Planar graphs with neither 5‐cycles nor close 3‐cycles are 3‐colorable

In 2003, O. V. Borodin and A. Raspaud conjectured that every planar graph with the minimum distance between triangles, d_Δ, at least 1 and without 5‐cycles is 3‐colorable. This Bordeaux conjecture (Brdx3CC) has common features with Havel's (1970) and Steinberg's (1976) 3‐color problems. A relaxation of Brdx3CC with d_Δ?4 was confirmed in 2003 by Borodin and Raspaud, whose result was improved to d_Δ?3 by Borodin and A. N. Glebov (2004) and, independently, by B. Xu (2007). The purpose of this article is to make the penultimate step (d_Δ?2) towards Brdx3CC. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 66: 1–31, 2010     

The Zarankiewicz problem in 3‐partite graphs

Let be a graph, be an integer, and write for the maximum number of edges in an ‐vertex graph that is ‐partite and has no subgraph isomorphic to . The function has been studied by many researchers. Finding is a special case of the Zarankiewicz problem. We prove an analog of the Kövári‐Sós‐Turán theorem for 3‐partite graphs by showing for . Using Sidon sets constructed by Bose and Chowla, we prove that this upper bound is asymptotically best possible in the case that and is odd, that is, for . In the cases of and , we use a result of Allen, Keevash, Sudakov, and Verstraëte, to show that a similar upper bound holds for all and gives a better constant when . Finally, we point out an interesting connection between difference families from design theory and .     

Planar graphs without 4‐cycles adjacent to 3‐cycles are list vertex 2‐arborable

It is known that not all planar graphs are 4‐choosable; neither all of them are vertex 2‐arborable. However, planar graphs without 4‐cycles and even those without 4‐cycles adjacent to 3‐cycles are known to be 4‐choosable. We extend this last result in terms of covering the vertices of a graph by induced subgraphs of variable degeneracy. In particular, we prove that every planar graph without 4‐cycles adjacent to 3‐cycles can be covered by two induced forests. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 62, 234–240, 2009     

On minors of graphs with at least 3n −4 edges

A point disconnecting set S of a graph G is a nontrivial m-separator, where m = |S|, if the connected components of G - S can be partitioned into two subgraphs, each of which has at least two points. A 3-connected graph is quasi 4-connected if it has no nontrivial 3-separators. Suppose G is a graph having n ≥ 6 points. We prove three results: (1) If G is quasi 4-connected with at least 3n - 4 edges, then the graph K^?₁, obtained from K₆ by deleting an edge, is a minor of G. (2) If G has at least 3n - 4 edges then either K^?₆ or the graph obtained by pasting two disjoint copies of K₅ together along a triangle is a minor of G. (3) If the minimum degree of G is at least 6, then K^?₆ is a minor of G. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

On a question of Sós about 3‐uniform friendship hypergraphs

The well‐known Friendship Theorem states that if G is a graph in which every pair of vertices has exactly one common neighbor, then G has a single vertex joined to all others (a “universal friend”). V. Sós defined an analogous friendship property for 3‐uniform hypergraphs, and gave a construction satisfying the friendship property that has a universal friend. We present new 3‐uniform hypergraphs on 8, 16, and 32 vertices that satisfy the friendship property without containing a universal friend. We also prove that if n ≤ 10 and n ≠ 8, then there are no friendship hypergraphs on n vertices without a universal friend. These results were obtained by computer search using integer programming. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Combin Designs 16: 253–261, 2008     

On the structure of graphs with a unique k‐factor

In this paper we study the structure of graphs with a unique k‐factor. Our results imply a conjecture of Hendry on the maximal number m (n,k) of edges in a graph G of order n with a unique k‐factor: For we prove and construct all corresponding extremal graphs. For we prove . For n = 2kl, l ∈ ℕ, this bound is sharp, and we prove that the corresponding extremal graph is unique up to isomorphism. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Graph Theory 35: 227–243, 2000     

Finding any given 2‐factor in sparse pseudorandom graphs efficiently

Given an $n$‐vertex pseudorandom graph $G$ and an $n$‐vertex graph $H$ with maximum degree at most two, we wish to find a copy of $H$ in $G$, that is, an embedding $\phi :V\left(H\right)\to V\left(G\right)$ so that $\phi \left(u\right)\phi \left(v\right)\in E\left(G\right)$ for all $uv\in E\left(H\right)$. Particular instances of this problem include finding a triangle‐factor and finding a Hamilton cycle in $G$. Here, we provide a deterministic polynomial time algorithm that finds a given $H$ in any suitably pseudorandom graph $G$. The pseudorandom graphs we consider are $\left(p,\lambda \right)$‐bijumbled graphs of minimum degree which is a constant proportion of the average degree, that is, $\mathrm{\Omega }\left(pn\right)$. A $\left(p,\lambda \right)$‐bijumbled graph is characterised through the discrepancy property: $|e\left(A,B\right)?p|A||B||<\lambda \sqrt{|A||B|}$ for any two sets of vertices $A$ and $B$. Our condition $\lambda =O(p^{2}n/\log n)$ on bijumbledness is within a log factor from being tight and provides a positive answer to a recent question of Nenadov. We combine novel variants of the absorption‐reservoir method, a powerful tool from extremal graph theory and random graphs. Our approach builds on our previous work, incorporating the work of Nenadov, together with additional ideas and simplifications.     

Maximum number of colorings of (2k,k2)‐graphs

Let consist of all simple graphs on 2k vertices and edges. For a simple graph G and a positive integer , let denote the number of proper vertex colorings of G in at most colors, and let . We prove that and is the only extremal graph. We also prove that as . © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 56: 135–148, 2007     

2‐ and 3‐factors of graphs on surfaces

It has been conjectured that any 5‐connected graph embedded in a surface Σ with sufficiently large face‐width is hamiltonian. This conjecture was verified by Yu for the triangulation case, but it is still open in general. The conjecture is not true for 4‐connected graphs. In this article, we shall study the existence of 2‐ and 3‐factors in a graph embedded in a surface Σ. A hamiltonian cycle is a special case of a 2‐factor. Thus, it is quite natural to consider the existence of these factors. We give an evidence to the conjecture in a sense of the existence of a 2‐factor. In fact, we only need the 4‐connectivity with minimum degree at least 5. In addition, our face‐width condition is not huge. Specifically, we prove the following two results. Let G be a graph embedded in a surface Σ of Euler genus g.

• (1) If G is 4‐connected and minimum degree of G is at least 5, and furthermore, face‐width of G is at least 4g?12, then G has a 2‐factor.
• (2) If G is 5‐connected and face‐width of G is at least max{44g?117, 5}, then G has a 3‐factor.

The connectivity condition for both results are best possible. In addition, the face‐width conditions are necessary too. Copyright © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 67:306‐315, 2011     

Nowhere‐zero 3‐flow and ‐connectedness in graphs with four edge‐disjoint spanning trees

Given a zero‐sum function with , an orientation D of G with in for every vertex is called a β‐orientation. A graph G is ‐connected if G admits a β‐orientation for every zero‐sum function β. Jaeger et al. conjectured that every 5‐edge‐connected graph is ‐connected. A graph is ‐extendable at vertex v if any preorientation at v can be extended to a β‐orientation of G for any zero‐sum function β. We observe that if every 5‐edge‐connected essentially 6‐edge‐connected graph is ‐extendable at any degree five vertex, then the above‐mentioned conjecture by Jaeger et al. holds as well. Furthermore, applying the partial flow extension method of Thomassen and of Lovász et al., we prove that every graph with at least four edge‐disjoint spanning trees is ‐connected. Consequently, every 5‐edge‐connected essentially 23‐edge‐connected graph is ‐extendable at any degree five vertex.     

2‐connected 7‐coverings of 3‐connected graphs on surfaces

An m‐covering of a graph G is a spanning subgraph of G with maximum degree at most m. In this paper, we shall show that every 3‐connected graph on a surface with Euler genus k ≥ 2 with sufficiently large representativity has a 2‐connected 7‐covering with at most 6k ? 12 vertices of degree 7. We also construct, for every surface F² with Euler genus k ≥ 2, a 3‐connected graph G on F² with arbitrarily large representativity each of whose 2‐connected 7‐coverings contains at least 6k ? 12 vertices of degree 7. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 43: 26–36, 2003     

On convex embeddings of planar 3‐connected graphs

A well‐known Tutte's theorem claims that every 3‐connected planar graph has a convex embedding into the plane. Tutte's arguments also show that, moreover, for every nonseparating cycle C of a 3‐connected graph G, there exists a convex embedding of G such that C is a boundary of the outer face in this embedding. We give a simple proof of this last result. Our proof is based on the fact that a 3‐connected graph admits an ear assembly having some special properties with respect to the nonseparating cycles of the graph. This fact may be interesting and useful in itself. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J. Graph Theory 33: 120–124, 2000     

On the Number of 4‐Cycles in a Tournament

If T is an n‐vertex tournament with a given number of 3‐cycles, what can be said about the number of its 4‐cycles? The most interesting range of this problem is where T is assumed to have cyclic triples for some and we seek to minimize the number of 4‐cycles. We conjecture that the (asymptotic) minimizing T is a random blow‐up of a constant‐sized transitive tournament. Using the method of flag algebras, we derive a lower bound that almost matches the conjectured value. We are able to answer the easier problem of maximizing the number of 4‐cycles. These questions can be equivalently stated in terms of transitive subtournaments. Namely, given the number of transitive triples in T, how many transitive quadruples can it have? As far as we know, this is the first study of inducibility in tournaments.     

On the Number of 5‐Cycles in a Tournament

We find a formula for the number of directed 5‐cycles in a tournament in terms of its edge scores and use the formula to find upper and lower bounds on the number of 5‐cycles in any n‐tournament. In particular, we show that the maximum number of 5‐cycles is asymptotically equal to , the expected number 5‐cycles in a random tournament (), with equality (up to order of magnitude) for almost all tournaments.     

Vertex‐disjoint cycles of length at most four each of which contains a specified vertex*

We obtain a sharp minimum degree condition δ (G) ≥ of a graph G of order n ≥ 3k guaranteeing that, for any k distinct vertices, G contains k vertex‐disjoint cycles of length at most four each of which contains one of the k prescribed vertices. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Graph Theory 37: 37–47, 2001     

Improvements on the density of maximal 1‐planar graphs

A graph is 1‐planar if it can be drawn in the plane such that each edge is crossed at most once. A graph, together with a 1‐planar drawing is called 1‐plane. A graph is maximal 1‐planar (1‐plane), if we cannot add any missing edge so that the resulting graph is still 1‐planar (1‐plane). Brandenburg et al. showed that there are maximal 1‐planar graphs with only edges and maximal 1‐plane graphs with only edges. On the other hand, they showed that a maximal 1‐planar graph has at least edges, and a maximal 1‐plane graph has at least edges. We improve both lower bounds to .