The book thickness of a graph

The book thickness bt(G) of a graph G is defined, its basic properties are delineated, and relations are given with other invariants such as thickness, genus, and chromatic number. A graph G has book thickness bt(G) ≤ 2 if and only if it is a subgraph of a hamiltonian planar graph, but we conjecture that there are planar graphs with arbitrarily high book thickness.     

On regular bipartite-preserving supergraphs

For a graphG with chromatic numberχ(G) ? 2 and maximum degree Δ(G), there exists anr-regular graphH, for everyr ? Δ(G), such thatG is an induced subgraph ofH and_χ(H) =_χ (G). In the case whereG is bipartite, the minimum order of such a graphH is determined.     

Edge‐partitions of planar graphs and their game coloring numbers

Let G be a planar graph and let g(G) and Δ(G) be its girth and maximum degree, respectively. We show that G has an edge‐partition into a forest and a subgraph H so that (i) Δ(H) ≤ 4 if g(G) ≥ 5; (ii) Δ(H) ≤ 2 if g(G) ≥ 7; (iii) Δ(H)≤ 1 if g(G) ≥ 11; (iv) Δ(H) ≤ 7 if G does not contain 4‐cycles (though it may contain 3‐cycles). These results are applied to find the following upper bounds for the game coloring number col_g(G) of a planar graph G: (i) col_g(G) ≤ 8 if g(G) ≥ 5; (ii) col_g(G)≤ 6 if g(G) ≥ 7; (iii) col_g(G) ≤ 5 if g(G) ≥ 11; (iv) col_g(G) ≤ 11 if G does not contain 4‐cycles (though it may contain 3‐cycles). © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 41: 307–317, 2002     

Total colorings of planar graphs without adjacent triangles

Let G be a planar graph without adjacent 3-cycles, that is, two cycles of length 3 are not incident with a common edge. In this paper, it is proved that the total coloring conjecture is true for G; moreover, if Δ(G)≥9, then the total chromatic number χ^″(G) of G is Δ(G)+1. Some other related results are obtained, too.     

Adjacent strong edge coloring of graphs

For a graph G(V, E), if a proper k-edge coloring ƒ is satisfied with C(u) ≠ C(v) for uv ∈ E(G), where $\text{C(u) = {ƒ(uv) | uv ∈ E}}$, then ƒ is called k-adjacent strong edge coloring of G, is abbreviated k-ASEC, and χ′_as(G) = min{k | k-ASEC of G} is called the adjacent strong edge chromatic number of G. In this paper, we discuss some properties of χ′_as(G), and obtain the χ′_as(G) of some special graphs and present a conjecture: if G are graphs whose order of each component is at least six, then χ′_as(G) ≤ Δ(G) + 2, where Δ(G) is the maximum degree of G.     

Chromatic number, clique subdivisions, and the conjectures of Hajós and Erdős-Fajtlowicz

For a graph G, let χ(G) denote its chromatic number and σ(G) denote the order of the largest clique subdivision in G. Let H(n) be the maximum of χ(G)=σ(G) over all n-vertex graphs G. A famous conjecture of Hajós from 1961 states that σ(G) ≥ χ(G) for every graph G. That is, H(n)≤1 for all positive integers n. This conjecture was disproved by Catlin in 1979. Erd?s and Fajtlowicz further showed by considering a random graph that H(n)≥cn ^1/2/logn for some absolute constant c>0. In 1981 they conjectured that this bound is tight up to a constant factor in that there is some absolute constant C such that χ(G)=σ(G) ≤ Cn ^1/2/logn for all n-vertex graphs G. In this paper we prove the Erd?s-Fajtlowicz conjecture. The main ingredient in our proof, which might be of independent interest, is an estimate on the order of the largest clique subdivision which one can find in every graph on n vertices with independence number α.     

Dynamic list coloring of bipartite graphs

A dynamic coloring of a graph is a proper coloring of its vertices such that every vertex of degree more than one has at least two neighbors with distinct colors. The least number of colors in a dynamic coloring of G, denoted by χ₂(G), is called the dynamic chromatic number of G. The least integer k, such that if every vertex of G is assigned a list of k colors, then G has a proper (resp. dynamic) coloring in which every vertex receives a color from its own list, is called the choice number of G, denoted by ch(G) (resp. the dynamic choice number, denoted by ch₂(G)). It was recently conjectured (Akbari et al. (2009) [1]) that for any graph G, ch₂(G)=max(ch(G),χ₂(G)). In this short note we disprove this conjecture. We first give an example of a small planar bipartite graph G with ch(G)=χ₂(G)=3 and ch₂(G)=4. Then, for any integer k≥5, we construct a bipartite graph G_k such that ch(G_k)=χ₂(G_k)=3 and ch₂(G)≥k.     

On the chromatic forcing number of a random graph

When we wish to compute lower bounds for the chromatic number χ(G) of a graph G, it is of interest to know something about the ‘chromatic forcing number’ f_χ(G), which is defined to be the least number of vertices in a subgraph H of G such that χ(H) = χ(G). We show here that for random graphs G_n,p with n vertices, f_χ(G_n,p) is almost surely at least ($\text{1}\text{2}$?ε)n, despite say the fact that the largest complete subgraph of G_n,p has only about log n vertices.     

Chromatic coloring with a maximum color class

Let G be any graph, and also let Δ(G), χ(G) and α(G) denote the maximum degree, the chromatic number and the independence number of G, respectively. A chromatic coloring of G is a proper coloring of G using χ(G) colors. A color class in a proper coloring of G is maximum if it has size α(G). In this paper, we prove that if a graph G (not necessarily connected) satisfies χ(G)≥Δ(G), then there exists a chromatic coloring of G in which some color class is maximum. This cannot be guaranteed if χ(G)<Δ(G). We shall also give some other extensions.     

Edge covering coloring of nearly bipartite graphs

LetG be a simple graph with vertex setV(G) and edge setE(G). A subsetS ofE(G) is called an edge cover ofG if the subgraph induced byS is a spanning subgraph ofG. The maximum number of edge covers which form a partition ofE(G) is called edge covering chromatic number ofG, denoted by χ′_c(G). It known that for any graphG with minimum degreeδ,δ -1 ≤χ′_c(G) ≤δ. If χ′_c(G) =δ, thenG is called a graph of CI class, otherwiseG is called a graph of CII class. It is easy to prove that the problem of deciding whether a given graph is of CI class or CII class is NP-complete. In this paper, we consider the classification of nearly bipartite graph and give some sufficient conditions for a nearly bipartite graph to be of CI class.     

Coloring the Cartesian sum of graphs

For graphs G and H, let G⊕H denote their Cartesian sum. We investigate the chromatic number and the circular chromatic number for G⊕H. It has been proved that for any graphs G and H, . It has been conjectured that for any graphs G and H, . We confirm this conjecture for graphs G and H with special values of χ_c(G) and χ_c(H). These results improve previously known bounds on the corresponding coloring parameters for the Cartesian sum of graphs.     

Improvement on Brooks' chromatic bound for a class of graphs

Brooks' Theorem says that if for a graph G,Δ(G)=n, then G is n-colourable, unless (1) n=2 and G has an odd cycle as a component, or (2) n>2 and K_n+1 is a component of G. In this paper we prove that if a graph G has none of some three graphs (K_1,3;K₅?e and H) as an induced subgraph and if Δ(G)?6 and d(G)<Δ(G), then χ(G)<Δ(G). Also we give examples to show that the hypothesis Δ(G)?6 can not be non-trivially relaxed and the graph K₅?e can not be removed from the hypothesis. Moreover, for a graph G with none of K_1,3;K₅?e and H as an induced subgraph, we verify Borodin and Kostochka's conjecture that if for a graph G,Δ(G)?9 and d(G)<Δ(G), then χ(G)<Δ(G).     

Acyclic Edge Coloring of Planar Graphs Without Small Cycles

A proper edge coloring of a graph G is called acyclic if there is no 2-colored cycle in G. The acyclic edge chromatic number of G, denoted by a′(G), is the least number of colors in an acyclic edge coloring of G. Alon et al. conjectured that a′(G) ≤ Δ(G) + 2 for any graphs. In this paper, it is shown that the conjecture holds for planar graphs without 4- and 5-cycles or without 4- and 6-cycles.     

On the adjacent vertex-distinguishing equitable edge coloring of graphs

Let G(V, E) be a graph. A k-adjacent vertex-distinguishing equatable edge coloring of G, k-AVEEC for short, is a proper edge coloring f if (1) C(u)≠C(v) for uv ∈ E(G), where C(u) = {f(uv)|uv ∈ E}, and (2) for any i, j = 1, 2,… k, we have ||Ei| |Ej|| ≤ 1, where Ei = {e|e ∈ E(G) and f(e) = i}. χáve (G) = min{k| there exists a k-AVEEC of G} is called the adjacent vertex-distinguishing equitable edge chromatic number of G. In this paper, we obtain the χáve (G) of some special graphs and present a conjecture.     

The Erd?s-Lovász Tihany conjecture for quasi-line graphs

Erd?s and Lovász conjectured in 1968 that for every graph G with χ(G)>ω(G) and any two integers s,t≥2 with s+t=χ(G)+1, there is a partition (S,T) of the vertex set V(G) such that χ(G[S])≥s and χ(G[T])≥t. Except for a few cases, this conjecture is still unsolved. In this note we prove the conjecture for quasi-line graphs and for graphs with independence number 2.     

Eigenvalues of a graph and its imbeddings

A graph H is imbedded in a graph G if a subset of the vertices of G determines a subgraph isomorphic to H. If λ(G) is the least eigenvalue of G and k_R(H) = lim sup_d→∞ {λ(G)| H imbedded in G; G regular and connected; diam(G) > d; deg(G) > d}, then λ(H) ? 2 ≤ k_R(H) ≤ λ(H) with these bounds being the best possible. Given a graph H, there exist arbitrarily large families of isospectral graphs such that H can be imbedded in each member of the family.     

List coloring of Cartesian products of graphs

A well-established generalization of graph coloring is the concept of list coloring. In this setting, each vertex v of a graph G is assigned a list L(v) of k colors and the goal is to find a proper coloring c of G with c(v)∈L(v). The smallest integer k for which such a coloring c exists for every choice of lists is called the list chromatic number of G and denoted by χ_l(G).We study list colorings of Cartesian products of graphs. We show that unlike in the case of ordinary colorings, the list chromatic number of the product of two graphs G and H is not bounded by the maximum of χ_l(G) and χ_l(H). On the other hand, we prove that χ_l(G×H)?min{χ_l(G)+col(H),col(G)+χ_l(H)}-1 and construct examples of graphs G and H for which our bound is tight.     

Connected subgraphs with small degree sums in 3‐connected planar graphs

It is well‐known that every planar graph has a vertex of degree at most five. Kotzig proved that every 3‐connected planar graph has an edge xy such that deg(x) + deg (y) ≤ 13. In this article, considering a similar problem for the case of three or more vertices that induce a connected subgraph, we show that, for a given positive integer t, every 3‐connected planar graph G with |V(G)| ≥ t has a connected subgraph H of order t such that Σ_x∈V(H) deg_G(x) ≤ 8t − 1. As a tool for proving this result, we consider decompositions of 3‐connected planar graphs into connected subgraphs of order at least t and at most 2t − 1. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Graph Theory 30: 191–203, 1999     

Acyclic edge colorings of graphs

A proper coloring of the edges of a graph G is called acyclic if there is no 2‐colored cycle in G. The acyclic edge chromatic number of G, denoted by a′(G), is the least number of colors in an acyclic edge coloring of G. For certain graphs G, a′(G) ≥ Δ(G) + 2 where Δ(G) is the maximum degree in G. It is known that a′(G) ≤ 16 Δ(G) for any graph G. We prove that there exists a constant c such that a′(G) ≤ Δ(G) + 2 for any graph G whose girth is at least cΔ(G) log Δ(G), and conjecture that this upper bound for a′(G) holds for all graphs G. We also show that a′(G) ≤ Δ + 2 for almost all Δ‐regular graphs. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Graph Theory 37: 157–167, 2001