Constructions for cyclic Moebius ladder systems

J.A. Gallian has proved [J.A. Gallian, Labeling prisms and prism related graphs, Congr. Numer. 59 (1987) 89-100] that every cubic graph M_2k obtainable from a 2k-cycle by adding its k diameters (the so-called Moebius Ladder of order 2k) is graceful. Here, in the case of k even, we propose a new graceful labeling that besides being simpler than Gallian’s one is able to give, at the same time, a graceful labeling of the prism of order 2k. Most importantly in the case of k odd, namely in the bipartite case, we prove that M_2k also admits an α-labeling. This implies that there exists a cyclic decomposition of the complete graph K_6kt+1 into copies of M_2k for every pair of positive integers k and t with k odd.In some cases we are able to give such decompositions also when k is even. Apart from the case of t=1 that is an obvious consequence of the gracefulness of M_2k, this happens, for instance, when k≡2 (mod 4) and 6kt+1 is a prime.     

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 symmetric graphs of valency five

A graph X, with a subgroup G of the automorphism group of X, is said to be (G,s)-transitive, for some s≥1, if G is transitive on s-arcs but not on (s+1)-arcs, and s-transitive if it is -transitive. Let X be a connected (G,s)-transitive graph, and G_v the stabilizer of a vertex v∈V(X) in G. If X has valency 5 and G_v is solvable, Weiss [R.M. Weiss, An application of p-factorization methods to symmetric graphs, Math. Proc. Camb. Phil. Soc. 85 (1979) 43-48] proved that s≤3, and in this paper we prove that G_v is isomorphic to the cyclic group Z₅, the dihedral group D₁₀ or the dihedral group D₂₀ for s=1, the Frobenius group F₂₀ or F₂₀×Z₂ for s=2, or F₂₀×Z₄ for s=3. Furthermore, it is shown that for a connected 1-transitive Cayley graph of valency 5 on a non-abelian simple group G, the automorphism group of is the semidirect product , where R(G) is the right regular representation of G and .     

A degree sum condition for graphs to be prism hamiltonian

Win, in 1975, and Jackson and Wormald, in 1990, found the best sufficient conditions on the degree sum of a graph to guarantee the properties of “having a k-tree” and “having a k-walk”, respectively. The property of “being prism hamiltonian” is an intermediate property between “having a 2-tree” and “having a 2-walk”. Thus, it is natural to ask what is the best degree sum condition for graphs to be prism hamiltonian. As an answer to this problem, in this paper, we show that a connected graph G of order n with σ₃(G)≥n is prism hamiltonian. The degree sum condition “σ₃(G)≥n” is best possible.     

Minimal rankings and the arank number of a path

Given a graph G, a function f:V(G)→{1,2,…,k} is a k-ranking of G if f(u)=f(v) implies every u-v path contains a vertex w such that f(w)>f(u). A k-ranking is minimal if the reduction of any label greater than 1 violates the described ranking property. The arank number of a graph, denoted ψ_r(G), is the largest k such that G has a minimal k-ranking. We present new results involving minimal k-rankings of paths. In particular, we determine ψ_r(P_n), a problem posed by Laskar and Pillone in 2000.     

A sufficient condition for pancyclability of graphs

Let G be a graph of order n and S be a vertex set of q vertices. We call G,S-pancyclable, if for every integer i with 3≤i≤q there exists a cycle C in G such that |V(C)∩S|=i. For any two nonadjacent vertices u,v of S, we say that u,v are of distance two in S, denoted by d_S(u,v)=2, if there is a path P in G connecting u and v such that |V(P)∩S|≤3. In this paper, we will prove that if G is 2-connected and for all pairs of vertices u,v of S with d_S(u,v)=2, , then there is a cycle in G containing all the vertices of S. Furthermore, if for all pairs of vertices u,v of S with d_S(u,v)=2, , then G is S-pancyclable unless the subgraph induced by S is in a class of special graphs. This generalizes a result of Fan [G. Fan, New sufficient conditions for cycles in graphs, J. Combin. Theory B 37 (1984) 221-227] for the case when S=V(G).     

Pair lengths of product graphs

The pair length of a graph G is the maximum positive integer k, such that the vertex set of G can be partitioned into disjoint pairs {x,x^′}, such that d(x,x^′)?k for every x∈V(G) and x^′y^′ is an edge of G whenever xy is an edge. Chen asked whether the pair length of the cartesian product of two graphs is equal to the sum of their pair lengths. Our aim in this short note is to prove this result.     

Linkability in iterated line graphs

We prove that for every graph H with the minimum degree δ?5, the third iterated line graph L³(H) of H contains as a minor. Using this fact we prove that if G is a connected graph distinct from a path, then there is a number k_G such that for every i?k_G the i-iterated line graph of G is -linked. Since the degree of Lⁱ(G) is even, the result is best possible.     

Minimum monopoly in regular and tree graphs

In this paper we consider a graph optimization problem called minimum monopoly problem, in which it is required to find a minimum cardinality set S⊆V, such that, for each u∈V, |N[u]∩S|?|N[u]|/2 in a given graph G=(V,E). We show that this optimization problem does not have a polynomial-time approximation scheme for k-regular graphs (k?5), unless P=NP. We show this by establishing two L-reductions (an approximation preserving reduction) from minimum dominating set problem for k-regular graphs to minimum monopoly problem for 2k-regular graphs and to minimum monopoly problem for (2k-1)-regular graphs, where k?3. We also show that, for tree graphs, a minimum monopoly set can be computed in linear time.     

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.     

Edge-connectivity and edge-disjoint spanning trees

Given a graph G, for an integer c∈{2,…,|V(G)|}, define λ_c(G)=min{|X|:X⊆E(G),ω(G−X)≥c}. For a graph G and for an integer c=1,2,…,|V(G)|−1, define,

     

A generalization of a conjecture due to Erd?s, Jacobson and Lehel

An r-graph is a loopless undirected graph in which no two vertices are joined by more than r edges. An r-complete graph on m+1 vertices, denoted by , is an r-graph on m+1 vertices in which each pair of vertices is joined by exactly r edges. A non-increasing sequence π=(d₁,d₂,…,d_n) of nonnegative integers is r-graphic if it is realizable by an r-graph on n vertices. Let be the smallest even integer such that each n-term r-graphic sequence with term sum of at least is realizable by an r-graph containing as a subgraph. In this paper, we determine the value of for sufficiently large n, which generalizes a conjecture due to Erd?s, Jacobson and Lehel.     

Covering graphs with matchings of fixed size

Let m be a positive integer and let G be a graph. We consider the question: can the edge set E(G) of G be expressed as the union of a set M of matchings of G each of which has size exactly m? If this happens, we say that G is [m]-coverable and we call M an [m]-covering of G. It is interesting to consider minimum[m]-coverings, i.e. [m]-coverings containing as few matchings as possible. Such [m]-coverings will be called excessive[m]-factorizations. The number of matchings in an excessive [m]-factorization is a graph parameter which will be called the excessive[m]-index and denoted by . In this paper we begin the study of this new parameter as well as of a number of other related graph parameters.     

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.     

Linear-time certifying algorithms for near-graphical sequences

A sequence 〈d₁,d₂,…,d_n〉 of non-negative integers is graphical if it is the degree sequence of some graph, that is, there exists a graph G on n vertices whose ith vertex has degree d_i, for 1≤i≤n. The notion of a graphical sequence has a natural reformulation and generalization in terms of factors of complete graphs.If H=(V,E) is a graph and g and f are integer-valued functions on the vertex set V, then a (g,f)-factor of H is a subgraph G=(V,F) of H whose degree at each vertex v∈V lies in the interval [g(v),f(v)]. Thus, a (0,1)-factor is just a matching of H and a (1, 1)-factor is a perfect matching of H. If H is complete then a (g,f)-factor realizes a degree sequence that is consistent with the sequence of intervals 〈[g(v₁),f(v₁)],[g(v₂),f(v₂)],…,[g(v_n),f(v_n)]〉.Graphical sequences have been extensively studied and admit several elegant characterizations. We are interested in extending these characterizations to non-graphical sequences by introducing a natural measure of “near-graphical”. We do this in the context of minimally deficient (g,f)-factors of complete graphs. Our main result is a simple linear-time greedy algorithm for constructing minimally deficient (g,f)-factors in complete graphs that generalizes the method of Hakimi and Havel (for constructing (f,f)-factors in complete graphs, when possible). It has the added advantage of producing a certificate of minimum deficiency (through a generalization of the Erdös-Gallai characterization of (f,f)-factors in complete graphs) at no additional cost.     

Bounds on isoperimetric values of trees

Let G=(V,E) be a finite, simple and undirected graph. For S⊆V, let δ(S,G)={(u,v)∈E:u∈S and v∈V−S} be the edge boundary of S. Given an integer i, 1≤i≤|V|, let the edge isoperimetric value of G at i be defined as b_e(i,G)=min_S⊆V;|S|=i|δ(S,G)|. The edge isoperimetric peak of G is defined as b_e(G)=max_1≤j≤|V|b_e(j,G). Let b_v(G) denote the vertex isoperimetric peak defined in a corresponding way. The problem of determining a lower bound for the vertex isoperimetric peak in complete t-ary trees was recently considered in [Y. Otachi, K. Yamazaki, A lower bound for the vertex boundary-width of complete k-ary trees, Discrete Mathematics, in press (doi:10.1016/j.disc.2007.05.014)]. In this paper we provide bounds which improve those in the above cited paper. Our results can be generalized to arbitrary (rooted) trees.The depth d of a tree is the number of nodes on the longest path starting from the root and ending at a leaf. In this paper we show that for a complete binary tree of depth d (denoted as ), and where c₁, c₂ are constants. For a complete t-ary tree of depth d (denoted as ) and d≥clogt where c is a constant, we show that and where c₁, c₂ are constants. At the heart of our proof we have the following theorem which works for an arbitrary rooted tree and not just for a complete t-ary tree. Let T=(V,E,r) be a finite, connected and rooted tree — the root being the vertex r. Define a weight function w:V→N where the weight w(u) of a vertex u is the number of its successors (including itself) and let the weight index η(T) be defined as the number of distinct weights in the tree, i.e η(T)=|{w(u):u∈V}|. For a positive integer k, let ?(k)=|{i∈N:1≤i≤|V|,b_e(i,G)≤k}|. We show that .     

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.     

Faulhaber’s theorem on power sums

We observe that the classical Faulhaber’s theorem on sums of odd powers also holds for an arbitrary arithmetic progression, namely, the odd power sums of any arithmetic progression a+b,a+2b,…,a+nb is a polynomial in na+n(n+1)b/2. While this assertion can be deduced from the original Fauhalber’s theorem, we give an alternative formula in terms of the Bernoulli polynomials. Moreover, by utilizing the central factorial numbers as in the approach of Knuth, we derive formulas for r-fold sums of powers without resorting to the notion of r-reflective functions. We also provide formulas for the r-fold alternating sums of powers in terms of Euler polynomials.     

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.     

The spatial product of Arveson systems is intrinsic

We prove that the spatial product of two spatial Arveson systems is independent of the choice of the reference units. This also answers the same question for the minimal dilation of the Powers sum of two spatial CP-semigroups: It is independent up to cocycle conjugacy.