The competition number of a graph whose holes do not overlap much

Let D be an acyclic digraph. The competition graph of D is a graph which has the same vertex set as D and has an edge between u and v if and only if there exists a vertex x in D such that (u,x) and (v,x) are arcs of D. For any graph G, G together with sufficiently many isolated vertices is the competition graph of some acyclic digraph. The competition number k(G) of G is the smallest number of such isolated vertices.A hole of a graph is an induced cycle of length at least four. Kim (2005) [8] conjectured that the competition number of a graph with h holes is at most h+1. Recently, Li and Chang (2009) [11] showed that the conjecture is true when the holes are independent. In this paper, we show that the conjecture is true though the holes are not independent but mutually edge-disjoint.     

Full orientability of graphs with at most one dependent arc

Suppose that D is an acyclic orientation of a graph G. An arc of D is dependent if its reversal creates a directed cycle. Let () denote the minimum (maximum) of the number of dependent arcs over all acyclic orientations of G. We call Gfully orientable if G has an acyclic orientation with exactly d dependent arcs for every d satisfying . We show that a connected graph G is fully orientable if . This generalizes the main result in Fisher et al. [D.C. Fisher, K. Fraughnaugh, L. Langley, D.B. West, The number of dependent arcs in an acyclic orientation, J. Combin. Theory Ser. B 71 (1997) 73-78].     

A Generalization of Opsut’s Lower Bounds for the Competition Number of a Graph

The notion of a competition graph was introduced by Cohen in 1968. The competition graph C(D) of a digraph D is a (simple undirected) graph which has the same vertex set as D and has an edge between two distinct vertices x and y if and only if there exists a vertex v in D such that (x, v) and (y, v) are arcs of D. For any graph G, G together with sufficiently many isolated vertices is the competition graph of some acyclic digraph. In 1978, Roberts defined the competition number k(G) of a graph G as the minimum number of such isolated vertices. In general, it is hard to compute the competition number k(G) for a graph G and it has been one of the important research problems in the study of competition graphs to characterize a graph by its competition number. In 1982, Opsut gave two lower bounds for the competition number of a graph. In this paper, we give a generalization of these two lower bounds for the competition number of a graph.     

On a conjecture of Fink and Jacobson concerning k-domination and k-dependence

A set D of vertices of a graph is k-dependent if every vertex of D is joined to at most k?1 vertices in D. Let β_k(G) be the maximum order of a k-dependent set in G. A set D of vertices of G is k-dominating if every vertex not in D is joined to at least k vertices of D. Let γ_k(G) be the minimum order of a k-dominating set in G. Here we prove the following conjecture of Fink and Jacobson: for any simple graph G and any positive integer k, γ_k(G) ≤ β_k(G).     

The competition number of a graph and the dimension of its hole space

The competition graph of a digraph D is a (simple undirected) graph which has the same vertex set as D and has an edge between x and y if and only if there exists a vertex v in D such that (x,v) and (y,v) are arcs of D. For any graph G, G together with sufficiently many isolated vertices is the competition graph of some acyclic digraph. The competition number k(G) of G is the smallest number of such isolated vertices. In general, it is hard to compute the competition number k(G) for a graph G and it has been one of the important research problems in the study of competition graphs to characterize a graph by its competition number. Recently, the relationship between the competition number and the number of holes of a graph has been studied. A hole of a graph is a cycle of length at least 4 as an induced subgraph. In this paper, we conjecture that the dimension of the hole space of a graph is not smaller than the competition number of the graph. We verify this conjecture for various kinds of graphs and show that our conjectured inequality is indeed an equality for connected triangle-free graphs.     

Competitively Tight Graphs

The competition graph of a digraph D is a (simple undirected) graph which has the same vertex set as D and has an edge between two distinct vertices x and y if and only if there exists a vertex v in D such that (x, v) and (y, v) are arcs of D. For any graph G, G together with sufficiently many isolated vertices is the competition graph of some acyclic digraph. The competition number k(G) of a graph G is the smallest number of such isolated vertices. Computing the competition number of a graph is an NP-hard problem in general and has been one of the important research problems in the study of competition graphs. Opsut [1982] showed that the competition number of a graph G is related to the edge clique cover number θ _E (G) of the graph G via θ _E (G) ? |V(G)| + 2 ≤ k(G) ≤ θ _E (G). We first show that for any positive integer m satisfying 2 ≤ m ≤ |V(G)|, there exists a graph G with k(G) = θ _E (G) ? |V(G)| + m and characterize a graph G satisfying k(G) = θ _E (G). We then focus on what we call competitively tight graphs G which satisfy the lower bound, i.e., k(G) = θ _E (G) ? |V(G)| + 2. We completely characterize the competitively tight graphs having at most two triangles. In addition, we provide a new upper bound for the competition number of a graph from which we derive a sufficient condition and a necessary condition for a graph to be competitively tight.     

Orientation distance graphs

For two nonisomorphic orientations D and D′ of a graph G, the orientation distance d_o(D,D′) between D and D′ is the minimum number of arcs of D whose directions must be reversed to produce an orientation isomorphic to D′. The orientation distance graph 𝒟_o(G) of G has the set 𝒪(G) of pairwise nonisomorphic orientations of G as its vertex set and two vertices D and D′ of 𝒟₀(G) are adjacent if and only if d_o(D,D′) = 1. For a nonempty subset S of 𝒪(G), the orientation distance graph 𝒟₀(S) of S is the induced subgraph 〈S〉 of 𝒟_o(G). A graph H is an orientation distance graph if there exists a graph G and a set S⊆ 𝒪(G) such that 𝒟_o(S) is isomorphic to H. In this case, H is said to be an orientation distance graph with respect to G. This paper deals primarily with orientation distance graphs with respect to paths. For every integer n ≥ 4, it is shown that 𝒟_o(P_n) is Hamiltonian if and only if n is even. Also, the orientation distance graph of a path of odd order is bipartite. Furthermore, every tree is an orientation distance graph with respect to some path, as is every cycle, and for n ≥ 3 the clique number of 𝒟_o(P_n) is 2 if n is odd and is 3 otherwise. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Graph Theory 36: 230–241, 2001     

The elimination procedure for the competition number is not optimal

Given an acyclic digraph D, the competition graph C(D) is defined to be the undirected graph with V(D) as its vertex set and where vertices x and y are adjacent if there exists another vertex z such that the arcs (x,z) and (y,z) are both present in D. The competition number k(G) for an undirected graph G is the least number r such that there exists an acyclic digraph F on |V(G)|+r vertices where C(F) is G along with r isolated vertices. Kim and Roberts [The Elimination Procedure for the Competition Number, Ars Combin. 50 (1998) 97-113] introduced an elimination procedure for the competition number, and asked whether the procedure calculated the competition number for all graphs. We answer this question in the negative by demonstrating a graph where the elimination procedure does not calculate the competition number. This graph also provides a negative answer to a similar question about the related elimination procedure for the phylogeny number introduced by the current author in [S.G. Hartke, The Elimination Procedure for the Phylogeny Number, Ars Combin. 75 (2005) 297-311].     

Subset-Sum Representations of Domination Polynomials

The domination polynomial D(G, x) is the ordinary generating function for the dominating sets of an undirected graph G = (V, E) with respect to their cardinality. We consider in this paper representations of D(G, x) as a sum over subsets of the edge and vertex set of G. One of our main results is a representation of D(G, x) as a sum ranging over spanning bipartite subgraphs of G. Let d(G) be the number of dominating sets of G. We call a graph G conformal if all of its components are of even order. Let Con(G) be the set of all vertex-induced conformal subgraphs of G and let k(G) be the number of components of G. We show that $$d(G) = \sum \limits_{H\in{\rm Con}(G)}2^{k(H)}$$ .     

Average distances and distance domination numbers

Let k be a positive integer and G be a simple connected graph with order n. The average distance μ(G) of G is defined to be the average value of distances over all pairs of vertices of G. A subset D of vertices in G is said to be a k-dominating set of G if every vertex of V(G)−D is within distance k from some vertex of D. The minimum cardinality among all k-dominating sets of G is called the k-domination number γ_k(G) of G. In this paper tight upper bounds are established for μ(G), as functions of n, k and γ_k(G), which generalizes the earlier results of Dankelmann [P. Dankelmann, Average distance and domination number, Discrete Appl. Math. 80 (1997) 21-35] for k=1.     

The <Emphasis Type="Italic">k</Emphasis>-domatic number of a graph

Let k be a positive integer, and let G be a simple graph with vertex set V (G). A k-dominating set of the graph G is a subset D of V (G) such that every vertex of V (G)-D is adjacent to at least k vertices in D. A k-domatic partition of G is a partition of V (G) into k-dominating sets. The maximum number of dominating sets in a k-domatic partition of G is called the k-domatic number d _k (G). In this paper, we present upper and lower bounds for the k-domatic number, and we establish Nordhaus-Gaddum-type results. Some of our results extend those for the classical domatic number d(G) = d ₁(G).      

Distance graphs with maximum chromatic number

The distance graph G(D) has the set of integers as vertices and two vertices are adjacent in G(D) if their difference is contained in the set D⊂Z. A conjecture of Zhu states that if the chromatic number of G(D) achieves its maximum value |D|+1 then the graph has a triangle. The conjecture is proven to be true if |D|?3. We prove that the chromatic number of a distance graph with D={a,b,c,d} is five only if either D={1,2,3,4k} or D={a,b,a+b,b-a}. This confirms a stronger version of Zhu's conjecture for |D|=4, namely, if the chromatic number achieves its maximum value then the graph contains K₄.     

Spectral radius of digraphs with given dichromatic number

Let D be a digraph with vertex set V(D). A partition of V(D) into k acyclic sets is called a k-coloring of D. The minimum integer k for which there exists a k-coloring of D is the dichromatic number χ(D) of the digraph D. Denote G_n,k the set of the digraphs of order n with the dichromatic number k≥2. In this note, we characterize the digraph which has the maximal spectral radius in G_n,k. Our result generalizes the result of [8] by Feng et al.     

The k-Dominating Graph

Given a graph G, the k-dominating graph of G, D _k (G), is defined to be the graph whose vertices correspond to the dominating sets of G that have cardinality at most k. Two vertices in D _k (G) are adjacent if and only if the corresponding dominating sets of G differ by either adding or deleting a single vertex. The graph D _k (G) aids in studying the reconfiguration problem for dominating sets. In particular, one dominating set can be reconfigured to another by a sequence of single vertex additions and deletions, such that the intermediate set of vertices at each step is a dominating set if and only if they are in the same connected component of D _k (G). In this paper we give conditions that ensure D _k (G) is connected.     

On Optimal Orientations of Cartesian Products of Trees

. Let d(D) (resp., d(G)) denote the diameter and r(D) (resp., r(G)) the radius of a digraph D (resp., graph G). Let G×H denote the cartesian product of two graphs G and H. An orientation D of G is said to be (r, d)-invariant if r(D)=r(G) and d(D)=d(G). Let {T _i }, i=1,…,n, where n≥2, be a family of trees. In this paper, we show that the graph ∏ _{i =1} ⁿ T _i admits an (r, d)-invariant orientation provided that d(T ₁)≥d(T ₂)≥4 for n=2, and d(T ₁)≥5 and d(T ₂)≥4 for n≥3. Received: July 30, 1997 Final version received: April 20, 1998     

Distance matrix polynomials of trees

Let G be a finite connected graph. If x and y are vertices of G, one may define a distance function d_G on G by letting d_G(x, y) be the minimal length of any path between x and y in G (with d_G(x, x) = 0). Thus, for example, d_G(x, y) = 1 if and only if {x, y} is an edge of G. Furthermore, we define the distance matrix D(G) for G to be the square matrix with rows and columns indexed by the vertex set of G which has d_G(x, y) as its (x, y) entry. In this paper we are concerned with properties of D(G) for the case in which G is a tree (i.e., G is acyclic). In particular, we precisely determine the coefficients of the characteristic polynomial of D(G). This determination is made by deriving surprisingly simple expressions for these coefficients as certain fixed linear combinations of the numbers of various subgraphs of G.     

Kernels in edge-coloured orientations of nearly complete graphs

We call the digraph D an orientation of a graph G if D is obtained from G by the orientation of each edge of G in exactly one of the two possible directions. The digraph D is an m-coloured digraph if the arcs of D are coloured with m-colours.Let D be an m-coloured digraph. A directed path (or a directed cycle) is called monochromatic if all of its arcs are coloured alike.A set N⊆V(D) is said to be a kernel by monochromatic paths if it satisfies the two following conditions: (i) for every pair of different vertices u,v∈N there is no monochromatic directed path between them and (ii) for every vertex x∈V(D)-N there is a vertex y∈N such that there is an xy-monochromatic directed path.In this paper we obtain sufficient conditions for an m-coloured orientation of a graph obtained from K_n by deletion of the arcs of K_1,r(0?r?n-1) to have a kernel by monochromatic.     

Some extremal results in cochromatic and dichromatic theory

For a graph G, the cochromatic number of G, denoted z(G), is the least m for which there is a partition of the vertex set of G having order m. where each part induces a complete or empty graph. We show that if {G_n} is a family of graphs where G_n has o(n² log²(n)) edges, then z(G_n) = o(n). We turn our attention to dichromatic numbers. Given a digraph D, the dichromatic number of D is the minimum number of parts the vertex set of D must be partitioned into so that each part induces an acyclic digraph. Given an (undirected) graph G, the dichromatic number of G, denoted d(G), is the maximum dichromatic number of all orientations of G. Let m be an integer; by d(m) we mean the minimum size of all graphs G where d(G) = m. We show that d(m) = θ(m² ln²(m)).     

Acyclic edge coloring of graphs with large girths

A proper edge coloring of a graph G is called acyclic if there is no 2-colored cycle in G. The acyclic chromatic index of G, denoted by χ’a(G), is the least number of colors such that G has an acyclic edge k-coloring. Let G be a graph with maximum degree Δ and girth g(G), and let 1≤r≤2Δ be an integer. In this paper, it is shown that there exists a constant c > 0 such that if g(G)≥cΔ r log(Δ2/r) then χa(G)≤Δ + r + 1, which generalizes the result of Alon et al. in 2001. When G is restricted to series-parallel graphs, it is proved that χ’a(G) = Δ if Δ≥4 and g(G)≥4; or Δ≥3 and g(G)≥5.     

Weak sense of direction labelings and graph embeddings

An edge-labeling λ for a directed graph G has a weak sense of direction (WSD) if there is a function f that satisfies the condition that for any node u and for any two label sequences α and α^′ generated by non-trivial walks on G starting at u, f(α)=f(α^′) if and only if the two walks end at the same node. The function f is referred to as a coding function of λ. The weak sense of direction number of G, WSD(G), is the smallest integer k so that G has a WSD-labeling that uses k labels. It is known that WSD(G)≥Δ⁺(G), where Δ⁺(G) is the maximum outdegree of G.Let us say that a function τ:V(G)→V(H) is an embedding from G onto H if τ demonstrates that G is isomorphic to a subgraph of H. We show that there are deep connections between WSD-labelings and graph embeddings. First, we prove that when f_H is the coding function that naturally accompanies a Cayley graph H and G has a node that can reach every other node in the graph, then G has a WSD-labeling that has f_H as a coding function if and only if G can be embedded onto H. Additionally, we show that the problem “Given G, does G have a WSD-labeling that uses a particular coding function f?” is NP-complete even when G and f are fairly simple.Second, when D is a distributive lattice, H(D) is its Hasse diagram and G(D) is its cover graph, then WSD(H(D))=Δ⁺(H(D))=d^∗, where d^∗ is the smallest integer d so that H(D) can be embedded onto the d-dimensional mesh. Along the way, we also prove that the isometric dimension of G(D) is its diameter, and the lattice dimension of G(D) is Δ⁺(H(D)). Our WSD-labelings are poset-based, making use of Birkhoff’s characterization of distributive lattices and Dilworth’s theorem for posets.