Ki-covers I: Complexity and polytopes

A K_i in a graph is a complete subgraph of size i. A K_i-cover of a graph G(V, E is a set C of K_{i − 1}'s of G such that every K_i in G contains at least one K_{i − 1} in C. Thus a K₂-cover is a vertex cover. The problem of determining whether a graph has a K_i-cover (i ⩾ 2) of cardinality ⩽k is shown to be NP-complete for graphs in general. For chordal graphs with fixed maximum clique size, the problem is polynomial; however, it is NP-complete for arbitrary chordal graphs when i ⩾ 3. The NP-completeness results motivate the examination of some facets of the corresponding polytope. In particular we show that various induced subgraphs of G define facets of the K_i-cover polytope. Further results of this type are also produced for the K₃-cover polytope. We conclude by describing polynomial algorithms for solving the separation problem for some classes of facets of the K_i-cover polytope.     

On the forbidden induced subgraph sandwich problem

We consider the sandwich problem, a generalization of the recognition problem introduced by Golumbic et al. (1995) [15], with respect to classes of graphs defined by excluding induced subgraphs. We prove that the sandwich problem corresponding to excluding a chordless cycle of fixed length k is NP-complete. We prove that the sandwich problem corresponding to excluding K_r?e for fixed r is polynomial. We prove that the sandwich problem corresponding to 3PC(⋅,⋅)-free graphs is NP-complete. These complexity results are related to the classification of a long-standing open problem: the sandwich problem corresponding to perfect graphs.     

Two characterizations of interchange graphs of complete m-partite graphs

A graph G is m-partite if its points can be partitioned into m subsets V₁,…,V_m such that every line joins a point in V_i with a point in V_j, i ≠ j. A complete m-partite graph contains every line joining V_i with V_j. A complete graph K_p has every pair of its p points adjacent. The nth interchange graph I_n(G) of G is a graph whose points can be identified with the K_n+1's of G such that two points are adjacent whenever the corresponding K_n+1's have a K_n in common.Interchange graphs of complete 2-partite and 3-partite graphs have been characterized, but interchange graphs of complete m-partite graphs for m > 3 do not seem to have been investigated. The main result of this paper is two characterizations of interchange graphs of complete m-partite graphs for m ≥ 2.     

Invariance principles for stochastic area and related stochastic integrals

Given an antisymmetric kernel K (K(z, z′) = ?K(z′, z)) and i.i.d. random variates Z_n, n?1, such that EK²(Z₁, Z₂)<∞, set A_n = ∑₁?i?j?nK(Z_i,Z_j), n?1. If the Z_n's are two-dimensional and K is the determinant function, A_n is a discrete analogue of Paul Lévy's so-called stochastic area. Using a general functional central limit theorem for stochastic integrals, we obtain limit theorems for the A_n's which mirror the corresponding results for the symmetric kernels that figure in theory of U-statistics.     

Extremal results for rooted minor problems

In this article, we consider the following problem. Given four distinct vertices v₁,v₂,v₃,v₄. How many edges guarantee the existence of seven connected disjoint subgraphs X_i for i = 1,…, 7 such that X_j contains v_j for j = 1, 2, 3, 4 and for j = 1, 2, 3, 4, X_j has a neighbor to each X_k with k = 5, 6, 7. This is the so called “rooted K_{3, 4}‐minor problem.” There are only few known results on rooted minor problems, for example, [15,6]. In this article, we prove that a 4‐connected graph with n vertices and at least 5n ? 14 edges has a rooted K_3,4‐minor. In the proof we use a lemma on graphs with 9 vertices, proved by computer search. We also consider the similar problems concerning rooted K_3,3‐minor problem, and rooted K_3,2‐minor problem. More precisely, the first theorem says that if G is 3‐connected and e(G) ≥ 4|G| ? 9 then G has a rooted K_3,3‐minor, and the second theorem says that if G is 2‐connected and e(G) ≥ 13/5|G| ? 17/5 then G has a rooted K_3,2‐minor. In the second case, the extremal function for the number of edges is best possible. These results are then used in the proof of our forthcoming articles 7 , 8 . © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 55: 191–207, 2007     

Induced disjoint paths problem in a planar digraph

As an extension of the disjoint paths problem, we introduce a new problem which we call the induced disjoint paths problem. In this problem we are given a graph G and a collection of vertex pairs {(s₁,t₁),…,(s_k,t_k)}. The objective is to find k paths P₁,…,P_k such that P_i is a path from s_i to t_i and P_i and P_j have neither common vertices nor adjacent vertices for any distinct i,j.The induced disjoint paths problem has several variants depending on whether k is a fixed constant or a part of the input, whether the graph is directed or undirected, and whether the graph is planar or not. We investigate the computational complexity of several variants of the induced disjoint paths problem. We show that the induced disjoint paths problem is (i) solvable in polynomial time when k is fixed and G is a directed (or undirected) planar graph, (ii) NP-hard when k=2 and G is an acyclic directed graph, (iii) NP-hard when k=2 and G is an undirected general graph.As an application of our first result, we show that we can find in polynomial time certain structures called a “hole” and a “theta” in a planar graph.     

Results on the Grundy chromatic number of graphs

Given a graph G, by a Grundy k-coloring of G we mean any proper k-vertex coloring of G such that for each two colors i and j, i<j, every vertex of G colored by j has a neighbor with color i. The maximum k for which there exists a Grundy k-coloring is denoted by Γ(G) and called Grundy (chromatic) number of G. We first discuss the fixed-parameter complexity of determining Γ(G)?k, for any fixed integer k and show that it is a polynomial time problem. But in general, Grundy number is an NP-complete problem. We show that it is NP-complete even for the complement of bipartite graphs and describe the Grundy number of these graphs in terms of the minimum edge dominating number of their complements. Next we obtain some additive Nordhaus-Gaddum-type inequalities concerning Γ(G) and Γ(G^c), for a few family of graphs. We introduce well-colored graphs, which are graphs G for which applying every greedy coloring results in a coloring of G with χ(G) colors. Equivalently G is well colored if Γ(G)=χ(G). We prove that the recognition problem of well-colored graphs is a coNP-complete problem.     

Path Ramsey numbers in multicolorings

In this paper we consider the general Ramsey number problem for paths when the complete graph is colored with k colors. Specifically, given paths P_i1, P_i2,…, P_ik with i₁, i₂,…, i_k vertices, we determine for certain i_j (1 ≤ j ≤ k) the smallest positive integer n such that a k coloring of the complete graph K_n contains, for some l, a P_il in the lth color. For k = 3, given i₂, i₃, the problem is solved for all but a finite number of values of i₁. The procedure used in the proof uses an improvement of an extremal theorem for paths by P. Erdös and T. Gallai.     

Degree conditions for the partition of a graph into cycles, edges and isolated vertices

Let k,n be integers with 2≤k≤n, and let G be a graph of order n. We prove that if max{d_G(x),d_G(y)}≥(n−k+1)/2 for any x,y∈V(G) with x≠y and xy∉E(G), then G has k vertex-disjoint subgraphs H₁,…,H_k such that V(H₁)∪?∪V(H_k)=V(G) and H_i is a cycle or K₁ or K₂ for each 1≤i≤k, unless k=2 and G=C₅, or k=3 and G=K₁∪C₅.     

A partition identity

Let n₁+n₂+?+n_m=n where the n_i's are integers (possibly negative or greater than n). Let p=(k₁,…,k_m), where k₁+k₂+?+k_m=k, be a partition of the nonnegative integer k into m nonnegative integers and let P denote the set of all such partitions. For m?2, we prove the combinatorial identity

$\text{∑}\text{p∈P}\text{∏}\text{i=1}\text{m}\text{n}{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{+1?k}{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{k}{}_{\mathrm{i}}\text{=}\text{∑}\text{i?0}\text{j+m?2}\text{m?2}\text{n+1?k?2}{}_{\mathrm{j}}\text{k?2}{}_{\mathrm{j}}$

which implies the surprising result that the left side of the above equation depends on n but not on the n_i's.     

Weak cycle partition involving degree sum conditions

Let G be a graph of order n and k a positive integer. A set of subgraphs H={H₁,H₂,…,H_k} is called a k-degenerated cycle partition (abbreviated to k-DCP) of G if H₁,…,H_k are vertex disjoint subgraphs of G such that and for all i, 1≤i≤k, H_i is a cycle or K₁ or K₂. If, in addition, for all i, 1≤i≤k, H_i is a cycle or K₁, then H is called a k-weak cycle partition (abbreviated to k-WCP) of G. It has been shown by Enomoto and Li that if |G|=n≥k and if the degree sum of any pair of nonadjacent vertices is at least n−k+1, then G has a k-DCP, except G≅C₅ and k=2. We prove that if G is a graph of order n≥k+12 that has a k-DCP and if the degree sum of any pair of nonadjacent vertices is at least , then either G has a k-WCP or k=2 and G is a subgraph of K₂∪K_n−2∪{e}, where e is an edge connecting V(K₂) and V(K_n−2). By using this, we improve Enomoto and Li’s result for n≥max{k+12,10k−9}.     

Collinear subsets of lattice point sequences—An analog of Szemerédi's theorem

Szemerédi's theorem states that given any positive number B and natural number k, there is a number n(k, B) such that if n ? n(k, B) and 0 < a₁ < … < a_n is a sequence of integers with a_n ? Bn, then some k of the a_i form an arithmetic progression. We prove that given any B and k, there is a number m(k, B) such that if m ? m(k, B) and u₀, u₁, …, u_m is a sequence of plane lattice points with ∑_i=1^m…u_i ? u_i?1… ? Bm, then some k of the u_i are collinear. Our result, while similar to Szemerédi's theorem, does not appear to imply it, nor does Szemerédi's theorem appear to imply our result.     

Δ-Monotone arrangements of real numbers

Given a set of M × N real numbers, can these always be labeled as x_i,j; i = 1,…, M; j = 1,…, N; such that x_i+1,j+1 ? x_i+1,j ? x_i,j+1 + x_ij ≥ 0, for every (i, j) where 1 ≤ i ≤ M ? 1, 1 ≤ j ≤ N ? 1? For M = N = 3, or smaller values of M, N it is shown that there is a “uniform” rule. However, for max(M, N) > 3 and min(M, N) ≥ 3, it is proved that no uniform rule can be given. For M = 3, N = 4 a way of labeling is demonstrated. For general M, N the problem is still open although, for a special case where all the numbers are 0's and 1's, a solution is given.     

On Petersen's graph theorem

In this paper we prove the following: let G be a graph with e_G edges, which is (k ? 1)-edge- connected, and with all valences ?k. Let 1?r?k be an integer, then G contains a spanning subgraph H, so that all valences in H are ?r, with no more than ?re_G?k? edges. The proof is based on a useful extension of Tutte's factor theorem [4,5], due to Lovász [3]. For other extensions of Petersen's theorem, see [6,7,8].     

Bipartite Graphs Whose Edge Algebras Are Complete Intersections

Let R be a monomial subalgebra of k[x₁,…,x_N] generated by square free monomials of degree two. This paper addresses the following question: when is R a complete intersection? For such a k-algebra we can associate a graph G whose vertices are x₁,…,x_N and whose edges are {(x_i, x_j)|x_ix_j  R}. Conversely, for any graph G with vertices {x₁,…,x_N} we define the edge algebra associated with G as the subalgebra of k[x₁,…,x_N] generated by the monomials {x_ix_j|(x_i, x_j) is an edge of G}. We denote this monomial algebra by k[G]. This paper describes all bipartite graphs whose edge algebras are complete intersections.     

Cliques, minors and apex graphs

In this paper, we proved the following result: Let G be a (k+2)-connected, non-(k−3)-apex graph where k≥2. If G contains three k-cliques, say L₁, L₂, L₃, such that |L_i∩L_j|≤k−2(1≤i<j≤3), then G contains a K_k+2 as a minor. Note that a graph G is t-apex if G−X is planar for some subset X⊆V(G) of order at most t.This theorem generalizes some earlier results by Robertson, Seymour and Thomas [N. Robertson, P.D. Seymour, R. Thomas, Hadwiger conjecture for K₆-free graphs, Combinatorica 13 (1993) 279-361.], Kawarabayashi and Toft [K. Kawarabayashi, B. Toft, Any 7-chromatic graph has K₇ or K_4,4 as a minor, Combinatorica 25 (2005) 327-353] and Kawarabayashi, Luo, Niu and Zhang [K. Kawarabayashi, R. Luo, J. Niu, C.-Q. Zhang, On structure of k-connected graphs without K_k-minor, Europ. J. Combinatorics 26 (2005) 293-308].     

The level polynomials of the free distributive lattices

We show that there exist a set of polynomials {L_k?k = 0, 1?} such that L_k(n) is the number of elements of rank k in the free distributive lattice on n generators. L₀(n) = L₁(n) = 1 for all n and the degree of L_k is k?1 for k?1. We show that the coefficients of the L_k can be calculated using another family of polynomials, P_j. We show how to calculate L_k for k = 1,…,16 and P_j for j = 0,…,10. These calculations are enough to determine the number of elements of each rank in the free distributive lattice on 5 generators a result first obtained by Church [2]. We also calculate the asymptotic behavior of the L_k's and P_j's.     

Netlike partial cubes III. The median cycle property

A graph G has the Median Cycle Property (MCP) if every triple (u₀,u₁,u₂) of vertices of G admits a unique median or a unique median cycle, that is a gated cycle C of G such that for all i,j,k∈{0,1,2}, if x_i is the gate of u_i in C, then: {x_i,x_j}⊆I_G(u_i,u_j) if i≠j, and d_G(x_i,x_j)<d_G(x_i,x_k)+d_G(x_k,x_j). We prove that a netlike partial cube has the MCP if and only if it contains no triple of convex cycles pairwise having an edge in common and intersecting in a single vertex. Moreover a finite netlike partial cube G has the MCP if and only if G can be obtained from a set of even cycles and hypercubes by successive gated amalgamations, and equivalently, if and only if G can be obtained from K₁ by a sequence of special expansions. We also show that the geodesic interval space of a netlike partial cube having the MCP is a Pash-Peano space (i.e. a closed join space).     

A degree condition for the circumference of a graph

We present a new condition on the degree sums of a graph that implies the existence of a long cycle. Let c(G) denote the length of a longest cycle in the graph G and let m be any positive integer. Suppose G is a 2-connected graph with vertices x₁,…,x_n and edge set E that satisfies the property that, for any two integers j and k with j < k, x_jx_k ? E, d(x_i) ? j and d(x_k) ? K - 1, we have (1) d(x_i) + d(x_k ? m if j + k ? n and (2) if j + k < n, either m ? n or d(x_j) + d(x_k) ? min(K + 1,m). Then c(G) ? min(m, n). This result unifies previous results of J.C. Bermond and M. Las Vergnas, respectively.     

The hardness of approximating the boxicity, cubicity and threshold dimension of a graph

A k-dimensional box is the Cartesian product R₁×R₂×?×R_k where each R_i is a closed interval on the real line. The boxicity of a graph G, denoted as , is the minimum integer k such that G can be represented as the intersection graph of a collection of k-dimensional boxes. A unit cube in k-dimensional space or a k-cube is defined as the Cartesian product R₁×R₂×?×R_k where each R_i is a closed interval on the real line of the form [a_i,a_i+1]. The cubicity of G, denoted as , is the minimum integer k such that G can be represented as the intersection graph of a collection of k-cubes. The threshold dimension of a graph G(V,E) is the smallest integer k such that E can be covered by k threshold spanning subgraphs of G. In this paper we will show that there exists no polynomial-time algorithm for approximating the threshold dimension of a graph on n vertices with a factor of O(n^0.5−?) for any ?>0 unless NP=ZPP. From this result we will show that there exists no polynomial-time algorithm for approximating the boxicity and the cubicity of a graph on n vertices with factor O(n^0.5−?) for any ?>0 unless NP=ZPP. In fact all these hardness results hold even for a highly structured class of graphs, namely the split graphs. We will also show that it is NP-complete to determine whether a given split graph has boxicity at most 3.