Enumeration of perfect matchings of graphs with reflective symmetry by Pfaffians

The Pfaffian method enumerating perfect matchings of plane graphs was discovered by Kasteleyn. We use this method to enumerate perfect matchings in a type of graphs with reflective symmetry which is different from the symmetric graphs considered in [J. Combin. Theory Ser. A 77 (1997) 67, MATCH—Commun. Math. Comput. Chem. 48 (2003) 117]. Here are some of our results: (1) If G is a reflective symmetric plane graph without vertices on the symmetry axis, then the number of perfect matchings of G can be expressed by a determinant of order |G|/2, where |G| denotes the number of vertices of G. (2) If G contains no subgraph which is, after the contraction of at most one cycle of odd length, an even subdivision of K_2,3, then the number of perfect matchings of G×K₂ can be expressed by a determinant of order |G|. (3) Let G be a bipartite graph without cycles of length 4s, s{1,2,…}. Then the number of perfect matchings of G×K₂ equals ∏(1+θ²)^m_θ, where the product ranges over all non-negative eigenvalues θ of G and m_θ is the multiplicity of eigenvalue θ. Particularly, if T is a tree then the number of perfect matchings of T×K₂ equals ∏(1+θ²)^m_θ, where the product ranges over all non-negative eigenvalues θ of T and m_θ is the multiplicity of eigenvalue θ.     

Exponentially many perfect matchings in cubic graphs

We show that every cubic bridgeless graph G has at least ²|V(G)|/3656 perfect matchings. This confirms an old conjecture of Lovász and Plummer.     

Minimally non-Pfaffian graphs

We consider the question of characterizing Pfaffian graphs. We exhibit an infinite family of non-Pfaffian graphs minimal with respect to the matching minor relation. This is in sharp contrast with the bipartite case, as Little [C.H.C. Little, A characterization of convertible (0,1)-matrices, J. Combin. Theory Ser. B 18 (1975) 187–208] proved that every bipartite non-Pfaffian graph contains a matching minor isomorphic to K_3,3. We relax the notion of a matching minor and conjecture that there are only finitely many (perhaps as few as two) non-Pfaffian graphs minimal with respect to this notion.We define Pfaffian factor-critical graphs and study them in the second part of the paper. They seem to be of interest as the number of near perfect matchings in a Pfaffian factor-critical graph can be computed in polynomial time. We give a polynomial time recognition algorithm for this class of graphs and characterize non-Pfaffian factor-critical graphs in terms of forbidden central subgraphs.     

Cartesian products of directed graphs with loops

We show that every nontrivial finite or infinite connected directed graph with loops and at least one vertex without a loop is uniquely representable as a Cartesian or weak Cartesian product of prime graphs. For finite graphs the factorization can be computed in linear time and space.     

List coloring of Cartesian products of graphs

A well-established generalization of graph coloring is the concept of list coloring. In this setting, each vertex v of a graph G is assigned a list L(v) of k colors and the goal is to find a proper coloring c of G with c(v)∈L(v). The smallest integer k for which such a coloring c exists for every choice of lists is called the list chromatic number of G and denoted by χ_l(G).We study list colorings of Cartesian products of graphs. We show that unlike in the case of ordinary colorings, the list chromatic number of the product of two graphs G and H is not bounded by the maximum of χ_l(G) and χ_l(H). On the other hand, we prove that χ_l(G×H)?min{χ_l(G)+col(H),col(G)+χ_l(H)}-1 and construct examples of graphs G and H for which our bound is tight.     

Skew partitions in perfect graphs

We discuss some new and old results about skew partitions in perfect graphs.     

On perfect matchings in matching covered graphs

A graph is matching-covered if every edge of is contained in a perfect matching. A matching-covered graph is strongly coverable if, for any edge of , the subgraph is still matching-covered. An edge subset of a matching-covered graph is feasible if there exist two perfect matchings and such that , and an edge subset with at least two edges is an equivalent set if a perfect matching of contains either all edges in or none of them. A strongly matchable graph does not have an equivalent set, and any two independent edges of form a feasible set. In this paper, we show that for every integer , there exist infinitely many -regular graphs of class 1 with an arbitrarily large equivalent set that is not switching-equivalent to either or , which provides a negative answer to a problem of Lukot’ka and Rollová. For a matching-covered bipartite graph , we show that has an equivalent set if and only if it has a 2-edge-cut that separates into two balanced subgraphs, and is strongly coverable if and only if every edge-cut separating into two balanced subgraphs and satisfies and .     

Circular chromatic index of Cartesian products of graphs

The circular chromatic index of a graph G, written , is the minimum r permitting a function such that whenever e and are incident. Let □ , where □ denotes Cartesian product and H is an ‐regular graph of odd order, with (thus, G is s‐regular). We prove that , where is the minimum, over all bases of the cycle space of H, of the maximum length of a cycle in the basis. When and m is large, the lower bound is sharp. In particular, if , then □ , independent of m. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 57: 7–18, 2008     

A characterization of cycle-forced bipartite graphs

A forced cycle$C$ of a graph $G$ is a cycle in $G$ such that $G?V\left(C\right)$ has a unique perfect matching. A graph $G$ is a cycle-forced graph if every cycle in $G$ is a forced cycle. In this paper, we give a characterization of cycle-forced hamiltonian bipartite graphs.     

On the number of matchings of graphs formed by a graph operation

Let G be a simple graph. Define R(G) to be the graph obtained from G by adding a new vertex e* corresponding to each edge e = (a,b) of G and by joining each new vertex e* to the end vertices a and b of the edge e corresponding to it. In this paper, we prove that the number of matchings of R(G) is completely determined by the degree sequence of vertices of G.     

笛卡尔乘积图的圈点连通度

图G的圈点连通度,记为κ_c(G),是所有圈点割中最小的数目,其中每个圈点割S满足G-S不连通且至少它的两个分支含圈.这篇文章中给出了两个连通图的笛卡尔乘积的圈点连通度:(1)如果G_1≌K_m且G_2≌K_n,则κ_c(G_1×G_2)=min{3m+n-6,m+3n-6},其中m+n≥8,m≥n+2,或n≥m+2,且κ_c(G_1×G_2)=2m+2n-8,其中m+n≥8,m=n,或n=m+1,或m=n+11;(2)如果G_1≌K_m(m≥3)且G_2■K_n,则min{3m+κ(G_2)-4,m+3κ(G_2)-3,2m+2κ(G_2)-4}≤κ_c(G_1×G_2)≤mκ(G2);(3)如果G_1■K_m,K_(1,m-1)且G_2■K_n,K_(1,n-1),其中m≥4,n≥4,则min{3κ(G_1)+κ(G_2)-1,κ(G_1)+3κ(G_2)-1,2_κ(G_1)+2_κ(G_2)-2}≤κ_c(G_1×G_2)≤min{mκ(G_2),nκ(G_1),2m+2n-8}.     

Critical groups for complete multipartite graphs and Cartesian products of complete graphs

The critical group of a connected graph is a finite abelian group, whose order is the number of spanning trees in the graph, and which is closely related to the graph Laplacian. Its group structure has been determined for relatively few classes of graphs, e.g., complete graphs and complete bipartite graphs. For complete multipartite graphs , we describe the critical group structure completely. For Cartesian products of complete graphs , we generalize results of H. Bai on the k-dimensional cube, by bounding the number of invariant factors in the critical group, and describing completely its p-primary structure for all primes p that divide none of . © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 44: 231–250, 2003     

A new class of antimagic Cartesian product graphs

An antimagic labeling of a finite undirected simple graph with m edges and n vertices is a bijection from the set of edges to the integers 1,…,m such that all n-vertex sums are pairwise distinct, where a vertex sum is the sum of labels of all edges incident with the same vertex. A graph is called antimagic if it has an antimagic labeling. In 1990, Hartsfield and Ringel [N. Hartsfield, G. Ringel, Pearls in Graph Theory, Academic Press, INC., Boston, 1990, pp. 108-109, Revised version, 1994] conjectured that every simple connected graph, except K₂, is antimagic. In this article, we prove that a new class of Cartesian product graphs are antimagic. In particular, by combining this result and the antimagicness result on toroidal grids (Cartesian products of two cycles) in [Tao-Ming Wang, Toroidal grids are anti-magic, in: Proc. 11th Annual International Computing and Combinatorics Conference COCOON’2005, in: LNCS, vol. 3595, Springer, 2005, pp. 671-679], all Cartesian products of two or more regular graphs of positive degree can be proved to be antimagic.     

Game coloring the Cartesian product of graphs

This article proves the following result: Let G and G′ be graphs of orders n and n′, respectively. Let G^* be obtained from G by adding to each vertex a set of n′ degree 1 neighbors. If G^* has game coloring number m and G′ has acyclic chromatic number k, then the Cartesian product G□G′ has game chromatic number at most k(k + m ? 1). As a consequence, the Cartesian product of two forests has game chromatic number at most 10, and the Cartesian product of two planar graphs has game chromatic number at most 105. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 59: 261–278, 2008     

Distance-regular graphs admitting a perfect 1-code

In this paper, we study the problem that which of distance-regular graphs admit a perfect 1-code. Among other results, we characterize distance-regular line graphs which admit a perfect 1-code. Moreover, we characterize all known distance-regular graphs with small valency at most 4, the distance-regular graphs with known putative intersection arrays for valency 5, and all distance-regular graphs with girth 3 and valency 6 or 7 which admit a perfect 1-code.     

Distinguishing chromatic numbers of complements of Cartesian products of complete graphs

The distinguishing chromatic number of a graph, $G$, is the minimum number of colours required to properly colour the vertices of $G$ so that the only automorphism of $G$ that preserves colours is the identity. There are many classes of graphs for which the distinguishing chromatic number has been studied, including Cartesian products of complete graphs (Jerebic and Klav?ar, 2010). In this paper we determine the distinguishing chromatic number of the complement of the Cartesian product of complete graphs, providing an interesting class of graphs, some of which have distinguishing chromatic number equal to the chromatic number, and others for which the difference between the distinguishing chromatic number and chromatic number can be arbitrarily large.     

Equistable graphs, general partition graphs, triangle graphs, and graph products

In this paper we examine the connections between equistable graphs, general partition graphs and triangle graphs. While every general partition graph is equistable and every equistable graph is a triangle graph, not every triangle graph is equistable, and a conjecture due to Jim Orlin states that every equistable graph is a general partition graph. The conjecture holds within the class of chordal graphs; if true in general, it would provide a combinatorial characterization of equistable graphs.Exploiting the combinatorial features of triangle graphs and general partition graphs, we verify Orlin’s conjecture for several graph classes, including AT-free graphs and various product graphs. More specifically, we obtain a complete characterization of the equistable graphs that are non-prime with respect to the Cartesian or the tensor product, and provide some necessary and sufficient conditions for the equistability of strong, lexicographic and deleted lexicographic products. We also show that the general partition graphs are not closed under the strong product, answering a question by McAvaney et al.