On the hamiltonian path graph of a graph

The hamiltonian path graph H(F) of a graph F is that graph having the same vertex set as F and in which two vertices u and v are adjacent if and only if F contains a hamiltonian u ? v path. First, in response to a conjecture of Chartrand, Kapoor and Nordhaus, a characterization of nonhamiltonian graphs isomorphic to their hamiltonian path graphs is presented. Next, the maximum size of a hamiltonian graph F of given order such that K?_d ? H(F) is determined. Finally, it is shown that if the degree sum of the endvertices of a hamiltonian path in a graph F with at least five vertices is at least |V(F)| + t(t ? 0), then H(F) contains a complete subgraph of order t + 4.     

The longest path in a random graph

A random graph with (1+ε)n/2 edges contains a path of lengthcn. A random directed graph with (1+ε)n edges contains a directed path of lengthcn. This settles a conjecture of Erdõs.     

Long cycles passing through a specified path in a graph

For a graph G and an integer k ≥ 1, let ς_k(G) = d_G(v_i): {v₁, …, v_k} is an independent set of vertices in G}. Enomoto proved the following theorem. Let s ≥ 1 and let G be a (s + 2)-connected graph. Then G has a cycle of length ≥ min{|V(G)|, ς₂(G) − s} passing through any path of length s. We generalize this result as follows. Let k ≥ 3 and s ≥ 1 and let G be a (k + s − 1)-connected graph. Then G has a cycle of length ≥ min{|V(G)|, − s} passing through any path of length s. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J. Graph Theory 29: 177–184, 1998     

Acyclic graphoidal covers and path partitions in a graph

An acyclic graphoidal cover of a graph G is a collection ψ of paths in G such that every path in ψ has at least two vertices, every vertex of G is an internal vertex of at most one path in ψ and every edge of G is in exactly one path in ψ. The minimum cardinality of an acyclic graphoidal cover of G is called the acyclic graphoidal covering number of G and is denoted by η_a. A path partition of a graph G is a collection P of paths in G such that every edge of G is in exactly one path in P. The minimum cardinality of a path partition of G is called thepath partition number of G and is denoted by π. In this paper we determine η_a and π for several classes of graphs and obtain a characterization of all graphs with Δ 4 and η_a = Δ − 1. We also obtain a characterization of all graphs for which η_a = π.     

ContributionsAcyclic graphoidal covers and path partitions in a graph

An acyclic graphoidal cover of a graph G is a collection ψ of paths in G such that every path in ψ has at least two vertices, every vertex of G is an internal vertex of at most one path in ψ and every edge of G is in exactly one path in ψ. The minimum cardinality of an acyclic graphoidal cover of G is called the acyclic graphoidal covering number of G and is denoted by η_a. A path partition of a graph G is a collection P of paths in G such that every edge of G is in exactly one path in P. The minimum cardinality of a path partition of G is called the path partition number of G and is denoted by π. In this paper we determine η_a and π for several classes of graphs and obtain a characterization of all graphs with Δ 4 and η_a = Δ − 1. We also obtain a characterization of all graphs for which η_a = π.     

Two results on the path algebra of a directed graph

It is proved that the pain algebra of a directed graph (with at jeast one edge) has dimension one more than the dimension of the ground ring, and it is projective as a module over the path algehra of a subgraph.     

An upper bound for the path number of a graph

The path number of a graph G, denoted p(G), is the minimum number of edge-disjoint paths covering the edges of G. Lovász has proved that if G has u odd vertices and g even vertices, then p(G) ≤ 1/2 u + g - 1 ≤ n - 1, where n is the total number of vertices of G. This paper clears up an error in Lovász's proof of the above result and uses an extension of his construction to show that p(G) ≤ 1/2 u + [3/4g] ≤ [3/4n].     

Finding a minimum path cover of a distance-hereditary graph in polynomial time

A path cover of a graph G=(V,E) is a set of pairwise vertex-disjoint paths such that the disjoint union of the vertices of these paths equals the vertex set V of G. The path cover problem is, given a graph, to find a path cover having the minimum number of paths. The path cover problem contains the Hamiltonian path problem as a special case since finding a path cover, consisting of a single path, corresponds directly to the Hamiltonian path problem. A graph is a distance-hereditary graph if each pair of vertices is equidistant in every connected induced subgraph containing them. The complexity of the path cover problem on distance-hereditary graphs has remained unknown. In this paper, we propose the first polynomial-time algorithm, which runs in O(|V|⁹) time, to solve the path cover problem on distance-hereditary graphs.     

Generalization of a multicriteria shortest path problem in an oriented graph

A partial order relation is introduced on the set of all paths. An algorithm for determination of the shortest paths is considered providing an additional condition on the partial order is assumed.     

The number of endpoints of a random walk on a semi-infinite metric path graph

Theoretical and Mathematical Physics - We study a semi-infinite metric path graph and construct the long-time asymptotic logarithm of the number of possible endpoints of a random walk.     

The dynamics of the line and path graph operators

For any integerk e 1 thek- path graph P_k (G) of a graph G has all length-k subpaths ofG as vertices, and two such vertices are adjacent whenever their union (as subgraphs ofG) forms a path or cycle withk + 1 edges. Fork = 1 we get the well-known line graphP ₁ (G) =L(G). Iteratedk-path graphs P^t _k(G) are defined as usual by P^t _k (G) := P_k(P ^t?1 _k(G)) ift < 1, and by P¹ _k(G): = P_k(G). A graph G isP _k -periodic if it is isomorphic to some iteratedk-path graph of itself; itP _k -converges if some iteratedk-path graph of G isP _k -periodic. A graph has infiniteP _k -depth if for any positive integert there is a graphH such that P^t _k(H) ?G. In this paperP _k -periodic if it is isomorphic to some iteratedk-path graph of itself; itP _k -converges if some iteratedk-path graph of G isP _k -periodic graphs,P _k -periodic if it is isomorphic to some iteratedk-path graph of itself; itP _k -converges if some iteratedk-path graph of G isP _k -convergent graphs, and graphs with infiniteP _k -periodic if it is isomorphic to some iteratedk-path graph of itself; itP _k -converges if some iteratedk-path graph of G isP _k -depth are characterized inside some subclasses of the class of locally finite graphs fork = 1, 2.     

Counting maps from a surface to a graph

No Abstract. . Received: March 2004 Revision: April 2005 Accepted: May 2005     

Inferring probability densities from expert opinion

When experts are asked to assess a situation, they often express their opinions providing estimates of the probability of observing the occurrence of a random variable in given intervals, sometimes up to a range of values, rather than simply providing point estimates. The problem we face is how to translate that expert opinion into probability distributions. We examine a novel way of solving that problem by making use of the maximum entropy method in the data to deal with expert opinions expressed with or without uncertainty bands. Our method allows us to unveil underlying probability distributions driving expert opinions expressed with and without uncertainty.     

Nordhaus-Gaddum results for the sum of the induced path number of a graph and its complement

The induced path number ρ(G) of a graph G is defined as the minimum number of subsets into which the vertex set of G can be partitioned so that each subset induces a path.Broere et al.proved that if G is a graph of order n,then n~(1/2) ≤ρ(G) + ρ(■) ≤ [3n/2].In this paper,we characterize the graphs G for which ρ(G) + ρ(■) = [3n/2],improve the lower bound on ρ(G) + ρ(■) by one when n is the square of an odd integer,and determine a best possible upper bound for ρ(G) + ρ(■) when neither G nor ■ has isolated vertices.     

First‐passage percolation on a ladder graph,and the path cost in a VCG auction

This paper studies the time constant for first‐passage percolation, and the Vickrey‐Clarke‐Groves (VCG) payment, for the shortest path on a ladder graph (a width‐2 strip) with random edge costs, treating both in a unified way based on recursive distributional equations. For first‐passage percolation where the edge costs are independent Bernoulli random variables we find the time constant exactly; it is a rational function of the Bernoulli parameter. For first‐passage percolation where the edge costs are uniform random variables we present a reasonably efficient means for obtaining arbitrarily close upper and lower bounds. Using properties of Harris chains we also show that the incremental cost to advance through the medium has a unique stationary distribution, and we compute stochastic lower and upper bounds. We rely on no special properties of the uniform distribution: the same methods could be applied to any well‐behaved, bounded cost distribution. For the VCG payment, with Bernoulli‐distributed costs the payment for an n‐long ladder, divided by n, tends to an explicit rational function of the Bernoulli parameter. Again, our methods apply more generally. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Random Struct. Alg., 38, 350‐364, 2011     

Transforming a graph into a 1-balanced graph

Let G be a non-trivial, loopless graph and for each non-trivial subgraph H of G, let . The graph G is 1-balanced if γ(G), the maximum among g(H), taken over all non-trivial subgraphs H of G, is attained when H=G. This quantity γ(G) is called the fractional arboricity of the graph G. The value γ(G) appears in a paper by Picard and Queyranne and has been studied extensively by Catlin, Grossman, Hobbs and Lai. The quantity γ(G)−g(G) measures how much a given graph G differs from being 1-balanced. In this paper, we describe a systematic method of modifying a given graph to obtain a 1-balanced graph on the same number of vertices and edges. We obtain this by a sequence of iterations; each iteration re-defining one end-vertex of an edge in the given graph. After each iteration, either the value γ of the new graph formed is less than that of the graph from the previous iteration or the size of the maximal γ-achieving subgraph of the new graph is smaller than that of the graph in the previous iteration. We show that our algorithm is polynomial in time complexity. Further ways to decrease the number of iterations are also discussed.     

Excluding a bipartite circle graph from line graphs

We prove that, for a fixed bipartite circle graph H, all line graphs with sufficiently large rank‐width (or clique‐width) must have a pivot‐minor isomorphic to H. To prove this, we introduce graphic delta‐matroids. Graphic delta‐matroids are minors of delta‐matroids of line graphs and they generalize graphic and cographic matroids. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 60: 183–203, 2009     

Inferring Efficient Weights from Pairwise Comparison Matrices

Several multi-criteria-decision-making methodologies assume the existence of weights associated with the different criteria, reflecting their relative importance.One of the most popular ways to infer such weights is the analytic hierarchy process, which constructs first a matrix of pairwise comparisons, from which weights are derived following one out of many existing procedures, such as the eigenvector method or the least (logarithmic) squares. Since different procedures yield different results (weights) we pose the problem of describing the set of weights obtained by “sensible” methods: those which are efficient for the (vector-) optimization problem of simultaneous minimization of discrepancies. A characterization of the set of efficient solutions is given, which enables us to assert that the least-logarithmic-squares solution is always efficient, whereas the (widely used) eigenvector solution is not, in some cases, efficient, thus its use in practice may be questionable.This research has been supported by the Spanish Science and Technology Ministry and FEDER Grants No. BFM2002-04525-C02-02 and BFM2002-11282-E.