A Class of 2-Colorable Orthogonal Double Covers of Complete Graphs by Hamiltonian Paths

K _n by a graph G is a collection ? of n spanning subgraphs of K _n , all isomorphic to G, such that any two members of ? share exactly one edge and every edge of K _n is contained in exactly two members of ?. In the 1980's Hering posed the problem to decide the existence of an ODC for the case that G is an almost-hamiltonian cycle, i.e. a cycle of length n−1. It is known that the existence of an ODC of K _n by a hamiltonian path implies the existence of ODCs of K _4n and K _16n , respectively, by almost-hamiltonian cycles. Horton and Nonay introduced 2-colorable ODCs and showed: If for n≥3 and a prime power q≥5 there are an ODC of K _n by a hamiltonian path and a 2-colorable ODC of K _q by a hamiltonian path, then there is an ODC of K _qn by a hamiltonian path. We construct 2-colorable ODCs of K _n and K _2n , respectively, by hamiltonian paths for all odd square numbers n≥9. Received: January 27, 2000     

On Orthogonal Double Covers of Graphs

An orthogonal double cover (ODC) is a collection of n spanning subgraphs(pages) of the complete graph K _n such that they cover every edge of the completegraph twice and the intersection of any two of them contains exactly one edge. If all the pages are isomorphic tosome graph G, we speak of an ODC by G. ODCs have been studied for almost 25 years, and existenceresults have been derived for many graph classes. We present an overview of the current state of research alongwith some new results and generalizations. As will be obvious, progress made in the last 10 years is in many waysrelated to the work of Ron Mullin. So it is natural and with pleasure that we dedicate this article to Ron, on theoccasion of his 65th birthday.     

Additive and hereditary properties of graphs are uniquely factorizable into irreducible factors

A hereditary property of graphs is any class of graphs closed under isomorphism and subgraphs. Let 𝒫₁, 𝒫₂,…, 𝒫_n be hereditary properties of graphs. We say that a graph G has property 𝒫_1°𝒫_2°···_°𝒫_n if the vertex set of G can be partitioned into n sets V₁, V₂,…, V_n such that the subgraph of G induced by V_i belongs to 𝒫_i; i = 1, 2,…, n. A hereditary property is said to be reducible if there exist hereditary properties 𝒫₁ and 𝒫₂ such that ℛ = 𝒫_1°𝒫₂; otherwise it is irreducible. We prove that the factorization of a reducible hereditary property into irreducible factors is unique whenever the property is additive, i.e., it is closed under the disjoint union of graphs. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Graph Theory 33: 44–53, 2000     

Orthogonal Double Covers of Complete Graphs by Caterpillars of Diameter 5

An orthogonal double cover (ODC) of the complete graph K_n by a graph G is a collection = {G_i|i = 1,2, . . . ,n} of spanning subgraphs of K_n, all isomorphic to G, with the property that every edge of K_n belongs to exactly two members of and any two distinct members of share exactly one edge. A caterpillar of diameter five is a tree arising from a path with six vertices by attaching pendant vertices to some or each of its vertices of degree two. We show that for any caterpillar of diameter five there exists an ODC of the complete graph K_n.     

On orthogonal double covers of kn and a conjecture of chung and west

A collection ?? = {G₁, G₂,…,G_n} of spanning subgraphs of K_n is called an orthogonal double cover if (i) every edge of K_n belongs to exactly two of the G_i's and (ii) any two distinct G_i's intersect in exactly one edge. Chung and West conjectured that there exists an orthogonal double cover of K_n, for all n, in which each G_i has maximum degree 2, and proved this result for n in six of the residue classes modulo 12. In another context, Ganter and Gronau showed that for n ≡ 1 mod 3, n ≠ 10, there exists an orthogonal double cover of K_n in which each G_i consists of an isolated vertex and the vertex disjoint union of K₃'s (actually these orthogonal double covers result from the solution of the directed version of the problem, which reduces to the undirected case when the orientation of the arcs is ignored). Clearly the covers of Ganter and Gronau satisfy the Chung-West requirement. In this article, the configurations of Ganter and Gronau are generalized to include the cases n ≡ 0,2 mod 3, and the results are used to provide a unified solution of the Chung-West problem. For n ≠ 5 mod 6, all the spanning subgraphs in the collection ?? are isomorphic to each other; however, this is not the case when n ≡ 5 mod 6. In addition to solving the Chung-West problem, we also go on to show that for n ≡ 2 mod 3 and n > 287, there exists an orthogonal double cover of K_n in which each spanning subgraph G_i consists of the vertex-disjoint union of an isolated vertex, and quadrilateral, and (n?5)/3 triangles. Of the 96 cases with 2 ? n ? 287, 65 cases are resolved and 31 remain open. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Degree sums for edges and cycle lengths in graphs

Let G be a graph of order n satisfying d(u) + d(v) ≥ n for every edge uv of G. We show that the circumference—the length of a longest cycle—of G can be expressed in terms of a certain graph parameter, and can be computed in polynomial time. Moreover, we show that G contains cycles of every length between 3 and the circumference, unless G is complete bipartite. If G is 1-tough then it is pancyclic or G = K_r,r with r = n/2. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Graph Theory 25: 253–256, 1997     

Graphs omitting sums of complete graphs

For every finite m and n there is a finite set {G₁, …, G_l} of countable (m · K_n)-free graphs such that every countable (m · K_n)-free graph occurs as an induced subgraph of one of the graphs G_l © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Perfect path double covers of graphs

A perfect path double cover (PPDC) of a graph G on n vertices is a family ?? of n paths of G such that each edge of G belongs to exactly two members of ?? and each vertex of G occurs exactly twice as an end of a path of ??. We propose and study the conjecture that every simple graph admits a PPDC. Among other things, we prove that every simple 3-regular graph admits a PPDC consisting of paths of length three.     

On totally multicolored stars

Given an edge‐coloring of a graph G, a subgraph M of G will be called totally multicolored if no two edges of M receive the same color. Let h(G, K_1,q) be the minimum integer such that every edge‐coloring of G using exactly h(G, K_1,q) colors produces at least one totally multicolored copy of K_1,q (the q‐star) in G. In this article, an upper bound of h(G, K_1,q) is presented, as well as some applications of this upper bound. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

More orthogonal double covers of complete graphs by Hamiltonian paths

An orthogonal double cover (ODC) of the complete graph K_n by a graph G is a collection G of n spanning subgraphs of K_n, all isomorphic to G, such that any two members of G share exactly one edge and every edge of K_n is contained in exactly two members of G. In the 1980s Hering posed the problem to decide the existence of an ODC for the case that G is an almost-Hamiltonian cycle, i.e. a cycle of length n-1. It is known that the existence of an ODC of K_n by a Hamiltonian path implies the existence of ODCs of K_4n and of K_16n, respectively, by almost-Hamiltonian cycles. Horton and Nonay introduced two-colorable ODCs and showed: If there are an ODC of K_n by a Hamiltonian path for some n?3 and a two-colorable ODC of K_q by a Hamiltonian path for some prime power q?5, then there is an ODC of K_qn by a Hamiltonian path. In [U. Leck, A class of 2-colorable orthogonal double covers of complete graphs by hamiltonian paths, Graphs Combin. 18 (2002) 155-167], two-colorable ODCs of K_n and K_2n, respectively, by Hamiltonian paths were constructed for all odd square numbers n?9. Here we continue this work and construct cyclic two-colorable ODCs of K_n and K_2n, respectively, by Hamiltonian paths for all n of the form n=4k²+1 or n=(k²+1)/2 for some integer k.     

Achromatic Number of K 5 × K n for Small n

The achromatic number of a graph G is the maximum number of colours in a proper vertex colouring of G such that for any two distinct colours there is an edge of G incident with vertices of those two colours. We determine the achromatic number of the Cartesian product of K ₅ and K _n for all n ≤ 24.     

Hamiltonian graphs involving distances

Let G be a graph of order n. We show that if G is a 2-connected graph and max{d(u), d(v)} + |N(u) U N(v)| ≥ n for each pair of vertices u, v at distance two, then either G is hamiltonian or G ?3K_n/3 U T₁ U T₂, where n ? O (mod 3), and T₁ and T₂ are the edge sets of two vertex disjoint triangles containing exactly one vertex from each K_n/3. This result generalizes both Fan's and Lindquester's results as well as several others.     

Vertex-distinguishing proper edge-colorings

An edge-coloring is called vertex-distinguishing if every two distinct vertices are incident to different sets of colored edges. The minimum number of colors required for a vertex-distinguishing proper edge-coloring of a simple graph G is denoted by . A simple count shows that where n_i denotes the number of vertices of degree i in G. We prove that where C is a constant depending only on Δ. Some results for special classes of graphs, notably trees, are also presented. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Graph Theory 26: 73–82, 1997     

An Anti-Ramsey Theorem on Diamonds

Let G be the diamond (the graph obtained from K ₄ by deleting an edge) and, for every n ≥ 4, let f(n, G) be the minimum integer k such that, for every edge-coloring of the complete graph of order n which uses exactly k colors, there is at least one copy of G all whose edges have different colors. Let ext(n, {C ₃, C ₄}) be the maximum number of edges of a graph on n vertices free of triangles and squares. Here we prove that for every n ≥ 4,

Spanning 2‐trails from degree sum conditions

Suppose G is a simple connected n‐vertex graph. Let σ₃(G) denote the minimum degree sum of three independent vertices in G (which is ∞ if G has no set of three independent vertices). A 2‐trail is a trail that uses every vertex at most twice. Spanning 2‐trails generalize hamilton paths and cycles. We prove three main results. First, if σ₃G)≥ n ‐ 1, then G has a spanning 2‐trail, unless G ? K_1,3. Second, if σ₃(G) ≥ n, then G has either a hamilton path or a closed spanning 2‐trail. Third, if G is 2‐edge‐connected and σ₃(G) ≥ n, then G has a closed spanning 2‐trail, unless G ? K_2,3 or K (the 6‐vertex graph obtained from K_2,3 by subdividing one edge). All three results are sharp. These results are related to the study of connected and 2‐edge‐connected factors, spanning k‐walks, even factors, and supereulerian graphs. In particular, a closed spanning 2‐trail may be regarded as a connected (and 2‐edge‐connected) even [2,4]‐factor. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 45: 298–319, 2004     

Multicolored trees in complete graphs

A multicolored tree is a tree whose edges have different colors. Brualdi and Hollingsworth 5 proved in any proper edge coloring of the complete graph K_2n(n > 2) with 2n ? 1 colors, there are two edge‐disjoint multicolored spanning trees. In this paper we generalize this result showing that if (a₁,…, a_k) is a color distribution for the complete graph K_n, n ≥ 5, such that , then there exist two edge‐disjoint multicolored spanning trees. Moreover, we prove that for any edge coloring of the complete graph K_n with the above distribution if T is a non‐star multicolored spanning tree of K_n, then there exists a multicolored spanning tree T' of K_n such that T and T' are edge‐disjoint. Also it is shown that if K_n, n ≥ 6, is edge colored with k colors and , then there exist two edge‐disjoint multicolored spanning trees. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 54: 221–232, 2007     

Triple placement of graphs

A graphG of ordern is said to be 3-placeable if there are three edge disjoint copies ofG inK _n. In the paper we prove that every graph of ordern and size at mostn–2 is 3-placeable unless isomorphic either toK ₃ 2K ₁ or toK ₄ 4K ₁.     

Interpolation theorem for the number of end-vertices of spanning trees

The following interpolation theorem is proved: If a graph G contains spanning trees having exactly m and n end-vertices, with m < n, then for every integer k, m < k < n, G contains a spanning tree having exactly k end-vertices. This settles a problem posed by Chartrand at the Fourth International Conference on Graph Theory and Applications held in Kalamazoo, 1980.     

Partitioning complete multipartite graphs by monochromatic trees

The tree partition number of an r‐edge‐colored graph G, denoted by t_r(G), is the minimum number k such that whenever the edges of G are colored with r colors, the vertices of G can be covered by at most k vertex‐disjoint monochromatic trees. We determine t₂(K(n₁, n₂,…, n_k)) of the complete k‐partite graph K(n₁, n₂,…, n_k). In particular, we prove that t₂(K(n, m)) = ? (m‐2)/2ⁿ? + 2, where 1 ≤ n ≤ m. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 48: 133–141, 2005     

Decompositions of complete graphs and complete bipartite graphs into isomorphic supersubdivision graphs

A graph H is called a supersubdivison of a graph G if H is obtained from G by replacing every edge uv of G by a complete bipartite graph K_2,m (m may vary for each edge) by identifying u and v with the two vertices in K_2,m that form one of the two partite sets. We denote the set of all such supersubdivision graphs by SS(G). Then, we prove the following results.

1. Each non-trivial connected graph G and each supersubdivision graph HSS(G) admits an α-valuation. Consequently, due to the results of Rosa (in: Theory of Graphs, International Symposium, Rome, July 1966, Gordon and Breach, New York, Dunod, Paris, 1967, p. 349) and El-Zanati and Vanden Eynden (J. Combin. Designs 4 (1996) 51), it follows that complete graphs K_2cq+1 and complete bipartite graphs K_mq,nq can be decomposed into edge disjoined copies of HSS(G), for all positive integers m,n and c, where q=|E(H)|.

2. Each connected graph G and each supersubdivision graph in SS(G) is strongly n-elegant, where n=|V(G)| and felicitous.

3. Each supersubdivision graph in EASS(G), the set of all even arbitrary supersubdivision graphs of any graph G, is cordial.

Further, we discuss a related open problem.