Kernels in quasi-transitive digraphs

Let D be a digraph, V(D) and A(D) will denote the sets of vertices and arcs of D, respectively.A kernel N of D is an independent set of vertices such that for every w∈V(D)-N there exists an arc from w to N. A digraph is called quasi-transitive when (u,v)∈A(D) and (v,w)∈A(D) implies (u,w)∈A(D) or (w,u)∈A(D). This concept was introduced by Ghouilá-Houri [Caractérisation des graphes non orientés dont on peut orienter les arrêtes de maniere à obtenir le graphe d’ un relation d’ordre, C.R. Acad. Sci. Paris 254 (1962) 1370-1371] and has been studied by several authors. In this paper the following result is proved: Let D be a digraph. Suppose D=D₁∪D₂ where D_i is a quasi-transitive digraph which contains no asymmetrical infinite outward path (in D_i) for i∈{1,2}; and that every directed cycle of length 3 contained in D has at least two symmetrical arcs, then D has a kernel. All the conditions for the theorem are tight.     

Kernels of digraphs with finitely many ends

According to Richardson’s theorem, every digraph $G$ without directed odd cycles that is either (a) locally finite or (b) rayless has a kernel (an independent subset $K$ with an incoming edge from every vertex in $G?K$). We generalize this theorem showing that a digraph without directed odd cycles has a kernel when (a) for each vertex, there is a finite set separating it from all rays, or (b) each ray contains at most finitely many vertices dominating it (having an infinite fan to the ray) and the digraph has finitely many ends. The restriction to finitely many ends in (b) can be weakened, admitting infinitely many ends with a specific structure, but the possibility of dropping it remains a conjecture.     

Distance and size in digraphs

We determine the maximum number of arcs in an Eulerian digraph of given order and diameter. Our bound generalises a classical result on the maximum number of edges of an undirected graph of given order and diameter by Ore (1968) and Homenko and Ostroverhii? (1970). We further determine the maximum size of a bipartite digraph of given order and radius.     

On the existence of 3- and 4-kernels in digraphs

Let $D=(V\left(D\right),A\left(D\right))$ be a digraph. A subset $S?V\left(D\right)$ is $k$-independent if the distance between every pair of vertices of $S$ is at least $k$, and it is $?$-absorbent if for every vertex $u$ in $V\left(D\right)?S$ there exists $v\in S$ such that the distance from $u$ to $v$ is less than or equal to $?$. A $k$-kernel is a $k$-independent and $(k?1)$-absorbent set. A kernel is simply a $2$-kernel.A classical result due to Duchet states that if every directed cycle in a digraph $D$ has at least one symmetric arc, then $D$ has a kernel. We propose a conjecture generalizing this result for $k$-kernels and prove it true for $k=3$ and $k=4$.     

Note on the existence of directed (k + 1)-cycles in diconnected complete k-partite digraphs

A graph is constructed to provide a negative answer to the following question of Bondy: Does every diconnected orientation of a complete k-partite (k ≥ 5) graph with each part of size at least 2 yield a directed (k + 1)-cycle?     

On the number of noncritical vertices in strongly connected digraphs

By definition, a vertex w of a strongly connected (or, simply, strong) digraph D is noncritical if the subgraph D — w is also strongly connected. We prove that if the minimal out (or in) degree k of D is at least 2, then there are at least k noncritical vertices in D. In contrast to the case of undirected graphs, this bound cannot be sharpened, for a given k, even for digraphs of large order. Moreover, we show that if the valency of any vertex of a strong digraph of order n is at least 3/4n, then it contains at least two noncritical vertices. The proof makes use of the results of the theory of maximal proper strong subgraphs established by Mader and developed by the present author. We also construct a counterpart of this theory for biconnected (undirected) graphs.     

Packing strong subgraph in digraphs

In this paper, we study two types of strong subgraph packing problems in digraphs, including internally disjoint strong subgraph packing problem and arc-disjoint strong subgraph packing problem. These problems can be viewed as generalizations of the famous Steiner tree packing problem and are closely related to the strong arc decomposition problem. We first prove the NP-completeness for the internally disjoint strong subgraph packing problem restricted to symmetric digraphs and Eulerian digraphs. Then we get inapproximability results for the arc-disjoint strong subgraph packing problem and the internally disjoint strong subgraph packing problem. Finally we study the arc-disjoint strong subgraph packing problem restricted to digraph compositions and obtain some algorithmic results by utilizing the structural properties.     

Signed total (k, k)-domatic number of digraphs

Let D be a finite and simple digraph with vertex set V(D), and let f: V(D) → {?1, 1} be a two-valued function. If k ≥?1 is an integer and ${\sum_{x \in N^-(v)}f(x) \ge k}$ for each ${v \in V(G)}$ , where N ^?(v) consists of all vertices of D from which arcs go into v, then f is a signed total k-dominating function on D. A set {f ₁, f ₂, . . . , f _d } of signed total k-dominating functions on D with the property that ${\sum_{i=1}^df_i(x)\le k}$ for each ${x \in V(D)}$ , is called a signed total (k, k)-dominating family (of functions) on D. The maximum number of functions in a signed total (k, k)-dominating family on D is the signed total (k, k)-domatic number on D, denoted by ${d_{st}^{k}(D)}$ . In this paper we initiate the study of the signed total (k, k)-domatic number of digraphs, and we present different bounds on ${d_{st}^{k}(D)}$ . Some of our results are extensions of known properties of the signed total domatic number ${d_{st}(D)=d_{st}^{1}(D)}$ of digraphs D as well as the signed total domatic number d _st (G) of graphs G, given by Henning (Ars Combin. 79:277–288, 2006).     

On the weak distance-regularity of Moore-type digraphs

We prove that Moore digraphs, and some other classes of extremal digraphs, are weakly distance-regular in the sense that there is an invariance of the number of walks between vertices at a given distance. As weakly distance-regular digraphs, we then compute their complete spectrum from a ‘small’ intersection matrix. This is a very useful tool for deriving some results about their existence and/or their structural properties. For instance, we present here an alternative and unified proof of the existence results on Moore digraphs, Moore bipartite digraphs and, more generally, Moore generalized p-cycles. In addition, we show that the line digraph structure appears as a characteristic property of any Moore generalized p-cycle of diameter D?≥?2p.     

On the restricted arc-connectivity of s-geodetic digraphs

For a strongly connected digraph D the minimum ,cardinality of an arc-cut over all arc-cuts restricted arc-connectivity λ′（D） is defined as the S satisfying that D - S has a non-trivial strong component D1 such that D - V（D1） contains an arc. Let S be a subset of vertices of D. We denote by w＋（S） the set of arcs uv with u ∈ S and v S, and by w-（S） the set of arcs uv with u S and v ∈ S. A digraph D = （V, A） is said to be λ′-optimal if λ′（D） =ξ′（D）, where ξ′（D） is the minimum arc-degree of D defined as ξ（D） = min {ξ′（xy） ： xy ∈ A}, and ξ′（xy） = min（｜ω＋（{x,y}）｜, ｜w-（{x,y}）｜, ｜w＋（x） ∪ w- （y） ｜, ｜w- （x） ∪ω＋ （y）｜}. In this paper a sufficient condition for a s-geodetic strongly connected digraph D to be λ′-optimal is given in terms of its diameter. Furthermore we see that the h-iterated line digraph Lh（D） of a s-geodetic digraph is λ′-optimal for certain iteration h.     

ON THE EXPONENT SET OF PRIMITIVELOCALLY SEMICOMPLETE DIGRAPHS

A locally semicomplete digraph is a digraph D=(V,A) satisfying the following condi-tion for every vertex x∈V the D[O(x)] and D[I(x)] are semicomplete digraphs. In this paper,we get some properties of cycles and determine the exponent set of primitive locally semicompleted digraphs.     

Hamilton cycles in circulant digraphs with prescribed number of distinct jumps

Let G be a digraph that consists of a finite set of vertices V(G). G is called a circulant digraph if its automorphism group contains a |V(G)|-cycle. A circulant digraph G has arcs incident to each vertex i, where integers a_ks satisfy 0<a₁<a₂<a_j≤|V(G)|−1 and are called jumps. It is well known that not every G is Hamiltonian. In this paper we give sufficient conditions for a G to have a Hamilton cycle with prescribed distinct jumps, and prove that such conditions are also necessary for every G with two distinct jumps. Finally, we derive several results for obtaining G^′ with k, k≥2 distinct jumps if the corresponding G contains a Hamilton cycle with two distinct jumps.     

On DP-coloring of digraphs

DP-coloring is a relatively new coloring concept by Dvořák and Postle and was introduced as an extension of list-colorings of (undirected) graphs. It transforms the problem of finding a list-coloring of a given graph $G$ with a list-assignment $L$ to finding an independent transversal in an auxiliary graph with vertex set $\text{◂{}▸}\{\left(v,c\right)|\text{◂+▸}v\in V\left(G\right),\text{◂+▸}c\in L\left(v\right)\}$. In this paper, we extend the definition of DP-colorings to digraphs using the approach from Neumann-Lara where a coloring of a digraph is a coloring of the vertices such that the digraph does not contain any monochromatic directed cycle. Furthermore, we prove a Brooks’ type theorem regarding the DP-chromatic number, which extends various results on the (list-)chromatic number of digraphs.     

On non‐Hamiltonian circulant digraphs of outdegree three

We construct infinitely many connected, circulant digraphs of outdegree three that have no Hamiltonian circuit. All of our examples have an even number of vertices, and our examples are of two types: either every vertex in the digraph is adjacent to two diametrically opposite vertices, or every vertex is adjacent to the vertex diametrically opposite to itself. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Graph Theory 30: 319–331, 1999