Diameter-essential edges in a graph

The eccentricity e(v) of v is the distance to a farthest vertex from v. The diameter diam(G) is the maximum eccentricity among the vertices of G. The contraction of edge e=uv in G consists of removing e and identifying u and v as a single new vertex w, where w is adjacent to any vertex that at least one of u or v were adjacent to. The graph resulting from contracting edge e is denoted G/e. An edge e is diameter-essential if diam(G/e)<diam(G). Let c(G) denote the number of diameter-essential edges in graph G. In this paper, we study existence and extremal problems for c(G); determine bounds on c(G) in terms of diameter and order; and obtain characterizations of graphs achieving extreme values of c(G).     

Some results on spanning trees

Some structures of spanning trees with many or less leaves in a connected graph are determined.We show（1） a connected graph G has a spanning tree T with minimum leaves such that T contains a longest path,and（2） a connected graph G on n vertices contains a spanning tree T with the maximum leaves such that Δ（G） =Δ（T） and the number of leaves of T is not greater than n D（G）＋1,where D（G） is the diameter of G.     

Diameters of iterated clique graphs of chordal graphs

The clique graph K(G) of a graph is the intersection graph of maximal cliques of G. The iterated clique graph Kⁿ(G) is inductively defined as K(K^n?1(G)) and K¹(G) = K(G). Let the diameter diam(G) be the greatest distance between all pairs of vertices of G. We show that diam(Kⁿ(G)) = diam(G) — n if G is a connected chordal graph and n ≤ diam(G). This generalizes a similar result for time graphs by Bruce Hedman.     

Eigenvalues and diameter

Let G be a connected graph of order n. The diameter of a graph is the maximum distance between any two vertices of G. In this paper, we will give some bounds on the diameter of G in terms of eigenvalues of adjacency matrix and Laplacian matrix, respectively.     

Vertex fusion under distance constraints

In this paper, we analyze parameter improvement under vertex fusion in a graph G. This is a setting in which a new graph G^′ is obtained after identifying a subset of vertices of G in a single vertex. We are interested in distance parameters, in particular diameter, radius and eccentricity of a vertex v. We show that the corresponding problem is NP-Complete for the three parameters. We also find graph classes in which the problem can be solved in polynomial time.     

Maximum pebbling number of graphs of diameter three

Given a configuration of pebbles on the vertices of a graph G, a pebbling move consists of taking two pebbles off some vertex v and putting one of them back on a vertex adjacent to v. A graph is called pebbleable if for each vertex v there is a sequence of pebbling moves that would place at least one pebble on v. The pebbling number of a graph G is the smallest integer m such that G is pebbleable for every configuration of m pebbles on G. We prove that the pebbling number of a graph of diameter 3 on n vertices is no more than (3/2)n + O(1), and, by explicit construction, that the bound is sharp. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory     

Dirac's Condition for Completely Independent Spanning Trees

Two spanning trees T₁ and T₂ of a graph G are completely independent if, for any two vertices u and v, the paths from u to v in T₁ and T₂ are internally disjoint. In this article, we show two sufficient conditions for the existence of completely independent spanning trees. First, we show that a graph of n vertices has two completely independent spanning trees if the minimum degree of the graph is at least . Then, we prove that the square of a 2‐connected graph has two completely independent spanning trees. These conditions are known to be sufficient conditions for Hamiltonian graphs.     

Lower and upper orientable strong radius and strong diameter of complete k-partite graphs

For two vertices u and v in a strong digraph D, the strong distance sd(u,v) between u and v is the minimum size (the number of arcs) of a strong sub-digraph of D containing u and v. For a vertex v of D, the strong eccentricity se(v) is the strong distance between v and a vertex farthest from v. The strong radius srad(D) (resp. strong diameter sdiam(D)) is the minimum (resp. maximum) strong eccentricity among the vertices of D. The lower (resp. upper) orientable strong radius srad(G) (resp. SRAD(G)) of a graph G is the minimum (resp. maximum) strong radius over all strong orientations of G. The lower (resp. upper) orientable strong diameter sdiam(G) (resp. SDIAM(G)) of a graph G is the minimum (resp. maximum) strong diameter over all strong orientations of G. In this paper, we determine the lower orientable strong radius and diameter of complete k-partite graphs, and give the upper orientable strong diameter and the bounds on the upper orientable strong radius of complete k-partite graphs. We also find an error about the lower orientable strong diameter of complete bipartite graph K_m,n given in [Y.-L. Lai, F.-H. Chiang, C.-H. Lin, T.-C. Yu, Strong distance of complete bipartite graphs, The 19th Workshop on Combinatorial Mathematics and Computation Theory, 2002, pp. 12-16], and give a rigorous proof of a revised conclusion about sdiam(K_m,n).     

A Sharp Bound for the Marginal Appendage Number

For a connected graph G, the distance d(u, v) between two vertices u and v is the length of a shortest u − v path in G and the distance d(v) of a vertex v is the sum of the distances between v and all vertices of G. The margin, μ (G), is the subgraph induced by vertices of G having the maximum distance. It is known that every graph is isomorphic to the margin of some graph H. For a graph G, the marginal appendage number is defined as min{p(H) − p(G) ∣ μ(H) = G}. In this paper it is shown that Δ (G) + 2 is a sharp bound for the marginal appendage number.     

Hamiltonian graphs involving distances

Let G be a graph of order n. We show that if G is a 2-connected graph and max{d(u), d(v)} + |N(u) U N(v)| ≥ n for each pair of vertices u, v at distance two, then either G is hamiltonian or G ?3K_n/3 U T₁ U T₂, where n ? O (mod 3), and T₁ and T₂ are the edge sets of two vertex disjoint triangles containing exactly one vertex from each K_n/3. This result generalizes both Fan's and Lindquester's results as well as several others.     

The Chartrand-Schuster conjecture: Graphs with unique distance trees are regular

Let G be a finite connected graph with no cut vertex. A distance tree T is a spanning tree of G which further satisfies the condition that for some vertex v, d_G(v, u) = d_T(v, u) for all u, where d_G(v, u) denotes the distance of u from v in the graph G. The conjecture that if all distance trees of G are isomorphic to each other then G is a regular graph, is settled affirmatively. The conjecture was made by Chartrand and Schuster.     

The eavesdropping number of a graph

Let G be a connected, undirected graph without loops and without multiple edges. For a pair of distinct vertices u and v, a minimum {u, v}-separating set is a smallest set of edges in G whose removal disconnects u and v. The edge connectivity of G, denoted λ(G), is defined to be the minimum cardinality of a minimum {u, v}-separating set as u and v range over all pairs of distinct vertices in G. We introduce and investigate the eavesdropping number, denoted ε(G), which is defined to be the maximum cardinality of a minimum {u, v}-separating set as u and v range over all pairs of distinct vertices in G. Results are presented for regular graphs and maximally locally connected graphs, as well as for a number of common families of graphs.     

From steiner centers to steiner medians

The Steiner distance of set S of vertices in a connected graph G is the minimum number of edges in a connected subgraph of G containing S. For n ≥ 2, the Steiner n-eccentricity e_n(v) of a vertex v of a graph G is the maximum Steiner distance among all sets S of n vertices of G that contain v. The Steiner n-center of G is the subgraph induced by those vertices of G having minimum n-eccentricity. The Steiner n-distance of a vertex v of G is defined as . The Steiner n-median of G is the subgraph of G induced by the vertices of G of minimum Steiner n-distance. Known algorithms for finding the Steiner n-centers and Steiner n-medians of trees are used to show that the distance between the Steiner n-centre and Steiner n-median of a tree can be arbitrarily large. Centrality measures that allow every vertex on a shortest path from the Steiner n-center to the Steiner n-median of a tree to belong to the “center” with respect to one of these measures are introduced and several proeprties of these centrality measures are established. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Spanning trees with leaf distance at least four

For a graph G, we denote by i(G) the number of isolated vertices of G. We prove that for a connected graph G of order at least five, if i(G–S) < |S| for all ?? ≠ S ? V(G), then G has a spanning tree T such that the distance in T between any two leaves of T is at least four. This result was conjectured by Kaneko in “Spanning trees with constrains on the leaf degree”, Discrete Applied Math, 115 (2001), 73–76. Moreover, the condition in the result is sharp in a sense that the condition i(G–S) < |S| cannot be replaced by i(G–S) ≤ |S|. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 55: 83–90, 2007     

Spanning k-Trees of n-Connected Graphs

A tree is called a k-tree if the maximum degree is at most k. We prove the following theorem, by which a closure concept for spanning k-trees of n-connected graphs can be defined. Let k ≥ 2 and n ≥ 1 be integers, and let u and v be a pair of nonadjacent vertices of an n-connected graph G such that deg _G (u) + deg _G (v) ≥ |G| − 1 − (k − 2)n, where |G| denotes the order of G. Then G has a spanning k-tree if and only if G + uv has a spanning k-tree.     

Signed 2-independence in graphs

A function f : V→{−1,1} defined on the vertices of a graph G=(V,E) is a signed 2-independence function if the sum of its function values over any closed neighbourhood is at most one. That is, for every vV, f(N[v])1, where N[v] consists of v and every vertex adjacent to v. The weight of a signed 2-independence function is f(V)=∑f(v), over all vertices vV. The signed 2-independence number of a graph G, denoted α_s²(G), equals the maximum weight of a signed 2-independence function of G. In this paper, we establish upper bounds for α_s²(G) in terms of the order and size of the graph, and we characterize the graphs attaining these bounds. For a tree T, upper and lower bounds for α_s²(T) are established and the extremal graphs characterized. It is shown that α_s²(G) can be arbitrarily large negative even for a cubic graph G.     

A charcterization of 4-edge-connected eulerian graphs

Let v be an arbitrary vertex of a 4-edge-connected Eulerian graph G. First we show the existence of a nonseparating cycle decompositiion of G with respect to v. With the help of this decomposition we are then able to construct 4 edge-independent spanning trees with the common root v in the sam graph. We conclude that an Eulerian graph G is 4-edge-connected iff for every vertex r ? V (G) there exist 4 edge-independent spanning trees with a common root r. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

On 3-Edge-Connected Supereulerian Graphs

The supereulerian graph problem, raised by Boesch et al. (J Graph Theory 1:79–84, 1977), asks when a graph has a spanning eulerian subgraph. Pulleyblank showed that such a decision problem, even when restricted to planar graphs, is NP-complete. Jaeger and Catlin independently showed that every 4-edge-connected graph has a spanning eulerian subgraph. In 1992, Zhan showed that every 3-edge-connected, essentially 7-edge-connected graph has a spanning eulerian subgraph. It was conjectured in 1995 that every 3-edge-connected, essentially 5-edge-connected graph has a spanning eulerian subgraph. In this paper, we show that if G is a 3-edge-connected, essentially 4-edge-connected graph and if for every pair of adjacent vertices u and v, d _G (u) + d _G (v) ≥ 9, then G has a spanning eulerian subgraph.     

A note on a spanning 3-tree

A tree T is called a k-tree, if the maximum degree of T is at most k. In this paper, we prove that if G is an n-connected graph with independence number at most n + m + 1 (n≥1,n≥m≥0), then G has a spanning 3-tree T with at most m vertices of degree 3.     

Geodesics and almost geodesic cycles in random regular graphs

A geodesic in a graph G is a shortest path between two vertices of G. For a specific function e(n) of n, we define an almost geodesic cycle C in G to be a cycle in which for every two vertices u and v in C, the distance d_G(u, v) is at least d_C(u, v)?e(n). Let ω(n) be any function tending to infinity with n. We consider a random d‐regular graph on n vertices. We show that almost all pairs of vertices belong to an almost geodesic cycle C with e(n) = log_d?1log_d?1n+ ω(n) and |C| = 2log_d?1n+ O(ω(n)). Along the way, we obtain results on near‐geodesic paths. We also give the limiting distribution of the number of geodesics between two random vertices in this random graph. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. J Graph Theory 66:115‐136, 2011