Distributing vertices along a Hamiltonian cycle in Dirac graphs

A graph G on n vertices is called a Dirac graph if it has a minimum degree of at least n/2. The distance is defined as the number of edges in a shortest path of G joining u and v. In this paper we show that in a Dirac graph G, for every small enough subset S of the vertices, we can distribute the vertices of S along a Hamiltonian cycle C of G in such a way that all but two pairs of subsequent vertices of S have prescribed distances (apart from a difference of at most 1) along C. More precisely we show the following. There are ω,n₀>0 such that if G is a Dirac graph on n≥n₀ vertices, d is an arbitrary integer with 3≤d≤ωn/2 and S is an arbitrary subset of the vertices of G with 2≤|S|=k≤ωn/d, then for every sequence d_i of integers with 3≤d_i≤d,1≤i≤k−1, there is a Hamiltonian cycle C of G and an ordering of the vertices of S, a₁,a₂,…,a_k, such that the vertices of S are visited in this order on C and we have

     

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.     

Score sequences in oriented graphs

An oriented graph is a digraph with no symmetric pairs of directed arcs and without loops. The score of a vertexv _i in an oriented graph D is $a_{v_i } $ (or simply a_i) $d_{v_i }^ - $ are the outdegree and indegree, respectively, ofv _i and n is the number of vertices in D. In this paper, we give a new proof of Avery’s theorem and obtain some stronger inequalities for scores in oriented graphs. We also characterize strongly transitive oriented graphs.     

Strictly Deza line graphs

For a given graph G, its line graph L(G) is defined as the graph with vertex set equal to the edge set of G in which two vertices are adjacent if and only if the corresponding edges of G have exactly one common vertex. A k-regular graph of diameter 2 on υ vertices is called a strictly Deza graph with parameters (υ, k, b, a) if it is not strongly regular and any two vertices have a or b common neighbors. We give a classification of strictly Deza line graphs.     

On integral Cayley sum graphs

Let S be a subset of a finite abelian group G. The Cayley sum graph Cay⁺(G, S) of G with respect to S is a graph whose vertex set is G and two vertices g and h are joined by an edge if and only if g + h ∈ S. We call a finite abelian group G a Cayley sum integral group if for every subset S of G, Cay⁺(G, S) is integral i.e., all eigenvalues of its adjacency matrix are integers. In this paper, we prove that all Cayley sum integral groups are represented by Z₃ and Zn₂ ⁿ, n ≥ 1, where Z_k is the group of integers modulo k. Also, we classify simple connected cubic integral Cayley sum graphs.     

Designs associated with maximum independent sets of a graph

A (v, β _o , μ)-design over regular graph G = (V, E) of degree d is an ordered pair D = (V, B), where |V| = v and B is the set of maximum independent sets of G called blocks such that if i, j ∈ V, i ≠ j and if i and j are not adjacent in G then there are exactly μ blocks containing i and j. In this paper, we study (v, β _o , μ)-designs over the graphs K _n × K _n , T(n)-triangular graphs, L ₂(n)-square lattice graphs, Petersen graph, Shrikhande graph, Clebsch graph and the Schläfli graph and non-existence of (v, β _o , μ)-designs over the three Chang graphs T ₁(8), T ₂(8) and T ₃(8).     

Tournament immersion and cutwidth

A (loopless) digraph H is strongly immersed in a digraph G if the vertices of H are mapped to distinct vertices of G, and the edges of H are mapped to directed paths joining the corresponding pairs of vertices of G, in such a way that the paths used are pairwise edge-disjoint, and do not pass through vertices of G that are images of vertices of H. A digraph has cutwidth at most k if its vertices can be ordered {v₁,…,vn} in such a way that for each j, there are at most k edges uv such that u∈{v₁,…,vj−1} and v∈{vj,…,vn}.We prove that for every set S of tournaments, the following are equivalent:

•

there is a digraph H such that H cannot be strongly immersed in any member of S,

•

there exists k such that every member of S has cutwidth at most k,

•

there exists k such that every vertex of every member of S belongs to at most k edge-disjoint directed cycles.

This is a key lemma towards two results that will be presented in later papers: first, that strong immersion is a well-quasi-order for tournaments, and second, that there is a polynomial time algorithm for the k edge-disjoint directed paths problem (for fixed k) in a tournament.     

Acyclic colorings of graphs with bounded degree

A k-coloring (not necessarily proper) of vertices of a graph is called acyclic, if for every pair of distinct colors i and j the subgraph induced by the edges whose endpoints have colors i and j is acyclic. We consider some generalized acyclic k-colorings, namely, we require that each color class induces an acyclic or bounded degree graph. Mainly we focus on graphs with maximum degree 5. We prove that any such graph has an acyclic 5-coloring such that each color class induces an acyclic graph with maximum degree at most 4. We prove that the problem of deciding whether a graph G has an acyclic 2-coloring in which each color class induces a graph with maximum degree at most 3 is NP-complete, even for graphs with maximum degree 5. We also give a linear-time algorithm for an acyclic t-improper coloring of any graph with maximum degree d assuming that the number of colors is large enough.     

Restricted greedy clique decompositions and greedy clique decompositions ofK 4-free graphs

A greedy clique decomposition of a graph is obtained by removing maximal cliques from a graph one by one until the graph is empty. It has recently been shown that any greedy clique decomposition of a graph of ordern has at mostn ²/4 cliques. In this paper, we extend this result by showing that for any positive integerp, 3≤p any clique decomposisitioof a graph of ordern obtained by removing maximal cliques of order at leastp one by one until none remain, in which case the remaining edges are removed one by one, has at mostt _p-1( ⁿ ) cliques. Heret _p-1( ⁿ ) is the number of edges in the Turán graph of ordern, which has no complete subgraphs of orderp. In connection with greedy clique decompositions, P. Winkler conjectured that for any greedy clique decompositionC of a graphG of ordern the sum over the number of vertices in each clique ofC is at mostn ²/2. We prove this conjecture forK ₄-free graphs and show that in the case of equality forC andG there are only two possibilities:

1. G?K _n/2,n/2
2. G is complete 3-partite, where each part hasn/3 vertices.

We show that in either caseC is completely determined.     

Resolvability in circulant graphs

A set W of the vertices of a connected graph G is called a resolving set for G if for every two distinct vertices u, v ∈ V (G) there is a vertex w ∈ W such that d(u, w) ≠ d(v, w). A resolving set of minimum cardinality is called a metric basis for G and the number of vertices in a metric basis is called the metric dimension of G, denoted by dim(G). For a vertex u of G and a subset S of V (G), the distance between u and S is the number min s∈S d(u, s). A k-partition Π = {S 1 , S 2 , . . . , S k } of V (G) is called a resolving partition if for every two distinct vertices u, v ∈ V (G) there is a set S i in Π such that d(u, Si )≠ d(v, Si ). The minimum k for which there is a resolving k-partition of V (G) is called the partition dimension of G, denoted by pd(G). The circulant graph is a graph with vertex set Zn , an additive group of integers modulo n, and two vertices labeled i and j adjacent if and only if i-j (mod n) ∈ C , where CZn has the property that C =-C and 0 ■ C. The circulant graph is denoted by Xn, Δ where Δ = |C|. In this paper, we study the metric dimension of a family of circulant graphs Xn, 3 with connection set C = {1, n/2 , n-1} and prove that dim(Xn, 3 ) is independent of choice of n by showing that dim(Xn, 3 ) ={3 for all n ≡ 0 (mod 4), 4 for all n ≡ 2 (mod 4). We also study the partition dimension of a family of circulant graphs Xn,4 with connection set C = {±1, ±2} and prove that pd(Xn, 4 ) is independent of choice of n and show that pd(X5,4 ) = 5 and pd(Xn,4 ) ={3 for all odd n ≥ 9, 4 for all even n ≥ 6 and n = 7.     

Generalized competition index of primitive digraphs

For any positive integers k and m, the k-step m-competition graph C _m ^k (D) of a digraph D has the same set of vertices as D and there is an edge between vertices x and y if and only if there are distinct m vertices v₁, v₂, · · ·, v _m in D such that there are directed walks of length k from x to v _i and from y to v _i for all 1 ≤ i ≤ m. The m-competition index of a primitive digraph D is the smallest positive integer k such that C _m ^k (D) is a complete graph. In this paper, we obtained some sharp upper bounds for the m-competition indices of various classes of primitive digraphs.     

A Note on Directed Genera of Some Tournaments

An embedding of a digraph in an orientable surface is an embedding as the underlying graph and arcs in each region force a directed cycle. The directed genus is the minimum genus of surfaces in which the digraph can be directed embedded. Bonnington, Conder, Morton and McKenna [J. Combin. Theory Ser. B, 85(2002) 1-20] gave the problem that which tournaments on n vertices have the directed genus ?(n?3)(n?4)/12 ?, the genus of K_n. In this paper, we use the current graph method to show that there exists a tournament, which has the directed genus ?(n?3)(n?4)/12 ?, on n vertices if and only if n ≡ 3 or 7 (mod 12).     

SC-Hamiltonian graphs and digraphs: New necessary conditions and their impacts

A graph G on n vertices is said to be separable cost constant Hamiltonian (SC-Hamiltonian) if and only if G is Hamiltonian and for any cost matrix C=(c_(i,j)) associated with G where all tours have the same cost, there exist vectors a=(a₁,…,a_n) and b=(b₁,…,b_n) such that . In this paper we show that for symmetric digraphs strong Hamiltonicity is a necessary condition for SC-Hamiltonicity. As a surprising consequence, we prove that the symmetric digraph obtained from an undirected SC-Hamiltonian graph by edge duplication need not be SC-Hamiltonian. This settles a conjecture of Kabadi and Punnen. We then show that an undirected graph on an even number of nodes having an edge that appears in every Hamiltonian cycle cannot be SC-Hamiltonian. Using this we establish that multiple subdivision of an edge need not preserve SC-Hamiltonicity, disproving a previous claim. Further, we identify other necessary conditions for SC-Hamiltonicity and obtain new classes of SC-Hamiltonian graphs.     

Graphs with small diameter determined by their <Emphasis Type="Italic">D</Emphasis>-spectra

Let G be a connected graph with vertex set V(G) = {v₁, v₂,..., v _n }. The distance matrix D(G) = (d _ij )_n×n is the matrix indexed by the vertices of G, where d _ij denotes the distance between the vertices v _i and v _j . Suppose that λ₁(D) ≥ λ₂(D) ≥... ≥ λ _n (D) are the distance spectrum of G. The graph G is said to be determined by its D-spectrum if with respect to the distance matrix D(G), any graph having the same spectrum as G is isomorphic to G. We give the distance characteristic polynomial of some graphs with small diameter, and also prove that these graphs are determined by their D-spectra.     

The non-nilpotent graph of a semigroup

We associate a graph ${\mathcal{N}}_{S}$ with a semigroup S (called the upper non-nilpotent graph of S). The vertices of this graph are the elements of S and two vertices are adjacent if they generate a semigroup that is not nilpotent (in the sense of Malcev). In case S is a group this graph has been introduced by A. Abdollahi and M.?Zarrin and some remarkable properties have been proved. The aim of this paper is to study this graph (and some related graphs, such as the non-commuting graph) and to discover the algebraic structure of S determined by the associated graph. It is shown that if a finite semigroup S has empty upper non-nilpotent graph then S is positively Engel. On the other hand, a semigroup has a complete upper non-nilpotent graph if and only if it is a completely simple semigroup that is a band. One of the main results states that if all connected ${\mathcal{N}}_{S}$ -components of a semigroup S are complete (with at least two elements) then S is a band that is a semilattice of its connected components and, moreover, S is an iterated total ideal extension of its connected components. We also show that some graphs, such as a cycle C _n on n vertices (with n??5), are not the upper non-nilpotent graph of a semigroup. Also, there is precisely one graph on 4 vertices that is not the upper non-nilpotent graph of a semigroup with 4 elements. This work also is a continuation of earlier work by Okni??ski, Riley and the first named author on (Malcev) nilpotent semigroups.     

Induced-Universal Graphs for Graphs with Bounded Maximum Degree

For a family \(\mathcal {F}\) of graphs, a graph U is induced-universal for \({\mathcal{F}}\) if every graph in \({\mathcal{F}}\) is an induced subgraph of U. We give a construction for an induced-universal graph for the family of graphs on n vertices with degree at most r, which has \(Cn^{\lfloor (r+1)/2\rfloor}\) vertices and \(Dn^{2\lfloor (r+1)/2\rfloor -1}\) edges, where C and D are constants depending only on r. This construction is nearly optimal when r is even in that such an induced-universal graph must have at least cn ^r/2 vertices for some c depending only on r.Our construction is explicit in that no probabilistic tools are needed to show that the graph exists or that a given graph is induced-universal. The construction also extends to multigraphs and directed graphs with bounded degree.     

The Sperner Capacity of Linear and Nonlinear Codes for the Cyclic Triangle

Shannon introduced the concept of zero-error capacity of a discrete memoryless channel. The channel determines an undirected graph on the symbol alphabet, where adjacency means that symbols cannot be confused at the receiver. The zero-error or Shannon capacity is an invariant of this graph. Gargano, Körner, and Vaccaro have recently extended the concept of Shannon capacity to directed graphs. Their generalization of Shannon capacity is called Sperner capacity. We resolve a problem posed by these authors by giving the first example (the two orientations of the triangle) of a graph where the Sperner capacity depends on the orientations of the edges. Sperner capacity seems to be achieved by nonlinear codes, whereas Shannon capacity seems to be attainable by linear codes. In particular, linear codes do not achieve Sperner capacity for the cyclic triangle. We use Fourier analysis or linear programming to obtain the best upper bounds for linear codes. The bounds for unrestricted codes are obtained from rank arguments, eigenvalue interlacing inequalities and polynomial algebra. The statement of the cyclic q-gon problem is very simple: what is the maximum size N _q(n) of a subset S _n of {0, 1, \(\ldots\) , q?1} ⁿ with the property that for every pair of distinct vectors x = (x _i), y = (y _i) \(\in \) S _n, we have x _j ?y _j ≡ 1(mod q) for some j? For q = 3 (the cyclic triangle), we show N ₃(n)?2 ⁿ . If however S _n is a subgroup, then we give a simple proof that \(\left| {S_n } \right| \leqslant \sqrt 3 ^n \) .     

Iteratedk-line graphs

For integersk≥2, thek-line graph L_k(G) of a graph G is defined as a graph whose vertices correspond to the complete subgraphs onk vertices in G with two distinct vertices adjacent if the corresponding complete subgraphs have 1 common vertices inG. We define iteratedk-line graphs byL _k ⁿ (G) ?L _k (L _k ^n?1 (G), whereL _k ⁰ (G) ?G. In this paper the iterated behavior of thek-line graph operator is investigated. It turns out that the behavior is quite different fork = 2 (the well-known line graph case),k = 3, and k≥4.     

Adjacency matrices of polarity graphs and of other C 4-free graphs of large size

In this paper we give a method for obtaining the adjacency matrix of a simple polarity graph G _q from a projective plane PG(2, q), where q is a prime power. Denote by ex(n; C ₄) the maximum number of edges of a graph on n vertices and free of squares C ₄. We use the constructed graphs G _q to obtain lower bounds on the extremal function ex(n; C ₄), for some n < q ² + q + 1. In particular, we construct a C ₄-free graph on ${n=q^2 -\sqrt{q}}$ vertices and ${\frac{1}{2} q(q^2-1)-\frac{1}{2}\sqrt{q} (q-1) }$ edges, for a square prime power q.