Maximum Δ‐edge‐colorable subgraphs of class II graphs

A graph G is class II, if its chromatic index is at least Δ + 1. Let H be a maximum Δ‐edge‐colorable subgraph of G. The paper proves best possible lower bounds for |E(H)|/|E(G)|, and structural properties of maximum Δ‐edge‐colorable subgraphs. It is shown that every set of vertex‐disjoint cycles of a class II graph with Δ≥3 can be extended to a maximum Δ‐edge‐colorable subgraph. Simple graphs have a maximum Δ‐edge‐colorable subgraph such that the complement is a matching. Furthermore, a maximum Δ‐edge‐colorable subgraph of a simple graph is always class I. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory     

On the chromatic spectrum of acyclic decompositions of graphs

If G is any graph, a G‐decomposition of a host graph H = (V, E) is a partition of the edge set of H into subgraphs of H which are isomorphic to G. The chromatic index of a G‐decomposition is the minimum number of colors required to color the parts of the decomposition so that two parts which share a node get different colors. The G‐spectrum of H is the set of all chromatic indices taken on by G‐decompositions of H. If both S and T are trees, then the S‐spectrum of T consists of a single value which can be computed in polynomial time. On the other hand, for any fixed tree S, not a single edge, there is a unicyclic host whose S‐spectrum has two values, and if the host is allowed to be arbitrary, the S‐spectrum can take on arbitrarily many values. Moreover, deciding if an integer k is in the S‐spectrum of a general bipartite graph is NP‐hard. We show that if G has c > 1 components, then there is a host H whose G‐spectrum contains both 3 and 2c + 1. If G is a forest, then there is a tree T whose G‐spectrum contains both 2 and 2c. Furthermore, we determine the complete spectra of both paths and cycles with respect to matchings. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 56: 83–104, 2007     

Decompositions of complete graphs and complete bipartite graphs into isomorphic supersubdivision graphs

A graph H is called a supersubdivison of a graph G if H is obtained from G by replacing every edge uv of G by a complete bipartite graph K_2,m (m may vary for each edge) by identifying u and v with the two vertices in K_2,m that form one of the two partite sets. We denote the set of all such supersubdivision graphs by SS(G). Then, we prove the following results.

1. Each non-trivial connected graph G and each supersubdivision graph HSS(G) admits an α-valuation. Consequently, due to the results of Rosa (in: Theory of Graphs, International Symposium, Rome, July 1966, Gordon and Breach, New York, Dunod, Paris, 1967, p. 349) and El-Zanati and Vanden Eynden (J. Combin. Designs 4 (1996) 51), it follows that complete graphs K_2cq+1 and complete bipartite graphs K_mq,nq can be decomposed into edge disjoined copies of HSS(G), for all positive integers m,n and c, where q=|E(H)|.

2. Each connected graph G and each supersubdivision graph in SS(G) is strongly n-elegant, where n=|V(G)| and felicitous.

3. Each supersubdivision graph in EASS(G), the set of all even arbitrary supersubdivision graphs of any graph G, is cordial.

Further, we discuss a related open problem.     

On removable cycles through every edge

Mader and Jackson independently proved that every 2‐connected simple graph G with minimum degree at least four has a removable cycle, that is, a cycle C such that G/E(C) is 2‐connected. This paper considers the problem of determining when every edge of a 2‐connected graph G, simple or not, can be guaranteed to lie in some removable cycle. The main result establishes that if every deletion of two edges from G remains 2‐connected, then, not only is every edge in a removable cycle but, for every two edges, there are edge‐disjoint removable cycles such that each contains one of the distinguished edges. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 42: 155–164, 2003     

Bi‐arc graphs and the complexity of list homomorphisms

Given graphs G, H, and lists L(v) ? V(H), v ε V(G), a list homomorphism of G to H with respect to the lists L is a mapping f : V(G) → V(H) such that uv ε E(G) implies f(u)f(v) ε E(H), and f(v) ε L(v) for all v ε V(G). The list homomorphism problem for a fixed graph H asks whether or not an input graph G, together with lists L(v) ? V(H), v ε V(G), admits a list homomorphism with respect to L. In two earlier papers, we classified the complexity of the list homomorphism problem in two important special cases: When H is a reflexive graph (every vertex has a loop), the problem is polynomial time solvable if H is an interval graph, and is NP‐complete otherwise. When H is an irreflexive graph (no vertex has a loop), the problem is polynomial time solvable if H is bipartite and H is a circular arc graph, and is NP‐complete otherwise. In this paper, we extend these classifications to arbitrary graphs H (each vertex may or may not have a loop). We introduce a new class of graphs, called bi‐arc graphs, which contains both reflexive interval graphs (and no other reflexive graphs), and bipartite graphs with circular arc complements (and no other irreflexive graphs). We show that the problem is polynomial time solvable when H is a bi‐arc graph, and is NP‐complete otherwise. In the case when H is a tree (with loops allowed), we give a simpler algorithm based on a structural characterization. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 42: 61–80, 2003     

The edge‐bandwidth of theta graphs

An edge‐labeling f of a graph G is an injection from E(G) to the set of integers. The edge‐bandwidth of G is B′(G) = min_f {B′(f)} where B′(f) is the maximum difference between labels of incident edges of G. The theta graph Θ(l₁,…,l_m) is the graph consisting of m pairwise internally disjoint paths with common endpoints and lengths l₁ ≤ ··· ≤ l_m. We determine the edge‐bandwidth of all theta graphs. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Graph Theory 35: 89–98, 2000     

Total weight choosability of graphs

A graph G = (V, E) is called (k, k′)‐total weight choosable if the following holds: For any total list assignment L which assigns to each vertex x a set L(x) of k real numbers, and assigns to each edge e a set L(e) of k′ real numbers, there is a mapping f: V∪E→? such that f(y)∈L(y) for any y∈V∪Eand for any two adjacent vertices x, x′, . We conjecture that every graph is (2, 2)‐total weight choosable and every graph without isolated edges is (1, 3)‐total weight choosable. It follows from results in [7] that complete graphs, complete bipartite graphs, trees other than K₂ are (1, 3)‐total weight choosable. Also a graph G obtained from an arbitrary graph H by subdividing each edge with at least three vertices is (1, 3)‐total weight choosable. This article proves that complete graphs, trees, generalized theta graphs are (2, 2)‐total weight choosable. We also prove that for any graph H, a graph G obtained from H by subdividing each edge with at least two vertices is (2, 2)‐total weight choosable as well as (1, 3)‐total weight choosable. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 66:198‐212, 2011     

Two characterizations of chain partitioned probe graphs

Chain graphs are exactly bipartite graphs without induced 2K ₂ (a graph with four vertices and two disjoint edges). A graph G=(V,E) with a given independent set S⊆V (a set of pairwise non-adjacent vertices) is said to be a chain partitioned probe graph if G can be extended to a chain graph by adding edges between certain vertices in S. In this note we give two characterizations for chain partitioned probe graphs. The first one describes chain partitioned probe graphs by six forbidden subgraphs. The second one characterizes these graphs via a certain “enhanced graph”: G is a chain partitioned probe graph if and only if the enhanced graph G ^* is a chain graph. This is analogous to a result on interval (respectively, chordal, threshold, trivially perfect) partitioned probe graphs, and gives an O(m ²)-time recognition algorithm for chain partitioned probe graphs.     

Sufficient conditions for λ′‐optimality in graphs with girth g

For a connected graph the restricted edge‐connectivity λ′(G) is defined as the minimum cardinality of an edge‐cut over all edge‐cuts S such that there are no isolated vertices in G–S. A graph G is said to be λ′‐optimal if λ′(G) = ξ(G), where ξ(G) is the minimum edge‐degree in G defined as ξ(G) = min{d(u) + d(v) ? 2:uv ∈ E(G)}, d(u) denoting the degree of a vertex u. A. Hellwig and L. Volkmann [Sufficient conditions for λ′‐optimality in graphs of diameter 2, Discrete Math 283 (2004), 113–120] gave a sufficient condition for λ′‐optimality in graphs of diameter 2. In this paper, we generalize this condition in graphs of diameter g ? 1, g being the girth of the graph, and show that a graph G with diameter at most g ? 2 is λ′‐optimal. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 52: 73–86, 2006     

Spanning 2‐trails from degree sum conditions

Suppose G is a simple connected n‐vertex graph. Let σ₃(G) denote the minimum degree sum of three independent vertices in G (which is ∞ if G has no set of three independent vertices). A 2‐trail is a trail that uses every vertex at most twice. Spanning 2‐trails generalize hamilton paths and cycles. We prove three main results. First, if σ₃G)≥ n ‐ 1, then G has a spanning 2‐trail, unless G ? K_1,3. Second, if σ₃(G) ≥ n, then G has either a hamilton path or a closed spanning 2‐trail. Third, if G is 2‐edge‐connected and σ₃(G) ≥ n, then G has a closed spanning 2‐trail, unless G ? K_2,3 or K (the 6‐vertex graph obtained from K_2,3 by subdividing one edge). All three results are sharp. These results are related to the study of connected and 2‐edge‐connected factors, spanning k‐walks, even factors, and supereulerian graphs. In particular, a closed spanning 2‐trail may be regarded as a connected (and 2‐edge‐connected) even [2,4]‐factor. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 45: 298–319, 2004     

On DRC‐covering of Kn by cycles

This paper considers the cycle covering of complete graphs motivated by the design of survivable WDM networks, where the requests are routed on INF‐networks which are protected independently from each other. The problem can be stated as follows: for a given graph G, find a cycle covering of the edge set of K_n, where V(K_n) = V(G), such that each cycle in the covering satisfies the disjoint routing constraint (DRC7rpar;, relatively to G, which can be stated as follows: to each edge of K_n we associate in G a path and all the paths associated to the edges of a cycle of the covering must be vertex disjoint. Here we consider the case where G = C_n, a ring of size n and we want to minimize the number of cycles in the covering. We give optimal solutions for the problem as well as for variations of the problem, namely, its directed version and the case when the cycle length is fixed to 4. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Combin Designs 11: 100–112, 2003; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/jcd.10040     

Excluding Induced Subdivisions of the Bull and Related Graphs

For any graph H, let Forb*(H) be the class of graphs with no induced subdivision of H. It was conjectured in [J Graph Theory, 24 (1997), 297–311] that, for every graph H, there is a function f_H: ?→? such that for every graph G∈Forb*(H), χ(G)≤f_H(ω(G)). We prove this conjecture for several graphs H, namely the paw (a triangle with a pendant edge), the bull (a triangle with two vertex‐disjoint pendant edges), and what we call a “necklace,” that is, a graph obtained from a path by choosing a matching such that no edge of the matching is incident with an endpoint of the path, and for each edge of the matching, adding a vertex adjacent to the ends of this edge. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 71:49–68, 2012     

Graph operations that are good for greedoids

S is a local maximum stable set of a graph G, and we write S∈Ψ(G), if the set S is a maximum stable set of the subgraph induced by S∪N(S), where N(S) is the neighborhood of S. In Levit and Mandrescu (2002) [5] we have proved that Ψ(G) is a greedoid for every forest G. The cases of bipartite graphs and triangle-free graphs were analyzed in Levit and Mandrescu (2003) [6] and Levit and Mandrescu (2007) [7] respectively.In this paper we give necessary and sufficient conditions for Ψ(G) to form a greedoid, where G is:

(a)

the disjoint union of a family of graphs;

(b)

the Zykov sum of a family of graphs;

(c)

the corona X°{H₁,H₂,…,H_n} obtained by joining each vertex x of a graph X to all the vertices of a graph H_x.

     

Edge disjoint cycles through specified vertices

We give a sufficient condition for a simple graph G to have k pairwise edge‐disjoint cycles, each of which contains a prescribed set W of vertices. The condition is that the induced subgraph G[W] be 2k‐connected, and that for any two vertices at distance two in G[W], at least one of the two has degree at least |V(G)|/2 + 2(k ? 1) in G. This is a common generalization of special cases previously obtained by Bollobás/Brightwell (where k = 1) and Li (where W = V(G)). A key lemma is of independent interest. Let G be the complement of a bipartite graph with partite sets X, Y. If G is 2k connected, then G contains k Hamilton cycles that are pairwise edge‐disjoint except for edges in G[Y]. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory     

A Structure Theorem for Strong Immersions

A graph H is strongly immersed in G if H is obtained from G by a sequence of vertex splittings (i.e., lifting some pairs of incident edges and removing the vertex) and edge removals. Equivalently, vertices of H are mapped to distinct vertices of G (branch vertices) and edges of H are mapped to pairwise edge‐disjoint paths in G, each of them joining the branch vertices corresponding to the ends of the edge and not containing any other branch vertices. We describe the structure of graphs avoiding a fixed graph as a strong immersion. The theorem roughly states that a graph which excludes a fixed graph as a strong immersion has a tree‐like decomposition into pieces glued together on small edge cuts such that each piece of the decomposition has a path‐like linear decomposition isolating the high degree vertices.     

Odd‐angulated graphs and cancelling factors in box products

Under what conditions is it true that if there is a graph homomorphism G □ H → G □ T, then there is a graph homomorphism H→ T? Let G be a connected graph of odd girth 2k + 1. We say that G is (2k + 1)‐angulated if every two vertices of G are joined by a path each of whose edges lies on some (2k + 1)‐cycle. We call G strongly (2k + 1)‐angulated if every two vertices are connected by a sequence of (2k + 1)‐cycles with consecutive cycles sharing at least one edge. We prove that if G is strongly (2k + 1)‐angulated, H is any graph, S, T are graphs with odd girth at least 2k + 1, and ?: G□ H→S□T is a graph homomorphism, then either ? maps G□{h} to S□{t_h} for all h∈V(H) where t_h∈V(T) depends on h; or ? maps G□{h} to {s_h}□ T for all h∈V(H) where s_h∈V(S) depends on h. This theorem allows us to prove several sufficient conditions for a cancelation law of a graph homomorphism between two box products with a common factor. We conclude the article with some open questions. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 58:221‐238, 2008     

Light graphs in families of polyhedral graphs with prescribed minimum degree, face size, edge and dual edge weight

A graph H is defined to be light in a family H of graphs if there exists a finite number φ(H,H) such that each G∈H which contains H as a subgraph, contains also a subgraph K≅H such that the Δ_G(K)≤φ(H,H). We study light graphs in families of polyhedral graphs with prescribed minimum vertex degree δ, minimum face degree ρ, minimum edge weight w and dual edge weight w^∗. For those families, we show that there exists a variety of small light cycles; on the other hand, we also present particular constructions showing that, for certain families, the spectrum of short cycles contains irregularly scattered cycles that are not light.     

Tetravalent half‐edge‐transitive graphs and non‐normal Cayley graphs

Let X be a vertex‐transitive graph, that is, the automorphism group Aut(X) of X is transitive on the vertex set of X. The graph X is said to be symmetric if Aut(X) is transitive on the arc set of X. suppose that Aut(X) has two orbits of the same length on the arc set of X. Then X is said to be half‐arc‐transitive or half‐edge‐transitive if Aut(X) has one or two orbits on the edge set of X, respectively. Stabilizers of symmetric and half‐arc‐transitive graphs have been investigated by many authors. For example, see Tutte [Canad J Math 11 (1959), 621–624] and Conder and Maru?i? [J Combin Theory Ser B 88 (2003), 67–76]. It is trivial to construct connected tetravalent symmetric graphs with arbitrarily large stabilizers, and by Maru?i? [Discrete Math 299 (2005), 180–193], connected tetravalent half‐arc‐transitive graphs can have arbitrarily large stabilizers. In this article, we show that connected tetravalent half‐edge‐transitive graphs can also have arbitrarily large stabilizers. A Cayley graph Cay(G, S) on a group G is said to be normal if the right regular representation R(G) of G is normal in Aut(Cay(G, S)). There are only a few known examples of connected tetravalent non‐normal Cayley graphs on non‐abelian simple groups. In this article, we give a sufficient condition for non‐normal Cayley graphs and by using the condition, infinitely many connected tetravalent non‐normal Cayley graphs are constructed. As an application, all connected tetravalent non‐normal Cayley graphs on the alternating group A₆ are determined. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory     

Hamilton cycles and closed trails in iterated line graphs

Let G be an undirected connected graph that is not a path. We define h(G) (respectively, s(G)) to be the least integer m such that the iterated line graph L^m(G) has a Hamiltonian cycle (respectively, a spanning closed trail). To obtain upper bounds on h(G) and s(G), we characterize the least integer m such that L^m(G) has a connected subgraph H, in which each edge of H is in a 3-cycle and V(H) contains all vertices of degree not 2 in L^m(G). We characterize the graphs G such that h(G) — 1 (respectively, s(G)) is greater than the radius of G.     

Closed Separator Sets

A smallest separator in a finite, simple, undirected graph G is a set S ⊆ V (G) such that G–S is disconnected and |S|=κ(G), where κ(G) denotes the connectivity of G. A set S of smallest separators in G is defined to be closed if for every pair S,T ∈ S, every component C of G–S, and every component S of G–T intersecting C either X(C,D) := (V (C) ∩ T) ∪ (T ∩ S) ∪ (S ∩ V (D)) is in S or |X(C,D)| > κ(G). This leads, canonically, to a closure system on the (closed) set of all smallest separators of G. A graph H with is defined to be S-augmenting if no member of S is a smallest separator in G ∪ H:=(V (G) ∪ V (H), E(G) ∪ E(H)). It is proved that if S is closed then every minimally S-augmenting graph is a forest, which generalizes a result of Jordán. Several applications are included, among them a generalization of a Theorem of Mader on disjoint fragments in critically k-connected graphs, a Theorem of Su on highly critically k-connected graphs, and an affirmative answer to a conjecture of Su on disjoint fragments in contraction critically k-connected graphs of maximal minimum degree.