(3, 1)*-Choosability of graphs of nonnegative characteristic without intersecting short cycles

A graph G is called (k,d)^?-choosable if for every list assignment L satisfying ∣L(v)∣ ≥k for all v∈V(G), there is an L-coloring of G such that each vertex of G has at most d neighbors colored with the same color as itself. In this paper, it is proved that every graph of nonnegative characteristic without intersecting i-cycles for all i=3,4,5 is (3,1)^?-choosable.     

Neighbor sum distinguishing total chromatic number of <Emphasis Type="Italic">K</Emphasis><Subscript>4</Subscript>-minor free graph

A k-total coloring of a graph G is a mapping ?: V (G) ? E(G) → {1; 2,..., k} such that no two adjacent or incident elements in V (G) ? E(G) receive the same color. Let f(v) denote the sum of the color on the vertex v and the colors on all edges incident with v: We say that ? is a k-neighbor sum distinguishing total coloring of G if f(u) 6 ≠ f(v) for each edge uv ∈ E(G): Denote χ _Σ ^″ (G) the smallest value k in such a coloring of G: Pil?niak and Wo?niak conjectured that for any simple graph with maximum degree Δ(G), χ _Σ ^″ ≤ Δ(G)+3. In this paper, by using the famous Combinatorial Nullstellensatz, we prove that for K ₄-minor free graph G with Δ(G) > 5; χ _Σ ^″ = Δ(G) + 1 if G contains no two adjacent Δ-vertices, otherwise, χ _Σ ^″ (G) = Δ(G) + 2.     

An Ore-Type Theorem on Hamiltonian Square Cycles

The kth power of a cycle C is the graph obtained from C by joining every pair of vertices with distance at most k on C. The second power of a cycle is called a square cycle. Pósa conjectured that every graph with minimum degree at least 2n/3 contains a hamiltonian square cycle. Later, Seymour proposed a more general conjecture that if G is a graph with minimum degree at least (kn)/(k + 1), then G contains the kth power of a hamiltonian cycle. Here we prove an Ore-type version of Pósa’s conjecture that if G is a graph in which deg(u) + deg(v) ≥ 4n/3 ? 1/3 for all non-adjacent vertices u and v, then for sufficiently large n, G contains a hamiltonian square cycle unless its minimum degree is exactly n/3 + 2 or n/3 + 5/3. A consequence of this result is an Ore-type analogue of a theorem of Aigner and Brandt.     

Distance domination of generalized de Bruijn and Kautz digraphs

Let G = (V,A) be a digraph and k ≥ 1 an integer. For u, v ∈ V, we say that the vertex u distance k-dominate v if the distance from u to v at most k. A set D of vertices in G is a distance k-dominating set if each vertex of V D is distance k-dominated by some vertex of D. The distance k-domination number of G, denoted by γ _k (G), is the minimum cardinality of a distance k-dominating set of G. Generalized de Bruijn digraphs G _B (n, d) and generalized Kautz digraphs G _K (n, d) are good candidates for interconnection networks. Denote Δ _k := (∑ _j=0 ^k d ^j )^?1. F. Tian and J. Xu showed that ?nΔ _k ? γ _k (G _B (n, d)) ≤?n/d ^k? and ?nΔ _k ? ≤ γ _k (G _K (n, d)) ≤ ?n/d ^k ?. In this paper, we prove that every generalized de Bruijn digraph G _B (n, d) has the distance k-domination number ?nΔ _k ? or ?nΔ _k ?+1, and the distance k-domination number of every generalized Kautz digraph G _K (n, d) bounded above by ?n/(d ^k?1+d ^k )?. Additionally, we present various sufficient conditions for γ _k (G _B (n, d)) = ?nΔ _k ? and γ _k (G _K (n, d)) = ?nΔ _k ?.     

Minimum implicit degree condition restricted to claws for hamiltonian cycles

Let id(v) denote the implicit degree of a vertex v in a graph G. We define G to be implicit 1-heavy (implicit 2-heavy) if at least one (two) of the end vertices of each induced claw has (have) implicit degree at least n/2. In this paper, we prove that: (a) Let G be a 2-connected graph of order n ≥ 3. If G is implicit 2-heavy and |N(u) ∩ N(v)| ≥ 2 for every pair of vertices u and v with d(u, v) = 2 and max{id(u), id(v)} < n/2, then G is hamiltonian. (b) Let G be a 3-connected graph of order n ≥ 3. If G is implicit 1-heavy and |N(u) ∩ N(v)| ≥ 2 for each pair of vertices u and v with d(u, v) = 2 and max{id(u), id(v)} < n/2, then G is hamiltonian.     

Lower bounds on the signed total k-domination number of graphs

Let G be a graph with vertex set V(G). For any integer k ≥ 1, a signed total k-dominating function is a function f: V(G) → {?1, 1} satisfying ∑_x∈N(v)f(x) ≥ k for every v ∈ V(G), where N(v) is the neighborhood of v. The minimum of the values ∑_v∈V(G)f(v), taken over all signed total k-dominating functions f, is called the signed total k-domination number. In this note we present some new sharp lower bounds on the signed total k-domination number of a graph. Some of our results improve known bounds.     

A variation of a conjecture due to Erdös and Sós

Erdoes and Soes conjectured in 1963 that every graph G on n vertices with edge number e（G） 〉 1/2（k - 1）n contains every tree T with k edges as a subgraph. In this paper, we consider a variation of the above conjecture, that is, for n 〉 9/ 2k^2 ＋ 37/2＋ 14 and every graph G on n vertices with e（G） 〉 1/2 （k- 1）n, we prove that there exists a graph G＇ on n vertices having the same degree sequence as G and containing every tree T with k edges as a subgraph.     

The graph Kre(4) does not exist

Suppose that a strongly regular graph Γ with parameters (v, k, λ, μ) has eigenvalues k, r, and s. If the graphs Γ and \(\bar \Gamma \) are connected, then the following inequalities, known as Krein’s conditions, hold: (i) (r + 1)(k + r + 2rs) ≤ (k + r)(s + 1)² and (ii) (s + 1)(k + s + 2rs) ≤ (k + s)(r + 1)². We say that Γ is a Krein graph if one of Krein’s conditions (i) and (ii) is an equality for this graph. A triangle-free Krein graph has parameters ((r ² + 3r)², r ³ + 3r ² + r, 0, r ² + r). We denote such a graph by Kre(r). It is known that, in the cases r = 1 and r = 2, the graphs Kre(r) exist and are unique; these are the Clebsch and Higman–Sims graphs, respectively. The latter was constructed in 1968 together with the Higman–Sims sporadic simple group. A.L. Gavrilyuk and A.A. Makhnev have proved that the graph Kre(3) does not exist. In this paper, it is proved that the graph Kre(4) (a strongly regular graph with parameters (784, 116, 0, 20)) does not exist either.     

An implicit degree condition for relative length of long paths and cycles in graphs

For a graph G, we denote by p(G) and c(G) the number of vertices of a longest path and a longest cycle in G, respectively. For a vertex v in G, id(v) denotes the implicit degree of v. In this paper, we obtain that if G is a 2-connected graph on n vertices such that the implicit degree sum of any three independent vertices is at least n + 1, then either G contains a hamiltonian path, or c(G) ≥ p(G) ? 1.     

Graphs with small diameter determined by their <Emphasis Type="Italic">D</Emphasis>-spectra

Let G be a connected graph with vertex set V(G) = {v₁, v₂,..., v _n }. The distance matrix D(G) = (d _ij )_n×n is the matrix indexed by the vertices of G, where d _ij denotes the distance between the vertices v _i and v _j . Suppose that λ₁(D) ≥ λ₂(D) ≥... ≥ λ _n (D) are the distance spectrum of G. The graph G is said to be determined by its D-spectrum if with respect to the distance matrix D(G), any graph having the same spectrum as G is isomorphic to G. We give the distance characteristic polynomial of some graphs with small diameter, and also prove that these graphs are determined by their D-spectra.     

When does the zero-one <Emphasis Type="Italic">k</Emphasis>-law fail?

The limit probabilities of the first-order properties of a random graph in the Erd?s–Rényi model G(n, n^?α), α ∈ (0, 1), are studied. A random graph G(n, n^?α) is said to obey the zero-one k-law if, given any property expressed by a formula of quantifier depth at most k, the probability of this property tends to either 0 or 1. As is known, for α = 1? 1/(2^k?1 + a/b), where a > 2^k?1, the zero-one k-law holds. Moreover, this law does not hold for b = 1 and a ≤ 2^k?1 ? 2. It is proved that the k-law also fails for b > 1 and a ≤ 2^k?1 ? (b + 1)².     

On almost good triples of vertices in edge regular graphs

Consider a connected edge regular graph Γ with parameters (v, k, λ) and put b ₁ = k?λ?1. A triple (u, w, z) of vertices is called (almost) good whenever d(u, w) = d(u, z) = 2 and µ(u, w)+µ(u, z) ≤ 2k ? 4b ₁ + 3 (and µ(u, w) + µ(u, z) = 2k ? 4b ₁ + 4). If k = 3b ₁ + γ with γ ≥ ?2, a triple (u, w, z) is almost good, and Δ = [u] ∩ [w] ∩ [z] then: either |Δ| ≤ 2; or Δ is a 3-clique and Γ is a Clebsch graph; or Δ is a 3-clique, k = 16, b ₁ = 6, and v = 31; or Δ is a 4-clique and Γ is a Schläfli graph.     

2-Connected factor-critical graphs <Emphasis Type="Italic">G</Emphasis> with exactly |<Emphasis Type="Italic">E</Emphasis>(<Emphasis Type="Italic">G</Emphasis>)| + 1 maximum matchings

A connected graph G is said to be a factor-critical graph if G ?v has a perfect matching for every vertex v of G. In this paper, the 2-connected factor-critical graph G which has exactly |E(G)| + 1 maximum matchings is characterized.     

Conditional connectivity of bubble sort graphs

A subset F ? V (G) is called an R ^k -vertex-cut of a graph G if G ? F is disconnected and each vertex of G ? F has at least k neighbors in G ? F. The R ^k -vertex-connectivity of G, denoted by κ ^k (G), is the cardinality of a minimum R ^k -vertex-cut of G. Let B _n be the bubble sort graph of dimension n. It is known that κ _k (B _n ) = 2 ^k (n ? k ? 1) for n ≥ 2k and k = 1, 2. In this paper, we prove it for k = 3 and conjecture that it is true for all k ∈ N. We also prove that the connectivity cannot be more than conjectured.     

Neighbor sum distinguishing colorings of graphs with maximum average degree less than $$\tfrac{{37}} {{12}}$$

Let G be a graph and let its maximum degree and maximum average degree be denoted by Δ(G) and mad(G), respectively. A neighbor sum distinguishing k-edge colorings of graph G is a proper k-edge coloring of graph G such that, for any edge uv ∈ E(G), the sum of colors assigned on incident edges of u is different from the sum of colors assigned on incident edges of v. The smallest value of k in such a coloring of G is denoted by χ′_∑(G). Flandrin et al. proposed the following conjecture that χ′_∑ (G) ≤ Δ(G) + 2 for any connected graph with at least 3 vertices and G ≠ C₅. In this paper, we prove that the conjecture holds for a normal graph with mad(G) < \(\tfrac{{37}}{{12}}\) and Δ(G) ≥ 7.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">r</Emphasis>-Dynamic Chromatic Number of Some Line Graphs

An r-dynamic coloring of a graph G is a proper coloring c of the vertices such that |c(N(v))| ≥ min {r, deg(v)}, for each v ∈ V (G). The r-dynamic chromatic number of a graph G is the smallest k such that G admits an r-dynamic coloring with k colors. In this paper, we obtain the r-dynamic chromatic number of the line graph of helm graphs H_n for all r between minimum and maximum degree of H_n. Moreover, our proofs are constructive, what means that we give also polynomial time algorithms for the appropriate coloring. Finally, as the first, we define an equivalent model for edge coloring.     

First-order and monadic properties of highly sparse random graphs

A random graph is said to obey the (monadic) zero–one k-law if, for any property expressed by a first-order formula (a second-order monadic formula) with a quantifier depth of at most k, the probability of the graph having this property tends to either zero or one. It is well known that the random graph G(n, n^–α) obeys the (monadic) zero–one k-law for any k ∈ ? and any rational α > 1 other than 1 + 1/m (for any positive integer m). It is also well known that the random graph does not obey both k-laws for the other rational positive α and sufficiently large k. In this paper, we obtain lower and upper bounds on the largest at which both zero–one k-laws hold for α = 1 + 1/m.     

On <Emphasis Type="Italic">g</Emphasis><Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">c</Emphasis></Subscript>-colorings of nearly bipartite graphs

Let G be a simple graph, let d(v) denote the degree of a vertex v and let g be a nonnegative integer function on V (G) with 0 ≤ g(v) ≤ d(v) for each vertex v ∈ V (G). A g _c -coloring of G is an edge coloring such that for each vertex v ∈ V (G) and each color c, there are at least g(v) edges colored c incident with v. The g _c -chromatic index of G, denoted by χ′g _c (G), is the maximum number of colors such that a gc-coloring of G exists. Any simple graph G has the g _c -chromatic index equal to δ _g (G) or δ _g (G) ? 1, where \({\delta _g}\left( G \right) = \mathop {\min }\limits_{v \in V\left( G \right)} \left\lfloor {d\left( v \right)/g\left( v \right)} \right\rfloor \). A graph G is nearly bipartite, if G is not bipartite, but there is a vertex u ∈ V (G) such that G ? u is a bipartite graph. We give some new sufficient conditions for a nearly bipartite graph G to have χ′g _c (G) = δ _g (G). Our results generalize some previous results due to Wang et al. in 2006 and Li and Liu in 2011.     

Note on a conjecture for the sum of signless Laplacian eigenvalues

For a simple graph G on n vertices and an integer k with 1 ? k ? n, denote by \(\mathcal{S}^+_k\) (G) the sum of k largest signless Laplacian eigenvalues of G. It was conjectured that \(\mathcal{S}^+_k(G)\leqslant{e}(G)+(^{k+1}_{\;\;2})\) (G) ? e(G) + (k+1 2), where e(G) is the number of edges of G. This conjecture has been proved to be true for all graphs when k ∈ {1, 2, n ? 1, n}, and for trees, unicyclic graphs, bicyclic graphs and regular graphs (for all k). In this note, this conjecture is proved to be true for all graphs when k = n ? 2, and for some new classes of graphs.     

Finite p-Groups with Few Non-major k-Maximal Subgroups

A subgroup of index p ^k of a finite p-group G is called a k-maximal subgroup of G. Denote by d(G) the number of elements in a minimal generator-system of G and by δ _k (G) the number of k-maximal subgroups which do not contain the Frattini subgroup of G. In this paper, the authors classify the finite p-groups with δ_d(G)(G) ≤ p² and δ_d(G)?1(G) = 0, respectively.