The partition dimension of circulant graphs

Let Π = {S₁, S₂, . . . , S_k} be an ordered partition of the vertex set V (G) of a graph G. The partition representation of a vertex v ∈ V (G) with respect to Π is the k-tuple r(v|Π) = (d(v, S₁), d(v, S₂), . . . , d(v, S_k)), where d(v, S) is the distance between v and a set S. If for every pair of distinct vertices u, v ∈ V (G), we have r(u|Π) ≠ r(v|Π), then Π is a resolving partition and the minimum cardinality of a resolving partition of V (G) is called the partition dimension of G. We study the partition dimension of circulant graphs, which are Cayley graphs of cyclic groups. Grigorious et al. [On the partition dimension of circulant graphs] proved that pd(C_n(1, 2, . . . , t)) ≥ t + 1 for n ≥ 3. We disprove this statement by showing that if t ≥ 4 is even, then there exists an infinite set of values of n, such that . We also present exact values of the partition dimension of circulant graphs with 3 generators.     

Circuits including a given set of vertices

Let G = (V, E) be a digraph of order n, satisfying Woodall's condition ? x, y ∈ V, if (x, y) ? E, then d⁺(x) + d^?(y) ≥ n. Let S be a subset of V of cardinality s. Then there exists a circuit including S and of length at most Min(n, 2s). In the case of oriented graphs we obtain the same result under the weaker condition d⁺(x) + d^?(y) ≥ n – 2 (which implies hamiltonism).     

Constructions of Spherical 3-Designs

 Spherical t-designs are Chebyshev-type averaging sets on the d-sphere which are exact for polynomials of degree at most t. This concept was introduced in 1977 by Delsarte, Goethals, and Seidel, who also found the minimum possible size of such designs, in particular, that the number of points in a 3-design on S ^d must be at least . In this paper we give explicit constructions for spherical 3-designs on S ^d consisting of n points for d=1 and ; d=2 and ; d=3 and ; d=4 and ; and odd or even. We also provide some evidence that 3-designs of other sizes do not exist. We will introduce and apply a concept from additive number theory generalizing the classical Sidon-sequences. Namely, we study sets of integers S for which the congruence mod n, where and , only holds in the trivial cases. We call such sets Sidon-type sets of strength t, and denote their maximum cardinality by s(n, t). We find a lower bound for s(n, 3), and show how Sidon-type sets of strength 3 can be used to construct spherical 3-designs. We also conjecture that our lower bound gives the true value of s(n, 3) (this has been verified for n≤125). Received: June 19, 1996     

Connected subgraphs with small degree sums in 3‐connected planar graphs

It is well‐known that every planar graph has a vertex of degree at most five. Kotzig proved that every 3‐connected planar graph has an edge xy such that deg(x) + deg (y) ≤ 13. In this article, considering a similar problem for the case of three or more vertices that induce a connected subgraph, we show that, for a given positive integer t, every 3‐connected planar graph G with |V(G)| ≥ t has a connected subgraph H of order t such that Σ_x∈V(H) deg_G(x) ≤ 8t − 1. As a tool for proving this result, we consider decompositions of 3‐connected planar graphs into connected subgraphs of order at least t and at most 2t − 1. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Graph Theory 30: 191–203, 1999     

Disproof of a conjecture about independent branchings in k-connected directed graphs

For each k ≥ 3, we construct a finite directed strongly k-connected graph D containing a vertex t with the following property: For any k spanning t-branchings, B₁, …, B_k in D (i. e., each B_i is a spanning tree in D directed toward t), there exists a vertex x ≠ t of D such that the k, x, t-paths in B₁, …, B_k are not pairwise openly disjoint. This disproves a well-known conjecture of Frank. © 1995, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

On thel-connectivity of a graph

For an integerl 2, thel-connectivity of a graphG is the minimum number of vertices whose removal fromG produces a disconnected graph with at leastl components or a graph with fewer thanl vertices. A graphG is (n, l)-connected if itsl-connectivity is at leastn. Several sufficient conditions for a graph to be (n, l)-connected are established. IfS is a set ofl( 3) vertices of a graphG, then anS-path ofG is a path between distinct vertices ofS that contains no other vertices ofS. TwoS-paths are said to be internally disjoint if they have no vertices in common, except possibly end-vertices. For a given setS ofl 2 vertices of a graphG, a sufficient condition forG to contain at leastn internally disjointS-paths, each of length at most 2, is established.     

A Krasnosel’skii theorem for orthogonal polygons starshaped via staircase (n + 1)-paths

Let S be a simply connected orthogonal polygon in the plane, and let n be fixed, n ≥ 1. If every two points of S are visible via staircase n-paths from a common point of S, then S is starshaped via staircase (n + 1)-paths. Moreover, the associated staircase (n + 1)-kernel is staircase (n + 1)-convex. The number two is best possible, and the number n + 1 is best possible for n ≥ 2.     

Packing in regular graphs

A set S of vertices in a graph G is a packing if the vertices in S are pairwise at distance at least 3 apart in G. The packing number of G, denoted by ρ(G), is the maximum cardinality of a packing in G. Favaron [Discrete Math. 158 (1996), 287–293] showed that if G is a connected cubic graph of order n different from the Petersen graph, then ρ(G) ≥ n/8. In this paper, we generalize Favaron’s result. We show that for k ≥ 3, if G is a connected k-regular graph of order n that is not a diameter-2 Moore graph, then ρ(G) ≥ n/(k² ? 1).     

A family of examples showing that no Krasnosel’skii number exists for orthogonal polygons starshaped via staircase n-paths

Let S be a simply connected orthogonal polygon in the plane. A family of examples will establish the following result. For every n ≥ 2, there exists no Krasnosel’skii number h(n) which satisfies this property: If every h(n) points of S are visible via staircase n-paths from a common point, then S is starshaped via staircase n-paths.     

The valuations of the near hexagons related to the Witt designs S(5,6,12) and S(5,8,24)

Valuations of dense near polygons were introduced in 16 . In the present paper, we classify all valuations of the near hexagons ??₁ and ??₂, which are related to the respective Witt designs S(5,6,12) and S(5,8,24). Using these classifications, we prove that if a dense near polygon S contains a hex H isomorphic to ??₁ or ??₂, then H is classical in S. We will use this result to determine all dense near octagons that contain a hex isomorphic to ??₁ or ??₂. As a by‐product, we obtain a purely geometrical proof for the nonexistence of regular near 2d‐gons, d ≥ 4, whose parameters s, t, t_i (0 ≤ i ≤ d) satisfy (s, t₂, t₃) = (2, 1, 11) or (2, 2, 14). The nonexistence of these regular near polygons can also be shown with the aid of eigenvalue techniques. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Combin Designs 14: 214–228, 2006     

On the toughness index of planar graphs

The toughness indexτ(G) of a graph G is defined to be the largest integer t such that for any S ? V(G) with |S| > t, c(G - S) < |S| - t, where c(G - S) denotes the number of components of G - S. In particular, 1-tough graphs are exactly those graphs for which τ(G) ≥ 0. In this paper, it is shown that if G is a planar graph, then τ(G) ≥ 2 if and only if G is 4-connected. This result suggests that there may be a polynomial-time algorithm for determining whether a planar graph is 1-tough, even though the problem for general graphs is NP-hard. The result can be restated as follows: a planar graph is 4-connected if and only if it remains 1-tough whenever two vertices are removed. Hence it establishes a weakened version of a conjecture, due to M. D. Plummer, that removing 2 vertices from a 4-connected planar graph yields a Hamiltonian graph.     

d‐homogeneous and d‐ultrahomogeneous linear spaces

A linear space S is d‐homogeneous if, whenever the linear structures induced on two subsets S₁ and S₂ of cardinality at most d are isomorphic, there is at least one automorphism of S mapping S₁ onto S₂. S is called d‐ultrahomogeneous if each isomorphism between the linear structures induced on two subsets of cardinality at most d can be extended into an automorphism of S. We have proved in [11;] (without any finiteness assumption) that every 6‐homogeneous linear space is homogeneous (that is d‐homogeneous for every positive integer d). Here we classify completely the finite nontrivial linear spaces that are d‐homogeneous for d ≥ 4 or d‐ultrahomogeneous for d ≥ 3. We also prove an existence theorem for infinite nontrivial 4‐ultrahomogeneous linear spaces. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Combin Designs 8: 321–329, 2000     

Isols and maximal intersecting classes

In transfinite arithmetic 2ⁿ is defined as the cardinality of the family of all subsets of some set v with cardinality n. However, in the arithmetic of recursive equivalence types (RETs) 2^N is defined as the RET of the family of all finite subsets of some set v of nonnegative integers with RET N. Suppose v is a nonempty set. S is a class over v, if S consists of finite subsets of v and has v as its union. Such a class is an intersecting class (IC) over v, if every two members of S have a nonempty intersection. An IC over v is called a maximal IC (MIC), if it is not properly included in any IC over v. It is known and readily proved that every MIC over a finite set v of cardinality n ≥ 1 has cardinality 2^n-1. In order to generalize this result we introduce the notion of an ω-MIC over v. This is an effective analogue ot the notion of an MIC over v such that a class over a finite set v is an ω-MIC iff it is an MIC. We then prove that every ω-MIC over an isolated set v of RET N ≥ 1 has RET 2^N-1. This is a generalization, for while there only are χ₀ finite sets, there are ? isolated sets, where c denotes the cardinality of the continuum, namely all the finite sets and the c immune sets. MSC: 03D50.     

Total domination in graphs with minimum degree three

A set S of vertices of a graph G is a total dominating set, if every vertex of V(G) is adjacent to some vertex in S. The total domination number of G, denoted by γ_t(G), is the minimum cardinality of a total dominating set of G. We prove that, if G is a graph of order n with minimum degree at least 3, then γ_t(G) ≤ 7n/13. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Graph Theory 34:9–19, 2000     

Proper S(t,K,v)'s for t ≥ 3,v ≤ 16, |K| > 1 and Their Extensions

We characterize the proper t-wise balanced designs t-(v,K,1) for t ≥ 3, λ = 1 and v ≤ 16 with at least two block sizes. While we do not examine extensions of S(3,4,16)'s, we do determine all other possible extensions of S(3,K,v)'s for v ≤ 16. One very interesting extension is an S(4, {5,6}, 17) design.©1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

The forcing number of graphs with given girth

In this paper, we study a dynamic coloring of the vertices of a graph G that starts with an initial subset S of colored vertices, with all remaining vertices being non-colored. At each discrete time interval, a colored vertex with exactly one non-colored neighbor forces this non-colored neighbor to be colored. The initial set S is called a forcing set of G if, by iteratively applying the forcing process, every vertex in G becomes colored. The forcing number, originally known as the zero forcing number, and denoted F (G), of G is the cardinality of a smallest forcing set of G. We study lower bounds on the forcing number in terms of its minimum degree and girth, where the girth g of a graph is the length of a shortest cycle in the graph. Let G be a graph with minimum degree δ ≥ 2 and girth g ≥ 3. Davila and Kenter [Theory and Applications of Graphs, Volume 2, Issue 2, Article 1, 2015] conjecture that F (G) ≥ δ + (δ ? 2)(g ? 3). This conjecture has recently been proven for g ≤ 6. The conjecture is also proven when the girth g ≥ 7 and the minimum degree is sufficiently large. In particular, it holds when g = 7 and δ ≥ 481, when g = 8 and δ ≥ 649, when g = 9 and δ ≥ 30, and when g = 10 and δ ≥ 34. In this paper, we prove the conjecture for g ∈ {7, 8, 9, 10} and for all values of δ ≥ 2.     

Upper total domination in claw‐free graphs

A set S of vertices in a graph G is a total dominating set of G if every vertex of G is adjacent to some vertex in S (other than itself). The maximum cardinality of a minimal total dominating set of G is the upper total domination number of G, denoted by Γ_t(G). We establish bounds on Γ_t(G) for claw‐free graphs G in terms of the number n of vertices and the minimum degree δ of G. We show that if if , and if δ ≥ 5. The extremal graphs are characterized. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 44: 148–158, 2003     

Characterizations of trees with equal domination parameters

Let G = (V, E) be a graph. A set S ⊆ V is a restrained dominating set, if every vertex not in S is adjacent to a vertex in S and to a vertex in V − S. The restrained domination number of G, denoted by γ_r(G), is the minimum cardinality of a restrained dominating set of G. A set S ⊆ V is a weak dominating set of G if, for every u in V − S, there exists a v ∈ S such that uv ∈ E and deg u ≥ deg v. The weak domination number of G, denoted by γ_w(G), is the minimum cardinality of a weak dominating set of G. In this article, we provide a constructive characterization of those trees with equal independent domination and restrained domination numbers. A constructive characterization of those trees with equal independent domination and weak domination numbers is also obtained. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Graph Theory 34: 142–153, 2000     

Intersections of Sets Starshaped Via Paths of Bounded Length

 Let S be a nonempty closed, simply connected set in the plane. For α > 0, let ℳ denote the family of all maximal subsets of S which are starshaped via paths of length at most α. Then ⋂{M : M in ℳ} is either starshaped via α-paths or empty. The result fails without the simple connectedness condition. However, even with a simple connectedness requirement, there is no Helly theorem for intersections of sets which are starshaped via α-paths. Received November 19, 2001; in revised form April 25, 2002 Published online November 18, 2002