The order of hypotraceable oriented graphs

A digraph of order n is hypotraceable if it is nontraceable but all its induced subdigraphs of order n−1 are traceable. Grötschel et al. (1980) [M. Grötschel, C. Thomassen, Y. Wakabayashi, Hypotraceable digraphs, J. Graph Theory 4 (1980) 377–381] constructed an infinite family of hypotraceable oriented graphs, the smallest of which has order 13. We show that there exist hypotraceable oriented graphs of order n for every n≥8 except possibly for n=9,11 and that is the only one of order less than 8.Furthermore, we determine all the hypotraceable oriented graphs of order 8 and explain the relevance of these results to the problem of determining, for given k≥2, the maximum order of nontraceable oriented digraphs each of whose induced subdigraphs of order k is traceable.     

Infinite families of 2-hypohamiltonian/2-hypotraceable oriented graphs

A digraph D of order n is r-hypohamiltonian (respectively r-hypotraceable) for some positive integer r < n ? 1 if D is nonhamiltonian (nontraceable) and the deletion of any r of its vertices leaves a hamiltonian (traceable) digraph. A 1-hypohamiltonian (1-traceable) digraph is simply called hypohamiltonian (hypotraceable). Although hypohamiltonian and hypotraceable digraphs are well-known and well-studied concepts, we have found no mention of r-hypohamiltonian or r-hypotraceable digraphs in the literature for any r > 1. In this paper we present infinitely many 2-hypohamiltonian oriented graphs and use these to construct infinitely many 2-hypotraceable oriented graphs. We also discuss an interesting connection between the existence of r-hypotraceable oriented graphs and the Path Partition Conjecture for oriented graphs.     

Kings in locally semicomplete digraphs

A k‐king in a digraph D is a vertex which can reach every other vertex by a directed path of length at most k. We consider k‐kings in locally semicomplete digraphs and mainly prove that all strong locally semicomplete digraphs which are not round decomposable contain a 2‐king. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 63: 279–287, 2010     

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.     

Finding an induced subdivision of a digraph

We consider the following problem for oriented graphs and digraphs: Given an oriented graph (digraph) H, does it contain an induced subdivision of a prescribed digraph D? The complexity of this problem depends on D and on whether H is an oriented graph or contains 2-cycles. We announce a number of examples of polynomial instances as well as several NP-completeness results.     

Locally semicomplete digraphs: A generalization of tournaments

In this paper we introduce a new class of directed graphs called locally semicomplete digraphs. These are defined to be those digraphs for which the following holds: for every vertex x the vertices dominated by x induce a semicomplete digraph and the vertices that dominate x induce a semicomplete digraph. (A digraph is semicomplete if for any two distinct vertices u and ν, there is at least one arc between them.) This class contains the class of semicomplete digraphs, but is much more general. In fact, the class of underlying graphs of the locally semi-complete digraphs is precisely the class of proper circular-arc graphs (see [13], Theorem 3). We show that many of the classic theorems for tournaments have natural analogues for locally semicomplete digraphs. For example, every locally semicomplete digraph has a directed Hamiltonian path and every strong locally semicomplete digraph has a Hamiltonian cycle. We also consider connectivity properties, domination orientability, and algorithmic aspects of locally semicomplete digraphs. Some of the results on connectivity are new, even when restricted to semicomplete digraphs.     

Exponents of a class of two-colored digraphs

A two-colored digraph D is primitive if there exist nonnegative integers h and k with h+k>0 such that for each pair (i, j) of vertices there exists an (h, k)-walk in D from i to j. The exponent of the primitive two-colored digraph D is the minimum value of h+k taken over all such h and k. In this article, we consider special primitive two-colored digraphs whose uncolored digraph has n+s vertices and consist of one n-cycle and one (n???2)-cycle. We give the bounds on the exponents, and the characterizations of the extremal two-colored digraphs.     

Sufficient Conditions for Super-Arc-Strongly Connected Oriented Graphs

A digraph D is called super-arc-strongly connected if the arcs of every its minimum arc-disconnected set are incident to or from some vertex in D. A digraph without any directed cycle of length 2 is called an oriented graph. Sufficient conditions for digraphs to be super-arc-strongly connected have been given by several authors. However, closely related conditions for super-arc-strongly connected oriented graphs have little attention until now. In this paper we present some minimum degree and degree sequence conditions for oriented graphs to be super-arc-strongly connected.     

Quasi-transitive digraphs

A digraph is quasi-transitive if there is a complete adjacency between the inset and the outset of each vertex. Quasi-transitive digraphs are interseting because of their relation to comparability graphs. Specifically, a graph can be oriented as a quasi-transitive digraph if and only if it is a comparability graph. Quasi-transitive digraphs are also of interest as they share many nice properties of tournaments. Indeed, we show that every strongly connected quasi-transitive digraphs D on at least four vertices has two vertices v₁ and v₂ such that D – v_i is strongly connected for i = 1, 2. A result of tournaments on the existence of a pair of arc-disjoint in- and out-branchings rooted at the same vertex can also be extended to quasi-transitive digraphs. However, some properties of tournaments, like hamiltonicity, cannot be extended directly to quasi-transitive digraphs. Therefore we characterize those quasi-transitive digraphs which have a hamiltonian cycle, respectively a hamiltonian path. We show the existence of highly connected quasi-transitive digraphs D with a factor (a collection of disjoint cycles covering the vertex set of D), which have a cycle of every length 3 ≦ k ≦ |V(D)| ? 1 through every vertex and yet they are not hamiltonian. Finally we characterize pancyclic and vertex pancyclic quasi-transitive digraphs. © 1995, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

The number of pancyclic arcs in a k‐strong tournament

A tournament is a digraph, where there is precisely one arc between every pair of distinct vertices. An arc is pancyclic in a digraph D, if it belongs to a cycle of length l, for all 3 ≤ l ≤ |V (D) |. Let p(D) denote the number of pancyclic arcs in a digraph D and let h(D) denote the maximum number of pancyclic arcs belonging to the same Hamilton cycle of D. Note that p(D) ≥ h(D). Moon showed that h(T) ≥ 3 for all strong non‐trivial tournaments, T, and Havet showed that h(T) ≥ 5 for all 2‐strong tournaments T. We will show that if T is a k‐strong tournament, with k ≥ 2, then p(T) ≥ 1/2, nk and h(T) ≥ (k + 5)/2. This solves a conjecture by Havet, stating that there exists a constant α_k, such that p(T) ≥ α_k n, for all k‐strong tournaments, T, with k ≥ 2. Furthermore, the second results gives support for the conjecture h(T) ≥ 2k + 1, which was also stated by Havet. The previously best‐known bounds when k ≥ 2 were p(T) ≥ 2k + 3 and h(T) ≥ 5. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory     

The diameter of randomly perturbed digraphs and some applications

The central observation of this paper is that if εn random arcs are added to any n‐node strongly connected digraph with bounded degree then the resulting graph has diameter 𝒪(lnn) with high probability. We apply this to smoothed analysis of algorithms and property testing. Smoothed Analysis: Recognizing strongly connected digraphs is a basic computational task in graph theory. Even for digraphs with bounded degree, it is NL‐complete. By XORing an arbitrary bounded degree digraph with a sparse random digraph R ∼ 𝔻_n,ε/n we obtain a “smoothed” instance. We show that, with high probability, a log‐space algorithm will correctly determine if a smoothed instance is strongly connected. We also show that if NL ⫅̸ almost‐L then no heuristic can recognize similarly perturbed instances of (s,t)‐connectivity. Property Testing: A digraph is called k‐linked if, for every choice of 2k distinct vertices s₁,…,s_k,t₁,…,t_k, the graph contains k vertex disjoint paths joining s_r to t_r for r = 1,…,k. Recognizing k‐linked digraphs is NP‐complete for k ≥ 2. We describe a polynomial time algorithm for bounded degree digraphs, which accepts k‐linked graphs with high probability, and rejects all graphs that are at least εn arcs away from being k‐linked. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Random Struct. Alg., 2007     

New constructions of hypohamiltonian and hypotraceable graphs

A graph G is hypohamiltonian/hypotraceable if it is not hamiltonian/traceable, but all vertex‐deleted subgraphs of G are hamiltonian/traceable. All known hypotraceable graphs are constructed using hypohamiltonian graphs; here we present a construction that uses so‐called almost hypohamiltonian graphs (nonhamiltonian graphs, whose vertex‐deleted subgraphs are hamiltonian with exactly one exception, see [15]). This construction is an extension of a method of Thomassen [11]. As an application, we construct a planar hypotraceable graph of order 138, improving the best‐known bound of 154 [8]. We also prove a structural type theorem showing that hypotraceable graphs possessing some connectivity properties are all built using either Thomassen's or our method. We also prove that if G is a Grinbergian graph without a triangular region, then G is not maximal nonhamiltonian and using the proof method we construct a hypohamiltonian graph of order 36 with crossing number 1, improving the best‐known bound of 46 [14].     

Maximally connected digraphs

This paper introduces a new parameter I = I(G) for a loopless digraph G, which can be thought of as a generalization of the girth of a graph. Let k, λ, δ, and D denote respectively the connectivity, arc-connectivity, minimum degree, and diameter of G. Then it is proved that λ = δ if D ? 2I and κ k = δ if D ? 2I - 1. Analogous results involving upper bounds for k and λ are given for the more general class of digraphs with loops. Sufficient conditions for a digraph to be super-λ and super-k are also given. As a corollary, maximally connected and superconnected iterated line digraphs and (undirected) graphs are characterized.     

List coloring digraphs

The dichromatic number of a digraph D is the least number k such that the vertex set of D can be partitioned into k parts each of which induces an acyclic subdigraph. Introduced by Neumann‐Lara in 1982, this digraph invariant shares many properties with the usual chromatic number of graphs and can be seen as the natural analog of the graph chromatic number. In this article, we study the list dichromatic number of digraphs, giving evidence that this notion generalizes the list chromatic number of graphs. We first prove that the list dichromatic number and the dichromatic number behave the same in many contexts, such as in small digraphs (by proving a directed version of Ohba's conjecture), tournaments, and random digraphs. We then consider bipartite digraphs, and show that their list dichromatic number can be as large as . We finally give a Brooks‐type upper bound on the list dichromatic number of digon‐free digraphs.     

Arc transitive covering digraphs and their eigenvalues

We prove that every finite regular digraph has an arc-transitive covering digraph (whose arcs are equivalent under automorphisms) and every finite regular graph has a 2-arc-transitive covering graph. As a corollary, we sharpen C. D. Godsil's results on eigenvalues and minimum polynomials of vertex-transitive graphs and digraphs. Using Godsil's results, we prove, that given an integral matrix A there exists an arc-transitive digraph X such that the minimum polynomial of A divides that of X. It follows that there exist arc-transitive digraphs with nondiagonalizable adjacency matrices, answering a problem by P. J. Cameron. For symmetric matrices A, we construct a 2-arc-transitive graphs X.     

On Hamiltonian Powers of Digraphs

 For a strongly connected digraph D, the k-th power D ^k of D is the digraph with the same set of vertices, a vertex x being joined to a vertex y in D ^k if the directed distance from x to y in D is less than or equal to k. It follows from a result of Ghouila-Houri that for every digraph D on n vertices and for every k≥n/2, D ^k is hamiltonian. In the paper we characterize these digraphs D of odd order whose (⌈n/2 ⌉−1)-th power is hamiltonian. Revised: June 13, 1997     

Limit points of eigenvalues of (di)graphs

The study on limit points of eigenvalues of undirected graphs was initiated by A. J. Hoffman in 1972. Now we extend the study to digraphs. We prove 1. Every real number is a limit point of eigenvalues of graphs. Every complex number is a limit point of eigenvalues of digraphs. 2. For a digraph D, the set of limit points of eigenvalues of iterated subdivision digraphs of D is the unit circle in the complex plane if and only if D has a directed cycle. 3. Every limit point of eigenvalues of a set D of digraphs (graphs) is a limit point of eigenvalues of a set of bipartite digraphs (graphs), where consists of the double covers of the members in D. 4. Every limit point of eigenvalues of a set D of digraphs is a limit point of eigenvalues of line digraphs of the digraphs in D. 5. If M is a limit point of the largest eigenvalues of graphs, then −M is a limit point of the smallest eigenvalues of graphs.     

The minimum spanning strong subdigraph problem is fixed parameter tractable

A digraph D is strong if it contains a directed path from x to y for every choice of vertices x,y in D. We consider the problem (MSSS) of finding the minimum number of arcs in a spanning strong subdigraph of a strong digraph. It is easy to see that every strong digraph D on n vertices contains a spanning strong subdigraph on at most 2n−2 arcs. By reformulating the MSSS problem into the equivalent problem of finding the largest positive integer k≤n−2 so that D contains a spanning strong subdigraph with at most 2n−2−k arcs, we obtain a problem which we prove is fixed parameter tractable. Namely, we prove that there exists an O(f(k)n^c) algorithm for deciding whether a given strong digraph D on n vertices contains a spanning strong subdigraph with at most 2n−2−k arcs.We furthermore prove that if k≥1 and D has no cut vertex then it has a kernel of order at most (2k−1)². We finally discuss related problems and conjectures.     

The circular chromatic number of a digraph

We introduce the circular chromatic number χ_c of a digraph and establish various basic results. They show that the coloring theory for digraphs is similar to the coloring theory for undirected graphs when independent sets of vertices are replaced by acyclic sets. Since the directed k‐cycle has circular chromatic number k/(k – 1), for k ≥ 2, values of χ_c between 1 and 2 are possible. We show that in fact, χ_c takes on all rational values greater than 1. Furthermore, there exist digraphs of arbitrarily large digirth and circular chromatic number. It is NP‐complete to decide if a given digraph has χ_c at most 2. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 46: 227–240, 2004     

Interval digraphs: An analogue of interval graphs

Intersection digraphs analogous to undirected intersection graphs are introduced. Each vertex is assigned an ordered pair of sets, with a directed edge uv in the intersection digraph when the “source set” of u intersects the “terminal set” of v. Every n-vertex digraph is an intersection digraph of ordered pairs of subsets of an n-set, but not every digraph is an intersection digraph of convex sets in the plane. Interval digraphs are those having representations where all sets are intervals on the real line. Interval digraphs are characterized in terms of the consecutive ones property of certain matrices, in terms of the adjacency matrix and in terms of Ferrers digraphs. In particular, they are intersections of pairs of Ferrers digraphs whose union is a complete digraph.