The chromatic number of random graphs

Let χ(G(n, p)) denote the chromatic number of the random graphG(n, p). We prove that there exists a constantd ₀ such that fornp(n)>d ₀,p(n)→0, the probability that $$\frac{{np}}{{2 log np}}\left( {1 + \frac{{\log log np - 1}}{{\log np}}} \right)< \chi (G(n,p))< \frac{{np}}{{2 log np}}\left( {1 + \frac{{30 \log \log np}}{{\log np}}} \right)$$ tends to 1 asn→∞.     

The chromatic number of random graphs

For a fixed probabilityp, 0<p<1, almost every random graphG _n,p has chromatic number $$\left( {\frac{1}{2} + o(1)} \right)\log (1/(1 - p))\frac{n}{{\log n}}$$ ,     

Random lifts of graphs: Independence and chromatic number

For a graph G, a random n‐lift of G has the vertex set V(G)×[n] and for each edge [u, v] ∈ E(G), there is a random matching between {u}×[n] and {v}×[n]. We present bounds on the chromatic number and on the independence number of typical random lifts, with G fixed and n→∞. For the independence number, upper and lower bounds are obtained as solutions to certain optimization problems on the base graph. For a base graph G with chromatic number χ and fractional chromatic number χ_f, we show that the chromatic number of typical lifts is bounded from below by const ? and also by const ? χ_f/log²χ_f (trivially, it is bounded by χ from above). We have examples of graphs where the chromatic number of the lift equals χ almost surely, and others where it is a.s. O(χ/logχ). Many interesting problems remain open. © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Random Struct. Alg., 20, 1–22, 2002     

The chromatic number of dense random graphs

The chromatic number of a graph G is defined as the minimum number of colors required for a vertex coloring where no two adjacent vertices are colored the same. The chromatic number of the dense random graph where is constant has been intensively studied since the 1970s, and a landmark result by Bollobás in 1987 first established the asymptotic value of . Despite several improvements of this result, the exact value of remains open. In this paper, new upper and lower bounds for are established. These bounds are the first ones that match each other up to a term of size o(1) in the denominator: they narrow down the coloring rate of to an explicit interval of length o(1), answering a question of Kang and McDiarmid.     

The chromatic number of random Borsuk graphs

We study a model of random graph where vertices are n i.i.d. uniform random points on the unit sphere S^d in , and a pair of vertices is connected if the Euclidean distance between them is at least 2??. We are interested in the chromatic number of this graph as n tends to infinity. It is not too hard to see that if ?>0 is small and fixed, then the chromatic number is d+2 with high probability. We show that this holds even if ?→0 slowly enough. We quantify the rate at which ? can tend to zero and still have the same chromatic number. The proof depends on combining topological methods (namely the Lyusternik–Schnirelman–Borsuk theorem) with geometric probability arguments. The rate we obtain is best possible, up to a constant factor—if ?→0 faster than this, we show that the graph is (d+1)‐colorable with high probability.25     

The game chromatic number of random graphs

Given a graph G and an integer k, two players take turns coloring the vertices of G one by one using k colors so that neighboring vertices get different colors. The first player wins iff at the end of the game all the vertices of G are colored. The game chromatic number χ_g(G) is the minimum k for which the first player has a winning strategy. In this study, we analyze the asymptotic behavior of this parameter for a random graph G_n,p. We show that with high probability, the game chromatic number of G_n,p is at least twice its chromatic number but, up to a multiplicative constant, has the same order of magnitude. We also study the game chromatic number of random bipartite graphs. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Random Struct. Alg., 2008     

The concentration of the chromatic number of random graphs

We prove that for every constant >0 the chromatic number of the random graphG(n, p) withp=n ^–1/2– is asymptotically almost surely concentrated in two consecutive values. This implies that for any <1/2 and any integer valued functionr(n)O(n ) there exists a functionp(n) such that the chromatic number ofG(n,p(n)) is preciselyr(n) asymptotically almost surely.Research supported in part by a USA Israeli BSF grant and by a grant from the Israel Science Foundation.Research supported in part by a Charles Clore Fellowship.     

On the chromatic number of random graphs

In this paper we consider the classical Erdős–Rényi model of random graphs G_n,p. We show that for p=p(n)n^−3/4−δ, for any fixed δ>0, the chromatic number χ(G_n,p) is a.a.s. ℓ, ℓ+1, or ℓ+2, where ℓ is the maximum integer satisfying 2(ℓ−1)log(ℓ−1)p(n−1).     

Distinguishing chromatic number of random Cayley graphs

The distinguishing chromatic number of a graph $G$, denoted ${\chi }_D\left(G\right)$, is defined as the minimum number of colors needed to properly color $G$ such that no non-trivial automorphism of $G$ fixes each color class of $G$. In this paper, we consider random Cayley graphs $\Gamma$ defined over certain abelian groups $A$ with $\left|A\right|=n$, and show that with probability at least $1?n^{?\Omega (logn)}$, ${\chi }_D\left(\Gamma \right)\le \chi \left(\Gamma \right)+1$.     

The chromatic number of 5-valent circulants

A circulant C(n;S) with connection set S={a₁,a₂,…,a_m} is the graph with vertex set Z_n, the cyclic group of order n, and edge set E={{i,j}:|i−j|∈S}. The chromatic number of connected circulants of degree at most four has been previously determined completely by Heuberger [C. Heuberger, On planarity and colorability of circulant graphs, Discrete Math. 268 (2003) 153-169]. In this paper, we determine completely the chromatic number of connected circulants C(n;a,b,n/2) of degree 5. The methods used are essentially extensions of Heuberger’s method but the formulae developed are much more complex.     

On the chromatic number of random graphs

We consider random graphs G_n,p with fixed edge-probability p. We refine an argument of Bollobás to show that almost all such graphs have chromatic number equal to n/{2 log_b n ? 2 log_b log_b n + O(1)} where b = 1/(1 ? p).     

The generalized acyclic edge chromatic number of random regular graphs

The r‐acyclic edge chromatic number of a graph is defined to be the minimum number of colors required to produce an edge coloring of the graph such that adjacent edges receive different colors and every cycle C has at least min(|C|, r) colors. We show that (r ? 2)d is asymptotically almost surely (a.a.s.) an upper bound on the r‐acyclic edge chromatic number of a random d‐regular graph, for all constants r ≥ 4 and d ≥ 2. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 53: 101–125, 2006     

The chromatic number of random graphs at the double-jump threshold

A crucial step in the Erdös-Rényi (1960) proof that the double-jump threshold is also the planarity threshold for random graphs is shown to be invalid. We prove that whenp=1/n, almost all graphs do not contain a cycle with a diagonal edge, contradicting Theorem 8a of Erdös and Rényi (1960). As a consequence, it is proved that the chromatic number is 3 for almost all graphs whenp=1/n.Research supported U.S. National Science Foundation Grants DMS-8303238 and DMS-8403646. The research was conducted on an exchange visit by Professor Wierman to Poland supported by the national Academy of Sciences of the USA and the Polish Academy of Sciences.     

On the chromatic number of a random 5‐regular graph

It was only recently shown by Shi and Wormald, using the differential equation method to analyze an appropriate algorithm, that a random 5‐regular graph asymptotically almost surely has chromatic number at most 4. Here, we show that the chromatic number of a random 5‐regular graph is asymptotically almost surely equal to 3, provided a certain four‐variable function has a unique maximum at a given point in a bounded domain. We also describe extensive numerical evidence that strongly suggests that the latter condition holds. The proof applies the small subgraph conditioning method to the number of locally rainbow balanced 3‐colorings, where a coloring is balanced if the number of vertices of each color is equal, and locally rainbow if every vertex is adjacent to at least one vertex of each of the other colors. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 61: 157–191, 2009     

On the chromatic number of random geometric graphs

Given independent random points X ₁,...,X _n ∈ℝ ^d with common probability distribution ν, and a positive distance r=r(n)>0, we construct a random geometric graph G _n with vertex set {1,..., n} where distinct i and j are adjacent when ‖X _i −X _j ‖≤r. Here ‖·‖ may be any norm on ℝ ^d , and ν may be any probability distribution on ℝ ^d with a bounded density function. We consider the chromatic number χ(G _n ) of G _n and its relation to the clique number ω(G _n ) as n→∞. Both McDiarmid [11] and Penrose [15] considered the range of r when $r \ll \left( {\tfrac{{\ln n}} {n}} \right)^{1/d}$r \ll \left( {\tfrac{{\ln n}} {n}} \right)^{1/d} and the range when $r \gg \left( {\tfrac{{\ln n}} {n}} \right)^{1/d}$r \gg \left( {\tfrac{{\ln n}} {n}} \right)^{1/d}, and their results showed a dramatic difference between these two cases. Here we sharpen and extend the earlier results, and in particular we consider the ‘phase change’ range when $r \sim \left( {\tfrac{{t\ln n}} {n}} \right)^{1/d}$r \sim \left( {\tfrac{{t\ln n}} {n}} \right)^{1/d} with t>0 a fixed constant. Both [11] and [15] asked for the behaviour of the chromatic number in this range. We determine constants c(t) such that $\tfrac{{\chi (G_n )}} {{nr^d }} \to c(t)$\tfrac{{\chi (G_n )}} {{nr^d }} \to c(t) almost surely. Further, we find a “sharp threshold” (except for less interesting choices of the norm when the unit ball tiles d-space): there is a constant t ₀>0 such that if t≤t ₀ then $\tfrac{{\chi (G_n )}} {{\omega (G_n )}}$\tfrac{{\chi (G_n )}} {{\omega (G_n )}} tends to 1 almost surely, but if t>t ₀ then $\tfrac{{\chi (G_n )}} {{\omega (G_n )}}$\tfrac{{\chi (G_n )}} {{\omega (G_n )}} tends to a limit >1 almost surely.     

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.