Vertex-transitive graphs that are not Cayley graphs. II

The Petersen graph on 10 vertices is the smallest example of a vertex-transitive graph that is not a Cayley graph. In 1983, D. Marus˘ic˘ asked, “For what values of n does there exist such a graph on n vertices?” We give several new constructions of families of vertex-transitive graphs that are not Cayley graphs and complete the proof that, if n is divisible by p² for some prime p, then there is a vertex-transitive graph on n vertices that is not a Cayley graph unless n is p², p³, or 12. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Non-Cayley Vertex-Transitive Graphs of Order Twice the Product of Two Odd Primes

For a positive integer n, does there exist a vertex-transitive graph Γ on n vertices which is not a Cayley graph, or, equivalently, a graph Γ on n vertices such that Aut Γ is transitive on vertices but none of its subgroups are regular on vertices? Previous work (by Alspach and Parsons, Frucht, Graver and Watkins, Marusic and Scapellato, and McKay and the second author) has produced answers to this question if n is prime, or divisible by the square of some prime, or if n is the product of two distinct primes. In this paper we consider the simplest unresolved case for even integers, namely for integers of the form n = 2pq, where 2 < q < p, and p and q are primes. We give a new construction of an infinite family of vertex-transitive graphs on 2pq vertices which are not Cayley graphs in the case where p ≡ 1 (mod q). Further, if p ? 1 (mod q), p ≡ q ≡ 3(mod 4), and if every vertex-transitive graph of order pq is a Cayley graph, then it is shown that, either 2pq = 66, or every vertex-transitive graph of order 2pq admitting a transitive imprimitive group of automorphisms is a Cayley graph.     

Coverings of the complete (di-)graph with n vertices by complete bipartite (di-)graphs with n vertices I

Let n be an integer, n ? 2. A set $\text{M}$_n of complete bipartite (di-)graphs with n vertices is called a critical covering of the complete (di-)graph with n vertices if and only if the complete (di-)graph is covered by the (di-)graphs of $\text{M}$_n, but of no proper subset of $\text{M}$_n. All possible cardinalities of critical coverings $\text{M}$_n are determined for all integers n and for undirected as well as directed graphs.     

A new proof of a theorem of Graham and Pollak

A simple matrix proof is supplied for the statement that a complete graph on n vertices cannot be partitioned into n ? 2 complete bipartite graphs.     

Regular graphs with high edge degree

For any vertex x of a graph G let Δ(x) denote the set of vertices adjacent to x. We seek to describe the connected graphs G which are regular of valence n and in which for all adjacent vertices x and y |Δ(x) ∩ Δ(y)| = n ? 1 ? s. It is known that the complete graphs are the graphs for which s = 0. For any s, any complete many-partite graph, each part containing s + 1 vertices, is such a graph. We show that these are the only such graphs for which the valence exceeds 2s² ? s + 1. The graphs satisfying these conditions for s = 1 or 2 are characterized (up to the class of trivalent triangle-free graphs.)     

On regular graphs and Hamiltonian circuits,including answers to some questions of Joseph Zaks

A graph is called l-ply Hamiltonian if it admits l edge-disjoint Hamiltonian circuits. The following results are obtained: (1) When n ≥ 3 and 0 ≤ 2l ≤ n there exists an n-connected n-regular graph that is exactly l-ply Hamiltonian. (2) There exist 5-connected 5-regular planar graphs that are not doubly (i.e. 2-ply) Hamiltonian, one with only 132 vertices and another with only three types of face, namely 3-, 4- and 12-gons. (3) There exist 3-connected 5-regular planar graphs, one that is non-Hamiltonian and has only 76 vertices and another that has no Hamiltonian paths and has only 128 vertices. (4) There exist 5-edge-connected 5-regular planar graphs, one that is non-Hamiltonian and has only 176 vertices and another that has no Hamiltonian paths and has only 512 vertices. Result (1) was known in the special cases $\text{l = [}\text{n}\text{2}\text{]}$ (an old result) and l = 0 (due to G. H. J. Meredith, 1973). The special case l = 1 provides a negative answer to question 4 in a recent paper by Joseph Zaks and implies Corollary 1 to Zaks' Theorem 1. Results (2) and (3) involve graphs with considerably fewer vertices (and, in one case, fewer types of face) than Zaks' corresponding graphs and provide partial answers to his questions 1 and 3. Result (4) involves graphs that satisfy a stronger condition than those of Zaks but still have fewer vertices.     

Half-transitive graphs of order a product of two distinct primes *

A simple undirected graph X is said to be ½-transitive if the automorphism group AutX of X acts transitively onthe vertices and edges, but not on the arcs of X. In this pape we determine all ½-transitive graphs of order a product of two distinct primes     

A separator theorem for graphs of bounded genus

Many divide-and-conquer algorithms on graphs are based on finding a small set of vertices or edges whose removal divides the graph roughly in half. Most graphs do not have the necessary small separators, but some useful classes do. One such class is planar graphs: If an n-vertex graph can be drawn on the plane, then it can be bisected by removal of O(sqrt(n)) vertices (R. J. Lipton and R. E. Tarjan, SIAM J. Appl. Math.36 (1979), 177–189). The main result of the paper is that if a graph can be drawn on a surface of genus g, then it can be bisected by removal of O(sqrt(gn)) vertices. This bound is best possible to within a constant factor. An algorithm is given for finding the separator that takes time linear in the number of edges in the graph, given an embedding of the graph in its genus surface. Some extensions and applications of these results are discussed.     

On bipartite graphs with minimal energy

The energy of a graph is the sum of the absolute values of the eigenvalues of the graph. In a paper [G. Caporossi, D. Cvetkovi, I. Gutman, P. Hansen, Variable neighborhood search for extremal graphs. 2. Finding graphs with external energy, J. Chem. Inf. Comput. Sci. 39 (1999) 984-996] Caporossi et al. conjectured that among all connected graphs G with n≥6 vertices and n−1≤m≤2(n−2) edges, the graphs with minimum energy are the star S_n with m−n+1 additional edges all connected to the same vertices for m≤n+⌊(n−7)/2⌋, and the bipartite graph with two vertices on one side, one of which is connected to all vertices on the other side, otherwise. The conjecture is proved to be true for m=n−1,2(n−2) in the same paper by Caporossi et al. themselves, and for m=n by Hou in [Y. Hou, Unicyclic graphs with minimal energy, J. Math. Chem. 29 (2001) 163-168]. In this paper, we give a complete solution for the second part of the conjecture on bipartite graphs. Moreover, we determine the graph with the second-minimal energy in all connected bipartite graphs with n vertices and edges.     

On vertex symmetric digraphs

The problem of how “near” we can come to a n-coloring of a given graph is investigated. I.e., what is the minimum possible number of edges joining equicolored vertices if we color the vertices of a given graph with n colors. In its generality the problem of finding such an optimal color assignment to the vertices (given the graph and the number of colors) is NP-complete. For each graph G, however, colors can be assigned to the vertices in such a way that the number of offending edges is less than the total number of edges divided by the number of colors. Furthermore, an Ω(epn) deterministic algorithm for finding such an n-color assignment is exhibited where e is the number of edges and p is the number of vertices of the graph (e?p?n). A priori solutions for the minimal number of offending edges are given for complete graphs; similarly for equicolored K_m in K_p and equicolored graphs in K_p.     

Unavoidable Configurations in Complete Topological Graphs

A topological graph is a graph drawn in the plane so that its vertices are represented by points, and its edges are represented by Jordan curves connecting the corresponding points, with the property that any two curves have at most one point in common. We define two canonical classes of topological complete graphs, and prove that every topological complete graph with n vertices has a canonical subgraph of size at least clog^1/8 n, which belongs to one of these classes. We also show that every complete topological graph with n vertices has a non-crossing subgraph isomorphic to any fixed tree with at most clog^1/6 n vertices.     

Large Induced Forests in Triangle-Free Planar Graphs

Given a planar graph G, what is the largest subset of vertices of G that induces a forest? Albertson and Berman [2] conjectured that every planar graph has an induced subgraph on at least half of the vertices that is a forest. For bipartite planar graphs, Akiyama and Wanatabe [1] conjectured that there is always an induced forest of size at least 5n/8. Here we prove that every triangle-free (and therefore every bipartite) planar graph on n vertices has an induced forest of size at least (17n+24)/32.     

On the remoteness function in median graphs

A profile on a graph G is any nonempty multiset whose elements are vertices from G. The corresponding remoteness function associates to each vertex x∈V(G) the sum of distances from x to the vertices in the profile. Starting from some nice and useful properties of the remoteness function in hypercubes, the remoteness function is studied in arbitrary median graphs with respect to their isometric embeddings in hypercubes. In particular, a relation between the vertices in a median graph G whose remoteness function is maximum (antimedian set of G) with the antimedian set of the host hypercube is found. While for odd profiles the antimedian set is an independent set that lies in the strict boundary of a median graph, there exist median graphs in which special even profiles yield a constant remoteness function. We characterize such median graphs in two ways: as the graphs whose periphery transversal number is 2, and as the graphs with the geodetic number equal to 2. Finally, we present an algorithm that, given a graph G on n vertices and m edges, decides in O(mlogn) time whether G is a median graph with geodetic number 2.     

Algorithmic proofs of two relations between connectivity and the 1-factors of a graph

An algorithm is used to give simple proofs of these two known relations in the theory of matched graphs: A graph with a unique 1-factor contains a matched bridge; an n-connected graph with a 1-factor has at least n totally covered vertices, if n?2. Conditions for exactly n, or more than n, totally covered vertices are also given.     

Orientable imbedding of line graphs

In this paper we compute the orientable genus of the line graph of a graph G, when G is a tree and a 2-edge connected graph, all the vertices of which have their degrees equal to 2, 3, 6, or 11 modulo 12, and either G can be imbedded with triangular faces only or G is a bipartite graph which can be imbedded with squares only as faces. In the other cases, we give an upper bound of the genus of line graphs. In this way, we solve the question of the Hamiltonian genus of the complete graph K_n, for every n ≥ 3.     

On the signless Laplacian spectral radius of graphs with cut vertices

In this paper, we show that among all the connected graphs with n vertices and k cut vertices, the maximal signless Laplacian spectral radius is attained uniquely at the graph G_n,k, where G_n,k is obtained from the complete graph K_n-k by attaching paths of almost equal lengths to all vertices of K_n-k. We also give a new proof of the analogous result for the spectral radius of the connected graphs with n vertices and k cut vertices (see [A. Berman, X.-D. Zhang, On the spectral radius of graphs with cut vertices, J. Combin. Theory Ser. B 83 (2001) 233-240]). Finally, we discuss the limit point of the maximal signless Laplacian spectral radius.     

Bounds on the eigenvalues of graphs with cut vertices or edges

In this paper, we characterize the extremal graph having the maximal Laplacian spectral radius among the connected bipartite graphs with n vertices and k cut vertices, and describe the extremal graph having the minimal least eigenvalue of the adjacency matrices of all the connected graphs with n vertices and k cut edges. We also present lower bounds on the least eigenvalue in terms of the number of cut vertices or cut edges and upper bounds on the Laplacian spectral radius in terms of the number of cut vertices.     

On the spectral radius of bicyclic graphs with n vertices and diameter d

Bicyclic graphs are connected graphs in which the number of edges equals the number of vertices plus one. In this paper we determine the graph with the largest spectral radius among all bicyclic graphs with n vertices and diameter d. As an application, we give first three graphs among all bicyclic graphs on n vertices, ordered according to their spectral radii in decreasing order.     

Induced Decompositions of Graphs

We consider those graphs G that admit decompositions into copies of a fixed graph F, each copy being an induced subgraph of G. We are interested in finding the extremal graphs with this property, that is, those graphs G on n vertices with the maximum possible number of edges. We discuss the cases where F is a complete equipartite graph, a cycle, a star, or a graph on at most four vertices.     

Semisymmetric graphs from polytopes

Every finite, self-dual, regular (or chiral) 4-polytope of type {3,q,3} has a trivalent 3-transitive (or 2-transitive) medial layer graph. Here, by dropping self-duality, we obtain a construction for semisymmetric trivalent graphs (which are edge- but not vertex-transitive). In particular, the Gray graph arises as the medial layer graph of a certain universal locally toroidal regular 4-polytope.