Total coloring of embedded graphs of maximum degree at least ten

A total k-coloring of a graph G is a coloring of V(G) ∪ E(G) using k colors such that no two adjacent or incident elements receive the same color.The total chromatic number χ〃(G) is the smallest integer k such that G has a total k-coloring.In this paper,it is proved that the total chromatic number of any graph G embedded in a surface Σ of Euler characteristic χ(Σ)≥0 is Δ(G) + 1 if Δ(G)≥10,where Δ(G) denotes the maximum degree of G.     

Neighbor Sum Distinguishing Index

We consider proper edge colorings of a graph G using colors of the set {1, . . . , k}. Such a coloring is called neighbor sum distinguishing if for any pair of adjacent vertices x and y the sum of colors taken on the edges incident to x is different from the sum of colors taken on the edges incident to y. The smallest value of k in such a coloring of G is denoted by ndi_Σ(G). In the paper we conjecture that for any connected graph G ≠ C ₅ of order n ≥ 3 we have ndi_Σ(G) ≤ Δ(G) + 2. We prove this conjecture for several classes of graphs. We also show that ndi_Σ(G) ≤ 7Δ(G)/2 for any graph G with Δ(G) ≥ 2 and ndi_Σ(G) ≤ 8 if G is cubic.     

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     

A sufficient condition for planar graphs with maximum degree 8 to be 9-totally colorable

A total k-coloring of a graph G is a coloring of V(G) ∪ E(G) using k colors such that no two adjacent or incident elements receive the same color. The total chromatic number χ'(G) is the smallest integer k such that G has a total k-coloring. It is known that if a planar graph G has maximum degree Δ≥ 9, then χ'(G) = Δ + 1. In this paper, we prove that if G is a planar graph with maximum degree 8 and without a fan of four adjacent 3-cycles, then χ'(G) = 9.     

Neighbor sum distinguishing colorings of graphs with maximum average degree less than $$\tfrac{{37}} {{12}}$$

Let G be a graph and let its maximum degree and maximum average degree be denoted by Δ(G) and mad(G), respectively. A neighbor sum distinguishing k-edge colorings of graph G is a proper k-edge coloring of graph G such that, for any edge uv ∈ E(G), the sum of colors assigned on incident edges of u is different from the sum of colors assigned on incident edges of v. The smallest value of k in such a coloring of G is denoted by χ′_∑(G). Flandrin et al. proposed the following conjecture that χ′_∑ (G) ≤ Δ(G) + 2 for any connected graph with at least 3 vertices and G ≠ C₅. In this paper, we prove that the conjecture holds for a normal graph with mad(G) < \(\tfrac{{37}}{{12}}\) and Δ(G) ≥ 7.     

Improved bounds on the generalized acyclic chromatic number

An r-acyclic edge chromatic number of a graph G, denoted by a _r ^′ r(G), is the minimum number of colors used to produce an edge coloring of the graph such that adjacent edges receive different colors and every cycle C has at least min {|C|, r} colors. We prove that a _r ^′ r(G) ≤ (4r + 1)Δ(G), when the girth of the graph G equals to max{50, Δ(G)} and 4 ≤ r ≤ 7. If we relax the restriction of the girth to max {220, Δ(G)}, the upper bound of a _r ^′ r(G) is not larger than (2r + 5)Δ(G) with 4 ≤ r ≤ 10.     

The classification of complete graphsK n onf-coloring

Anf-coloring of a graphG=(V, E) is a coloring of edge setE such that each color appears at each vertexv ∈ V at mostf(v) times. The minimum number of colors needed tof-colorG is called thef-chromatic index χ′ _f (G) ofG. Any graphG hasf-chromatic index equal to Δ _f (G) or Δ _f (G) + 1 where $\Delta _f (G) = \mathop {\max }\limits_{v \in V} \left\{ {\left\lceil {\frac{{d(v)}}{{f(v)}}} \right\rceil } \right\}$ . If χ′ _f (G) = Δ _f (G), thenG is ofC _f 1; otherwiseG is ofC _f 2. In this paper, the classification problem of complete graphs onf-coloring is solved completely.     

Neighbor sum distinguishing total chromatic number of <Emphasis Type="Italic">K</Emphasis><Subscript>4</Subscript>-minor free graph

A k-total coloring of a graph G is a mapping ?: V (G) ? E(G) → {1; 2,..., k} such that no two adjacent or incident elements in V (G) ? E(G) receive the same color. Let f(v) denote the sum of the color on the vertex v and the colors on all edges incident with v: We say that ? is a k-neighbor sum distinguishing total coloring of G if f(u) 6 ≠ f(v) for each edge uv ∈ E(G): Denote χ _Σ ^″ (G) the smallest value k in such a coloring of G: Pil?niak and Wo?niak conjectured that for any simple graph with maximum degree Δ(G), χ _Σ ^″ ≤ Δ(G)+3. In this paper, by using the famous Combinatorial Nullstellensatz, we prove that for K ₄-minor free graph G with Δ(G) > 5; χ _Σ ^″ = Δ(G) + 1 if G contains no two adjacent Δ-vertices, otherwise, χ _Σ ^″ (G) = Δ(G) + 2.     

Degree-bounded coloring of graphs: Variations on a theme by brooks

A graph G is degree-bounded-colorable (briefly, db-colorable) if it can be properly vertex-colored with colors 1,2, …, k ≤ Δ(G) such that each vertex v is assigned a color c(v) ≤ v. We first prove that if a connected graph G has a block which is neither a complete graph nor an odd cycle, then G is db-colorable. One may think of this as an improvement of Brooks' theorem in which the global bound Δ(G) on the number of colors is replaced by the local bound deg v on the color at vertex v. Extending the above result, we provide an algorithmic characterization of db-colorable graphs, as well as a nonalgorithmic characterization of db-colorable trees. We briefly examine the problem of determining the smallest integer k such that G is db-colorable with colors 1, 2,…, k. Finally, we extend these results to set coloring. © 1995, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Total coloring of graphs embedded in surfaces of nonnegative Euler characteristic

Let G be a graph which can be embedded in a surface of nonnegative Euler characteristic.In this paper,it is proved that the total chromatic number of G is △(G)+1 if △(G)9,where △(G)is the maximum degree of G.     

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     

New upper bounds on linear coloring of planar graphs

A proper vertex coloring of a graph G is linear if the graph induced by the vertices of any two color classes is the union of vertex-disjoint paths. The linear chromatic number lc(G) of the graph G is the smallest number of colors in a linear coloring of G. In this paper, it is proved that every planar graph G with girth g and maximum degree Δ has(1)lc(G) ≤Δ 21 if Δ≥ 9; (2)lc(G) ≤「Δ/2」 + 7 ifg ≥ 5; (3) lc(G) ≤「Δ/2」 + 2 ifg ≥ 7 and Δ≥ 7.     

On total colorings of some special 1-planar graphs

A graph is 1-planar if it can be drawn on the plane so that each edge is crossed by at most one other edge. In this paper, we verify the total coloring conjecture for every 1-planar graph G if either Δ(G) ≥ 9 and g(G) ≥ 4, or Δ(G) ≥ 7 and g(G) ≥ 5, where Δ(G) is the maximum degree of G and g(G) is the girth of G.     

On the b-continuity property of graphs

This paper deals with b-colorings of a graph G, that is, proper colorings in which for each color c, there exists at least one vertex colored by c such that its neighbors are colored by each other color. The b-chromatic numberb(G) of a graph G is the maximum number of colors for which G has a b-coloring. It is easy to see that every graph G has a b-coloring using χ(G) colors.We say that G is b-continuous iff for each k, χ(G)?k?b(G), there exists a b-coloring with k colors. It is well known that not all graphs are b-continuous. We call b-spectrumS_b(G) of G to be the set of integers k for which there is a b-coloring of G by k colors. We show that for any finite integer set I, there exists a graph whose b-spectrum is I and we investigate the complexity of the problem of deciding whether a graph G is b-continuous, even if b-colorings using χ(G) and b(G) colors are given.     

Neighbor sum distinguishing total colorings via the Combinatorial Nullstellensatz

Let G=(V,E)be a graph andφbe a total coloring of G by using the color set{1,2,...,k}.Let f(v)denote the sum of the color of the vertex v and the colors of all incident edges of v.We say thatφis neighbor sum distinguishing if for each edge uv∈E(G),f(u)=f(v).The smallest number k is called the neighbor sum distinguishing total chromatic number,denoted byχ′′nsd(G).Pil′sniak and Wo′zniak conjectured that for any graph G with at least two vertices,χ′′nsd(G)(G)+3.In this paper,by using the famous Combinatorial Nullstellensatz,we show thatχ′′nsd(G)2(G)+col(G)-1,where col(G)is the coloring number of G.Moreover,we prove this assertion in its list version.     

A note on the independent domination number versus the domination number in bipartite graphs

Let γ(G) and i(G) be the domination number and the independent domination number of G, respectively. Rad and Volkmann posted a conjecture that i(G)/γ(G) ≤ Δ(G)/2 for any graph G, where Δ(G) is its maximum degree (see N. J. Rad, L. Volkmann (2013)). In this work, we verify the conjecture for bipartite graphs. Several graph classes attaining the extremal bound and graphs containing odd cycles with the ratio larger than Δ(G)/2 are provided as well.     

On the greatest number of 2 and 3 colorings of a (v,e)-graph

Let F denote the family of simple undirected graphs on v vertices having e edges ((v, e)-graphs) and P(λ, G) be the chromatic polynomial of a graph G. For the given integers v, e, Δ, let f(v, e, Δ) denote the greatest number of proper colorings in Δ or less colors that a (v, e)-graph G can have, i.e., f(v, e, Δ) = max{P(Δ, G): G ∈ F}. In this paper we determine f(v, e, 2) and describe all graphs G for which P(2, G) = f(v, e, 2). For f(v, e, 3), a lower bound and an upper bound are found.     

The Linear Arboricity of Planar Graphs without 5-, 6-Cycles with Chords

The linear arboricity la(G) of a graph G is the minimum number of linear forests which partition the edges of G. In this paper, it is proved that for a planar graph G, ${la(G)=\lceil\frac{\Delta(G)}{2}\rceil}$ if Δ(G) ≥ 7 and G has no 5-cycles with chords, or Δ(G) ≥ 5 and G has no 5-, 6-cycles with chords.     

Vertex‐distinguishing edge colorings of random graphs

A proper edge coloring of a simple graph G is called vertex‐distinguishing if no two distinct vertices are incident to the same set of colors. We prove that the minimum number of colors required for a vertex‐distinguishing coloring of a random graph of order n is almost always equal to the maximum degree Δ(G) of the graph. © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Random Struct. Alg., 20, 89–97, 2002     

A sufficient condition for bipartite graphs to be type one

The total chromatic number χ_T(G) of graph G is the least number of colors assigned to V(G) ∪ E(G) such that no adjacent or incident elements receive the same color. In this article, we give a sufficient condition for a bipartite graph G to have χ_T(G) = Δ(G) + 1. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J. Graph Theory 29: 133–137, 1998