Colouring games on outerplanar graphs and trees

Let f be a graph function which assigns to each graph H a non-negative integer f(H)≤|V(H)|. The f-game chromatic number of a graph G is defined through a two-person game. Let X be a set of colours. Two players, Alice and Bob, take turns colouring the vertices of G with colours from X. A partial colouring c of G is legal (with respect to graph function f) if for any subgraph H of G, the sum of the number of colours used in H and the number of uncoloured vertices of H is at least f(H). Both Alice and Bob must colour legally (i.e., the partial colouring produced needs to be legal). The game ends if either all the vertices are coloured or there are uncoloured vertices with no legal colour. In the former case, Alice wins the game. In the latter case, Bob wins the game. The f-game chromatic number of G, χ_g(f,G), is the least number of colours that the colour set X needs to contain so that Alice has a winning strategy. Let be the graph function defined as , for any n≥3 and otherwise. Then is called the acyclic game chromatic number of G. In this paper, we prove that any outerplanar graph G has acyclic game chromatic number at most 7. For any integer k, let ?_k be the graph function defined as ?_k(K₂)=2 and ?_k(P_k)=3 (P_k is the path on k vertices) and ?_k(H)=0 otherwise. This paper proves that if k≥8 then for any tree T, χ_g(?_k,T)≤9. On the other hand, if k≤6, then for any integer n, there is a tree T such that χ_g(?_k,T)≥n.     

Total colorings and list total colorings of planar graphs without intersecting 4-cycles

Suppose that G is a planar graph with maximum degree Δ and without intersecting 4-cycles, that is, no two cycles of length 4 have a common vertex. Let χ^″(G), and denote the total chromatic number, list edge chromatic number and list total chromatic number of G, respectively. In this paper, it is proved that χ^″(G)=Δ+1 if Δ≥7, and and if Δ(G)≥8. Furthermore, if G is a graph embedded in a surface of nonnegative characteristic, then our results also hold.     

Injective colorings of sparse graphs

Let denote the maximum average degree (over all subgraphs) of G and let χ_i(G) denote the injective chromatic number of G. We prove that if , then χ_i(G)≤Δ(G)+1; and if , then χ_i(G)=Δ(G). Suppose that G is a planar graph with girth g(G) and Δ(G)≥4. We prove that if g(G)≥9, then χ_i(G)≤Δ(G)+1; similarly, if g(G)≥13, then χ_i(G)=Δ(G).     

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.     

On the oriented chromatic number of graphs with given excess

The excess of a graph G is defined as the minimum number of edges that must be deleted from G in order to get a forest. We prove that every graph with excess at most k has chromatic number at most and that this bound is tight. Moreover, we prove that the oriented chromatic number of any graph with excess k is at most k+3, except for graphs having excess 1 and containing a directed cycle on 5 vertices which have oriented chromatic number 5. This bound is tight for k?4.     

Generalization of transitive fraternal augmentations for directed graphs and its applications

Let be a directed graph. A transitive fraternal augmentation of is a directed graph with the same vertex set, including all the arcs of and such that for any vertices x,y,z,

1.

if and then or (fraternity);

2.

if and then (transitivity).

In this paper, we explore some generalization of the transitive fraternal augmentations for directed graphs and its applications. In particular, we show that the 2-coloring number col₂(G)≤O(∇₁(G)∇₀(G)²), where ∇_k(G) (k≥0) denotes the greatest reduced average density with depth k of a graph G; we give a constructive proof that ∇_k(G) bounds the distance (k+1)-coloring number col_k+1(G) with a function f(∇_k(G)). On the other hand, ∇_k(G)≤(col_2k+1(G))^2k+1. We also show that an inductive generalization of transitive fraternal augmentations can be used to study nonrepetitive colorings of graphs.     

Nordhaus-Gaddum inequalities for the fractional and circular chromatic numbers

For a graph G on n vertices with chromatic number χ(G), the Nordhaus-Gaddum inequalities state that , and . Much analysis has been done to derive similar inequalities for other graph parameters, all of which are integer-valued. We determine here the optimal Nordhaus-Gaddum inequalities for the circular chromatic number and the fractional chromatic number, the first examples of Nordhaus-Gaddum inequalities where the graph parameters are rational-valued.     

Edge covered critical multigraphs

Let G be a multigraph with edge set E(G). An edge coloring C of G is called an edge covered coloring, if each color appears at least once at each vertex v∈V(G). The maximum positive integer k such that G has a k edge covered coloring is called the edge covered chromatic index of G and is denoted by . A graph G is said to be of class if and otherwise of class. A pair of vertices {u,v} is said to be critical if . A graph G is said to be edge covered critical if it is of class and every edge with vertices in V(G) not belonging to E(G) is critical. Some properties about edge covered critical graphs are considered.     

Cubicity, boxicity, and vertex cover

A k-dimensional box is the cartesian product R₁×R₂×?×R_k where each R_i is a closed interval on the real line. The boxicity of a graph G, denoted as box(G), is the minimum integer k such that G is the intersection graph of a collection of k-dimensional boxes. A unit cube in k-dimensional space or a k-cube is defined as the cartesian product R₁×R₂×?×R_k where each R_i is a closed interval on the real line of the form [a_i,a_i+1]. The cubicity of G, denoted as cub(G), is the minimum k such that G is the intersection graph of a collection of k-cubes. In this paper we show that cub(G)≤t+⌈log(n−t)⌉−1 and , where t is the cardinality of a minimum vertex cover of G and n is the number of vertices of G. We also show the tightness of these upper bounds.F.S. Roberts in his pioneering paper on boxicity and cubicity had shown that for a graph G, and , where n is the number of vertices of G, and these bounds are tight. We show that if G is a bipartite graph then and this bound is tight. We also show that if G is a bipartite graph then . We point out that there exist graphs of very high boxicity but with very low chromatic number. For example there exist bipartite (i.e., 2 colorable) graphs with boxicity equal to . Interestingly, if boxicity is very close to , then chromatic number also has to be very high. In particular, we show that if , s≥0, then , where χ(G) is the chromatic number of G.     

Circular game chromatic number of graphs

In a circular r-colouring game on G, Alice and Bob take turns colouring the vertices of G with colours from the circle S(r) of perimeter r. Colours assigned to adjacent vertices need to have distance at least 1 in S(r). Alice wins the game if all vertices are coloured, and Bob wins the game if some uncoloured vertices have no legal colour. The circular game chromatic number χ_cg(G) of G is the infimum of those real numbers r for which Alice has a winning strategy in the circular r-colouring game on G. This paper proves that for any graph G, , where is the game colouring number of G. This upper bound is shown to be sharp for forests. It is also shown that for any graph G, χ_cg(G)≤2χ_a(G)(χ_a(G)+1), where χ_a(G) is the acyclic chromatic number of G. We also determine the exact value of the circular game chromatic number of some special graphs, including complete graphs, paths, and cycles.     

On some three color Ramsey numbers for paths and cycles

For given graphs G₁,G₂,…,G_k, k≥2, the multicolor Ramsey number, denoted by R(G₁,G₂,…,G_k), is the smallest integer n such that if we arbitrarily color the edges of a complete graph on n vertices with k colors, there is always a monochromatic copy of G_i colored with i, for some 1≤i≤k. Let P_k (resp. C_k) be the path (resp. cycle) on k vertices. In the paper we consider the value for numbers of type R(P_i,P_k,C_m) for odd m, k≥m≥3 and when i is odd, and when i is even. In addition, we provide the exact values for Ramsey numbers R(P₃,P_k,C₄) for all integers k≥3.     

Sum choice numbers of some graphs

Let f be a function assigning list sizes to the vertices of a graph G. The sum choice number of G is the minimum ∑_v∈V(G)f(v) such that for every assignment of lists to the vertices of G, with list sizes given by f, there exists proper coloring of G from the lists. We answer a few questions raised in a paper of Berliner, Bostelmann, Brualdi, and Deaett. Namely, we determine the sum choice number of the Petersen graph, the cartesian product of paths , and the complete bipartite graph K_3,n.     

Distance irredundance and connected domination numbers of a graph

Let k be a positive integer and G be a connected graph. This paper considers the relations among four graph theoretical parameters: the k-domination number γ_k(G), the connected k-domination number ; the k-independent domination number and the k-irredundance number ir_k(G). The authors prove that if an ir_k-set X is a k-independent set of G, then , and that for k?2, if ir_k(G)=1, if ir_k(G) is odd, and if ir_k(G) is even, which generalize some known results.     

A result on the total colouring of powers of cycles

The total chromatic number χ_T(G) is the least number of colours needed to colour the vertices and edges of a graph G such that no incident or adjacent elements (vertices or edges) receive the same colour. The Total Colouring Conjecture (TCC) states that for every simple graph G, χ_T(G)?Δ(G)+2. This work verifies the TCC for powers of cycles even and 2<k<n/2, showing that there exists and can be polynomially constructed a (Δ(G)+2)-total colouring for these graphs.     

Some relations between rank, chromatic number and energy of graphs

The energy of a graph G, denoted by E(G), is defined as the sum of the absolute values of all eigenvalues of G. Let G be a graph of order n and be the rank of the adjacency matrix of G. In this paper we characterize all graphs with . Among other results we show that apart from a few families of graphs, , where n is the number of vertices of G, and χ(G) are the complement and the chromatic number of G, respectively. Moreover some new lower bounds for E(G) in terms of are given.     

Graham’s pebbling conjecture on product of thorn graphs of complete graphs

The pebbling number of a graph G, f(G), is the least n such that, no matter how n pebbles are placed on the vertices of G, we can move a pebble to any vertex by a sequence of pebbling moves, each move taking two pebbles off one vertex and placing one on an adjacent vertex. Let p₁,p₂,…,p_n be positive integers and G be such a graph, V(G)=n. The thorn graph of the graph G, with parameters p₁,p₂,…,p_n, is obtained by attaching p_i new vertices of degree 1 to the vertex u_i of the graph G, i=1,2,…,n. Graham conjectured that for any connected graphs G and H, f(G×H)≤f(G)f(H). We show that Graham’s conjecture holds true for a thorn graph of the complete graph with every by a graph with the two-pebbling property. As a corollary, Graham’s conjecture holds when G and H are the thorn graphs of the complete graphs with every .     

Multicoloring and Mycielski construction

The generalized Mycielskians of graphs (also known as cones over graphs) are the natural generalization of the Mycielskians of graphs (which were first introduced by Mycielski in 1955). Given a graph G and any integer p?0, one can transform G into a new graph μ_p(G), the p-Mycielskian of G. In this paper, we study the kth chromatic numbers χ_k of Mycielskians and generalized Mycielskians of graphs. We show that χ_k(G)+1?χ_k(μ(G))?χ_k(G)+k, where both upper and lower bounds are attainable. We then investigate the kth chromatic number of Mycielskians of cycles and determine the kth chromatic number of p-Mycielskian of a complete graph K_n for any integers k?1, p?0 and n?2. Finally, we prove that if a graph G is a/b-colorable then the p-Mycielskian of G, μ_p(G), is (at+b^p+1)/bt-colorable, where . And thus obtain graphs G with m(G) grows exponentially with the order of G, where m(G) is the minimal denominator of a a/b-coloring of G with χ_f(G)=a/b.     

Roman domination in regular graphs

A Roman domination function on a graph G=(V(G),E(G)) is a function f:V(G)→{0,1,2} satisfying the condition that every vertex u for which f(u)=0 is adjacent to at least one vertex v for which f(v)=2. The weight of a Roman dominating function is the value f(V(G))=∑_u∈V(G)f(u). The minimum weight of a Roman dominating function on a graph G is called the Roman domination number of G. Cockayne et al. [E. J. Cockayne et al. Roman domination in graphs, Discrete Mathematics 278 (2004) 11-22] showed that γ(G)≤γ_R(G)≤2γ(G) and defined a graph G to be Roman if γ_R(G)=2γ(G). In this article, the authors gave several classes of Roman graphs: P_3k,P_3k+2,C_3k,C_3k+2 for k≥1, K_m,n for min{m,n}≠2, and any graph G with γ(G)=1; In this paper, we research on regular Roman graphs and prove that: (1) the circulant graphs and , n⁄≡1 (mod (2k+1)), (n≠2k) are Roman graphs, (2) the generalized Petersen graphs P(n,2k+1)( (mod 4) and ), P(n,1) (n⁄≡2 (mod 4)), P(n,3) ( (mod 4)) and P(11,3) are Roman graphs, and (3) the Cartesian product graphs are Roman graphs.     

Adjoint polynomials of bridge–path and bridge–cycle graphs and Chebyshev polynomials

The chromatic polynomial of a simple graph G with n>0 vertices is a polynomial of degree n, where α_k(G) is the number of k-independent partitions of G for all k. The adjoint polynomial of G is defined to be , where is the complement of G. We find explicit formulas for the adjoint polynomials of the bridge–path and bridge–cycle graphs. Consequence, we find the zeros of the adjoint polynomials of several families of graphs.     

The asymptotic number of spanning trees in circulant graphs

Let T(G) be the number of spanning trees in graph G. In this note, we explore the asymptotics of T(G) when G is a circulant graph with given jumps.The circulant graph is the 2k-regular graph with n vertices labeled 0,1,2,…,n−1, where node i has the 2k neighbors i±s₁,i±s₂,…,i±s_k where all the operations are . We give a closed formula for the asymptotic limit as a function of s₁,s₂,…,s_k. We then extend this by permitting some of the jumps to be linear functions of n, i.e., letting s_i, d_i and e_i be arbitrary integers, and examining