The list L(2,1)-labeling of planar graphs

Let $\mathbf{N}$ be the set of all positive integers. A list assignment of a graph $G$ is a function $L:V\left(G\right)?2^{\mathbf{N}}$ that assigns each vertex $v$ a list $L\left(v\right)$ for all $v\in V\left(G\right)$. We say that $G$ is $L$-$(2,1)$-choosable if there exists a function $?$ such that $?\left(v\right)\in L\left(v\right)$ for all $v\in V\left(G\right)$, $|?\left(u\right)??\left(v\right)|\ge 2$ if $u$ and $v$ are adjacent, and $|?\left(u\right)??\left(v\right)|\ge 1$ if $u$ and $v$ are at distance 2. The list-$L(2,1)$-labeling number ${\lambda }_l\left(G\right)$ of $G$ is the minimum $k$ such that for every list assignment $L=\{L\left(v\right):|L\left(v\right)|=k,v\in V\left(G\right)\}$, $G$ is $L$-$(2,1)$-choosable. We prove that if $G$ is a planar graph with girth $g\ge 8$ and its maximum degree $\Delta$ is large enough, then ${\lambda }_l\left(G\right)\le \Delta +3$. There are graphs with large enough $\Delta$ and $g\ge 8$ having ${\lambda }_l\left(G\right)=\Delta +3$.     

Characterization of the induced matching extendable graphs with 2n vertices and 3n edges

A graph $G$ is induced matching extendable or IM-extendable if every induced matching of $G$ is contained in a perfect matching of $G$. In 1998, Yuan proved that a connected IM-extendable graph on $2n$ vertices has at least $3n?2$ edges, and that the only IM-extendable graph with $2n$ vertices and $3n?2$ edges is $T\times K_2$ , where $T$ is an arbitrary tree on $n$ vertices. In 2005, Zhou and Yuan proved that the only IM-extendable graph with $2n\ge 6$ vertices and $3n?1$ edges is $T\times K_2+e$, where $T$ is an arbitrary tree on $n$ vertices and $e$ is an edge connecting two vertices that lie in different copies of $T$ and have distance 3 between them in $T\times K_2$. In this paper, we introduced the definition of $Q$-joint graph and characterized the connected IM-extendable graphs with $2n\ge 4$ vertices and $3n$ edges.     

On 3-stable number conditions in n-connected claw-free graphs

For a subgraph $X$ of $G$, let ${\alpha }_G^3\left(X\right)$ be the maximum number of vertices of $X$ that are pairwise distance at least three in $G$. In this paper, we prove three theorems. Let $n$ be a positive integer, and let $H$ be a subgraph of an $n$-connected claw-free graph $G$. We prove that if $n\ge 2$, then either $H$ can be covered by a cycle in $G$, or there exists a cycle $C$ in $G$ such that ${\alpha }_G^3(H?V\left(C\right))\le {\alpha }_G^3\left(H\right)?n$. This result generalizes the result of Broersma and Lu that $G$ has a cycle covering all the vertices of $H$ if ${\alpha }_G^3\left(H\right)\le n$. We also prove that if $n\ge 1$, then either $H$ can be covered by a path in $G$, or there exists a path $P$ in $G$ such that ${\alpha }_G^3(H?V\left(P\right))\le {\alpha }_G^3\left(H\right)?n?1$. By using the second result, we prove the third result. For a tree $T$, a vertex of $T$ with degree one is called a leaf of $T$. For an integer $k\ge 2$, a tree which has at most $k$ leaves is called a $k$-ended tree. We prove that if ${\alpha }_G^3\left(H\right)\le n+k?1$, then $G$ has a $k$-ended tree covering all the vertices of $H$. This result gives a positive answer to the conjecture proposed by Kano et al. (2012).     

Planar graphs without 3-cycles adjacent to cycles of length 3 or 5 are (3,1)-colorable

Given a nonnegative integer $d$ and a positive integer $k$, a graph $G$ is said to be $(k,d)$-colorable if the vertices of $G$ can be colored with $k$ colors such that every vertex has at most $d$ neighbors receiving the same color as itself. Let $?$ be the family of planar graphs without $3$-cycles adjacent to cycles of length 3 or 5. This paper proves that everyone in $?$ is $(3,1)$-colorable. This is the best possible in the sense that there are members in $?$ which are not $(3,0)$-colorable.     

The graph grabbing game on Km,n-trees

The graph grabbing game is a two-player game on weighted connected graphs where all weights are non-negative. Two players, Alice and Bob, alternately remove a non-cut vertex from the graph (i.e., the resulting graph is still connected) and get the weight assigned to the vertex, where the starting player is Alice. Each player’s aim is to maximize his/her outcome when all vertices have been taken, and Alice wins the game if she gathered at least half of the total weight. Seacrest and Seacrest (2017) proved that Alice has a winning strategy for every weighted tree with even order, and conjectured that the same statement holds for every weighted connected bipartite graph with even order. In this paper, we prove that Alice wins the game on a type of a connected bipartite graph with even order called a $K_{m,n}$-tree.     

2p-cycle decompositions of some regular graphs and digraphs

In this paper, we consider $2k$-cycle decomposition of $K_m\times K_n$ and directed $2k$-cycle decompositions of ${(K_m°{\overline{K}}_n)}^1$ and ${(K_m\times K_n)}^1$, where $°$ and $\times$ denote the wreath product and tensor product of graphs, respectively. Using the results obtained here, we prove that for $m,n\ge 3$, the obvious necessary conditions for the existence of a $C_{2k}$-decomposition of $K_m\times K_n$ are sufficient whenever $k\in \{p,2^{?}\},$ where $p$ is a prime and $?\ge 2$. Also, we show that the necessary conditions for the existence of ${\overrightarrow{C}}_{2p}$-decompositions of ${(K_m°{\overline{K}}_n)}^1$ and ${(K_m\times K_n)}^1$ are sufficient whenever $p$ is a prime, where ${\overrightarrow{C}}_{2p}$ denotes the directed cycle of length $2p$.     

Uniformly bounded representations of SL(2,R)

We compute the “norm” of irreducible uniformly bounded representations of $\mathrm{SL}(2,\mathbb{R})$. We show that the Kunze–Stein version of the uniformly bounded representations has minimal norm in its similarity class of uniformly bounded representations.     

An update on non-Hamiltonian 54-tough maximal planar graphs

Studying the shortness of longest cycles in maximal planar graphs, we improve the upper bound on the shortness exponent of the class of $\frac{5}{4}$-tough maximal planar graphs presented by Harant and Owens (1995). In addition, we present two generalizations of a similar result of Tká? who considered $1$-tough maximal planar graphs (Tká?, 1996); we remark that one of these generalizations gives a tight upper bound. We fix a problematic argument used in both mentioned papers.     

The unique solution for a fractional q-difference equation with three-point boundary conditions

The aim of this paper is to investigate the existence and uniqueness of solutions for nonlinear fractional $q$-difference equations with three-point boundary conditions. Our approach relies on a new fixed point theorem of increasing $\psi ?(h,r)?$concave operators defined on ordered sets. Further, we can construct a monotone explicit iterative scheme to approximate the unique solution. Finally, the main results are illustrated with the aid of two interesting examples.     

A new approach to the chromatic number of the square of Kneser graph K(2k+1,k)

The vertices of Kneser graph $K(n,k)$ are the subsets of $\{1,2,\dots ,n\}$ of cardinality $k$, two vertices are adjacent if and only if they are disjoint. The square $G^2$ of a graph $G$ is defined on the vertex set of $G$ with two vertices adjacent if their distance in $G$ is at most 2. Z. Füredi, in 2002, proposed the problem of determining the chromatic number of the square of the Kneser graph. The first non-trivial problem arises when $n=2k+1$. It is believed that $\chi \left(K^2(2k+1,k)\right)=2k+c$ where $c$ is a constant, and yet the problem remains open. The best known upper bounds are by Kim and Park: $8k∕3+20∕3$ for 1$k\ge 3$ (Kim and Park, 2014) and $32k∕15+32$ for $k\ge 7$ (Kim and Park, 2016). In this paper, we develop a new approach to this coloring problem by employing graph homomorphisms, cartesian products of graphs, and linear congruences integrated with combinatorial arguments. These lead to $\chi \left(K^2(2k+1,k)\right)\le 5k∕2+c$, where $c$ is a constant in $\{5∕2,9∕2,5,6\}$, depending on $k\ge 2$.     

A sharp bound on the expected number of upcrossings of an L2-bounded Martingale

For a martingale $M$ starting at $x$ with final variance ${\sigma }^2$, and an interval $(a,b)$, let $\Delta =\frac{b?a}{\sigma }$ be the normalized length of the interval and let $\delta =\frac{|x?a|}{\sigma }$ be the normalized distance from the initial point to the lower endpoint of the interval. The expected number of upcrossings of $(a,b)$ by $M$ is at most $\frac{\sqrt{1+{\delta }^2}?\delta }{2\Delta }$ if ${\Delta }^2\le 1+{\delta }^2$ and at most $\frac{1}{1+{(\Delta +\delta )}^2}$ otherwise. Both bounds are sharp, attained by Standard Brownian Motion stopped at appropriate stopping times. Both bounds also attain the Doob upper bound on the expected number of upcrossings of $(a,b)$ for submartingales with the corresponding final distribution. Each of these two bounds is at most $\frac{\sigma }{2(b?a)}$, with equality in the first bound for $\delta =0$. The upper bound $\frac{\sigma }{2}$ on the length covered by $M$ during upcrossings of an interval restricts the possible variability of a martingale in terms of its final variance. This is in the same spirit as the Dubins & Schwarz sharp upper bound $\sigma$ on the expected maximum of $M$ above $x$, the Dubins & Schwarz sharp upper bound $\sigma \sqrt{2}$ on the expected maximal distance of $M$ from $x$, and the Dubins, Gilat & Meilijson sharp upper bound $\sigma \sqrt{3}$ on the expected diameter of $M$.     

On the spanning connectivity of the generalized Petersen graphs P(n,3)

In this paper, we employed lattice model to describe the three internally vertex-disjoint paths that span the vertex set of the generalized Petersen graph $P(n,3)$. We showed that the $P(n,3)$ is 3-spanning connected for odd $n$. Based on the lattice model, five amalgamated and one extension mechanisms are introduced to recursively establish the 3-spanning connectivity of the $P(n,3)$. In each amalgamated mechanism, a particular lattice trail was amalgamated with the lattice trails that was dismembered, transferred, or extended from parts of the lattice trails for $P(n?6,3)$, where a lattice tail is a trail in the lattice model that represents a path in $P(n,3)$.     

List r-hued chromatic number of graphs with bounded maximum average degrees

For integers $k,r>0$, a $(k,r)$-coloring of a graph $G$ is a proper coloring $c$ with at most $k$ colors such that for any vertex $v$ with degree $d\left(v\right)$, there are at least min$\{d\left(v\right),r\}$ different colors present at the neighborhood of $v$. The $r$-hued chromatic number of $G$, ${\chi }_r\left(G\right)$, is the least integer $k$ such that a $(k,r)$-coloring of $G$ exists. The list$r$-hued chromatic number${\chi }_{L,r}\left(G\right)$ of $G$ is similarly defined. Thus if $\Delta \left(G\right)\ge r$, then ${\chi }_{L,r}\left(G\right)\ge {\chi }_r\left(G\right)\ge r+1$. We present examples to show that, for any sufficiently large integer $r$, there exist graphs with maximum average degree less than 3 that cannot be $(r+1,r)$-colored. We prove that, for any fraction $q<\frac{14}{5}$, there exists an integer $R=R\left(q\right)$ such that for each $r\ge R$, every graph $G$ with maximum average degree $q$ is list $(r+1,r)$-colorable. We present examples to show that for some $r$ there exist graphs with maximum average degree less than 4 that cannot be $r$-hued colored with less than $\frac{3r}{2}$ colors. We prove that, for any sufficiently small real number $?>0$, there exists an integer $h=h\left(?\right)$ such that every graph $G$ with maximum average degree $4??$ satisfies ${\chi }_{L,r}\left(G\right)\le r+h\left(?\right)$. These results extend former results in Bonamy et al. (2014).