On s-hamiltonian line graphs of claw-free graphs

For an integer $s\ge 0$, a graph $G$ is $s$-hamiltonian if for any vertex subset $S?V\left(G\right)$ with $\left|S\right|\le s$, $G?S$ is hamiltonian, and $G$ is $s$-hamiltonian connected if for any vertex subset $S?V\left(G\right)$ with $\left|S\right|\le s$, $G?S$ is hamiltonian connected. Thomassen in 1984 conjectured that every 4-connected line graph is hamiltonian (see Thomassen, 1986), and Ku?zel and Xiong in 2004 conjectured that every 4-connected line graph is hamiltonian connected (see Ryjá?ek and Vrána, 2011). In Broersma and Veldman (1987), Broersma and Veldman raised the characterization problem of $s$-hamiltonian line graphs. In Lai and Shao (2013), it is conjectured that for $s\ge 2$, a line graph $L\left(G\right)$ is $s$-hamiltonian if and only if $L\left(G\right)$ is $(s+2)$-connected. In this paper we prove the following.(i) For an integer $s\ge 2$, the line graph $L\left(G\right)$ of a claw-free graph $G$ is $s$-hamiltonian if and only if $L\left(G\right)$ is $(s+2)$-connected.(ii) The line graph $L\left(G\right)$ of a claw-free graph $G$ is 1-hamiltonian connected if and only if $L\left(G\right)$ is 4-connected.     

On the matching polynomial of subdivision graphs

Let G be a simple graph and let S(G) be the subdivision graph of G, which is obtained from G by replacing each edge of G by a path of length two. In this paper, by the Principle of Inclusion and Exclusion we express the matching polynomial and Hosoya index of S(G) in terms of the matchings of G. Particularly, if G is a regular graph or a semi-regular bipartite graph, then the closed formulae of the matching polynomial and Hosoya index of S(G) are obtained. As an application, we prove a combinatorial identity.     

Hamiltonicity of 6-connected line graphs

Let G be a graph and let D₆(G)={v∈V(G)|d_G(v)=6}. In this paper we prove that: (i) If G is a 6-connected claw-free graph and if |D₆(G)|≤74 or G[D₆(G)] contains at most 8 vertex disjoint K₄’s, then G is Hamiltonian; (ii) If G is a 6-connected line graph and if |D₆(G)|≤54 or G[D₆(G)] contains at most 5 vertex disjoint K₄’s, then G is Hamilton-connected.     

Partial characterizations of coordinated graphs: line graphs and complements of forests

A graph G is coordinated if the minimum number of colors that can be assigned to the cliques of H in such a way that no two cliques with non-empty intersection receive the same color is equal to the maximum number of cliques of H with a common vertex, for every induced subgraph H of G. Coordinated graphs are a subclass of perfect graphs. The list of minimal forbidden induced subgraphs for the class of coordinated graphs is not known. In this paper, we present a partial result in this direction, that is, we characterize coordinated graphs by minimal forbidden induced subgraphs when the graph is either a line graph, or the complement of a forest. F. Bonomo, F. Soulignac, and G. Sueiro’s research partially supported by UBACyT Grant X184 (Argentina), and CNPq under PROSUL project Proc. 490333/2004-4 (Brazil). The research of G. Durán is partially supported by FONDECyT Grant 1080286 and Millennium Science Institute “Complex Engineering Systems” (Chile), and CNPq under PROSUL project Proc. 490333/2004-4 (Brazil).     

On reformulated Zagreb indices

The first and second reformulated Zagreb indices are defined respectively in terms of edge-degrees as EM₁(G)=∑_e∈Edeg(e)² and EM₂(G)=∑_e∼fdeg(e)deg(f), where deg(e) denotes the degree of the edge e, and e∼f means that the edges e and f are adjacent. We give upper and lower bounds for the first reformulated Zagreb index, and lower bounds for the second reformulated Zagreb index. Then we determine the extremal n-vertex unicyclic graphs with minimum and maximum first and second Zagreb indices, respectively. Furthermore, we introduce another generalization of Zagreb indices.     

Group connectivity in line graphs

Tutte introduced the theory of nowhere zero flows and showed that a plane graph G has a face k-coloring if and only if G has a nowhere zero A-flow, for any Abelian group A with |A|≥k. In 1992, Jaeger et al. [9] extended nowhere zero flows to group connectivity of graphs: given an orientation D of a graph G, if for any b:V(G)?A with ∑_v∈V(G)b(v)=0, there always exists a map f:E(G)?A−{0}, such that at each v∈V(G), in A, then G is A-connected. Let Z₃ denote the cyclic group of order 3. In [9], Jaeger et al. (1992) conjectured that every 5-edge-connected graph is Z₃-connected. In this paper, we proved the following.

• (i) 

  Every 5-edge-connected graph is Z3-connected if and only if every 5-edge-connected line graph is Z3-connected.

• (ii) 

  Every 6-edge-connected triangular line graph is Z3-connected.

• (iii) 

  Every 7-edge-connected triangular claw-free graph is Z3-connected.

In particular, every 6-edge-connected triangular line graph and every 7-edge-connected triangular claw-free graph have a nowhere zero 3-flow.     

Zagreb indices of graphs

The first Zagreb index M₁(G) is equal to the sum of squares of the degrees of the vertices, and the second Zagreb index M₂(G) is equal to the sum of the products of the degrees of pairs of adjacent vertices of the underlying molecular graph G. In this paper, we obtain lower and upper bounds on the first Zagreb index M₁(G) of G in terms of the number of vertices (n), number of edges (m), maximum vertex degree (Δ), and minimum vertex degree (δ). Using this result, we find lower and upper bounds on M₂(G). Also, we present lower and upper bounds on M₂(G) +M₂(G) in terms of n, m, Δ, and δ, where G denotes the complement of G. Moreover, we determine the bounds on first Zagreb coindex M₁(G) and second Zagreb coindex M₂(G). Finally, we give a relation between the first Zagreb index and the second Zagreb index of graph G.     

A local characterization of bounded clique-width for line graphs

It is shown that a line graph G has clique-width at most 8k+4 and NLC-width at most 4k+3, if G contains a vertex whose non-neighbours induce a subgraph of clique-width k or NLC-width k in G, respectively. This relation implies that co-gem-free line graphs have clique-width at most 14 and NLC-width at most 7.It is also shown that in a line graph the neighbours of a vertex induce a subgraph of clique-width at most 4 and NLC-width at most 2.     

Boxicity of line graphs

The boxicity of a graph H, denoted by , is the minimum integer k such that H is an intersection graph of axis-parallel k-dimensional boxes in R^k. In this paper we show that for a line graph G of a multigraph, , where Δ(G) denotes the maximum degree of G. Since G is a line graph, Δ(G)≤2(χ(G)−1), where χ(G) denotes the chromatic number of G, and therefore, . For the d-dimensional hypercube Q_d, we prove that . The question of finding a nontrivial lower bound for was left open by Chandran and Sivadasan in [L. Sunil Chandran, Naveen Sivadasan, The cubicity of Hypercube Graphs. Discrete Mathematics 308 (23) (2008) 5795–5800].The above results are consequences of bounds that we obtain for the boxicity of a fully subdivided graph (a graph that can be obtained by subdividing every edge of a graph exactly once).     

On the number of components in 2-factors of claw-free graphs

In this paper, we prove that if a claw-free graph G with minimum degree δ?4 has no maximal clique of two vertices, then G has a 2-factor with at most (|G|-1)/4 components. This upper bound is best possible. Additionally, we give a family of claw-free graphs with minimum degree δ?4 in which every 2-factor contains more than n/δ components.     

Asymptotic enumeration of 2-covers and line graphs

A 2-cover is a multiset of subsets of [n]?{1,2,…,n} such that each element of [n] lies in exactly two of the subsets. A 2-cover is called proper if all of the subsets are distinct, and is called restricted if any two of them intersect in at most one element.In this paper we find asymptotic enumerations for the number of line graphs on n labelled vertices and for 2-covers.We find that the number s_n of 2-covers and the number t_n of proper 2-covers both have asymptotic growth

     

Comparing the Zagreb indices for graphs with small difference between the maximum and minimum degrees

The first Zagreb index M₁(G) and the second Zagreb index M₂(G) of a (molecular) graph G are defined as M₁(G)=∑_u∈V(G)(d(u))² and M₂(G)=∑_uv∈E(G)d(u)d(v), where d(u) denotes the degree of a vertex u in G. The AutoGraphiX system [M. Aouchiche, J.M. Bonnefoy, A. Fidahoussen, G. Caporossi, P. Hansen, L. Hiesse, J. Lacheré, A. Monhait, Variable neighborhood search for extremal graphs. 14. The AutoGraphiX 2 system, in: L. Liberti, N. Maculan (Eds.), Global Optimization: From Theory to Implementation, Springer, 2005; G. Caporossi, P. Hansen, Variable neighborhood search for extremal graphs: 1 The AutoGraphiX system, Discrete Math. 212 (2000) 29-44; G. Caporossi, P. Hansen, Variable neighborhood search for extremal graphs. 5. Three ways to automate finding conjectures, Discrete Math. 276 (2004) 81-94] conjectured that M₁/n≤M₂/m (where n=|V(G)| and m=|E(G)|) for simple connected graphs. Hansen and Vuki?evi? [P. Hansen, D. Vuki?evi?, Comparing the Zagreb indices, Croat. Chem. Acta 80 (2007) 165-168] proved that it is true for chemical graphs and it does not hold for all graphs. Vuki?evi? and Graovac [D. Vuki?evi?, A. Graovac, Comparing Zagreb M₁ and M₂ indices for acyclic molecules, MATCH Commun. Math. Comput. Chem. 57 (2007) 587-590] proved that it is also true for trees. In this paper, we show that M₁/n≤M₂/m holds for graphs with Δ(G)−δ(G)≤2 and characterize the extremal graphs, the proof of which implies the result in [P. Hansen, D. Vuki?evi?, Comparing the Zagreb indices, Croat. Chem. Acta 80 (2007) 165-168]. We also obtain the result that M₁/n≤M₂/m holds for graphs with Δ(G)−δ(G)≤3 and δ(G)≠2.     

On minimal forbidden subgraph characterizations of balanced graphs

A graph is balanced if its clique-matrix contains no edge–vertex incidence matrix of an odd chordless cycle as a submatrix. While a forbidden induced subgraph characterization of balanced graphs is known, there is no such characterization by minimal forbidden induced subgraphs. In this work, we provide minimal forbidden induced subgraph characterizations of balanced graphs restricted to graphs that belong to one of the following graph classes: complements of bipartite graphs, line graphs of multigraphs, and complements of line graphs of multigraphs. These characterizations lead to linear-time recognition algorithms for balanced graphs within the same three graph classes.     

Collapsible graphs and reductions of line graphs

A graph G is collapsible if for every even subset X⊆V(G), G has a subgraph Γ such that G−E(Γ) is connected and the set of odd-degree vertices of Γ is X. A graph obtained by contracting all the non-trivial collapsible subgraphs of G is called the reduction of G. In this paper, we characterize graphs of diameter two in terms of collapsible subgraphs and investigate the relationship between the line graph of the reduction and the reduction of the line graph. Our results extend former results in [H.-J. Lai, Reduced graph of diameter two, J. Graph Theory 14 (1) (1990) 77-87], and in [P.A. Catlin, Iqblunnisa, T.N. Janakiraman, N. Srinivasan, Hamilton cycles and closed trails in iterated line graphs, J. Graph Theory 14 (1990) 347-364].     

Comparing Zagreb indices for connected graphs

It was conjectured that for each simple graph G=(V,E) with n=|V(G)| vertices and m=|E(G)| edges, it holds M₂(G)/m≥M₁(G)/n, where M₁ and M₂ are the first and second Zagreb indices. Hansen and Vuki?evi? proved that it is true for all chemical graphs and does not hold in general. Also the conjecture was proved for all trees, unicyclic graphs, and all bicyclic graphs except one class. In this paper, we show that for every positive integer k, there exists a connected graph such that m−n=k and the conjecture does not hold. Moreover, by introducing some transformations, we show that M₂/(m−1)>M₁/n for all bicyclic graphs and it does not hold for general graphs. Using these transformations we give new and shorter proofs of some known results.