Bounding the diameter of distance-regular graphs

LetG be a connected distance-regular graph with valencyk>2 and diameterd, but not a complete multipartite graph. Suppose that is an eigenvalue ofG with multiplicitym and that±k. We prove that bothd andk are bounded by functions ofm. This implies that, ifm>1 is given, there are only finitely many connected, co-connected distance-regular graphs with an eigenvalue of multiplicitym.This work was supported by NSERC grant A5367.     

Long paths in sparse random graphs

We consider random graphs withn labelled vertices in which edges are chosen independently and with probabilityc/n. We prove that almost every random graph of this kind contains a path of length ≧(1 −α(c))n where α(c) is an exponentially decreasing function ofc. Dedicated to Tibor Gallai on his seventieth birthday     

Automorphisms of random graphs with specified vertices

Conditions are found under which the expected number of automorphisms of a large random labelled graph with a given degree sequence is close to 1. These conditions involve the probability that such a graph has a given subgraph. One implication is that the probability that a random unlabelledk-regular simple graph onn vertices has only the trivial group of automorphisms is asymptotic to 1 asn → ∞ with 3≦k=O(n ^1/2−c). In combination with previously known results, this produces an asymptotic formula for the number of unlabelledk-regular simple graphs onn vertices, as well as various asymptotic results on the probable connectivity and girth of such graphs. Corresponding results for graphs with more arbitrary degree sequences are obtained. The main results apply equally well to graphs in which multiple edges and loops are permitted, and also to bicoloured graphs. Research of the second author supported by U. S. National Science Foundation Grant MCS-8101555, and by the Australian Department of Science and Technology under the Queen Elizabeth II Fellowships Scheme. Current address: Mathematics Department, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.     

OnK 4-free subgraphs of random graphs

For 0<1 and graphsG andH, writeGH if any -proportion of the edges ofG spans at least one copy ofH inG. As customary, writeK ^r for the complete graph onr vertices. We show that for every fixed real >0 there exists a constantC=C() such that almost every random graphG _n,p withp=p(n)Cn ^–2/5 satisfiesG _{n,p 2/3+} K ⁴. The proof makes use of a variant of Szemerédi's regularity lemma for sparse graphs and is based on a certain superexponential estimate for the number of pseudo-random tripartite graphs whose triangles are not too well distributed. Related results and a general conjecture concerningH-free subgraphs of random graphs in the spirit of the Erds-Stone theorem are discussed.The first author was partially supported by FAPESP (Proc. 93/0603-1) and by CNPq (Proc. 300334/93-1 and ProTeM-CC-II Project ProComb). Part of this work was done while the second author was visiting the University of São Paulo, supported by FAPESP (Proc. 94/4276-8). The third author was partially supported by the NSF grant DMS-9401559.     

The asymptotic behaviour of lovász’ ϑ function for random graphs

We show that for a random graph Lovász’ ϑ function is of order √n.     

The Markov chain asymptotics of random mapping graphs

In this paper the limit behavior of random mappings with n vertices is investigated. We first compute the asymptotic probability that a fixed class of finite non-intersected subsets of vertices are located in different components and use this result to construct a scheme of allocating particles with a related Markov chain. We then prove that the limit behavior of random mappings is actually embedded in such a scheme in a certain way. As an application, we shall give the asymptotic moments of the size of the largest component.     

Sandwiching random graphs: universality between random graph models

The goal of this paper is to establish a connection between two classical models of random graphs: the random graph G(n,p) and the random regular graph G_d(n). This connection appears to be very useful in deriving properties of one model from the other and explains why many graph invariants are universal. In particular, one obtains one-line proofs of several highly non-trivial and recent results on G_d(n).     

Rates of convergence of random walk on distance regular graphs

When run on any non-bipartite q-distance regular graph from a family containing graphs of arbitrarily large diameter d, we show that d steps are necessary and sufficient to drive simple random walk to the uniform distribution in total variation distance, and that a sharp cutoff phenomenon occurs. For most examples, we determine the set on which the variation distance is achieved, and the precise rate at which it decays. The upper bound argument uses spectral methods – combining the usual Cauchy-Schwarz bound on variation distance with a bound on the tail probability of a first-hitting time, derived from its generating function. Received: 2 April 1997 / Revised version: 10 May 1998     

The cover pebbling number of graphs

A pebbling move on a graph consists of taking two pebbles off of one vertex and placing one pebble on an adjacent vertex. In the traditional pebbling problem we try to reach a specified vertex of the graph by a sequence of pebbling moves. In this paper we investigate the case when every vertex of the graph must end up with at least one pebble after a series of pebbling moves. The cover pebbling number of a graph is the minimum number of pebbles such that however the pebbles are initially placed on the vertices of the graph we can eventually put a pebble on every vertex simultaneously. We find the cover pebbling numbers of trees and some other graphs. We also consider the more general problem where (possibly different) given numbers of pebbles are required for the vertices.     

Connectedness and diameter for random orders of fixed dimension

Let P _k (n) be the (partial) order determined by intersecting k random linear orderings of a set of size n; equivalently, let P _k (n) consist of n points chosen randomly and independently from the unit cube in ^k , with the induced product order. We show for each fixed k>1, that with probability approaching 1 as n, the comparability graph of P _k (n) is connected and has diameter 3.     

Loop-erased random walk on the Sierpinski gasket

In this paper the loop-erased random walk on the finite pre-Sierpiński gasket is studied. It is proved that the scaling limit exists and is a continuous process. It is also shown that the path of the limiting process is almost surely self-avoiding, while having Hausdorff dimension strictly greater than 1. The loop-erasing procedure proposed in this paper is formulated by erasing loops, in a sense, in descending order of size. It enables us to obtain exact recursion relations, making direct use of ‘self-similarity’ of a fractal structure, instead of the relation to the uniform spanning tree. This procedure is proved to be equivalent to the standard procedure of chronological loop-erasure.     

The partial complement of graphs

For a graphG, the switched graphS _v (G) ofG at a vertexv is the graph obtained fromG by deleting the edges ofG incident withv and adding the edges of incident withv. Properties of graphs whereS _v (G) G or are studied. This concept is extended to the partial complementS _H (G) where H . The investigation here centers around the existence of setsH for whichS _H (G) G. A parameter is introduced which measures how near a graph is to being self-complementary.     

The shape of random tanglegrams

A tanglegram consists of two binary rooted trees with the same number of leaves and a perfect matching between the leaves of the trees. We show that the two halves of a random tanglegram essentially look like two independently chosen random plane binary trees. This fact is used to derive a number of results on the shape of random tanglegrams, including theorems on the number of cherries and generally occurrences of subtrees, the root branches, the number of automorphisms, and the height. For each of these, we obtain limiting probabilities or distributions. Finally, we investigate the number of matched cherries, for which the limiting distribution is identified as well.     

The choice number of random bipartite graphs

A random bipartite graphG(n, n, p) is obtained by taking two disjoint subsets of verticesA andB of cardinalityn each, and by connecting each pair of verticesaA andbB by an edge randomly and independently with probabilityp=p(n). We show that the choice number ofG(n, n, p) is, almost surely, (1+o(1))log₂(np) for all values of the edge probabilityp=p(n), where theo(1) term tends to 0 asnp tends to infinity.Research supported in part by a USA-Israeli BSF grant, a grant from the Israel Science Foundation, a Sloan Foundation grant No. 96-6-2 and a State of New Jersey grant.Research supported by an IAS/DIMACS Postdoctoral Fellowship.     

Limit laws for UGROW random graphs

Representations are found for a limit law L(Z(k,p))$L\left(Z(k,p)\right)$ obtained from an expanding sequence of random forests containing n$n$ nodes with p∈(0,1]$p\in (0,1]$ a probability controlling bond formation. One implies that Z(k,p)$Z(k,p)$ is stochastically decreasing as k$k$ increases and that norming gives an exponential limit law. Limit theorems are given for the order of component trees. The proofs exploit properties of the gamma function.     

On construction ofk-wise independent random variables

A 0–1probability space is a probability space (, 2,P), where the sample space -{0, 1} ⁿ for somen. A probability space isk-wise independent if, whenY _i is defined to be theith coordinate or the randomn-vector, then any subset ofk of theY _i 's is (mutually) independent, and it is said to be a probability spacefor p ₁,p ₂, ...,p _n ifP[Y _i =1]=p _i .We study constructions ofk-wise independent 0–1 probability spaces in which thep _i 's are arbitrary. It was known that for anyp ₁,p ₂, ...,p _n , ak-wise independent probability space of size always exists. We prove that for somep ₁,p ₂, ...,p _n [0,1],m(n,k) is a lower bound on the size of anyk-wise independent 0–1 probability space. For each fixedk, we prove that everyk-wise independent 0–1 probability space when eachp _i =k/n has size (n _k ). For a very large degree of independence —k=[n], for >1/2- and allp _i =1/2, we prove a lower bound on the size of . We also give explicit constructions ofk-wise independent 0–1 probability spaces.This author was supported in part by NSF grant CCR 9107349.This research was supported in part by the Israel Science Foundation administered by the lsrael Academy of Science and Humanities and by a grant of the Israeli Ministry of Science and Technology.     

Packing in regular graphs

A set S of vertices in a graph G is a packing if the vertices in S are pairwise at distance at least 3 apart in G. The packing number of G, denoted by ρ(G), is the maximum cardinality of a packing in G. Favaron [Discrete Math. 158 (1996), 287–293] showed that if G is a connected cubic graph of order n different from the Petersen graph, then ρ(G) ≥ n/8. In this paper, we generalize Favaron’s result. We show that for k ≥ 3, if G is a connected k-regular graph of order n that is not a diameter-2 Moore graph, then ρ(G) ≥ n/(k² ? 1).     

The diameter of total domination vertex critical graphs

A graph G with no isolated vertex is total domination vertex critical if for any vertex v of G that is not adjacent to a vertex of degree one, the total domination number of G-v is less than the total domination number of G. These graphs we call γ_t-critical. If such a graph G has total domination number k, we call it k-γ_t-critical. We characterize the connected graphs with minimum degree one that are γ_t-critical and we obtain sharp bounds on their maximum diameter. We calculate the maximum diameter of a k-γ_t-critical graph for k?8 and provide an example which shows that the maximum diameter is in general at least 5k/3-O(1).