Disjoint triangles and quadrilaterals in a graph

Let G be a simple graph of order n and s and k be two positive integers. Brandt et al. obtained the following result: If s?k, n?3s+4(k-s) and σ₂(G)?n+s, then G contains k disjoint cycles C₁,…,C_k satisfying |C_i|=3 for 1?i?s and |C_i|?4 for s<i?k. In the above result, the length of C_i is not specified for s<i?k. We get a result specifying the length of C_i for each s<i?k if n?3s+4(k-s)+3.     

Spanning 3-ended trees in k-connected K 1,4-free graphs

A tree with at most m leaves is called an m-ended tree.Kyaw proved that every connected K1,4-free graph withσ4(G)n-1 contains a spanning 3-ended tree.In this paper we obtain a result for k-connected K1,4-free graphs with k 2.Let G be a k-connected K1,4-free graph of order n with k 2.Ifσk+3(G)n+2k-2,then G contains a spanning 3-ended tree.     

Non-regular simplicial matroids

Let (ks) denote the set of all k-element-subsets of a finite set S. A k-simplical matroid on a subset E of (ks) is a binary matroid the circuit of which are simplicial complexes {X1,…Xm} ? E with boundary 0 (mod 2). The k-simplical matroid on (ks) is called the full simplicial matroid Gk(S). The polygon matroid on the edges of a finite graph is 2-simplicial. Polygon-matroids and their duals are regular. The dual of Gk(S) is Gn?k(S) if the cardinnlity of S is n. More details on simplicial matroids can be found in [3, Chapter 6] and also in [4, pp. 180–181].Welsh asked if every simplicial matroid is regular. We prove that this is not the case, for all full k-simplicial matroids Gk(S) with 3?k?n?3 are non-regular (n is the cardinality of S). This result has also been proved σy R. Cordovil and M. Las Vergnas recently. Their proof is different from our proof, which is somewhat shorter.     

The equivariant topology of stable Kneser graphs

The stable Kneser graph SG_n,k, n?1, k?0, introduced by Schrijver (1978) [19], is a vertex critical graph with chromatic number k+2, its vertices are certain subsets of a set of cardinality m=2n+k. Björner and de Longueville (2003) [5] have shown that its box complex is homotopy equivalent to a sphere, Hom(K₂,SG_n,k)?Sk. The dihedral group D2m acts canonically on SG_n,k, the group C₂ with 2 elements acts on K₂. We almost determine the (C₂×D2m)-homotopy type of Hom(K₂,SG_n,k) and use this to prove the following results.The graphs SG_2s,4 are homotopy test graphs, i.e. for every graph H and r?0 such that Hom(SG_2s,4,H) is (r−1)-connected, the chromatic number χ(H) is at least r+6.If k∉{0,1,2,4,8} and n?N(k) then SG_n,k is not a homotopy test graph, i.e. there are a graph G and an r?1 such that Hom(SG_n,k,G) is (r−1)-connected and χ(G)<r+k+2.     

[r,s,t]-Coloring of K n,n

Let G=(V(G),E(G)) be a simple graph. Given non-negative integers r,s, and t, an [r,s,t]-coloring of G is a mapping c from V(G)∪E(G) to the color set {0,1,…,k?1} such that |c(v _i )?c(v _j )|≥r for every two adjacent vertices v _i ,v _j , |c(e _i )?c(e _j )|≥s for every two adjacent edges e _i ,e _j , and |c(v _i )?c(e _j )|≥t for all pairs of incident vertices and edges, respectively. The [r,s,t]-chromatic number χ _r,s,t (G) of G is defined to be the minimum k such that G admits an [r,s,t]-coloring. We determine χ _r,s,t (K _n,n ) in all cases.     

On graphs critical with respect to vertex partition numbers

For k?0, ?_k(G) denotes the Lick-White vertex partition number of G. A graph G is called (n, k)-critical if it is connected and for each edge e of G?_k(G–e)<?_k(G)=n. We describe all (2, k)-critical graphs and for n?3,k?1 we extend and simplify a result of Bollobás and Harary giving one construction of a family of (n, k)-critical graphs of every possible order.     

Disjoint cliques in claw-free graphs

A graph is said to be claw-free if it does not contain an induced subgraph isomorphic to K_1,3. Let s and k be two integers with 0 ≤ s ≤ k and let G be a claw-free graph of order n. In this paper, we investigate clique partition problems in claw-free graphs. It is proved that if n ≥ 3s+4(k?s) and d(x)+d(y) ≥ n?2s+2k+1 for any pair of non-adjacent vertices x, y of G, then G contains s disjoint K₃s and k ? s disjoint K₄s such that all of them are disjoint. Moreover, the degree condition is sharp in some cases.     

Minimally k-connected graphs of low order and maximal size

Let G be a minimally k-connected graph of order n and size e(G).Mader [4] proved that (i) $\text{e(G)?kn?(}\text{k+1}\text{2}\text{)}$; (ii) e(G)?k(n?k) if n?3k?2, and the complete bipartite graph K_k,n?k is the only minimally k-connected graph of order; n and size k(n?k) when k?2 and n?3k?1.The purpose of the present paper is to determine all minimally k-connected graphs of low order and maximal size. For each n such that k+1?n?3k?2 we prove $\text{e(G)??}\text{(n+k)}{}^2\text{8}\text{?}$ and characterize all minimally k-connected graphs of order n and size $\text{?(}\text{(n+k)}{}^2\text{8}\text{?}$.     

Highly connected random geometric graphs

Let P be a Poisson process of intensity 1 in a square S_n of area n. We construct a random geometric graph G_n,k by joining each point of P to its k nearest neighbours. For many applications it is desirable that G_n,k is highly connected, that is, it remains connected even after the removal of a small number of its vertices. In this paper we relate the study of the s-connectivity of G_n,k to our previous work on the connectivity of G_n,k. Roughly speaking, we show that for s=o(logn), the threshold (in k) for s-connectivity is asymptotically the same as that for connectivity, so that, as we increase k, G_n,k becomes s-connected very shortly after it becomes connected.     

Non-Hamiltonian simple 3-polytopes having just two types of faces

It is shown that for every value of an integer k, k?11, there exist 3-valent 3-connected planar graphs having just two types of faces, pentagons and k-gons, and which are non- Hamiltonian. Moreover, there exist ?=?(k) > 0, for these values of k, and sequences (G_n)^∞_n=1 of the said graphs for which V(G_n)→∞ and the size of a largest circuit of G_n is at most (1??)V(G_n); similar result for the size of a largest path in such graphs is established for all k, k?11, except possibly for k = 14, 17, 22 and k = 5m+ 5 for all m?2.     

More results on Ramsey—Turán type problems

The paper deals with common generalizations of classical results of Ramsey and Turán. The following is one of the main results. Assumek≧2, ε>0,G _n is a sequence of graphs ofn-vertices and at least 1/2((3k?5) / (3k?2)+ε)n ² edges, and the size of the largest independent set inG _n iso(n). LetH be any graph of arboricity at mostk. Then there exists ann ₀ such that allG _n withn>n ₀ contain a copy ofH. This result is best possible in caseH=K _2k .     

On extremal k-outconnected graphs

Let G be a minimally k-connected graph with n nodes and m edges. Mader proved that if n?3k-2 then m?k(n-k), and for n?3k-1 an equality is possible if, and only if, G is the complete bipartite graph K_k,n-k. Cai proved that if n?3k-2 then m?⌊(n+k)²/8⌋, and listed the cases when this bound is tight.In this paper we prove a more general theorem, which implies similar results for minimally k-outconnected graphs; a graph is called k-outconnected from r if it contains k internally disjoint paths from r to every other node.     

Centerpole sets for colorings of abelian groups

A subset C?G of a group G is called k-centerpole if for each k-coloring of G there is an infinite monochromatic subset G, which is symmetric with respect to a point c??C in the sense that S=cS ^?1 c. By c _k (G) we denote the smallest cardinality c _k (G) of a k-centerpole subset in G. We prove that c _k (G)=c _k (? ^m ) if G is an abelian group of free rank m??k. Also we prove that c ₁(? ⁿ⁺¹)=1, c ₂(? ⁿ⁺²)=3, c ₃(? ⁿ⁺³)=6, 8??c ₄(? ⁿ⁺⁴)??c ₄(?⁴)=12 for all n????, and ${\frac{1}{2}(k^{2}+3k-4)\le c_{k}(\mathbb{Z}^{n})\le2^{k}-1-\max_{s\le k-2}\binom {k-1}{s-1}}$ for all n??k??4.     

Thue-Morse at multiples of an integer

Let t=(tn)_n?0 be the classical Thue-Morse sequence defined by , where s₂ is the sum of the bits in the binary representation of n. It is well known that for any integer k?1 the frequency of the letter “1” in the subsequence t₀,tk,t2k,… is asymptotically 1/2. Here we prove that for any k there is an n?k+4 such that tkn=1. Moreover, we show that n can be chosen to have Hamming weight ?3. This is best in a twofold sense. First, there are infinitely many k such that tkn=1 implies that n has Hamming weight ?3. Second, we characterize all k where the minimal n equals k, k+1, k+2, k+3, or k+4. Finally, we present some results and conjectures for the generalized problem, where s₂ is replaced by sb for an arbitrary base b?2.     

Constructing trees in graphs with no K2,s

Let s ≥ 2 be an integer and k > 12(s ? 1) an integer. We give a necessary and sufficient condition for a graph G containing no K_2,s with and to contain every tree T of order k + 1. We then show that every graph G with no K_2,s and average degree greater than k ? 1 satisfies this condition, improving a result of Haxell, and verifying a special case of the Erd?s—Sós conjecture, which states that every graph of average degree greater than k ? 1 contains every tree of order k + 1. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 56: 301–310, 2007     

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].     

Extremal problems on detectable colorings of trees

Let G be a connected graph of order 3 or more and let be a coloring of the edges of G (where adjacent edges may be colored the same). For each vertex v of G, the color code of v is the k-tuple c(v)=(a₁,a₂,…,a_k), where a_i is the number of edges incident with v that are colored i (1?i?k). The coloring c is called detectable if distinct vertices have distinct color codes; while the detection number det(G) of G is the minimum positive integer k for which G has a detectable k-coloring. For each integer n?3, let D_T(n) be the maximum detection number among all trees of order n and d_T(n) the minimum detection number among all trees of order n. The numbers D_T(n) and d_T(n) are determined for all integers n?3. Furthermore, it is shown that for integers k?2 and n?3, there exists a tree T of order n having det(T)=k if and only if d_T(n)?k?D_T(n).     

Ore’s conjecture for k=4 and Grötzsch’s Theorem

A graph G is k-critical if it has chromatic number k, but every proper subgraph of G is (k?1)-colorable. Let f _k (n) denote the minimum number of edges in an n-vertex k-critical graph. In a very recent paper, we gave a lower bound, f _k (n)≥(k, n), that is sharp for every n≡1 (mod k?1). It is also sharp for k=4 and every n≥6. In this note, we present a simple proof of the bound for k=4. It implies the case k=4 of two conjectures: Gallai in 1963 conjectured that if n≡1 (mod k?1) then \(f_k (n)\tfrac{{(k + 1)(k - 2)n - k(k - 3)}} {{2(k - 1)}}\) , and Ore in 1967 conjectured that for every k≥4 and \(n \geqslant k + 2,f_k (n + k - 1) = f(n) + \tfrac{{k - 1}} {2}(k - \tfrac{2} {{k - 1}})\) . We also show that our result implies a simple short proof of Grötzsch’s Theorem that every triangle-free planar graph is 3-colorable.     

Degree sum and connectivity conditions for dominating cycles

For a graph G, let σ_k(G) be the minimum degree sum of an independent set of k vertices. Ore showed that if G is a graph of order n?3 with σ₂(G)?n then G is hamiltonian. Let κ(G) be the connectivity of a graph G. Bauer, Broersma, Li and Veldman proved that if G is a 2-connected graph on n vertices with σ₃(G)?n+κ(G), then G is hamiltonian. On the other hand, Bondy showed that if G is a 2-connected graph on n vertices with σ₃(G)?n+2, then each longest cycle of G is a dominating cycle. In this paper, we prove that if G is a 3-connected graph on n vertices with σ₄(G)?n+κ(G)+3, then G contains a longest cycle which is a dominating cycle.     

Graph powers and k-ordered Hamiltonicity

It is known that if G is a connected simple graph, then G³ is Hamiltonian (in fact, Hamilton-connected). A simple graph is k-ordered Hamiltonian if for any sequence v₁, v₂,…,v_k of k vertices there is a Hamiltonian cycle containing these vertices in the given order. In this paper, we prove that if k?4, then G^⌊3k/2⌋-2 is k-ordered Hamiltonian for every connected graph G on at least k vertices. By considering the case of the path graph P_n, we show that this result is sharp. We also give a lower bound on the power of the cycle C_n that guarantees k-ordered Hamiltonicity.