Choosability conjectures and multicircuits

This paper starts with a discussion of several old and new conjectures about choosability in graphs. In particular, the list-colouring conjecture, that ch′=χ′ for every multigraph, is shown to imply that if a line graph is (a : b)-choosable, then it is (ta : tb)-choosable for every positive integer t. It is proved that ch(H²)=χ(H²) for many “small” graphs H, including inflations of all circuits (connected 2-regular graphs) with length at most 11 except possibly length 9; and that ch″(C)=χ″(C) (the total chromatic number) for various multicircuits C, mainly of even order, where a multicircuit is a multigraph whose underlying simple graph is a circuit. In consequence, it is shown that if any of the corresponding graphs H² or T(C) is (a : b)-choosable, then it is (ta : tb)-choosable for every positive integer t.     

Choosability of the square of planar subcubic graphs with large girth

We show that the choice number of the square of a subcubic graph with maximum average degree less than 18/7 is at most 6. As a corollary, we get that the choice number of the square of a subcubic planar graph with girth at least 9 is at most 6. We then show that the choice number of the square of a subcubic planar graph with girth at least 13 is at most 5.     

Ohba’s conjecture for graphs with independence number five

Ohba has conjectured that if G is a k-chromatic graph with at most 2k+1 vertices, then the list chromatic number or choosability of G is equal to its chromatic number χ(G), which is k. It is known that this holds if G has independence number at most three. It is proved here that it holds if G has independence number at most five. In particular, and equivalently, it holds if G is a complete k-partite graph and each part has at most five vertices.     

A new approach to the chromatic number of the square of Kneser graph K(2k+1,k)

The vertices of Kneser graph $K(n,k)$ are the subsets of $\{1,2,\dots ,n\}$ of cardinality $k$, two vertices are adjacent if and only if they are disjoint. The square $G^2$ of a graph $G$ is defined on the vertex set of $G$ with two vertices adjacent if their distance in $G$ is at most 2. Z. Füredi, in 2002, proposed the problem of determining the chromatic number of the square of the Kneser graph. The first non-trivial problem arises when $n=2k+1$. It is believed that $\chi \left(K^2(2k+1,k)\right)=2k+c$ where $c$ is a constant, and yet the problem remains open. The best known upper bounds are by Kim and Park: $8k∕3+20∕3$ for 1$k\ge 3$ (Kim and Park, 2014) and $32k∕15+32$ for $k\ge 7$ (Kim and Park, 2016). In this paper, we develop a new approach to this coloring problem by employing graph homomorphisms, cartesian products of graphs, and linear congruences integrated with combinatorial arguments. These lead to $\chi \left(K^2(2k+1,k)\right)\le 5k∕2+c$, where $c$ is a constant in $\{5∕2,9∕2,5,6\}$, depending on $k\ge 2$.     

On Some Three-Color Ramsey Numbers

 In this paper we study three-color Ramsey numbers. Let K _i,j denote a complete i by j bipartite graph. We shall show that (i) for any connected graphs G ₁, G ₂ and G ₃, if r(G ₁, G ₂)≥s(G ₃), then r(G ₁, G ₂, G ₃)≥(r(G ₁, G ₂)−1)(χ(G ₃)−1)+s(G ₃), where s(G ₃) is the chromatic surplus of G ₃; (ii) (k+m−2)(n−1)+1≤r(K _1,k , K _1,m , K _n )≤ (k+m−1)(n−1)+1, and if k or m is odd, the second inequality becomes an equality; (iii) for any fixed m≥k≥2, there is a constant c such that r(K _k,m , K _k,m , K _n )≤c(n/logn), and r(C _2m , C _2m , K _n )≤c(n/logn) ^m/(m−1) for sufficiently large n. Received: July 25, 2000 Final version received: July 30, 2002 RID="*" ID="*" Partially supported by RGC, Hong Kong; FRG, Hong Kong Baptist University; and by NSFC, the scientific foundations of education ministry of China, and the foundations of Jiangsu Province Acknowledgments. The authors are grateful to the referee for his valuable comments. AMS 2000 MSC: 05C55     

Construction of Hamiltonian Cycles in Layered Cubic Planar Graphs

 In this paper, a class of cubic planar graphs is given that have Hamiltonian cycles that can be constructed in linear time. A member of this class is called a layered cubic planar graph, and consists of a sequence of cycles C ₀ ,C ₁ ,…,C _n such that each pair of successive cycles, C _i , C _i+1 , is joined by a matching. The cycles can be pictured as concentric circles, and the edges of the matchings as radial line segments between successive circles. The subgraph bounded by two successive cycles forms a layer; each face in layer i is incident to a fixed number k _i+1 of edges in the matching in layer i+1. The problem that initially motivated this work is that of identifying classes of convex cubic polyhedra that can be easily edge three-colored. Received: September 21, 1998 Final version received: July 21, 1999     

Ramsey Theory and Bandwidth of Graphs

 The bandwidth of a graph is the minimum, over vertex labelings with distinct integers, of the maximum difference between labels on adjacent vertices. Kuang and McDiarmid proved that almost all n-vertex graphs have bandwidth . Thus the sum of the bandwidths of a graph and its complement is almost always at least ; we prove that it is always at most 2n−4 log ₂ n+o(log n). The proofs involve improving the bounds on the Ramsey and Turán numbers of the “halfgraph”. Received: September 2, 1998?Final version received: November 29, 1999     

Coloring the square of a planar graph

We prove that for any planar graph G with maximum degree Δ, it holds that the chromatic number of the square of G satisfies χ(G²) ≤ 2Δ + 25. We generalize this result to integer labelings of planar graphs involving constraints on distances one and two in the graph. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 42: 110–124, 2003     

On the Hamilton-Waterloo Problem

 The Hamilton-Waterloo problem asks for a 2-factorisation of K _v in which r of the 2-factors consist of cycles of lengths a ₁,a ₂,…,a _t and the remaining s 2-factors consist of cycles of lengths b ₁,b ₂,…,b _u (where necessarily ∑ _i=1 ^t a _i =∑ _j=1 ^u b _j =v). In this paper we consider the Hamilton-Waterloo problem in the case a _i =m, 1≤i≤t and b _j =n, 1≤j≤u. We obtain some general constructions, and apply these to obtain results for (m,n)∈{(4,6),(4,8),(4,16),(8,16),(3,5),(3,15),(5,15)}. Received: July 5, 2000     

A Contribution to a Conjecture of A. Saito

 A. Saito conjectured that every finite 3-connected line graph of diameter at most 3 is hamiltonian unless it is the line graph of a graph obtained from the Petersen graph by adding at least one pendant edge to each of its vertices. Here we shall see that a line graph of connectivity 3 and diameter at most 3 has a hamiltonian path. Received: May 31, 2000 Final version received: August 17, 2001 RID="*" ID="*" This work has partially been supported by DIMATIA, Grant 201/99/0242, Grant Agency of the Czech Republic AMS subject classification: 05C45, 05C40     

The Convexity Number of a Graph

 For two vertices u and v of a connected graph G, the set I[u,v] consists of all those vertices lying on a u−v shortest path in G, while for a set S of vertices of G, the set I[S] is the union of all sets I[u,v] for u,v∈S. A set S is convex if I[S]=S. The convexity number con(G) of G is the maximum cardinality of a proper convex set of G. The clique number ω(G) is the maximum cardinality of a clique in G. If G is a connected graph of order n that is not complete, then n≥3 and 2≤ω(G)≤con(G)≤n−1. It is shown that for every triple l,k,n of integers with n≥3 and 2≤l≤k≤n−1, there exists a noncomplete connected graph G of order n with ω(G)=l and con(G)=k. Other results on convex numbers are also presented. Received: August 19, 1998 Final version received: May 17, 2000     

Upper Bounds to the Number of Vertices in a k-Critically n-Connected Graph

 Let k≤n be positive integers. A finite, simple, undirected graph is called k-critically n-connected, or, briefly, an (n,k)-graph, if it is noncomplete and n-connected and the removal of any set X of at most k vertices results in a graph which is not (n−|X|+1)-connected. We present some new results on the number of vertices of an (n,k)-graph, depending on new estimations of the transversal number of a uniform hypergraph with a large independent edge set. Received: April 14, 2000 Final version received: May 8, 2001     

New upper bounds for the chromatic number of a graph*

We show that for any graph G, the chromatic number χ(G) ≤ Δ₂(G) + 1, where Δ₂(G) is the largest degree that a vertex ν can have subject to the condition that ν is adjacent to a vertex whose degree is at least as big as its own. Moreover, we show that the upper bound is best possible in the the following sense: If Δ₂(G) ≥ 3, then to determine whether χ(G) ≤ Δ₂(G) is an NP‐complete problem. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Graph Theory 36: 117–120, 2001     

Locally Well-Dominated and Locally Independent Well-Dominated Graphs

 In this article we present characterizations of locally well-dominated graphs and locally independent well-dominated graphs, and a sufficient condition for a graph to be k-locally independent well-dominated. Using these results we show that the irredundance number, the domination number and the independent domination number can be computed in polynomial time within several classes of graphs, e.g., the class of locally well-dominated graphs. Received: September 13, 2001 Final version received: May 17, 2002 RID="*" ID="*" Supported by the INTAS and the Belarus Government (Project INTAS-BELARUS 97-0093) RID="†" ID="†" Supported by RUTCOR RID="*" ID="*" Supported by the INTAS and the Belarus Government (Project INTAS-BELARUS 97-0093) 05C75, 05C69 Acknowledgments. The authors thank the referees for valuable suggestions.     

扇的倍图的邻点可区别边色数

设G(V,E)是阶数至少是3的简单连通图,若f是图G的k-正常边染色,使得对任意的uv∈E(G),C(u)≠C(v),那么称f是图G的k-邻点可区别边染色(k-ASEC),其中C(u)={f(uw)│uw∈E(G)},而χa′s(G)=min{k│存在G的一个k-ASEC},称为G的邻点可区别边色数.本文给出扇的倍图D(Fm)的邻点可区别边色数.     

A logician's view of graph polynomials

Graph polynomials are graph parameters invariant under graph isomorphisms which take values in a polynomial ring with a fixed finite number of indeterminates. We study graph polynomials from a model theoretic point of view. In this paper we distinguish between the graph theoretic (semantic) and the algebraic (syntactic) meaning of graph polynomials. Graph polynomials appear in the literature either as generating functions, as generalized chromatic polynomials, or as polynomials derived via determinants of adjacency or Laplacian matrices. We show that these forms are mutually incomparable, and propose a unified framework based on definability in Second Order Logic. We show that this comprises virtually all examples of graph polynomials with a fixed finite set of indeterminates. Finally we show that the location of zeros and stability of graph polynomials is not a semantic property. The paper emphasizes a model theoretic view. It gives a unified exposition of classical results in algebraic combinatorics together with new and some of our previously obtained results scattered in the graph theoretic literature.     

Structures and Chromaticity of Extremal 3-Colourable Sparse Graphs

 Assume that G is a 3-colourable connected graph with e(G) = 2v(G) −k, where k≥ 4. It has been shown that s ₃(G) ≥ 2 ^{k −3}, where s _r (G) = P(G,r)/r! for any positive integer r and P(G, λ) is the chromatic polynomial of G. In this paper, we prove that if G is 2-connected and s ₃(G) < 2 ^{k −2}, then G contains at most v(G) −k triangles; and the upper bound is attained only if G is a graph obtained by replacing each edge in the k-cycle C _k by a 2-tree. By using this result, we settle the problem of determining if W(n, s) is χ-unique, where W(n, s) is the graph obtained from the wheel W _n by deleting all but s consecutive spokes. Received: January 29, 1999 Final version received: April 8, 2000     

Bull-Free Weakly Chordal Perfectly Orderable Graphs

 Using doubly lexical orders and the notion of box partition due to de Figueiredo, Maffray, and Porto, we show that a certain subclass of bull-free weakly chordal graphs is perfectly orderable. This together with results of de Figueiredo, Maffray, and Porto confirms Chvátal's conjecture that bull-free graphs with no anti-hole and no odd hole are perfectly orderable; here hole means induced cycle with five or more vertices. Received: September 21, 1998?Final version received: January 23, 2001