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.     

Neighborhood Unions for the Existence of Disjoint Chorded Cycles in Graphs

A chorded cycle is a cycle with at least one chord. We prove that if G is a simple graph with order n ≥ 4k and ${|N_G(x)\cup N_G(y)|\geq 4k+1}$ for each nonadjacent pair of vertices x and y, then G contains k vertex-disjoint chorded cycles. The degree condition is sharp in general.     

A construction of orthogonal arrays and applications to embedding theorems

An n^t by k orthogonal array is a collection of k-tuples of elements from an n-set, such that if a matrix is formed with the k-tuples as rows then each ordered t-tuple of elements appears exactly once as a row of each t columned and n^t rowed submatrix. If such an array has its set of k-tuples invariant under the elements of a subgroup G of S_t then the array is referred to as a G-array. A method is described for constructing a G-array of order nr from an array of order n and G-arrays of order r.The above described construction is used to produce finite embedding theorems for partial 3-quasigroups of various types. For a class of 3-quasigroups, such a theorem shows that a finite partial member of the class can be embedded in a finite complete member of the class. Theorems included produce finite embedding theorems for 3-quasigroups satisfying the identities 〈x,y,〈y,x,z〉〉=z and 〈〈z,x,y〉,y,x〉=z, for cyclic 3-quasigroup s, and conditional embedding theorems are presented for semi-symmetric 3-quasigroups.     

Vertex pancyclicity and new sufficient conditions

For a graph G, ??(G) denotes the minimum degree of G. In 1971, Bondy proved that, if G is a 2-connected graph of order n and d(x)?+?d(y)????n for each pair of non-adjacent vertices x,y in G, then G is pancyclic or G?=?K _n/2,n/2. In 2001, Xu proved that, if G is a 2-connected graph of order n????6 and |N(x)????N(y)|?+???(G)????n for each pair of non-adjacent vertices x,y in G, then G is pancyclic or G?=?K _n/2,n/2. In this paper, we introduce a new sufficient condition of generalizing degree sum and neighborhood union and prove that, if G is a 2-connected graph of order n????6 and |N(x)????N(y)|?+?d(w)????n for any three vertices x,y,w of d(x,y)?=?2 and wx or $wy\not\in E(G)$ in G, then G is 4-vertex pancyclic or G belongs to two classes of well-structured exceptional graphs. This result also generalizes the above results.     

Vertex-disjoint quadrilaterals containing specified edges in a bipartite graph

The theory of vertex-disjoint cycles and 2-factors of graphs is the extension and generation of the well-known Hamiltonian cycles theory and it has important applications in network communication. In this paper we first prove the following result. Let G=(V ₁,V ₂;E) be a bipartite graph with |V ₁|=|V ₂|=n such that n≥2k+1, where k≥1 is an integer. If d(x)+d(y)≥?(4n+2k?1)/3? for each pair of nonadjacent vertices x and y of G with x∈V ₁ and y∈V ₂, then, for any k independent edges e ₁,…,e _k of G, G contains k vertex-disjoint quadrilaterals C ₁,…,C _k such that e _i ∈E(C _i ) for each i∈{1,…,k}. We further show that the degree condition above is sharp. If |V ₁|=|V ₂|=2k, we give degree conditions that G has a 2-factor with k vertex-disjoint quadrilaterals C ₁,…,C _k containing specified edges of G.     

A note on internally disjoint alternating paths in bipartite graphs

Let G be a balanced bipartite graph with partite sets X and Y, which has a perfect matching, and let x∈X and y∈Y. Let k be a positive integer. Then we prove that if G has k internally disjoint alternating paths between x and y with respect to some perfect matching, then G has k internally disjoint alternating paths between x and y with respect to every perfect matching.     

Counterexamples to faudree and schelp's conjecture on hamiltonian-connected graphs

Faudree and Schelp conjectured that for any two vertices x, y in a Hamiltonian-connected graph G and for any integer k, where n/2 ? k ? n ? 1, G has a path of length k connecting x and y. However, we show in this paper that there are infinitely many exceptions to this conjecture and we comment on some problems on path length distribution raised by Faudree and Schelp.     

Contractible Edges in k-Connected Graphs with Some Forbidden Subgraphs

In 2001, Kawarabayashi proved that for any odd integer k ≥ 3, if a k-connected graph G is \({K^{-}_{4}}\) -free, then G has a k-contractible edge. He pointed out, by a counterexample, that this result does not hold when k is even. In this paper, we have proved the following two results on the subject: (1) For any even integer k ≥ 4, if a k-connected graph G is \({K_{4}^{-}}\) -free and d _G (x) + d _G (y) ≥ 2k + 1 hold for every two adjacent vertices x and y of V(G), then G has a k-contractible edge. (2) Let t ≥ 3, k ≥ 2t – 1 be integers. If a k-connected graph G is \({(K_{1}+(K_{2} \cup K_{1, t}))}\) -free and d _G (x) + d _G (y) ≥ 2k + 1 hold for every two adjacent vertices x and y of V(G), then G has a k-contractible edge.     

Distributing pairs of vertices on Hamiltonian cycles

Let G be a graph of order n with minimum degree δ(G)≥n/2+1. Faudree and Li(2012) conjectured that for any pair of vertices x and y in G and any integer 2≤k≤n/2, there exists a Hamiltonian cycle C such that the distance between x and y on C is k. In this paper, we prove that this conjecture is true for graphs of sufficiently large order. The main tools of our proof are the regularity lemma of Szemer′edi and the blow-up lemma of Koml′os et al.(1997).     

Oberwolfach rectangular table negotiation problem

We completely solve certain case of a “two delegation negotiation” version of the Oberwolfach problem, which can be stated as follows. Let H(k,3) be a bipartite graph with bipartition X={x₁,x₂,…,x_k},Y={y₁,y₂,…,y_k} and edges x₁y₁,x₁y₂,x_ky_k−1,x_ky_k, and x_iy_i−1,x_iy_i,x_iy_i+1 for i=2,3,…,k−1. We completely characterize all complete bipartite graphs K_n,n that can be factorized into factors isomorphic to G=mH(k,3), where k is odd and mH(k,3) is the graph consisting of m disjoint copies of H(k,3).     

The existence and uniqueness of strong kings in tournaments

A king x in a tournament T is a player who beats any other player y directly (i.e., x→y) or indirectly through a third player z (i.e., x→z and z→y). For x,y∈V(T), let b(x,y) denote the number of third players through which x beats y indirectly. Then, a king x is strong if the following condition is fulfilled: b(x,y)>b(y,x) whenever y→x. In this paper, a result shows that for a tournament on n players there exist exactly k strong kings, 1?k?n, with the following exceptions: k=n-1 when n is odd and k=n when n is even. Moreover, we completely determine the uniqueness of tournaments.     

Neighbor Sum Distinguishing Index

We consider proper edge colorings of a graph G using colors of the set {1, . . . , k}. Such a coloring is called neighbor sum distinguishing if for any pair of adjacent vertices x and y the sum of colors taken on the edges incident to x is different from the sum of colors taken on the edges incident to y. The smallest value of k in such a coloring of G is denoted by ndi_Σ(G). In the paper we conjecture that for any connected graph G ≠ C ₅ of order n ≥ 3 we have ndi_Σ(G) ≤ Δ(G) + 2. We prove this conjecture for several classes of graphs. We also show that ndi_Σ(G) ≤ 7Δ(G)/2 for any graph G with Δ(G) ≥ 2 and ndi_Σ(G) ≤ 8 if G is cubic.     

Vertex Coverings by Coloured Induced Graphs—Frames and Umbrellas

A graph G homogeneously embeds in a graph H if for every vertex x of G and every vertex y of H there is an induced copy of G in H with x at y. The graph G uniformly embeds in H if for every vertex y of H there is an induced copy of G in H containing y. For positive integer k, let f_k(G) (respectively, g_k(G)) be the minimum order of a graph H whose edges can be k-coloured such that for each colour, G homogeneously embeds (respectively, uniformly embeds) in the graph given by V(H) and the edges of that colour. We investigate the values f₂(G) and g₂(G) for special classes of G, in particular when G is a star or balanced complete bipartite graph. Then we investigate f_k(G) and g_k(G) when k ≥ 3 and G is a complete graph.     

Locating Pairs of Vertices on a Hamiltonian Cycle in Bigraphs

Let G be a simple \(m\times m\) bipartite graph with minimum degree \(\delta (G)\ge m/2+1\). We prove that for every pair of vertices x, y, there is a Hamiltonian cycle in G such that the distance between x and y along that cycle equals k, where \(2\le k<m/6\) is an integer having appropriate parity. We conjecture that this is also true up to \(k\le m\).     

Strong edge-magic graphs of maximum size

An edge-magic total labeling on G is a one-to-one map λ from V(G)∪E(G) onto the integers 1,2,…,|V(G)∪E(G)| with the property that, given any edge (x,y), λ(x)+λ(x,y)+λ(y)=k for some constant k. The labeling is strong if all the smallest labels are assigned to the vertices. Enomoto et al. proved that a graph admitting a strong labeling can have at most 2|V(G)|-3 edges. In this paper we study graphs of this maximum size.     

Class Partition Algebras as Centralizer Algebras of Wreath Products

In this article, we study an important subalgebra of the tensor product partition algebra P _k (x)? P _k (y), denoted by P _k (x, y) and called “Class Partition Algebra.” We show that the algebra P _k (n, m) is the centralizer algebra of the wreath product S _m ? S _n . Furthermore, the algebra P _k (x, y) and the tensor product partition algebra P _k (x)? P _k (y) are subalgebras of the G-colored partition algebra P _k (x;G) and G-vertex colored partition algebra P _k (x, G) respectively, for every group G with |G|=y ≥ 2k.     

Path extendability of claw-free graphs

Let G be a connected, locally connected, claw-free graph of order n and x,y be two vertices of G. In this paper, we prove that if for any 2-cut S of G, S∩{x,y}=∅, then each (x,y)-path of length less than n-1 in G is extendable, that is, for any path P joining x and y of length h(<n-1), there exists a path P^′ in G joining x and y such that V(P)⊂V(P^′) and |P^′|=h+1. This generalizes several related results known before.     

A lower bound for the circumference of a graph

Let G=(V, E) be a block of order n, different from K_n. Let m=min {d(x)+d(y): [x, y]?E}. We show that if m?n then G contains a cycle of length at least m.     

Recurrent points and non-wandering points of graph maps

Let G be a graph and f:G→G be a continuous map. Denote by P(f), R(f) and Ω(f) the sets of periodic points, recurrent points and non-wandering points of f, respectively. In this paper we show that: (1) If L=(x,y) is an open arc contained in an edge of G such that {fm(x),fk(y)}⊂(x,y) for some m,k∈N, then R(f)∩(x,y)≠∅; (2) Any isolated point of P(f) is also an isolated point of Ω(f); (3) If x∈Ω(f)−Ω(fn) for some n∈N, then x is an eventually periodic point. These generalize the corresponding results in W. Huang and X. Ye (2001) [9] and J. Xiong (1983, 1986) [17] and [19] on interval maps or tree maps.     

Subpancyclicity of line graphs and degree sums along paths

A graph is called subpancyclic if it contains a cycle of length ? for each ? between 3 and the circumference of the graph. We show that if G is a connected graph on n?146 vertices such that d(u)+d(v)+d(x)+d(y)>(n+10/2) for all four vertices u,v,x,y of any path P=uvxy in G, then the line graph L(G) is subpancyclic, unless G is isomorphic to an exceptional graph. Moreover, we show that this result is best possible, even under the assumption that L(G) is hamiltonian. This improves earlier sufficient conditions by a multiplicative factor rather than an additive constant.