The chromatic polynomial of fatgraphs and its categorification

Motivated by Khovanov homology and relations between the Jones polynomial and graph polynomials, we construct a homology theory for embedded graphs from which the chromatic polynomial can be recovered as the Euler characteristic. For plane graphs, we show that our chromatic homology can be recovered from the Khovanov homology of an associated link. We apply this connection with Khovanov homology to show that the torsion-free part of our chromatic homology is independent of the choice of planar embedding of a graph. We extend our construction and categorify the Bollobás-Riordan polynomial (a generalization of the Tutte polynomial to embedded graphs). We prove that both our chromatic homology and the Khovanov homology of an associated link can be recovered from this categorification.     

Jones polynomial of knots formed by repeated tangle replacement operations

In this paper, we prove that the Jones polynomial of a link diagram obtained through repeated tangle replacement operations can be computed by a sequence of suitable variable substitutions in simpler polynomials. For the case that all the tangles involved in the construction of the link diagram have at most k crossings (where k is a constant independent of the total number n of crossings in the link diagram), we show that the computation time needed to calculate the Jones polynomial of the link diagram is bounded above by O(nk). In particular, we show that the Jones polynomial of any Conway algebraic link diagram with n crossings can be computed in O(n²) time. A consequence of this result is that the Jones polynomial of any Montesinos link and two bridge knot or link of n crossings can be computed in O(n²) time.     

Flag algebras and the stable coefficients of the Jones polynomial

We study the structure of the stable coefficients of the Jones polynomial of an alternating link. We start by identifying the first four stable coefficients with polynomial invariants of a (reduced) Tait graph of the link projection. This leads us to introduce a free polynomial algebra of invariants of graphs whose elements give invariants of alternating links which strictly refine the first four stable coefficients. We conjecture that all stable coefficients are elements of this algebra, and give experimental evidence for the fifth and the sixth stable coefficient. We illustrate our results in tables of all alternating links with at most 10 crossings and all irreducible planar graphs with at most 6 vertices.     

A spanning tree expansion of the jones polynomial

A NEW combinatorial formulation of the Jones polynomial of a link is used to establish some basic properties of this polynomial. A striking consequence of these properties is the result that a link admitting an alternating diagram with m crossings and with no “nugatory” crossing cannot be projected with fewer than m crossings.     

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)).     

Hamiltonicity in vertex envelopes of plane cubic graphs

In this paper we study a graph operation which produces what we call the “vertex envelope” G^∗_V from a graph G. We apply it to plane cubic graphs and investigate the hamiltonicity of the resulting graphs, which are also cubic. To this end, we prove a result giving a necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of hamiltonian cycles in the vertex envelopes of plane cubic graphs. We then use these conditions to identify graphs or classes of graphs whose vertex envelopes are either all hamiltonian or all non-hamiltonian, paying special attention to bipartite graphs. We also show that deciding if a vertex envelope is hamiltonian is NP-complete, and we provide a polynomial algorithm for deciding if a given cubic plane graph is a vertex envelope.     

A characterization of well-covered graphs that contain neither 4- nor 5-cycles

A graph is well covered if every maximal independent set has the same cardinality. A vertex x, in a well-covered graph G, is called extendable if G – {x} is well covered and β(G) = β(G – {x}). If G is a connected, well-covered graph containing no 4- nor 5-cycles as subgraphs and G contains an extendable vertex, then G is the disjoint union of edges and triangles together with a restricted set of edges joining extendable vertices. There are only 3 other connected, well-covered graphs of this type that do not contain an extendable vertex. Moreover, all these graphs can be recognized in polynomial time.     

3‐Factor‐Criticality of Vertex‐Transitive Graphs

A graph of order n is p ‐factor‐critical, where p is an integer of the same parity as n, if the removal of any set of p vertices results in a graph with a perfect matching. 1‐factor‐critical graphs and 2‐factor‐critical graphs are factor‐critical graphs and bicritical graphs, respectively. It is well known that every connected vertex‐transitive graph of odd order is factor‐critical and every connected nonbipartite vertex‐transitive graph of even order is bicritical. In this article, we show that a simple connected vertex‐transitive graph of odd order at least five is 3‐factor‐critical if and only if it is not a cycle.     

A Penrose polynomial for embedded graphs

We extend the Penrose polynomial, originally defined only for plane graphs, to graphs embedded in arbitrary surfaces. Considering this Penrose polynomial of embedded graphs leads to new identities and relations for the Penrose polynomial which cannot be realized within the class of plane graphs. In particular, by exploiting connections with the transition polynomial and the ribbon group action, we find a deletion–contraction-type relation for the Penrose polynomial. We relate the Penrose polynomial of an orientable chequerboard colourable graph to the circuit partition polynomial of its medial graph and use this to find new combinatorial interpretations of the Penrose polynomial. We also show that the Penrose polynomial of a plane graph G$G$ can be expressed as a sum of chromatic polynomials of twisted duals of G$G$. This allows us to obtain a new reformulation of the Four Colour Theorem.     

Lagrangian Subspaces,Delta-Matroids,and Four-Term Relations

Finite-order invariants (Vassiliev invariants) of knots are expressed in terms of weight systems, that is, functions on chord diagrams (embedded graphs with a single vertex) satisfying the four-term relations. Weight systems have graph analogues, the so-called 4-invariants of graphs, i.e., functions on graphs that satisfy the four-term relations for graphs. Each 4-invariant determines a weight system.The notion of a weight system is naturally generalized to the case of embedded graphs with an arbitrary number of vertices. Such embedded graphs correspond to links; to each component of a link there corresponds a vertex of an embedded graph. Recently, two approaches have been suggested to extend the notion of 4-invariants of graphs to the case of combinatorial structures corresponding to embedded graphs with an arbitrary number of vertices. The first approach is due to V. Kleptsyn and E. Smirnov, who considered functions on Lagrangian subspaces in a 2n-dimensional space over F2 endowed with a standard symplectic form and introduced four-term relations for them. The second approach, due to V. Zhukov and S. Lando, gives four-term relations for functions on binary delta-matroids.In this paper, these two approaches are proved to be equivalent.     

Feasible Graphs and Colorings

The problem of when a recursive graph has a recursive k-coloring has been extensively studied by Bean, Schmerl, Kierstead, Remmel, and others. In this paper, we study the polynomial time analogue of that problem. We develop a number of negative and positive results about colorings of polynomial time graphs. For example, we show that for any recursive graph G and for any k, there is a polynomial time graph G′ whose vertex set is {0,1}* such that there is an effective degree preserving correspondence between the set of k-colorings of G and the set of k-colorings of G′ and hence there are many examples of k-colorable polynomial time graphs with no recursive k-colorings. Moreover, even though every connected 2-colorable recursive graph is recursively 2-colorable, there are connected 2-colorable polynomial time graphs which have no primitive recursive 2-coloring. We also give some sufficient conditions which will guarantee that a polynomial time graph has a polynomial time or exponential time coloring.     

Ramsey-Type Results for Unions of Comparability Graphs

 It is well known that the comparability graph of any partially ordered set of n elements contains either a clique or an independent set of size at least . In this note we show that any graph of n vertices which is the union of two comparability graphs on the same vertex set, contains either a clique or an independent set of size at least . On the other hand, there exist such graphs for which the size of any clique or independent set is at most n ^0.4118. Similar results are obtained for graphs which are unions of a fixed number k comparability graphs. We also show that the same bounds hold for unions of perfect graphs. Received: November 1, 1999 Final version received: December 1, 2000     

Topological realizations of ortho-projection graphs

We discuss the production of ortho-projection graphs from alternating knot diagrams, and introduce a more general construction of such graphs from “splittings” of closed, non-orientable surfaces. As our main result, we prove that this new topological construction generates all ortho-projection graphs. We present a minimal example of an ortho-projection graph that does not arise from a knot diagram, and provide a surface-splitting that realizes this graph.     

Graphs with given group and given constant link

A graph L is called a link graph if there is a graph G such that for each vertex of G its neighbors induce a subgraph isomorphic to L. Such a G is said to have constant link .L Sabidussi proved that for any finite group F and any n ? 3 there are infinitely many n-regular connected graphs G with AutG ? Γ. We will prove a stronger result: For any finite group Γ and any link graph L with at least one isolated vertex and at least three vertices there are infinitely many connected graphs G with constant link L and AutG ? Γ.     

Dominator Colorings in Some Classes of Graphs

A dominator coloring is a coloring of the vertices of a graph such that every vertex is either alone in its color class or adjacent to all vertices of at least one other class. We present new bounds on the dominator coloring number of a graph, with applications to chordal graphs. We show how to compute the dominator coloring number in polynomial time for P ₄-free graphs, and we give a polynomial-time characterization of graphs with dominator coloring number at most 3.     

Finding a Sun in Building-Free Graphs

Deciding whether an arbitrary graph contains a sun was recently shown to be NP-complete (Hoàng in SIAM J Discret Math 23:2156–2162, 2010). We show that whether a building-free graph contains a sun can be decided in O(min{mn ³, m ^1.5 n ²}) time and, if a sun exists, it can be found in the same time bound. The class of building-free graphs contains many interesting classes of perfect graphs such as Meyniel graphs which, in turn, contains classes such as hhd-free graphs, i-triangulated graphs, and parity graphs. Moreover, there are imperfect graphs that are building-free. The class of building-free graphs generalizes several classes of graphs for which an efficient test for the presence of a sun is known. We also present a vertex elimination scheme for the class of (building, gem)-free graphs. The class of (building, gem)-free graphs is a generalization of the class of distance hereditary graphs and a restriction of the class of (building, sun)-free graphs.     

Application of computer algebra to Jones polynomials

In this paper we apply computer algebra (Maple) techniques to calculate Jones polynomial of graphs of K(2,q)-Torus knots. For this purpose, a computer program was developed. When a positive integer q is given, the program calculate Jones polynomial of graph of K(2,q)-Torus knots.     

Recognizing Intersection Graphs of Linear Uniform Hypergraphs

A hypergraph is linear if any two distinct hyperedges have at most one common vertex. The existence of a polynomial algorithm is shown for deciding whether a graph of minimum degree δ ≥ 19 is the intersection graph of a linear 3-uniform hypergraph. This result improves a corollary of the finite forbidden subgraph characterization proved for δ ≥ 69 by Naik et al. in [8]. Essentially the same methods yield a polynomial recognition algorithm for the intersection graph of a linear r-uniform hypergraph, r ≥ 3, provided the minimum edge-degree of the graphs is at least 2r ² ? 3r + 1. This improves on the cubic bound that follows from the corresponding finite characterization result in [8].     

Characterizing planarity using theta graphs

A theta graph is a homeomorph of K_2,3. In an embedded planar graph the local rotation at one degree-three vertex of a theta graph determines the local rotation at the other degree-three vertex. Using this observation, we give a characterization of planar graphs in terms of balance in an associated signed graph whose vertices are K_1,3 subgraphs and whose edges correspond to theta graphs. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Graph Theory 27: 17–20, 1998     

Rank‐tolerance graph classes

In this article we introduce certain classes of graphs that generalize ?‐tolerance chain graphs. In a rank‐tolerance representation of a graph, each vertex is assigned two parameters: a rank, which represents the size of that vertex, and a tolerance which represents an allowed extent of conflict with other vertices. Two vertices are adjacent if and only if their joint rank exceeds (or equals) their joint tolerance. This article is concerned with investigating the graph classes that arise from a variety of functions, such as min, max, sum, and prod (product), that may be used as the coupling functions ? and ρ to define the joint tolerance and the joint rank. Our goal is to obtain basic properties of the graph classes from basic properties of the coupling functions. We prove a skew symmetry result that when either ? or ρ is continuous and weakly increasing, the (?,ρ)‐representable graphs equal the complements of the (ρ,?)‐representable graphs. In the case where either ? or ρ is Archimedean or dual Archimedean, the class contains all threshold graphs. We also show that, for min, max, sum, prod (product) and, in fact, for any piecewise polynomial ?, there are infinitely many split graphs which fail to be representable. In the reflexive case (where ? = ρ), we show that if ? is nondecreasing, weakly increasing and associative, the class obtained is precisely the threshold graphs. This extends a result of Jacobson, McMorris, and Mulder [10] for the function min to a much wider class, including max, sum, and prod. We also give results for homogeneous functions, powers of sums, and linear combinations of min and max. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory