Lexicographic matchings cannot form Hamiltonian cycles

For any positive integer k let B(k) denote the bipartite graph of k- and k+1-element subsets of a 2k+1-element set with adjacency given by containment. It has been conjectured that for all k, B(k) is Hamiltonian. Any Hamiltonian cycle would be the union of two (perfect) matchings. Here it is shown that for all k>1 no Hamiltonian cycle in B(k) is the union of two lexicographic matchings.Supported by Office of Naval Research Contract N00014-85-K-0769.Supported by NSERC grants 69-3378 and 69-0259.     

The dimension of interior levels of the Boolean lattice

LetP(k,r;n) denote the containment order generated by thek-element andr-element subsets of ann-element set, and letd(k,r;n) be its dimension. Previous research in this area has focused on the casek=1.P(1,n–1;n) is the standard example of ann-dimensional poset, and Dushnik determined the value ofd(1,r;n) exactly, whenr2 . Spencer used the Erdös-Szekeres theorem to show thatd(1, 2;n) lg lgn, and he used the concept of scrambling families of sets to show thatd(1,r;n)=(lg lgn) for fixedr. Füredi, Hajnal, Rödl and Trotter proved thatd(1, 2;n)=lg lgn+(1/2+o(1))lg lg lgn. In this paper, we concentrate on the casek2. We show thatP(2,n–2;n) is (n–1)-irreducible, and we investigated(2,r;n) whenr2 , obtaining the exact value for almost allr.The research was supported in part by NSF grant DMS 9201467.The research was supported in part by the Universities in Russia program.     

The order dimension of two levels of the Boolean lattice

LetB _n(s, t) denote the partially ordered set consisting of alls-subsets andt-subsets of ann-element underlying set where these sets are ordered by inclusion. Answering a question of Trotter we prove that dim(B _n(k, n–k))=n–2 for 3k<(1/7)n ^1/3. The proof uses extremal hypergraph theory.     

The dimension of suborders of the Boolean lattice

We consider the order dimension of suborders of the Boolean latticeB _n . In particular we show that the suborder consisting of the middle two levels ofB _n dimension at most of 6 log₃ n. More generally, we show that the suborder consisting of levelss ands+k ofB _n has dimensionO(k ² logn).The research of the second author was supported by Office of Naval Research Grant N00014-90-J-1206.The research of the third author was supported by Grant 93-011-1486 of the Russian Fundamental Research Foundation.     

Transposition generation of alternating permutations

A permutation _{1 2}... _n is alternating if ₁< ₂> ₃< ₄.... Alternating permutations are counted by the Euler numbers. Here we show that alternating permutations can be listed so that successive permutations differ by a transposition, ifn is odd. Extensions and open problems are mentioned.Research supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada under grant A3379.     

Perfect matchings in balanced hypergraphs

We generalize Hall's condition for the existence of a perfect matching in a bipartite graph, to balanced hypergraphs.This work was partially supported in part by NSF grants DMI-9424348, DMS-9509581 and ONR grant N00014-89-J-1063. Ajai Kapoor was also supported by a grant from Gruppo Nazionale Delle Riccerche-CNR. Finally, we acknowledge the support of Laboratiore ARTEMIS, Université Joseph Fourier, Grenoble.     

Cover-preserving order embeddings into Boolean lattices

It is not known which finite graphs occur as induced subgraphs of a hypercube. This is relevant in the theory of parallel computing. The ordered version of the problem is: Which finite posets P occur as cover-preserving subposets of a Boolean lattice? Our main Theorem gives (for 0,1-posets) a necessary and sufficient condition, which involves the chromatic number of a graph associated to P. It is applied respectively to upper balanced, meet extremal, meet semidistributive, and semidistributive lattices P. More specifically, we consider isometric embeddings of posets into Boolean lattices. In particular, answering a question of Ivan Rival to the positive, a nontrivial invariant for the covering graph of a poset is found.     

Decompositions of partially ordered sets into chains and antichains of given size

Every partially ordered set P on at least (1+o(1))n ³ elements can be decomposed into subposets of size n that are almost chains or antichains. This lower bound on P is asymptotically best possible. Similar results are presented for other types of combinatorial structures.Research supported in part by the AKA Research Fund of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, grant 1-3-86-264.     

Projective mappings between projective lattice geometries

The concept of projective lattice geometry generalizes the classical synthetic concept of projective geometry, including projective geometry of modules.In this article we introduce and investigate certain structure preserving mappings between projective lattice geometries. Examples of these so-calledprojective mappings are given by isomorphisms and projections; furthermore all linear mappings between modules induce projective mappings between the corresponding projective geometries.     

Minimum cutsets for an element of a boolean lattice

An informative new proof is given for the theorem of Nowakowski that determines for all n and k the minimum size of a cutset for an element A with |A|=k of the Boolean algebra B _n of all subsets of {1,...,n}, ordered by inclusion. An inequality is obtained for cutsets for A that is reminiscent of Lubell's inequality for antichains in B _n. A new result that is provided by this approach is a list of all minimum cutsets for A.Research supported in part by NSF Grant DMS 87-01475.Research supported in part by NSF Grant DMS 86-06225 and Air Force OSR-86-0076.     

Greedy matching in Young's lattice

If the level sets of a ranked partially ordered set are totally ordered, the greedy match between adjacent levels is defined by successively matching each vertex on one level to the first available unmatched vertex, if any, on the next level. Aigner showed that the greedy match produces symmetric chains in the Boolean algebra. We extend that result to partially ordered sets which are products of chains.It is widely thought that for Young's lattices corresponding to rectangles, the greedy match is complete. We show here that the greedy match is, in fact, complete for n×2, n×3 and n×4 rectangles but not for n×k rectangles if k5 and n is sufficiently large.     

Alternating cycle-free matchings

The investigation of alternating cycle-free matchings is motivated by the Jump-number problem for partially ordered sets and the problem of counting maximum cardinality matchings in hexagonal systems.We show that the problem of deciding whether a given chordal bipartite graph has an alternating cycle-free matching of a given cardinality is NP-complete. A weaker result, for bipartite graphs only, has been known for some time. Also, the alternating cycle-free matching problem remains NP-complete for strongly chordal split graphs of diameter 2.In contrast, we give algorithms to solve the alternating cycle-free matching problem in polynomial time for bipartite distance hereditary graphs (time O(m ²) on graphs with m edges) and distance hereditary graphs (time O(m ⁵)).     

Gray codes from antimatroids

We show three main results concerning Hamiltonicity of graphs derived from antimatroids. These results provide Gray codes for the feasible sets and basic words of antimatroids.For antimatroid (E, ), letJ( ) denote the graph whose vertices are the sets of , where two vertices are adjacent if the corresponding sets differ by one element. DefineJ( ;k) to be the subgraph ofJ( )² induced by the sets in with exactlyk elements. Both graphsJ( ) andJ( ;k) are connected, and the former is bipartite.We show that there is a Hamiltonian cycle inJ( )×K ₂. As a consequence, the ideals of any poset % MathType!MTEF!2!1!+-% feaafiart1ev1aaatCvAUfeBSjuyZL2yd9gzLbvyNv2CaerbuLwBLn% hiov2DGi1BTfMBaeXatLxBI9gBaerbd9wDYLwzYbItLDharqqtubsr% 4rNCHbGeaGqiVu0Je9sqqrpepC0xbbL8F4rqqrFfpeea0xe9Lq-Jc9% vqaqpepm0xbba9pwe9Q8fs0-yqaqpepae9pg0FirpepeKkFr0xfr-x% fr-xb9adbaqaaeGaciGaaiaabeqaamaabaabaaGcbaWefv3ySLgznf% gDOfdaryqr1ngBPrginfgDObYtUvgaiuaacqWFpepuaaa!414C!\[\mathcal{P}\] may be listed in such a way that successive ideals differ by at most two elements. We also show thatJ( ;k) has a Hamilton path if (E, ) is the poset antimatroid of a series-parallel poset.Similarly, we show thatG( )×K ₂ is Hamiltonian, whereG( ) is the basic word graph of a language antimatroid (E, ). This result was known previously for poset antimatroids.Research supported in part by NSERC.Research supported in part by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada under Grant A3379.     

Algebraic lattices and Boolean algebras

In this paper we establish several equivalent conditions for an algebraic lattice to be a finite Boolean algebra. This paper is dedicated to Walter Taylor. Received February 11, 2005; accepted in final form October 9, 2005.     

Counting perfect matchings in n-extendable graphs

The structural theory of matchings is used to establish lower bounds on the number of perfect matchings in n-extendable graphs. It is shown that any such graph on p vertices and q edges contains at least ⌈(n+1)!/4[q-p-(n-1)(2Δ-3)+4]⌉ different perfect matchings, where Δ is the maximum degree of a vertex in G.     

Solution to a problem of C. D. Godsil regarding bipartite graphs with unique perfect matching

We give the solution to the following question of C. D. Godsil[2]: Among the bipartite graphsG with a unique perfect matching and such that a bipartite graph obtains when the edges of the matching are contracted, characterize those having the property thatG ⁺G, whereG ⁺ is the bipartite multigraph whose adjacency matrix,B ⁺, is diagonally similar to the inverse of the adjacency matrix ofG put in lower-triangular form. The characterization is thatG must be obtainable from a bipartite graph by adding, to each vertex, a neighbor of degree one. Our approach relies on the association of a directed graph to each pair (G, M) of a bipartite graphG and a perfect matchingM ofG.     

Routing sets in the integer lattice

A set of vertices S in a graph G is a routing set if it ensures some kind of connectivity between all pairs of vertices outside of S. Additional constraints may apply; a connected dominating set, for instance, is a special case of a routing set. We determine the size of a minimum routing set in subgraphs of the integer lattice, as well as (asymptotically) for the lattice itself.     

Entropy bounds for perfect matchings and Hamiltonian cycles

For a graph G = (V,E) and x: E → ℜ⁺ satisfying Σ _e∋υ x _e = 1 for each υ ∈ V, set h(x) = Σ _e x _e log(1/x _e ) (with log = log₂). We show that for any n-vertex G, random (not necessarily uniform) perfect matching f satisfying a mild technical condition, and x _e =Pr(e∈f),

Perfect matchings in hexagonal systems

A simple algorithm is developed which allows to decide whether or not a given hexagonal system has a perfect matching (and to find such a matching). This decision is also of chemical relevance since a hexagonal system is the skeleton of a benzenoid hydrocarbon molecule if and only if it has a perfect matching. Dedicated to Paul Erdős on his seventieth birthday     

Computing on-line the lattice of maximal antichains of posets

We consider the on-line computation of the lattice of maximal antichains of a finite poset . This on-line computation satisfies what we call the linear extension hypothesis: the new incoming vertex is always maximal in the current subposet of . In addition to its theoretical interest, this abstraction of the lattice of antichains of a poset has structural properties which give it interesting practical behavior. In particular, the lattice of maximal antichains may be useful for testing distributed computations, for which purpose the lattice of antichains is already widely used. Our on-line algorithm has a run time complexity of , where |P| is the number of elements of the poset, , |MA(P)| is the number of maximal antichains of and (P) is the width of . This is more efficient than the best off-line algorithms known so far.