Acyclic edge coloring of graphs with maximum degree 4

An acyclic edge coloring of a graph is a proper edge coloring such that there are no bichromatic cycles. The acyclic chromatic index of a graph is the minimum number k such that there is an acyclic edge coloring using k colors and is denoted by a′(G). It was conjectured by Alon, Sudakov, and Zaks that for any simple and finite graph G, a′(G)?Δ + 2, where Δ=Δ(G) denotes the maximum degree of G. We prove the conjecture for connected graphs with Δ(G)?4, with the additional restriction that m?2n?1, where n is the number of vertices and m is the number of edges in G. Note that for any graph G, m?2n, when Δ(G)?4. It follows that for any graph G if Δ(G)?4, then a′(G)?7. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 61: 192–209, 2009     

Equitable edge‐colorings of simple graphs

An edge‐coloring of a graph G is equitable if, for each v∈V(G), the number of edges colored with any one color incident with v differs from the number of edges colored with any other color incident with v by at most one. A new sufficient condition for equitable edge‐colorings of simple graphs is obtained. This result covers the previous results, which are due to Hilton and de Werra, verifies a conjecture made by Hilton recently, and substantially extends it to a more general class of graphs. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 66:175‐197, 2011     

Vizing's coloring algorithm and the fan number

Most upper bounds for the chromatic index of a graph come from algorithms that produce edge colorings. One such algorithm was invented by Vizing [Diskret Analiz 3 (1964), 25–30] in 1964. Vizing's algorithm colors the edges of a graph one at a time and never uses more than Δ+µ colors, where Δ is the maximum degree and µ is the maximum multiplicity, respectively. In general, though, this upper bound of Δ+µ is rather generous. In this paper, we define a new parameter fan(G) in terms of the degrees and the multiplicities of G. We call fan(G) the fan number of G. First we show that the fan number can be computed by a polynomial‐time algorithm. Then we prove that the parameter Fan(G)=max{Δ(G), fan(G)} is an upper bound for the chromatic index that can be realized by Vizing's coloring algorithm. Many of the known upper bounds for the chromatic index are also upper bounds for the fan number. Furthermore, we discuss the following question. What is the best (efficiently realizable) upper bound for the chromatic index in terms of Δ and µ ? Goldberg's Conjecture supports the conjecture that χ′+1 is the best efficiently realizable upper bound for χ′ at all provided that P ≠ NP . © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 65: 115–138, 2010     

Mixed graph colorings

A mixed graphG contains both undirected edges and directed arcs. Ak-coloring ofG is an assignment to its vertices of integers not exceedingk (also called colors) so that the endvertices of an edge have different colors and the tail of any arc has a smaller color than its head. The chromatic number (G) of a mixed graph is the smallestk such thatG admits ak-coloring. To the best of our knowledge it is studied here for the first time. We present bounds of (G), discuss algorithms to find this quantity for trees and general graphs, and report computational experience.     

图K_(3,4)∨K_t的点可区别正常边染色

设f是图G的一个正常边染色.对任意x∈V(G),令S(x)表示与点x相关联的边的颜色所构成的集合.若对任意u,v∈V(G),u≠v,有S(u)≠S(v),则称f是图G的一个点可区别正常边染色.对一个图G进行点可区别正常边染色所需的最少的颜色的数目称为G的点可区别正常边色数,记为χ_s'(G).讨论了图K_(3,4)∨K_t的点可区别正常边染色及其色数,利用正多边形的对称性构造染色以及组合分析的方法,确定了图K_(3,4)∨K_t的点可区别正常边色数,得到了当t是大于等于2的偶数以及t是奇数且3≤t≤25时,χ_s'(K_(3,4)∨K_t)=t+7;当t是奇数且t≥27时,χ_s'(K_(3,4)∨K_t)=t+8.     

Game chromatic index of k‐degenerate graphs

We consider the following edge coloring game on a graph G. Given t distinct colors, two players Alice and Bob, with Alice moving first, alternately select an uncolored edge e of G and assign it a color different from the colors of edges adjacent to e. Bob wins if, at any stage of the game, there is an uncolored edge adjacent to colored edges in all t colors; otherwise Alice wins. Note that when Alice wins, all edges of G are properly colored. The game chromatic index of a graph G is the minimum number of colors for which Alice has a winning strategy. In this paper, we study the edge coloring game on k‐degenerate graphs. We prove that the game chromatic index of a k‐degenerate graph is at most Δ + 3k − 1, where Δ is the maximum vertex degree of the graph. We also show that the game chromatic index of a forest of maximum degree 3 is at most 4 when the forest contains an odd number of edges. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Graph Theory 36: 144–155, 2001     

Asymptotically optimal bound on the adjacent vertex distinguishing edge choice number

An adjacent vertex distinguishing edge coloring of a graph G without isolated edges is its proper edge coloring such that no pair of adjacent vertices meets the same set of colors in G. We show that such coloring can be chosen from any set of lists associated to the edges of G as long as the size of every list is at least , where Δ is the maximum degree of G and C is a constant. The proof is probabilistic. The same is true in the environment of total colorings.     

An upper bound for the adjacent vertex distinguishing acyclic edge chromatic number of a graph

A proper k-edge coloring of a graph G is called adjacent vertex distinguishing acyclic edge coloring if there is no 2-colored cycle in G and the color set of edges incident to u is not equal to the color set of edges incident to υ, where uυ ∈ E(G). The adjacent vertex distinguishing acyclic edge chromatic number of G, denoted by χ′ _aa (G), is the minimal number of colors in an adjacent vertex distinguishing acyclic edge coloring of G. In this paper we prove that if G(V, E) is a graph with no isolated edges, then χ′ _aa (G) ≤ 32Δ. Supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Gansu Province (3ZS051-A25-025)     

Acyclic edge colorings of graphs

A proper coloring of the edges of a graph G is called acyclic if there is no 2‐colored cycle in G. The acyclic edge chromatic number of G, denoted by a′(G), is the least number of colors in an acyclic edge coloring of G. For certain graphs G, a′(G) ≥ Δ(G) + 2 where Δ(G) is the maximum degree in G. It is known that a′(G) ≤ 16 Δ(G) for any graph G. We prove that there exists a constant c such that a′(G) ≤ Δ(G) + 2 for any graph G whose girth is at least cΔ(G) log Δ(G), and conjecture that this upper bound for a′(G) holds for all graphs G. We also show that a′(G) ≤ Δ + 2 for almost all Δ‐regular graphs. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Graph Theory 37: 157–167, 2001     

The total chromatic number of regular graphs of high degree

The total chromatic number χT (G) of a graph G is the minimum number of colors needed to color the edges and the vertices of G so that incident or adjacent elements have distinct colors. We show that if G is a regular graph and d(G) 32 |V (G)| + 263 , where d(G) denotes the degree of a vertex in G, then χT (G) d(G) + 2.     

Acyclic Edge Coloring of Triangle‐Free Planar Graphs

An acyclic edge coloring of a graph is a proper edge coloring such that there are no bichromatic cycles. The acyclic chromatic index of a graph is the minimum number k such that there is an acyclic edge coloring using k colors and is denoted by a′(G). It was conjectured by Alon, Sudakov and Zaks (and much earlier by Fiamcik) that a′(G) ? Δ + 2, where Δ = Δ(G) denotes the maximum degree of the graph. If every induced subgraph H of G satisfies the condition |E(H)| ? 2|V(H)|?1, we say that the graph G satisfies Property A. In this article, we prove that if G satisfies Property A, then a′(G) ? Δ + 3. Triangle‐free planar graphs satisfy Property A. We infer that a′(G) ? Δ + 3, if G is a triangle‐free planar graph. Another class of graph which satisfies Property A is 2‐fold graphs (union of two forests). © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory     

Coloring of trees with minimum sum of colors

The chromatic sum of a graph is the smallest sum of colors among all proper colorings with natural numbers. The strength is the minimum number of colors needed to achieve the chromatic sum. We construct for each positive integer k a tree with strength k that has maximum degree only 2k − 2. The result is best possible. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Graph Theory 32: 354–358, 1999     

AVDTC Numbers of Generalized Halin Graphs with Maximum Degree at Least 6

In a paper by Zhang and Chen et al.（see [11]）, a conjecture was made concerning the minimum number of colors Xat（G） required in a proper total-coloring of G so that any two adjacent vertices have different color sets, where the color set of a vertex v is the set composed of the color of v and the colors incident to v. We find the exact values of Xat（G） and thus verify the conjecture when G is a Generalized Halin graph with maximum degree at least 6, A generalized Halin graph is a 2-connected plane graph G such that removing all the edges of the boundary of the exterior face of G （the degrees of the vertices in the boundary of exterior face of G are all three） gives a tree.     

一些倍图的点可区别均匀边色数

如果图G的一个正常边染色满足任意两个不同点的关联边色集不同,且任意两种颜色所染边数目相差不超过1,则称为点可区别均匀边染色,其所用最少染色数称为点可区别均匀边色数.本文得到了星、扇和轮的倍图的点可区别均匀边色数.     

$m$个$C_{3}$的并和$m$个$C_{4}$的并的点可区别 $E$-全染色

Let G be a simple graph. A total coloring f of G is called E-total-coloring if no two adjacent vertices of G receive the same color and no edge of G receives the same color as one of its endpoints. For E-total-coloring f of a graph G and any vertex u of G, let Cf （u） or C（u） denote the set of colors of vertex u and the edges incident to u. We call C（u） the color set of u. If C（u） ≠ C（v） for any two different vertices u and v of V（G）, then we say that f is a vertex-distinguishing E-total-coloring of G, or a VDET coloring of G for short. The minimum number of colors required for a VDET colorings of G is denoted by X^evt（G）, and it is called the VDET chromatic number of G. In this article, we will discuss vertex-distinguishing E-total colorings of the graphs mC3 and mC4.     

On a conjecture by Plummer and Toft

The cyclic chromatic number χ_c(G) of a 2‐connected plane graph G is the minimum number of colors in an assigment of colors to the vertices of G such that, for every face‐bounding cycle f of G, the vertices of f have different colors. Plummer and Toft proved that, for a 3‐connected plane graph G, under the assumption Δ*(G) ≥ 42, where Δ*(G) is the size of a largest face of G, it holds that χ_c(G) ≤ Δ*(G) + 4. They conjectured that, if G is a 3‐connected plane graph, then χ_c>(G) ≤ Δ*(G) + 2. In the article the conjecture is proved for Δ*(G) ≥ 24. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Graph Theory 30: 177–189, 1999     

Edge‐face chromatic number and edge chromatic number of simple plane graphs

Given a simple plane graph G, an edge‐face k‐coloring of G is a function ? : E(G) ∪ F(G) → {1,…,k} such that, for any two adjacent or incident elements a, b ∈ E(G) ∪ F(G), ?(a) ≠ ?(b). Let χ_e(G), χ_ef(G), and Δ(G) denote the edge chromatic number, the edge‐face chromatic number, and the maximum degree of G, respectively. In this paper, we prove that χ_ef(G) = χ_e(G) = Δ(G) for any 2‐connected simple plane graph G with Δ (G) ≥ 24. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory     

Proper path‐factors and interval edge‐coloring of (3,4)‐biregular bigraphs

An interval coloring of a graph G is a proper coloring of E(G) by positive integers such that the colors on the edges incident to any vertex are consecutive. A (3,4)‐biregular bigraph is a bipartite graph in which each vertex of one part has degree 3 and each vertex of the other has degree 4; it is unknown whether these all have interval colorings. We prove that G has an interval coloring using 6 colors when G is a (3,4)‐biregular bigraph having a spanning subgraph whose components are paths with endpoints at 3‐valent vertices and lengths in {2, 4, 6, 8}. We provide several sufficient conditions for the existence of such a subgraph. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory     

A Characterization of b‐Perfect Graphs

A b‐coloring is a coloring of the vertices of a graph such that each color class contains a vertex that has a neighbor in all other color classes, and the b‐chromatic number of a graph G is the largest integer k such that G admits a b‐coloring with k colors. A graph is b‐perfect if the b‐chromatic number is equal to the chromatic number for every induced subgraph of G. We prove that a graph is b‐perfect if and only if it does not contain as an induced subgraph a member of a certain list of 22 graphs. This entails the existence of a polynomial‐time recognition algorithm and of a polynomial‐time algorithm for coloring exactly the vertices of every b‐perfect graph. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 71:95–122, 2012     

Relations between the Local Chromatic Number and Its Directed Version

The local chromatic number is a coloring parameter defined as the minimum number of colors that should appear in the most colorful closed neighborhood of a vertex under any proper coloring of the graph. Its directed version is the same when we consider only outneighborhoods in a directed graph. For digraphs with all arcs being present in both directions the two values are obviously equal. Here, we consider oriented graphs. We show the existence of a graph where the directed local chromatic number of all oriented versions of the graph is strictly less than the local chromatic number of the underlying undirected graph. We show that for fractional versions the analogous problem has a different answer: there always exists an orientation for which the directed and undirected values coincide. We also determine the supremum of the possible ratios of these fractional parameters, which turns out to be e, the basis of the natural logarithm.