The circular chromatic number of the Mycielskian of G

In a search for triangle-free graphs with arbitrarily large chromatic numbers, Mycielski developed a graph transformation that transforms a graph G into a new graph μ(G), we now call the Mycielskian of G, which has the same clique number as G and whose chromatic number equals χ(G) + 1. Chang, Huang, and Zhu [G. J. Chang, L. Huang, & X. Zhu, Discrete Math, to appear] have investigated circular chromatic numbers of Mycielskians for several classes of graphs. In this article, we study circular chromatic numbers of Mycielskians for another class of graphs G. The main result is that χ_c(μ(G)) = χ(μ(G)), which settles a problem raised in [G. J. Chang, L. Huang, & X. Zhu, Discrete Math, to appear, and X. Zhu, to appear]. As χ_c(G) = and χ(G) = , consequently, there exist graphs G such that χ_c(G) is as close to χ(G) − 1 as you want, but χ_c(μ(G)) = χ(μ(G)). © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Graph Theory 32: 63–71, 1999     

Star factorizations of graph products

A k‐star is the graph K_1,k. We prove a general theorem about k‐star factorizations of Cayley graphs. This is used to give necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of k‐star factorizations of any power (K_q)^s of a complete graph with prime power order q, products C × C ×··· × C of k cycles of arbitrary lengths, and any power (C_r)^s of a cycle of arbitrary length. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Graph Theory 36: 59–66, 2001     

Acyclic edge chromatic number of outerplanar graphs

A proper edge coloring of a graph G is called acyclic if there is no 2‐colored cycle in G. The acyclic edge chromatic number of G, denoted by χ(G), is the least number of colors in an acyclic edge coloring of G. In this paper, we determine completely the acyclic edge chromatic number of outerplanar graphs. The proof is constructive and supplies a polynomial time algorithm to acyclically color the edges of any outerplanar graph G using χ(G) colors. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 64: 22–36, 2010     

A generalization of Plantholt's theorem

Let K denote the complete graph K_2n+1 with each edge replicated r times and let χ′(G) denote the chromatic index of a multigraph G. A multigraph G is critical if χ′(G) > χ′(G/e) for each edge e of G. Let S be a set of sn – 1 edges of K. We show that, for 0 < s ≦ r, G/S is critical and that χ′ (G/(S ∪{e})) = 2rn + r – s for all e ∈ E(G/S). Plantholt [M. Plantholt, The chromatic index of graphs with a spanning star. J. Graph Theory 5 (1981) 5–13] proved this result in the case when r = 1.     

Normal cirulant graphs with noncyclic regular subroups

We prove that any circulant graph of order n with connection set S such that n and the order of ?(S), the subgroup of ? that fixes S set‐wise, are relatively prime, is also a Cayley graph on some noncyclic group, and shows that the converse does not hold in general. In the special case of normal circulants whose order is not divisible by 4, we classify all such graphs that are also Cayley graphs of a noncyclic group, and show that the noncyclic group must be metacyclic, generated by two cyclic groups whose orders are relatively prime. We construct an infinite family of normal circulants whose order is divisible by 4 that are also normal Cayley graphs on dihedral and noncyclic abelian groups. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory     

The determining number of a Cartesian product

A set S of vertices is a determining set for a graph G if every automorphism of G is uniquely determined by its action on S. The determining number of G, denoted Det(G), is the size of a smallest determining set. This paper begins by proving that if G=G□?□G is the prime factor decomposition of a connected graph then Det(G)=max{Det(G)}. It then provides upper and lower bounds for the determining number of a Cartesian power of a prime connected graph. Further, this paper shows that Det(Q_n)=?log₂n?+1 which matches the lower bound, and that Det(K)=?log₃(2n+1)?+1 which for all n is within one of the upper bound. The paper concludes by proving that if H is prime and connected, Det(Hⁿ)=Θ(logn). © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory     

On Ramsey‐type positional games

Let K denote the graph obtained from the complete graph K_s+t by deleting the edges of some K_t‐subgraph. We prove that for each fixed s and sufficiently large t, every graph with chromatic number s+t has a K minor. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 65: 343–350, 2010     

Ramsey numbers for multiple copies of complete graphs

The Ramsey numbers r(m₁K_p, …, m_cK) are calculated to within bounds which are independent of m₁, …, m_c when c > 2 and p₁, …, p_c > 2.     

Subgraphs smaller than the girth

For graphs A, B, let () denote the number of subsets of nodes of A for which the induced subgraph is B. If G and H both have girth > k, and if () = () for every k-node tree T, then for every k-node forest F, () = (). Say the spread of a tree is the number of nodes in a longest path. If G is regular of degree d, on n nodes, with girth > k, and if F is a forest of total spread ≤k, then the value of () depends only on n and d.     

Edge-colored saturated graphs

A graph G is (k₁, k₂, …, k_t)-saturated if there exists a coloring C of the edges of G in t colors 1, 2, …, t in such a way that there is no monochromatic complete k_i-subgraph K of color i, 1 ? i ? t, but the addition of any new edge of color i, joining two nonadjacent vertices in G, with C, creates a monochromatic K of color i, 1 ? i ? t. We determine the maximum and minimum number of edges in such graphs and characterize the unique extremal graphs.     

Total relative displacement of vertex permutations of K

Let α denote a permutation of the n vertices of a connected graph G. Define δ_α(G) to be the number , where the sum is over all the unordered pairs of distinct vertices of G. The number δ_α(G) is called the total relative displacement of α (in G). So, permutation α is an automorphism of G if and only if δ_α(G) = 0. Let π(G) denote the smallest positive value of δ_α(G) among the n! permutations α of the vertices of G. A permutation α for which π(G) = δ_α(G) has been called a near‐automorphism of G [ 2 ]. We determine π(K) and describe permutations α of K for which π(K) = δ_α(K). This is done by transforming the problem into the combinatorial optimization problem of maximizing the sums of the squares of the entries in certain t by t matrices with non–negative integer entries in which the sum of the entries in the ith row and the sum of the entries in the ith column each equal to n_i,1≤i≤t. We prove that for positive integers, n₁≤n₂≤…≤n_t, where t≥2 and n_t≥2, where k₀ is the smallest index for which n = n+1. As a special case, we correct the value of π(K_m,n), for all m and n at least 2, given by Chartrand, Gavlas, and VanderJagt [ 2 ]. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 41: 85–100, 2002     

Tiled partial cubes

In the quest to better understand the connection between median graphs, triangle‐free graphs and partial cubes, a hierarchy of subclasses of partial cubes has been introduced. In this article, we study the role of tiled partial cubes in this scheme. For instance, we prove that almost‐median graphs are tiled and that tiled partial cubes are semi‐median. We also describe median graphs as tiled partial cubes without convex Q and extend an inequality for median graphs to a larger subclass of partial cubes. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 40: 91–103, 2002     

Law of large numbers for increasing subsequences of random permutations

Let the random variable Z_n,k denote the number of increasing subsequences of length k in a random permutation from S_n, the symmetric group of permutations of {1,…,n}. We show that Var(Z) = o((EZ)²) as n → ∞ if and only if . In particular then, the weak law of large numbers holds for Z if ; that is, We also show the following approximation result for the uniform measure U_n on S_n. Define the probability measure μ on S_n by where U denotes the uniform measure on the subset of permutations that contain the increasing subsequence {x₁,x₂,…,x}. Then the weak law of large numbers holds for Z if and only if where ∣∣˙∣∣ denotes the total variation norm. In particular then, (*) holds if . In order to evaluate the asymptotic behavior of the second moment, we need to analyze occupation times of certain conditioned two‐dimensional random walks. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Random Struct. Alg., 2006     

Nowhere‐zero flows in tensor product of graphs

In this paper, we characterize graphs whose tensor product admit nowhere‐zero 3‐flow. The main result is: For two graphs G₁ and G₂ with δ ≥ 2 and G₂ not belonging to a well‐characterized class of graphs, the tensor product of G₁ and G₂ admits a nowhere‐zero 3‐flow. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 54: 284–292, 2007     

Graph minors and linkages

Bollobás and Thomason showed that every 22k‐connected graph is k‐linked. Their result used a dense graph minor. In this paper, we investigate the ties between small graph minors and linkages. In particular, we show that a 6‐connected graph with a K minor is 3‐linked. Further, we show that a 7‐connected graph with a K minor is (2,5)‐linked. Finally, we show that a graph of order n and size at least 7n?29 contains a K minor. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 49: 75–91, 2005     

Finding blocks and other patterns in a random coloring of ℤ

Let ξ = (ξ_k)_k∈? be i.i.d. with P(ξ_k = 0) = P(ξ_k = 1) = 1/2, and let S: = (S_k) be a symmetric random walk with holding on ?, independent of ξ. We consider the scenery ξ observed along the random walk path S, namely, the process (χ_k := ξ). With high probability, we reconstruct the color and the length of blockⁿ, a block in ξ of length ≥ n close to the origin, given only the observations (χ_k). We find stopping times that stop the random walker with high probability at particular places of the scenery, namely on blockⁿ and in the interval [?3ⁿ,3ⁿ]. Moreover, we reconstruct with high probability a piece of ξ of length of the order 3 around blockⁿ, given only 3 observations collected by the random walker starting on the boundary of blockⁿ. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Random Struct. Alg., 2006     

Distinguishing two graph-encoded manifolds of Lins

Lins has conjectured that the two 3-manifolds that he refers to as H and H̄ are not homeomorphic. He suggests that their fundamental groups may be the same, but that they may be distinguishable by their quantum invariants. This article describes the proof that they, in fact, have different fundamental groups. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Graph Theory 32: 298–302, 1999     

Enumeration of graphs by degree sequence

The degree sequence (d₀, d₁, …, d_p-1) of a graph G of order p is defined by d_k = the number of points of G of degree k. Methods of Robinson are extended to produce a generating function F(x₀, x₁, x₂, …) where the coefficient of x…x is the number of graphs of order p having degree sequence (d₀, …, d_p-1).     

Convergence of boundary optimal controls in mixed elliptic problems

We consider a steady-state heat conduction problem P_α withmixed boundary conditions for the Poisson equation in a bounded multidimensional domain Ω depending of a positive parameter α which represents the heat transfer coefficient on a portion Γ₁ of the boundary of Ω. We consider, for each α > 0, a cost function J_α and we formulate boundary optimal control problems with restrictions over the heat flux q on a complementary portion Γ₂ of the boundary of Ω. We obtain that the optimality conditions are given by a complementary free boundary problem in Γ₂ in terms of the adjoint state. We prove that the optimal control q and its corresponding system state u and adjoint state p for each α are strongly convergent to q_op, u and p in L²(Γ₂), H¹(Ω), and H¹(Ω) respectively when α → ∞. We also prove that these limit functions are respectively the optimal control, the system state and the adjoint state corresponding to another boundary optimal control problem with restrictions for the same Poisson equation with a different boundary condition on the portion Γ₁. We use the elliptic variational inequality theory in order to prove all the strong convergences. In this paper, we generalize the convergence result obtained in Ben Belgacem-El Fekih-Metoui, ESAIM:M2AN, 37 (2003), 833-850 by considering boundary optimal control problems with restrictions on the heat flux q defined on Γ₂ and the parameter α (which goes to infinity) is defined on Γ₁. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

On a conjecture on maximal planar sequences

Let d1 d2 dp denote the nonincreasing sequence d₁, …, d₁, d₂, …, d₂, …, d_p, …, d_p, where the term d_i appears k_i times (i = 1, 2, …, p). In this work the author proves that the maximal 2-sequences: 7³6¹5¹⁵, 7⁵6¹5¹⁷, 7⁷6¹5¹⁹ are planar graphical, in contrast to a conjecture by Schmeichel and Hakimi.