Stable 2-pairs and (X,Y)-intersection graphs

Given two fixed graphs X and Y, the (X,Y)-intersection graph of a graph G is a graph where

1. each vertex corresponds to a distinct induced subgraph in G isomorphic to Y, and

2. two vertices are adjacent iff the intersection of their corresponding subgraphs contains an induced subgraph isomorphic to X.

This notion generalizes the classical concept of line graphs since the (K₁,K₂)-intersection graph of a graph G is precisely the line graph of G.

Let ( , respectively) denote the family of line graphs of bipartite graphs (bipartite multigraphs, respectively), and refer to a pair (X,Y) as a 2-pair if Y contains exactly two induced subgraphs isomorphic to X. Then and , respectively, are the smallest families amongst the families of (X,Y)-intersection graphs defined by so called hereditary 2-pairs and hereditary non-compact 2-pairs. Furthermore, they can be characterized through forbidden induced subgraphs. With this motivation, we investigate the properties of a 2-pair (X,Y) for which the family of (X,Y)-intersection graphs coincides with (or ). For this purpose, we introduce a notion of stability of a 2-pair and obtain the desired characterization for such stable 2-pairs. An interesting aspect of the characterization is that it is based on a graph determined by the structure of (X,Y).     

On minimal forbidden subgraph characterizations of balanced graphs

A graph is balanced if its clique-matrix contains no edge–vertex incidence matrix of an odd chordless cycle as a submatrix. While a forbidden induced subgraph characterization of balanced graphs is known, there is no such characterization by minimal forbidden induced subgraphs. In this work, we provide minimal forbidden induced subgraph characterizations of balanced graphs restricted to graphs that belong to one of the following graph classes: complements of bipartite graphs, line graphs of multigraphs, and complements of line graphs of multigraphs. These characterizations lead to linear-time recognition algorithms for balanced graphs within the same three graph classes.     

On hereditary clique-Helly self-clique graphs

A graph is clique-Helly if any family of mutually intersecting (maximal) cliques has non-empty intersection, and it is hereditary clique-Helly (HCH) if its induced subgraphs are clique-Helly. The clique graph of a graph G is the intersection graph of its cliques, and G is self-clique if it is connected and isomorphic to its clique graph. We show that every HCH graph is an induced subgraph of a self-clique HCH graph, and give a characterization of self-clique HCH graphs in terms of their constructibility starting from certain digraphs with some forbidden subdigraphs. We also specialize this results to involutive HCH graphs, i.e. self-clique HCH graphs whose vertex-clique bipartite graph admits a part-switching involution.     

Partial characterizations of coordinated graphs: line graphs and complements of forests

A graph G is coordinated if the minimum number of colors that can be assigned to the cliques of H in such a way that no two cliques with non-empty intersection receive the same color is equal to the maximum number of cliques of H with a common vertex, for every induced subgraph H of G. Coordinated graphs are a subclass of perfect graphs. The list of minimal forbidden induced subgraphs for the class of coordinated graphs is not known. In this paper, we present a partial result in this direction, that is, we characterize coordinated graphs by minimal forbidden induced subgraphs when the graph is either a line graph, or the complement of a forest. F. Bonomo, F. Soulignac, and G. Sueiro’s research partially supported by UBACyT Grant X184 (Argentina), and CNPq under PROSUL project Proc. 490333/2004-4 (Brazil). The research of G. Durán is partially supported by FONDECyT Grant 1080286 and Millennium Science Institute “Complex Engineering Systems” (Chile), and CNPq under PROSUL project Proc. 490333/2004-4 (Brazil).     

Hereditary modular graphs

In a hereditary modular graphG, for any three verticesu, v, w of an isometric subgraph ofG, there exists a vertex of this subgraph that is simultaneously on some shortestu, v-path,u, w-path andv, w-path. It is shown that the hereditary modular graphs are precisely those bipartite graphs which do not contain any isometric cycle of length greater than four. There is a polynomial-time algorithm available which decides whether a given (bipartite) graph is hereditary modular or not. Finally, the chordal bipartite graphs are characterized by forbidden isometric subgraphs.     

Reduced graphs of diameter two

A graph H is collapsible if for every subset X ? V(H), H has a spanning connected subgraph whose set of odd-degree vertices is X. In any graph G there is a unique collection of maximal collapsible subgraphs, and when all of them are contracted, the resulting contraction of G is a reduced graph. Interest in reduced graphs arises from the fact [4] that a graph G has a spanning closed trail if and only if its corresponding reduced graph has a spanning closed trail. The concept can also be applied to study hamiltonian line graphs [11] or double cycle covers [8]. In this article, we characterize the reduced graphs of diameter two. As applications, we obtain prior results in [12] and [14], and show that every 2-edge-connected graph with diameter at most two either admits a double cycle cover with three even subgraphs or is isomorphic to the Petersen graph.     

Partial characterizations of clique-perfect and coordinated graphs: Superclasses of triangle-free graphs

A graph G is clique-perfect if the cardinality of a maximum clique-independent set of H equals the cardinality of a minimum clique-transversal of H, for every induced subgraph H of G. A graph G is coordinated if the minimum number of colors that can be assigned to the cliques of H in such a way that no two cliques with non-empty intersection receive the same color equals the maximum number of cliques of H with a common vertex, for every induced subgraph H of G. Coordinated graphs are a subclass of perfect graphs. The complete lists of minimal forbidden induced subgraphs for the classes of clique-perfect and coordinated graphs are not known, but some partial characterizations have been obtained. In this paper, we characterize clique-perfect and coordinated graphs by minimal forbidden induced subgraphs when the graph is either paw-free or {gem, W₄, bull}-free, both superclasses of triangle-free graphs.     

Partial characterizations of clique-perfect and coordinated graphs: superclasses of triangle-free graphs

A graph is clique-perfect if the cardinality of a maximum clique-independent set equals the cardinality of a minimum clique-transversal, for all its induced subgraphs. A graph G is coordinated if the chromatic number of the clique graph of H equals the maximum number of cliques of H with a common vertex, for every induced subgraph H of G. Coordinated graphs are a subclass of perfect graphs. The complete lists of minimal forbidden induced subgraphs for the classes of cliqueperfect and coordinated graphs are not known, but some partial characterizations have been obtained. In this paper, we characterize clique-perfect and coordinated graphs by minimal forbidden induced subgraphs when the graph is either paw-free or {gem,W₄,bull}-free, two superclasses of triangle-free graphs.     

Upper domination and upper irredundance perfect graphs

Let β(G), Γ(G) and IR(G) be the independence number, the upper domination number and the upper irredundance number, respectively. A graph G is called Γ-perfect if β(H) = Γ(H), for every induced subgraph H of G. A graph G is called IR-perfect if Γ(H) =IR(H), for every induced subgraph H of G. In this paper, we present a characterization of Γ-perfect graphs in terms of a family of forbidden induced subgraphs, and show that the class of Γ-perfect graphs is a subclass of IR-perfect graphs and that the class of absorbantly perfect graphs is a subclass of Γ-perfect graphs. These results imply a number of known theorems on Γ-perfect graphs and IR-perfect graphs. Moreover, we prove a sufficient condition for a graph to be Γ-perfect and IR-perfect which improves a known analogous result.     

Characterizing subgraphs of Hamming graphs

Cartesian products of complete graphs are known as Hamming graphs. Using embeddings into Cartesian products of quotient graphs we characterize subgraphs, induced subgraphs, and isometric subgraphs of Hamming graphs. For instance, a graph G is an induced subgraph of a Hamming graph if and only if there exists a labeling of E(G) fulfilling the following two conditions: (i) edges of a triangle receive the same label; (ii) for any vertices u and v at distance at least two, there exist two labels which both appear on any induced u, υ‐path. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 49: 302–312, 2005     

A characterization of chain probe graphs

A chain probe graph is a graph that admits an independent set S of vertices and a set F of pairs of elements of S such that G+F is a chain graph (i.e., a 2K ₂-free bipartite graph). We show that chain probe graphs are exactly the bipartite graphs that do not contain as an induced subgraph a member of a family of six forbidden subgraphs, and deduce an O(n ²) recognition algorithm.     

Partial characterizations of clique-perfect graphs I: Subclasses of claw-free graphs

A clique-transversal of a graph G is a subset of vertices that meets all the cliques of G. A clique-independent set is a collection of pairwise vertex-disjoint cliques. The clique-transversal number and clique-independence number of G are the sizes of a minimum clique-transversal and a maximum clique-independent set of G, respectively. A graph G is clique-perfect if these two numbers are equal for every induced subgraph of G. The list of minimal forbidden induced subgraphs for the class of clique-perfect graphs is not known. In this paper, we present a partial result in this direction; that is, we characterize clique-perfect graphs by a restricted list of forbidden induced subgraphs when the graph belongs to two different subclasses of claw-free graphs.     

Partial characterizations of clique-perfect graphs II: Diamond-free and Helly circular-arc graphs

A clique-transversal of a graph G is a subset of vertices that meets all the cliques of G. A clique-independent set is a collection of pairwise vertex-disjoint cliques. A graph G is clique-perfect if the sizes of a minimum clique-transversal and a maximum clique-independent set are equal for every induced subgraph of G. The list of minimal forbidden induced subgraphs for the class of clique-perfect graphs is not known. Another open question concerning clique-perfect graphs is the complexity of the recognition problem. Recently we were able to characterize clique-perfect graphs by a restricted list of forbidden induced subgraphs when the graph belongs to two different subclasses of claw-free graphs. These characterizations lead to polynomial time recognition of clique-perfect graphs in these classes of graphs. In this paper we solve the characterization problem in two new classes of graphs: diamond-free and Helly circular-arc () graphs. This last characterization leads to a polynomial time recognition algorithm for clique-perfect graphs.     

Graphs whose powers are chordal and graphs whose powers are interval graphs

The main theorem of this paper gives a forbidden induced subgraph condition on G that is sufficient for chordality of G^m. This theorem is a generalization of a theorem of Balakrishnan and Paulraja who had provided this only for m = 2. We also give a forbidden subgraph condition on G that is sufficient for chordality of G^2m. Similar conditions on G that are sufficient for G^m being an interval graph are also obtained. In addition it is easy to see, that no family of forbidden (induced) subgraphs of G is necessary for G^m being chordal or interval graph. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

A characterization of domination perfect graphs

Let γ(G) and i(G) be the domination number and independent domination number of a graph G, respectively. Sumner and Moore [8] define a graph G to be domination perfect if γ(H) = i(H), for every induced subgraph H of G. In this article, we give a finite forbidden induced subgraph characterization of domination perfect graphs. Bollobás and Cockayne [4] proved an inequality relating γ(G) and i(G) for the class of K^1,k -free graphs. It is shown that the same inequality holds for a wider class of graphs.     

Clique‐inverse graphs of K3‐free and K4‐free graphs

The clique graph K(G) of a given graph G is the intersection graph of the collection of maximal cliques of G. Given a family ℱ of graphs, the clique‐inverse graphs of ℱ are the graphs whose clique graphs belong to ℱ. In this work, we describe characterizations for clique‐inverse graphs of K₃‐free and K₄‐free graphs. The characterizations are formulated in terms of forbidden induced subgraphs. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Graph Theory 35: 257–272, 2000     

Two forbidden induced subgraphs and well-quasi-ordering

It is known that a class of graphs defined by a single forbidden induced subgraph G is well-quasi-ordered by the induced subgraph relation if and only if G is an induced subgraph of P₄. However, very little is known about well-quasi-ordered classes of graphs defined by more than one forbidden induced subgraph. We conjecture that for any natural number k, there are finitely many minimal classes of graphs defined by k forbidden induced subgraphs which are not well-quasi-ordered by the induced subgraph relation and prove the conjecture for k=2. We explicitly reveal many of the minimal classes defined by two forbidden induced subgraphs which are not well-quasi-ordered and many of those which are well-quasi-ordered by the induced subgraph relation.     

Clique-perfectness of complements of line graphs

The clique-transversal number τ_c(G) of a graph G is the minimum size of a set of vertices meeting all the cliques. The clique-independence number α_c(G) of G is the maximum size of a collection of vertex-disjoint cliques. A graph is clique-perfect if these two numbers are equal for every induced subgraph of G. Unlike perfect graphs, the class of clique-perfect graphs is not closed under graph complementation nor is a characterization by forbidden induced subgraphs known. Nevertheless, partial results in this direction have been obtained. For instance, in [Bonomo, F., M. Chudnovsky and G. Durán, Partial characterizations of clique-perfect graphs I: Subclasses of claw-free graphs, Discrete Appl. Math. 156 (2008), pp. 1058–1082], a characterization of those line graphs that are clique-perfect is given in terms of minimal forbidden induced subgraphs. Our main result is a characterization of those complements of line graphs that are clique-perfect, also by means of minimal forbidden induced subgraphs. This implies an O(n²) time algorithm for deciding the clique-perfectness of complements of line graphs and, for those that are clique-perfect, finding α_c and τ_c.     

Claw-free graphs are edge reconstructible

The Edge Reconstruction Conjecture states that all graphs with at least four edges are determined by their edge-deleted subgraphs. We prove that this is true for claw-free graphs, those graphs with no induced subgraph isomorphic to K_1,3. This includes line graphs as a special case.     

A common generalization of line graphs and clique graphs

Both the line graph and the clique graph are defined as intersection graphs of certain families of complete subgraphs of a graph. We generalize this concept. By a k-edge of a graph we mean a complete subgraph with k vertices or a clique with fewer than k vertices. The k-edge graph Δ_k(G) of a graph G is defined as the intersection graph of the set of all k-edges of G. The following three problems are investigated for k-edge graphs. The first is the characterization problem. Second, sets of graphs closed under the k-edge graph operator are found. The third problem is the question of convergence: What happens to a graph if we take iterated k-edge graphs?