A note on conservative galaxies,Skolem systems,cyclic cycle decompositions,and Heffter arrays

The conservative number of a graph $G$ is the minimum positive integer $M$, such that $G$ admits an orientation and a labeling of its edges by distinct integers in $\{1,2,\dots ,M\}$, such that at each vertex of degree at least three, the sum of the labels on the in-coming edges is equal to the sum of the labels on the out-going edges. A graph is conservative if $M=\left|E\left(G\right)\right|$. It is worth noting that determining whether certain biregular graphs are conservative is equivalent to find integer Heffter arrays.In this work we show that the conservative number of a galaxy (a disjoint union of stars) of size $M$ is $M$ for $M\equiv 0$, $3(mod4)$, and $M+1$ otherwise. Consequently, given positive integers $m_1$, $m_2$, …, $m_n$ with $m_i\ge 3$ for $1\le i\le n$, we construct a cyclic $(m_1,m_2,\dots ,m_n)$-cycle system of infinitely many circulant graphs, generalizing a result of Bryant, Gavlas and Ling (2003). In particular, it allows us to construct a cyclic $(m_1,m_2,\dots ,m_n)$-cycle system of the complete graph $K_{2M+1}$, where $M={\sum }_{i=1}^n{m}_i$. Also, we prove necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of a cyclic $(m_1,m_2,\dots ,m_n)$-cycle system of $K_{2M+2}?F$, where $F$ is a 1-factor. Furthermore, we give a sufficient condition for a subset of ${\mathbb{Z}}_v?\left\{0\right\}$ to be sequenceable.     

Approximately locating an invisible agent in a graph with relative distance queries

In a pursuit evasion game on a finite, simple, undirected, and connected graph $G$, a first player visits vertices $m_1,m_2,\dots$ of $G$, where $m_{i+1}$ is in the closed neighborhood of $m_i$ for every $i$, and a second player probes arbitrary vertices $c_1,c_2,\dots$ of $G$, and learns whether or not the distance between $c_{i+1}$ and $m_{i+1}$ is at most the distance between $c_i$ and $m_i$. Up to what distance $d$ can the second player determine the position of the first? For trees of bounded maximum degree and grids, we show that $d$ is bounded by a constant. We conjecture that $d=O(logn)$ for every graph $G$ of order $n$, and show that $d=0$ if $m_{i+1}$ may differ from $m_i$ only if $i$ is a multiple of some sufficiently large integer.     

Sums of powers of Catalan triangle numbers

In this paper, we consider combinatorial numbers ${\left(C_{m,k}\right)}_{m\ge 1,k\ge 0}$, mentioned as Catalan triangle numbers where $C_{m,k}?\left(\genfrac{}{}{0ex}{}{m?1}{k}\right)?\left(\genfrac{}{}{0ex}{}{m?1}{k?1}\right)$. These numbers unify the entries of the Catalan triangles $B_{n,k}$ and $A_{n,k}$ for appropriate values of parameters $m$ and $k$, i.e., $B_{n,k}=C_{2n,n?k}$ and $A_{n,k}=C_{2n+1,n+1?k}$. In fact, these numbers are suitable rearrangements of the known ballot numbers and some of these numbers are the well-known Catalan numbers $C_n$ that is $C_{2n,n?1}=C_{2n+1,n}=C_n$.We present identities for sums (and alternating sums) of $C_{m,k}$, squares and cubes of $C_{m,k}$ and, consequently, for $B_{n,k}$ and $A_{n,k}$. In particular, one of these identities solves an open problem posed in Gutiérrez et al. (2008). We also give some identities between ${\left(C_{m,k}\right)}_{m\ge 1,k\ge 0}$ and harmonic numbers ${\left(H_n\right)}_{n\ge 1}$. Finally, in the last section, new open problems and identities involving ${\left(C_n\right)}_{n\ge 0}$ are conjectured.     

Some multicolor bipartite Ramsey numbers involving cycles and a small number of colors

For bipartite graphs $G_1,G_2,\dots ,G_k$, the bipartite Ramsey number $b(G_1,G_2,\dots ,G_k)$ is the least positive integer $b$ so that any coloring of the edges of $K_{b,b}$ with $k$ colors will result in a copy of $G_i$ in the $i$th color for some $i$. In this paper, our main focus will be to bound the following numbers: $b(C_{2t_1},C_{2t_2})$ and $b(C_{2t_1},C_{2t_2},C_{2t_3})$ for all $t_i\ge 3,$$b(C_{2t_1},C_{2t_2},C_{2t_3},C_{2t_4})$ for $3\le t_i\le 9,$ and $b(C_{2t_1},C_{2t_2},C_{2t_3},C_{2t_4},C_{2t_5})$ for $3\le t_i\le 5.$ Furthermore, we will also show that these mentioned bounds are generally better than the bounds obtained by using the best known Zarankiewicz-type result.     

Partitions of natural numbers with the same weighted representation functions

TextFor any given two positive integers $k_1$ and $k_2$, and any set A of nonnegative integers, let $r_{k_1,k_2}(A,n)$ denote the number of solutions of the equation $n=k_1{a}_1+k_2{a}_2$ with $a_1,a_2\in A$. In this paper, we determine all pairs $k_1,k_2$ of positive integers for which there exists a set $A?\mathbb{N}$ such that $r_{k_1,k_2}(A,n)=r_{k_1,k_2}(\mathbb{N}?A,n)$ for all $n?n_0$. We also pose several problems for further research.VideoFor a video summary of this paper, please click here or visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnezEsJl0OY.     

Ramsey numbers of odd cycles versus larger even wheels

The generalized Ramsey number $R(G_1,G_2)$ is the smallest positive integer $N$ such that any red–blue coloring of the edges of the complete graph $K_N$ either contains a red copy of $G_1$ or a blue copy of $G_2$. Let $C_m$ denote a cycle of length $m$ and $W_n$ denote a wheel with $n+1$ vertices. In 2014, Zhang, Zhang and Chen determined many of the Ramsey numbers $R(C_{2k+1},W_n)$ of odd cycles versus larger wheels, leaving open the particular case where $n=2j$ is even and $k<j<3k∕2$. They conjectured that for these values of $j$ and $k$, $R(C_{2k+1},W_{2j})=4j+1$. In 2015, Sanhueza-Matamala confirmed this conjecture asymptotically, showing that $R(C_{2k+1},W_{2j})\le 4j+334$. In this paper, we prove the conjecture of Zhang, Zhang and Chen for almost all of the remaining cases. In particular, we prove that $R(C_{2k+1},W_{2j})=4j+1$ if $j?k\ge 251$, $k<j<3k∕2$, and $j\ge 212299$.     

Periodicity in a nonlinear discrete predator–prey system with state dependent delays

With the help of a continuation theorem based on Gaines and Mawhin's coincidence degree, easily verifiable criteria are established for the global existence of positive periodic solutions of the following nonlinear discrete state dependent delays predator–prey systemwhere $a_i,c_j,d_i:Z\to R^{+}$ are positive $\omega$-periodic, $\omega$ is a fixed positive integer. $b_1,b_2:Z\to R^{+}$ are $\omega$-periodic and ${\sum }_{k=0}^{\omega -1}{b}_i(k)>0$. ${\tau }_i,{\sigma }_j,{\rho }_i:Z\times R\times R\to R(i=1,2,\dots ,n,j=1,2,\dots ,m)$ are $\omega$-periodic with respect to their first arguments, respectively. ${\alpha }_i,{\beta }_j,{\gamma }_i(i=1,2,\dots ,n,j=1,2,\dots ,m)$ are positive constants.