A note on Hamiltonian decompositions of Cayley graphs

We define a class Γ of 4-regular Cayley graphs on abelian groups and prove every element of Γ to be decomposable into two Hamiltonian cycles. This result is a special case of a conjecture ofB. Alspach and includes a theorem ofJ.-C. Bermond et al. as a subcase.     

Minimum path decompositions of oriented cubic graphs

Pullman [3] conjectured that if k is an odd positive integer, then every orientation of a regular graph of degree k has a minimum decomposition which contains no vertex which is both the initial vertex of some path in the decomposition and the terminal vertex of some other path in the decomposition. In this paper, the conjecture is established for cubic graphs, and its connection with Kelly's conjecture for tournaments is described.     

Regular path decompositions of odd regular graphs

Kotzig asked in 1979 what are necessary and sufficient conditions for a d‐regular simple graph to admit a decomposition into paths of length d for odd d>3. For cubic graphs, the existence of a 1‐factor is both necessary and sufficient. Even more, each 1‐factor is extendable to a decomposition of the graph into paths of length 3 where the middle edges of the paths coincide with the 1‐factor. We conjecture that existence of a 1‐factor is indeed a sufficient condition for Kotzig's problem. For general odd regular graphs, most 1‐factors appear to be extendable and we show that for the family of simple 5‐regular graphs with no cycles of length 4, all 1‐factors are extendable. However, for d>3 we found infinite families of d‐regular simple graphs with non‐extendable 1‐factors. Few authors have studied the decompositions of general regular graphs. We present examples and open problems; in particular, we conjecture that in planar 5‐regular graphs all 1‐factors are extendable. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 63: 114–128, 2010     

A note on cycle spectra of line graphs

We show that line graphs G=L(H) with σ₂(G)≥7 contain cycles of all lengths k, 2rad(H)+1≤k≤c(G). This implies that every line graph of such a graph with 2rad(H)≥Δ(H) is subpancyclic, improving a recent result of Xiong and Li. The bound on σ₂(G) is best possible.     

On even cycle decompositions of line graphs of cubic graphs

An even cycle decomposition of a graph is a partition of its edges into cycles of even length. In 2012, Markström conjectured that the line graph of every 2-connected cubic graph has an even cycle decomposition and proved this conjecture for cubic graphs with oddness at most 2. However, for 2-connected cubic graphs with oddness 2, Markström only considered these graphs with a chordless 2-factor. (A chordless 2-factor of a graph is a 2-factor consisting of only induced cycles.) In this paper, we first construct an infinite family of 2-connected cubic graphs with oddness 2 and without chordless 2-factors. We then give a complete proof of Markström’s result and further prove this conjecture for cubic graphs with oddness 4.     

Large sets of Hamilton cycle and path decompositions

The existence spectrums for large sets of Hamilton cycle decompositions and Hamilton path decompositions are completed. Also, we show that the completion of large sets of directed Hamilton cycle decompositions and directed Hamilton path decompositions depends on the existence of certain special tuscan squares. Several conjectures about special tuscan squares are posed.     

Long path and cycle decompositions of even hypercubes

We consider edge decompositions of the $n$-dimensional hypercube $Q_n$ into isomorphic copies of a given graph $H$. While a number of results are known about decomposing $Q_n$ into graphs from various classes, the simplest cases of paths and cycles of a given length are far from being understood. A conjecture of Erde asserts that if $n$ is even, $\ell <2^n$ and $\ell$ divides the number of edges of $Q_n$, then the path of length $\ell$ decomposes $Q_n$. Tapadia et al. proved that any path of length $2^{m}n$, where $2^m<n$, satisfying these conditions decomposes $Q_n$. Here, we make progress toward resolving Erde’s conjecture by showing that cycles of certain lengths up to $2^{n+1}∕n$ decompose $Q_n$. As a consequence, we show that $Q_n$ can be decomposed into copies of any path of length at most $2^n∕n$ dividing the number of edges of $Q_n$, thereby settling Erde’s conjecture up to a linear factor.     

A note on shortest cycle covers of cubic graphs

Let SCC₃(G) be the length of a shortest 3‐cycle cover of a bridgeless cubic graph G. It is proved in this note that if G contains no circuit of length 5 (an improvement of Jackson's (JCTB 1994) result: if G has girth at least 7) and if all 5‐circuits of G are disjoint (a new upper bound of SCC₃(G) for the special class of graphs).     

Resolvable gregarious cycle decompositions of complete equipartite graphs

The complete multipartite graph K_n(m) with n parts of size m is shown to have a decomposition into n-cycles in such a way that each cycle meets each part of K_n(m); that is, each cycle is said to be gregarious. Furthermore, gregarious decompositions are given which are also resolvable.     

Large sets of Hamilton cycle decompositions of complete bipartite graphs

Let K_2t+1,2t+1−I denote the complete bipartite graph K_2t+1,2t+1 minus a 1-factor. In this paper, we prove that there exist a large set of Hamilton cycle decomposition of K_2t,2t and a large set of Hamilton cycle decomposition of K_2t+1,2t+1−I.     

Path and cycle decompositions of complete equipartite graphs: Four parts

We show that a complete equipartite graph with four partite sets has an edge-disjoint decomposition into cycles of length k if and only if k≥3, the partite set size is even, k divides the number of edges in the equipartite graph and the total number of vertices in the graph is at least k. We also show that a complete equipartite graph with four even partite sets has an edge-disjoint decomposition into paths with k edges if and only if k divides the number of edges in the equipartite graph and the total number of vertices in the graph is at least k+1.     

Hamilton cycle decompositions of the tensor products of complete bipartite graphs and complete multipartite graphs

In this paper, it is shown that the tensor product of the complete bipartite graph, K_r,r,r≥2, and the regular complete multipartite graph, , is Hamilton cycle decomposable.     

Even cycle decompositions of complete graphs minus a 1-factor

Some sufficient conditions are proven for the complete graph of even order with a 1-factor removed to be decomposable into even length cycles. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

A note on decompositions of transitive tournaments

For any positive integer n, we determine all connected digraphs G of size at most four, such that a transitive tournament of order n is G-decomposable. Among others, these results disprove a generalization of a theorem of Sali and Simonyi [Orientations of self-complementary graphs and the relation of Sperner and Shannon capacities, European J. Combin. 20 (1999), 93–99].     

On 4-connected 4-regular graphs without even cycle decompositions

An even cycle decomposition of a graph is a partition of its edges into even cycles. Markström constructed infinitely many 2-connected 4-regular graphs without even cycle decompositions. Má?ajová and Mazák then constructed an infinite family of 3-connected 4-regular graphs without even cycle decompositions. In this note, we further show that there exists an infinite family of 4-connected 4-regular graphs without even cycle decompositions.     

Hamilton cycle decompositions of the tensor product of complete multipartite graphs

In this paper, tensor product of two regular complete multipartite graphs is shown to be Hamilton cycle decomposable. Using this result, it is immediate that the tensor product of two complete graphs with at least three vertices is Hamilton cycle decomposable thereby providing an alternate proof of this fact.     

Resolvable even cycle decompositions of the tensor product of complete graphs

In this paper, we consider resolvable k-cycle decompositions (for short, k-RCD) of K_m×K_n, where × denotes the tensor product of graphs. It has been proved that the standard necessary conditions for the existence of a k-RCD of K_m×K_n are sufficient when k is even.     

A note on conservative galaxies,Skolem systems,cyclic cycle decompositions,and Heffter arrays

The conservative number of a graph $G$ is the minimum positive integer $M$, such that $G$ admits an orientation and a labeling of its edges by distinct integers in $\{1,2,\dots ,M\}$, such that at each vertex of degree at least three, the sum of the labels on the in-coming edges is equal to the sum of the labels on the out-going edges. A graph is conservative if $M=\left|E\left(G\right)\right|$. It is worth noting that determining whether certain biregular graphs are conservative is equivalent to find integer Heffter arrays.In this work we show that the conservative number of a galaxy (a disjoint union of stars) of size $M$ is $M$ for $M\equiv 0$, $3(mod4)$, and $M+1$ otherwise. Consequently, given positive integers $m_1$, $m_2$, …, $m_n$ with $m_i\ge 3$ for $1\le i\le n$, we construct a cyclic $(m_1,m_2,\dots ,m_n)$-cycle system of infinitely many circulant graphs, generalizing a result of Bryant, Gavlas and Ling (2003). In particular, it allows us to construct a cyclic $(m_1,m_2,\dots ,m_n)$-cycle system of the complete graph $K_{2M+1}$, where $M={\sum }_{i=1}^n{m}_i$. Also, we prove necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of a cyclic $(m_1,m_2,\dots ,m_n)$-cycle system of $K_{2M+2}?F$, where $F$ is a 1-factor. Furthermore, we give a sufficient condition for a subset of ${\mathbb{Z}}_v?\left\{0\right\}$ to be sequenceable.