Graphs with the maximum or minimum number of 1-factors

Recently Alon and Friedland have shown that graphs which are the union of complete regular bipartite graphs have the maximum number of 1-factors over all graphs with the same degree sequence. We identify two families of graphs that have the maximum number of 1-factors over all graphs with the same number of vertices and edges: the almost regular graphs which are unions of complete regular bipartite graphs, and complete graphs with a matching removed. The first family is determined using the Alon and Friedland bound. For the second family, we show that a graph transformation which is known to increase network reliability also increases the number of 1-factors. In fact, more is true: this graph transformation increases the number of k-factors for all k≥1, and “in reverse” also shows that in general, threshold graphs have the fewest k-factors. We are then able to determine precisely which threshold graphs have the fewest 1-factors. We conjecture that the same graphs have the fewest k-factors for all k≥2 as well.     

Spanning trails containing given edges

A graph G is Eulerian-connected if for any u and v in V(G), G has a spanning (u,v)-trail. A graph G is edge-Eulerian-connected if for any e^′ and e^″ in E(G), G has a spanning (e^′,e^″)-trail. For an integer r?0, a graph is called r-Eulerian-connected if for any X⊆E(G) with |X|?r, and for any , G has a spanning (u,v)-trail T such that X⊆E(T). The r-edge-Eulerian-connectivity of a graph can be defined similarly. Let θ(r) be the minimum value of k such that every k-edge-connected graph is r-Eulerian-connected. Catlin proved that θ(0)=4. We shall show that θ(r)=4 for 0?r?2, and θ(r)=r+1 for r?3. Results on r-edge-Eulerian connectivity are also discussed.     

Edge-deletable IM-extendable graphs with minimum number of edges

A graph G is induced matching extendable, shortly IM-extendable, if every induced matching of G is included in a perfect matching of G. For a nonnegative integer k, a graph G is called a k-edge-deletable IM-extendable graph, if, for every F⊆E(G) with |F|=k, G−F is IM-extendable. In this paper, we characterize the k-edge-deletable IM-extendable graphs with minimum number of edges. We show that, for a positive integer k, if G is ak-edge-deletable IM-extendable graph on 2n vertices, then |E(G)|≥(k+2)n; furthermore, the equality holds if and only if either G≅K_k+2,k+2, or k=4r−2 for some integer r≥3 and G≅C₅[N_2r], where N_2r is the empty graph on 2r vertices and C₅[N_2r] is the graph obtained from C₅ by replacing each vertex with a graph isomorphic to N_2r.     

A note on path kernels and partitions

The detour order of a graph G, denoted by τ(G), is the order of a longest path in G. A subset S of V(G) is called a P_n-kernel of G if τ(G[S])≤n−1 and every vertex v∈V(G)−S is adjacent to an end-vertex of a path of order n−1 in G[S]. A partition of the vertex set of G into two sets, A and B, such that τ(G[A])≤a and τ(G[B])≤b is called an (a,b)-partition of G. In this paper we show that any graph with girth g has a P_n+1-kernel for every . Furthermore, if τ(G)=a+b, 1≤a≤b, and G has girth greater than , then G has an (a,b)-partition.     

Triangle path transit functions, betweenness and pseudo-modular graphs

The geodesic and induced path transit functions are the two well-studied interval functions in graphs. Two important transit functions related to the geodesic and induced path functions are the triangle path transit functions which consist of all vertices on all u,v-shortest (induced) paths or all vertices adjacent to two adjacent vertices on all u,v-shortest (induced) paths, for any two vertices u and v in a connected graph G. In this paper we study the two triangle path transit functions, namely the I^Δ and J^Δ on G. We discuss the betweenness axioms, for both triangle path transit functions. Also we present a characterization of pseudo-modular graphs using the transit function I^Δ by forbidden subgraphs.     

Binary relations and reduced hypergroups

Different partial hypergroupoids are associated with binary relations defined on a set H. In this paper we find sufficient and necessary conditions for these hypergroupoids in order to be reduced hypergroups. Given two binary relations ρ and σ on H we investigate when the hypergroups associated with the relations ρ∩σ, ρ∪σ and ρσ are reduced. We also determine when the cartesian product of two hypergroupoids associated with a binary relation is a reduced hypergroup.     

On a generalization of the Evans Conjecture

The Evans Conjecture states that a partial Latin square of order n with at most n-1 entries can be completed. In this paper we generalize the Evans Conjecture by showing that a partial r-multi Latin square of order n with at most n-1 entries can be completed. Using this generalization, we confirm a case of a conjecture of Häggkvist.     

On the minimum real roots of the adjoint polynomial of a graph

For a graph G, we denote by h(G,x) the adjoint polynomial of G. Let β(G) denote the minimum real root of h(G,x). In this paper, we characterize all the connected graphs G with .     

On the packing chromatic number of some lattices

For a positive integer k, a k-packing in a graph G is a subset A of vertices such that the distance between any two distinct vertices from A is more than k. The packing chromatic number of G is the smallest integer m such that the vertex set of G can be partitioned as V₁,V₂,…,V_m where V_i is an i-packing for each i. It is proved that the planar triangular lattice T and the three-dimensional integer lattice Z³ do not have finite packing chromatic numbers.     

Pruning processes and a new characterization of convex geometries

We provide a new characterization of convex geometries via a multivariate version of an identity that was originally proved, in a special case arising from the k-SAT problem, by Maneva, Mossel and Wainwright. We thus highlight the connection between various characterizations of convex geometries and a family of removal processes studied in the literature on random structures.     

Endomorphisms of the shift dynamical system, discrete derivatives, and applications

All continuous endomorphisms f_∞ of the shift dynamical system S on the 2-adic integers Z₂ are induced by some , where n is a positive integer, B_n is the set of n-blocks over {0, 1}, and f_∞(x)=y₀y₁y₂… where for all i∈N, y_i=f(x_ix_i+1…x_i+n−1). Define D:Z₂→Z₂ to be the endomorphism of S induced by the map {(00,0),(01,1),(10,1),(11,0)} and V:Z₂→Z₂ by V(x)=−1−x. We prove that D, V°D, S, and V°S are conjugate to S and are the only continuous endomorphisms of S whose parity vector function is solenoidal. We investigate the properties of D as a dynamical system, and use D to construct a conjugacy from the 3x+1 function T:Z₂→Z₂ to a parity-neutral dynamical system. We also construct a conjugacy R from D to T. We apply these results to establish that, in order to prove the 3x+1 conjecture, it suffices to show that for any m∈Z⁺, there exists some n∈N such that R⁻¹(m) has binary representation of the form or .     

A new Bartholdi zeta function of a digraph II

We introduce a new type of the Bartholdi zeta function of a digraph D. Furthermore, we define a new type of the Bartholdi L-function of D, and give a determinant expression of it. We show that this L-function of D is equal to the L-function of D defined in [H. Mizuno, I. Sato, A new Bartholdi zeta function of a digraph, Linear Algebra Appl. 423 (2007) 498-511]. As a corollary, we obtain a decomposition formula for a new type of the Bartholdi zeta function of a group covering of D by new Bartholdi L-functions of D.     

Graphic sequences with a realization containing a complete multipartite subgraph

A nonincreasing sequence of nonnegative integers π=(d₁,d₂,…,d_n) is graphic if there is a (simple) graph G of order n having degree sequence π. In this case, G is said to realizeπ. For a given graph H, a graphic sequence π is potentiallyH-graphic if there is some realization of π containing H as a (weak) subgraph. Let σ(π) denote the sum of the terms of π. For a graph H and n∈Z⁺, σ(H,n) is defined as the smallest even integer m so that every n-term graphic sequence π with σ(π)≥m is potentially H-graphic. Let denote the complete t partite graph such that each partite set has exactly s vertices. We show that and obtain the exact value of σ(K_j+K_s,s,n) for n sufficiently large. Consequently, we obtain the exact value of for n sufficiently large.     

Ramsey numbers for a disjoint union of good graphs

We give the Ramsey number for a disjoint union of some G-good graphs versus a graph G generalizing the results of Stahl (1975) [5] and Baskoro et al. (2006) [1] and the previous result of the author Bielak (2009) [2]. Moreover, a family of G-good graphs with s(G)>1 is presented.     

Riordan paths and derangements

Riordan paths are Motzkin paths without horizontal steps on the x-axis. We establish a correspondence between Riordan paths and -avoiding derangements. We also present a combinatorial proof of a recurrence relation for the Riordan numbers in the spirit of the Foata-Zeilberger proof of a recurrence relation on the Schröder numbers.     

A probabilistic proof of the Andrews-Gordon identities

Recently, Fulman proved the “extreme” cases of the Andrews-Gordon identities using a Markov chain on the non-negative integers. Here we extend Fulman's methods to prove the Andrews-Gordon identities in full generality.     

A general criterion to determine the number of change-points

A general criterion is proposed to determine the number K of the change-points in a parametric nonlinear multi-response model. Schwarz criterion is a particular case. The change-points depend on regressor values and not on instant of measure. We prove that the proposed estimator for K is consistent. Simulation results, using Monte Carlo technique, for nonlinear models which have numerous applications, support the relevance of the theory.     

The poset structures admitting the extended binary Golay code to be a perfect code

Brualdi et al. [Codes with a poset metric, Discrete Math. 147 (1995) 57-72] introduced the concept of poset codes, and gave an example of poset structure which admits the extended binary Golay code to be a 4-error-correcting perfect P-code. In this paper we classify all of the poset structures which admit the extended binary Golay code to be a 4-error-correcting perfect P-code, and show that there are no posets which admit the extended binary Golay code to be a 5-error-correcting perfect P-code.     

Bounding the size of square-free subgraphs of the hypercube

We investigate the maximum size of a subset of the edges of the n-cube that does not contain a square, or 4-cycle. The size of such a subset is trivially at most 3/4 of the total number of edges, but the proportion was conjectured by Erd?s to be asymptotically 1/2. Following a computer investigation of the 4-cube and the 5-cube, we improve the known upper bound from 0.62284… to 0.62256… in the limit.     

Short proofs of summation and transformation formulas for basic hypergeometric series

We show that several terminating summation and transformation formulas for basic hypergeometric series can be proved in a straightforward way. Along the same line, new finite forms of Jacobi's triple product identity and Watson's quintuple product identity are also proved.