidean distance between the pair is less than or equal to d. Given a pair of non-negative integers m and n, P(m,n) denotes a subset of 2-dimensional triangular lattice points defined by where . Let T_m,n(d) be a unit disk graph defined on a vertex set P(m,n) and a positive real d. Let be the kth power of T_m,n(1).In this paper, we show necessary and sufficient conditions that [ is perfect] and/or [ is perfect], respectively. These conditions imply polynomial time approximation algorithms for multicoloring (T_m,n(d),w) and .     

Directed 3-cycle decompositions of complete directed graphs with quadratic leaves

Let G be a vertex-disjoint union of directed cycles in the complete directed graph D_t, let |E(G)| be the number of directed edges of G and suppose or if t=5, and if t=6. It is proved in this paper that for each positive integer t, there exist -decompositions for D_t−G if and only if .     

Another step towards proving a conjecture by Plummer and Toft

A cyclic colouring of a graph G embedded in a surface is a vertex colouring of G in which any two distinct vertices sharing a face receive distinct colours. The cyclic chromatic number of G is the smallest number of colours in a cyclic colouring of G. Plummer and Toft in 1987 [M.D. Plummer, B. Toft, Cyclic coloration of 3-polytopes, J. Graph Theory 11 (1987) 507-515] conjectured that for any 3-connected plane graph G with maximum face degree Δ^∗. It is known that the conjecture holds true for Δ^∗≤4 and Δ^∗≥24. The validity of the conjecture is proved in the paper for Δ^∗≥18.     

On the signed edge domination number of graphs

Let be the signed edge domination number of G. In 2006, Xu conjectured that: for any 2-connected graph G of order n(n≥2), . In this article we show that this conjecture is not true. More precisely, we show that for any positive integer m, there exists an m-connected graph G such that . Also for every two natural numbers m and n, we determine , where K_m,n is the complete bipartite graph with part sizes m and n.     

Upper bounds on the linear chromatic number of a graph

A proper vertex coloring of a graph G is linear if the graph induced by the vertices of any two color classes is a union of vertex-disjoint paths. The linear chromatic number of G is the smallest number of colors in a linear coloring of G.Let G be a graph with maximum degree Δ(G). In this paper we prove the following results: (1) ; (2) if Δ(G)≤4; (3) if Δ(G)≤5; (4) if G is planar and Δ(G)≥52.     

Total colorings and list total colorings of planar graphs without intersecting 4-cycles

Suppose that G is a planar graph with maximum degree Δ and without intersecting 4-cycles, that is, no two cycles of length 4 have a common vertex. Let χ^″(G), and denote the total chromatic number, list edge chromatic number and list total chromatic number of G, respectively. In this paper, it is proved that χ^″(G)=Δ+1 if Δ≥7, and and if Δ(G)≥8. Furthermore, if G is a graph embedded in a surface of nonnegative characteristic, then our results also hold.     

A generalization of a conjecture due to Erd?s, Jacobson and Lehel

An r-graph is a loopless undirected graph in which no two vertices are joined by more than r edges. An r-complete graph on m+1 vertices, denoted by , is an r-graph on m+1 vertices in which each pair of vertices is joined by exactly r edges. A non-increasing sequence π=(d₁,d₂,…,d_n) of nonnegative integers is r-graphic if it is realizable by an r-graph on n vertices. Let be the smallest even integer such that each n-term r-graphic sequence with term sum of at least is realizable by an r-graph containing as a subgraph. In this paper, we determine the value of for sufficiently large n, which generalizes a conjecture due to Erd?s, Jacobson and Lehel.     

Injective colorings of sparse graphs

Let denote the maximum average degree (over all subgraphs) of G and let χ_i(G) denote the injective chromatic number of G. We prove that if , then χ_i(G)≤Δ(G)+1; and if , then χ_i(G)=Δ(G). Suppose that G is a planar graph with girth g(G) and Δ(G)≥4. We prove that if g(G)≥9, then χ_i(G)≤Δ(G)+1; similarly, if g(G)≥13, then χ_i(G)=Δ(G).     

On the number of graphs with a given endomorphism monoid

For a given finite monoid , let be the number of graphs on n vertices with endomorphism monoid isomorphic to . For any nontrivial monoid we prove that where and are constants depending only on with .For every k there exists a monoid of size k with , on the other hand if a group of unity of has a size k>2 then .     

Some structural properties of minimally contraction-critically 5-connected graphs

An edge of a k-connected graph is said to be k-removable (resp. k-contractible) if the removal (resp. the contraction ) of the edge results in a k-connected graph. A k-connected graph with neither k-removable edge nor k-contractible edge is said to be minimally contraction-critically k-connected. We show that around an edge whose both end vertices have degree greater than 5 of a minimally contraction-critically 5-connected graph, there exists one of two specified configurations. Using this fact, we prove that each minimally contraction-critically 5-connected graph on n vertices has at least vertices of degree 5.     

On signed cycle domination in graphs

Let G=(V,E) be a graph, a function f:E→{−1,1} is said to be an signed cycle dominating function (SCDF) of G if ∑_e∈E(C)f(e)≥1 holds for any induced cycle C of G. The signed cycle domination number of G is defined as is an SCDF of G}. In this paper, we obtain bounds on , characterize all connected graphs G with , and determine the exact value of for some special classes of graphs G. In addition, we pose some open problems and conjectures.     

Linear choosability of sparse graphs

A linear coloring is a proper coloring such that each pair of color classes induces a union of disjoint paths. We study the linear list chromatic number, denoted , of sparse graphs. The maximum average degree of a graph G, denoted mad(G), is the maximum of the average degrees of all subgraphs of G. It is clear that any graph G with maximum degree Δ(G) satisfies . In this paper, we prove the following results: (1) if and Δ(G)≥3, then , and we give an infinite family of examples to show that this result is best possible; (2) if and Δ(G)≥9, then , and we give an infinite family of examples to show that the bound on cannot be increased in general; (3) if G is planar and has girth at least 5, then .     

Nordhaus-Gaddum inequalities for the fractional and circular chromatic numbers

For a graph G on n vertices with chromatic number χ(G), the Nordhaus-Gaddum inequalities state that , and . Much analysis has been done to derive similar inequalities for other graph parameters, all of which are integer-valued. We determine here the optimal Nordhaus-Gaddum inequalities for the circular chromatic number and the fractional chromatic number, the first examples of Nordhaus-Gaddum inequalities where the graph parameters are rational-valued.     

Optical grooming with grooming ratio nine

Grooming uniform all-to-all traffic in optical ring networks with grooming ratio C requires the determination of graph decompositions of the complete graph into subgraphs each having at most C edges. The drop cost of such a grooming is the total number of vertices of nonzero degree in these subgraphs, and the grooming is optimal when the drop cost is minimum. The minimum drop cost is determined for grooming ratio 9. Previously this bound was shown to be met when with two exceptions and eleven additional possible exceptions for n, and also when with one exception and one possible exception for n. In this paper it is shown that the bound is met for all with four exceptions for n∈{8,11,14,17} and one possible exception for n=20. Using this result, it is further shown that when and n is sufficiently large, the bound is also met.     

More on almost self-complementary graphs

A graph X is called almost self-complementary if it is isomorphic to one of its almost complements , where denotes the complement of X and I a perfect matching (1-factor) in . If I is a perfect matching in and is an isomorphism, then the graph X is said to be fairly almost self-complementary if φ preserves I setwise, and unfairly almost self-complementary if it does not.In this paper we construct connected graphs of all possible orders that are fairly and unfairly almost self-complementary, fairly but not unfairly almost self-complementary, and unfairly but not fairly almost self-complementary, respectively, as well as regular graphs of all possible orders that are fairly and unfairly almost self-complementary.Two perfect matchings I and J in are said to be X-non-isomorphic if no isomorphism from X+I to X+J induces an automorphism of X. We give a constructive proof to show that there exists a graph X that is almost self-complementary with respect to two X-non-isomorphic perfect matchings for every even order greater than or equal to four.     

A note on an embedding problem in transitive tournaments

Let TT_n be a transitive tournament on n vertices. It is known Görlich, Pil?niak, Wo?niak, (2006) [3] that for any acyclic oriented graph of order n and size not greater than , two graphs isomorphic to are arc-disjoint subgraphs of TT_n. In this paper, we consider the problem of embedding of acyclic oriented graphs into their complements in transitive tournaments. We show that any acyclic oriented graph of size at most is embeddable into all its complements in TT_n. Moreover, this bound is generally the best possible.     

Regular Steinhaus graphs of odd degree

A Steinhaus matrix is a binary square matrix of size n which is symmetric, with a diagonal of zeros, and whose upper-triangular coefficients satisfy a_i,j=a_i−1,j−1+a_i−1,j for all 2?i<j?n. Steinhaus matrices are determined by their first row. A Steinhaus graph is a simple graph whose adjacency matrix is a Steinhaus matrix. We give a short new proof of a theorem, due to Dymacek, which states that even Steinhaus graphs, i.e. those with all vertex degrees even, have doubly-symmetric Steinhaus matrices. In 1979 Dymacek conjectured that the complete graph on two vertices K₂ is the only regular Steinhaus graph of odd degree. Using Dymacek’s theorem, we prove that if (a_i,j)_1?i,j?n is a Steinhaus matrix associated with a regular Steinhaus graph of odd degree then its sub-matrix (a_i,j)_2?i,j?n−1 is a multi-symmetric matrix, that is a doubly-symmetric matrix where each row of its upper-triangular part is a symmetric sequence. We prove that the multi-symmetric Steinhaus matrices of size n whose Steinhaus graphs are regular modulo 4, i.e. where all vertex degrees are equal modulo 4, only depend on parameters for all even numbers n, and on parameters in the odd case. This result permits us to verify Dymacek’s conjecture up to 1500 vertices in the odd case.