Extending the disjoint‐representatives theorems of Hall,Halmos, and Vaughan to list‐multicolorings of graphs

Philip Hall's famous theorem on systems of distinct representatives and its not‐so‐famous improvement by Halmos and Vaughan (1950) can be regarded as statements about the existence of proper list‐colorings or list‐multicolorings of complete graphs. The necessary and sufficient condition for a proper “coloring” in these theorems has a rather natural generalization to a condition we call Hall's condition on a simple graph G, a vertex list assignment to G, and an assignment of nonnegative integers to the vertices of G. Hall's condition turns out to be necessary for the existence of a proper multicoloring of G under these assignments. The Hall‐Halmos‐Vaughan theorem may be stated: when G is a clique, Hall's condition is sufficient for the existence of a proper multicoloring. In this article, we undertake the study of the class HHV of simple graphs G for which Hall's condition is sufficient for the existence of a proper multicoloring. It is shown that HHV is contained in the class ℋ︁₀ of graphs in which every block is a clique and each cut‐vertex lies in exactly two blocks. On the other hand, besides cliques, the only connected graphs we know to be in HHV are (i) any two cliques joined at a cut‐vertex, (ii) paths, and (iii) the two connected graphs of order 5 in ℋ︁₀, which are neither cliques, paths, nor two cliques stuck together. In case (ii), we address the constructive aspect, the problem of deciding if there is a proper coloring and, if there is, of finding one. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Graph Theory 33: 199–219, 2000     

Interval coloring of (3,4)‐biregular bipartite graphs having large cubic subgraphs

An interval coloring of a graph is a proper edge coloring such that the set of used colors at every vertex is an interval of integers. Generally, it is an NP‐hard problem to decide whether a graph has an interval coloring or not. A bipartite graph G = (A,B;E) is (α, β)‐biregular if each vertex in A has degree α and each vertex in B has degree β. In this paper we prove that if the (3,4)‐biregular graph G has a cubic subgraph covering the set B then G has an interval coloring. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 47: 122–128, 2004     

Proper path‐factors and interval edge‐coloring of (3,4)‐biregular bigraphs

An interval coloring of a graph G is a proper coloring of E(G) by positive integers such that the colors on the edges incident to any vertex are consecutive. A (3,4)‐biregular bigraph is a bipartite graph in which each vertex of one part has degree 3 and each vertex of the other has degree 4; it is unknown whether these all have interval colorings. We prove that G has an interval coloring using 6 colors when G is a (3,4)‐biregular bigraph having a spanning subgraph whose components are paths with endpoints at 3‐valent vertices and lengths in {2, 4, 6, 8}. We provide several sufficient conditions for the existence of such a subgraph. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory     

On the adjacent vertex-distinguishing acyclic edge coloring of some graphs

A proper edge coloring of a graph G is called adjacent vertex-distinguishing acyclic edge coloring if there is no 2-colored cycle in G and the coloring set of edges incident with u is not equal to the coloring set of edges incident with v, where uv ∈ E(G). The adjacent vertex distinguishing acyclic edge chromatic number of G, denoted by x′ _Aa (G), is the minimal number of colors in an adjacent vertex distinguishing acyclic edge coloring of G. If a graph G has an adjacent vertex distinguishing acyclic edge coloring, then G is called adjacent vertex distinguishing acyclic. In this paper, we obtain adjacent vertex-distinguishing acyclic edge coloring of some graphs and put forward some conjectures.     

Non‐rainbow colorings of 3‐, 4‐ and 5‐connected plane graphs

We study vertex‐colorings of plane graphs that do not contain a rainbow face, i.e., a face with vertices of mutually distinct colors. If G is a 3 ‐connected plane graph with n vertices, then the number of colors in such a coloring does not exceed . If G is 4 ‐connected, then the number of colors is at most , and for n≡3(mod8), it is at most . Finally, if G is 5 ‐connected, then the number of colors is at most . The bounds for 3 ‐connected and 4 ‐connected plane graphs are the best possible as we exhibit constructions of graphs with colorings matching the bounds. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 63: 129–145, 2010     

Vertex‐distinguishing edge colorings of random graphs

A proper edge coloring of a simple graph G is called vertex‐distinguishing if no two distinct vertices are incident to the same set of colors. We prove that the minimum number of colors required for a vertex‐distinguishing coloring of a random graph of order n is almost always equal to the maximum degree Δ(G) of the graph. © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Random Struct. Alg., 20, 89–97, 2002     

Partitioning 2‐Edge‐Colored Ore‐Type Graphs by Monochromatic Cycles

Consider a graph G on n vertices satisfying the following Ore‐type condition: for any two nonadjacent vertices x and y of G, we have . We conjecture that if we color the edges of G with two colors then the vertex set of G can be partitioned to two vertex disjoint monochromatic cycles of distinct colors. In this article, we prove an asymptotic version of this conjecture.     

A Characterization of b‐Perfect Graphs

A b‐coloring is a coloring of the vertices of a graph such that each color class contains a vertex that has a neighbor in all other color classes, and the b‐chromatic number of a graph G is the largest integer k such that G admits a b‐coloring with k colors. A graph is b‐perfect if the b‐chromatic number is equal to the chromatic number for every induced subgraph of G. We prove that a graph is b‐perfect if and only if it does not contain as an induced subgraph a member of a certain list of 22 graphs. This entails the existence of a polynomial‐time recognition algorithm and of a polynomial‐time algorithm for coloring exactly the vertices of every b‐perfect graph. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 71:95–122, 2012     

ON 3-CHOOSABILITY OF PLANE GRAPHS WITHOUT 6-,7- AND 9-CYCLES

The choice number of a graph G,denoted by X1(G),is the minimum number k such that if a list of k colors is given to each vertex of G,there is a vertex coloring of G where each vertex receives a color from its own list no matter what the lists are. In this paper,it is showed that X1 (G)≤3 for each plane graph of girth not less than 4 which contains no 6-, 7- and 9-cycles.     

6‐Star‐Coloring of Subcubic Graphs

A star coloring of an undirected graph G is a proper vertex coloring of G (i.e., no two adjacent vertices are assigned the same color) such that no path on four vertices is 2‐colored. The star chromatic number of G is the smallest integer k for which G admits a star coloring with k colors. In this paper, we prove that every subcubic graph is 6‐star‐colorable. Moreover, the upper bound 6 is best possible, based on the example constructed by Fertin, Raspaud, and Reed (J Graph Theory 47(3) (2004), 140–153).     

About equivalent interval colorings of weighted graphs

Given a graph G=(V,E) with strictly positive integer weights ω_i on the vertices iV, a k-interval coloring of G is a function I that assigns an interval I(i){1,…,k} of ω_i consecutive integers (called colors) to each vertex iV. If two adjacent vertices x and y have common colors, i.e. I(i)∩I(j)≠0/ for an edge [i,j] in G, then the edge [i,j] is said conflicting. A k-interval coloring without conflicting edges is said legal. The interval coloring problem (ICP) is to determine the smallest integer k, called interval chromatic number of G and denoted χ_int(G), such that there exists a legal k-interval coloring of G. For a fixed integer k, the k-interval graph coloring problem (k-ICP) is to determine a k-interval coloring of G with a minimum number of conflicting edges. The ICP and k-ICP generalize classical vertex coloring problems where a single color has to be assigned to each vertex (i.e., ω_i=1 for all vertices iV).Two k-interval colorings I₁ and I₂ are said equivalent if there is a permutation π of the integers 1,…,k such that ℓI₁(i) if and only if π(ℓ)I₂(i) for all vertices iV. As for classical vertex coloring, the efficiency of algorithms that solve the ICP or the k-ICP can be increased by avoiding considering equivalent k-interval colorings, assuming that they can be identified very quickly. To this purpose, we define and prove a necessary and sufficient condition for the equivalence of two k-interval colorings. We then show how a simple tabu search algorithm for the k-ICP can possibly be improved by forbidding the visit of equivalent solutions.     

On constructible graphs,locally Helly graphs,and convexity

A (finite or infinite) graph G is constructible if there exists a well‐ordering ≤ of its vertices such that for every vertex x which is not the smallest element, there is a vertex y < x which is adjacent to x and to every neighbor z of x with z < x. Particular constructible graphs are Helly graphs and connected bridged graphs. In this paper we study a new class of constructible graphs, the class of locally Helly graphs. A graph G is locally Helly if, for every pair (x,y) of vertices of G whose distance is d ≥ 2, there exists a vertex whose distance to x is d ? 1 and which is adjacent to y and to all neighbors of y whose distance to x is at most d. Helly graphs are locally Helly, and the converse holds for finite graphs. Among different properties we prove that a locally Helly graph is strongly dismantable, hence cop‐win, if and only if it contains no isometric rays. We show that a locally Helly graph G is finitely Helly, that is, every finite family of pairwise non‐disjoint balls of G has a non‐empty intersection. We give a sufficient condition by forbidden subgraphs so that the three concepts of Helly graphs, of locally Helly graphs and of finitely Helly graphs are equivalent. Finally, generalizing different results, in particular those of Bandelt and Chepoi 1 about Helly graphs and bridged graphs, we prove that the Helly number h(G) of the geodesic convexity in a constructible graph G is equal to its clique number ω(G), provided that ω(G) is finite. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 43: 280–298, 2003     

The hamiltonian chromatic number of a connected graph without large hamiltonian-connected subgraphs

If G is a connected graph of order n ⩾ 1, then by a hamiltonian coloring of G we mean a mapping c of V (G) into the set of all positive integers such that |c(x) − c(y)| ⩾ n − 1 − D _G (x, y) (where D _G (x, y) denotes the length of a longest x − y path in G) for all distinct x, y ∈ V (G). Let G be a connected graph. By the hamiltonian chromatic number of G we mean

A local structure theorem on 5‐connected graphs

An edge of a 5‐connected graph is said to be contractible if the contraction of the edge results in a 5‐connected graph. Let x be a vertex of a 5‐connected graph. We prove that if there are no contractible edges whose distance from x is two or less, then either there are two triangles with x in common each of which has a distinct degree five vertex other than x, or there is a specified structure called a K₄^?‐configuration with center x. As a corollary, we show that if a 5‐connected graph on n vertices has no contractible edges, then it has 2n/5 vertices of degree 5. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 60: 99–129, 2009     

Cyclic colorings of plane graphs with independent faces

Let G be a plane graph with maximum face size Δ^∗. If all faces of G with size four or more are vertex disjoint, then G has a cyclic coloring with Δ^∗+1 colors, i.e., a coloring such that all vertices incident with the same face receive distinct colors.     

List total colorings of series-parallel graphs

A total coloring of a graph G is a coloring of all elements of G, i.e., vertices and edges, in such a way that no two adjacent or incident elements receive the same color. Let L(x) be a set of colors assigned to each element x of G. Then a list total coloring of G is a total coloring such that each element x receives a color contained in L(x). The list total coloring problem asks whether G has a list total coloring. In this paper, we first show that the list total coloring problem is NP-complete even for series-parallel graphs. We then give a sufficient condition for a series-parallel graph to have a list total coloring, that is, we prove a theorem that any series-parallel graph G has a list total coloring if |L(v)|min{5,Δ+1} for each vertex v and |L(e)|max{5,d(v)+1,d(w)+1} for each edge e=vw, where Δ is the maximum degree of G and d(v) and d(w) are the degrees of the ends v and w of e, respectively. The theorem implies that any series-parallel graph G has a total coloring with Δ+1 colors if Δ4. We finally present a linear-time algorithm to find a list total coloring of a given series-parallel graph G if G satisfies the sufficient condition.     

Planar graphs without 4‐cycles are acyclically 6‐choosable

A proper vertex coloring of a graph G=(V, E) is acyclic if G contains no bicolored cycle. A graph G is acyclically L‐list colorable if for a given list assignment L={L(v)|v∈V}, there exists a proper acyclic coloring π of G such that π(v)∈L(v) for all v∈V. If G is acyclically L‐list colorable for any list assignment with |L(v)|≥k for all v∈V, then G is acyclically k‐choosable. In this paper we prove that every planar graph G without 4‐cycles is acyclically 6‐choosable. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 61: 307–323, 2009     

Bounds on vertex colorings with restrictions on the union of color classes

A proper coloring of a graph is a labeled partition of its vertices into parts which are independent sets. In this paper, given a positive integer j and a family ? of connected graphs, we consider proper colorings in which we require that the union of any j color classes induces a subgraph which has no copy of any member of ?. This generalizes some well‐known types of proper colorings like acyclic colorings (where j = 2 and ?is the collection of all even cycles) and star colorings (where j = 2 and ?consists of just a path on 4 vertices), etc. For this type of coloring, we obtain an upper bound of O(d^{(k ? 1)/(k ? j)}) on the minimum number of colors sufficient to obtain such a coloring. Here, d refers to the maximum degree of the graph and k is the size of the smallest member of ?. For the case of j = 2, we also obtain lower bounds on the minimum number of colors needed in the worst case. As a corollary, we obtain bounds on the minimum number of colors sufficient to obtain proper colorings in which the union of any j color classes is a graph of bounded treewidth. In particular, using O(d^8/7) colors, one can obtain a proper coloring of the vertices of a graph so that the union of any two color classes has treewidth at most 2. We also show that this bound is tight within a multiplicative factor of O((logd)^1/7). We also consider generalizations where we require simultaneously for several pairs (j_i, ?_i) (i = 1, …, l) that the union of any j_i color classes has no copy of any member of ?_i and obtain upper bounds on the corresponding chromatic numbers. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 66: 213–234, 2011     

On Neighbor‐Distinguishing Index of Planar Graphs

A proper edge coloring of a graph G without isolated edges is neighbor‐distinguishing if any two adjacent vertices have distinct sets consisting of colors of their incident edges. The neighbor‐distinguishing index of G is the minimum number ndi(G) of colors in a neighbor‐distinguishing edge coloring of G. Zhang, Liu, and Wang in 2002 conjectured that if G is a connected graph of order at least 6. In this article, the conjecture is verified for planar graphs with maximum degree at least 12.     

Improved bounds on linear coloring of plane graphs

A proper vertex coloring of a graph G is linear if the graph induced by the vertices of any two color classes is the union of vertex-disjoint paths. The linear chromatic number lc(G) of the graph G is the smallest number of colors in a linear coloring of G. In this paper, we give some upper bounds on linear chromatic number for plane graphs with respect to their girth, that improve some results of Raspaud and Wang (2009).