k‐Kings in k‐Quasitransitive Digraphs

Let D be a digraph with vertex set and arc set . A vertex x is a k‐king of D, if for every , there is an ‐path of length at most k. A subset N of is k‐independent if for every pair of vertices , we have and ; it is l‐absorbent if for every there exists such that . A ‐kernel of D is a k‐independent and l‐absorbent subset of . A k‐kernel is a ‐kernel. A digraph D is k‐quasitransitive, if for any path of length k, x₀ and are adjacent. In this article, we will prove that a k‐quasitransitive digraph with has a k‐king if and only if it has a unique initial strong component and the unique initial strong component is not isomorphic to an extended ‐cycle where each has at least two vertices. Using this fact, we show that every strong k‐quasitransitive digraph has a ‐kernel.     

Improper Coloring of Sparse Graphs with a Given Girth,II: Constructions

A graph G is ‐colorable if can be partitioned into two sets and so that the maximum degree of is at most j and of is at most k. While the problem of verifying whether a graph is (0, 0)‐colorable is easy, the similar problem with in place of (0, 0) is NP‐complete for all nonnegative j and k with . Let denote the supremum of all x such that for some constant every graph G with girth g and for every is ‐colorable. It was proved recently that . In a companion paper, we find the exact value . In this article, we show that increasing g from 5 further on does not increase much. Our constructions show that for every g, . We also find exact values of for all g and all .     

On the Multichromatic Number of s‐Stable Kneser Graphs

For positive integers n and s, a subset [n] is s‐stable if for distinct . The s‐stable r‐uniform Kneser hypergraph is the r‐uniform hypergraph that has the collection of all s‐stable k‐element subsets of [n] as vertex set and whose edges are formed by the r‐tuples of disjoint s‐stable k‐element subsets of [n]. Meunier ( 21 ) conjectured that for positive integers with , and , the chromatic number of s‐stable r ‐uniform Kneser hypergraphs is equal to . It is a generalized version of the conjecture proposed by Alon et al. ( 1 ). Alon et al. ( 1 ) confirmed Meunier's conjecture for with arbitrary positive integer q. Lin et al. ( 17 ) studied the kth chromatic number of the Mycielskian of the ordinary Kneser graphs for . They conjectured that for . The case was proved by Mycielski ( 22 ). Lin et al. ( 17 ) confirmed their conjecture for , or when n is a multiple of k or . In this paper, we investigate the multichromatic number of the usual s ‐stable Kneser graphs . With the help of Fan's (1952) combinatorial lemma, we show that Meunier's conjecture is true for r is a power of 2 and s is a multiple of r, and Lin‐Liu‐Zhu's conjecture is true for .     

Circular Chromatic Indices of Regular Graphs

The circular chromatic index of a graph G, written , is the minimum r permitting a function such that whenever e and are adjacent. It is known that for any , there is a 3‐regular simple graph G with . This article proves the following results: Assume is an odd integer. For any , there is an n‐regular simple graph G with . For any , there is an n‐regular multigraph G with .     

List Colorings with Distinct List Sizes,the Case of Complete Bipartite Graphs

Let be a function on the vertex set of the graph . The graph G is f‐choosable if for every collection of lists with list sizes specified by f there is a proper coloring using colors from the lists. The sum choice number, , is the minimum of , over all functions f such that G is f‐choosable. It is known (Alon, Surveys in Combinatorics, 1993 (Keele), London Mathematical Society Lecture Note Series, Vol. 187, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1993, pp. 1–33, Random Struct Algor 16 (2000), 364–368) that if G has average degree d, then the usual choice number is at least , so they grow simultaneously. In this article, we show that can be bounded while the minimum degree . Our main tool is to give tight estimates for the sum choice number of the unbalanced complete bipartite graph .     

Partial Online List Coloring of Graphs

For a graph G, let be the maximum number of vertices of G that can be colored whenever each vertex of G is given t permissible colors. Albertson, Grossman, and Haas conjectured that if G is s‐choosable and , then . In this article, we consider the online version of this conjecture. Let be the maximum number of vertices of G that can be colored online whenever each vertex of G is given t permissible colors online. An analog of the above conjecture is the following: if G is online s‐choosable and then . This article generalizes some results concerning partial list coloring to online partial list coloring. We prove that for any positive integers , . As a consequence, if s is a multiple of t, then . We also prove that if G is online s‐choosable and , then and for any , .     

Generating Nonisomorphic Quadrangular Embeddings of a Complete Graph

We construct (resp. ) index one current graphs with current group such that the current graphs have different underlying graphs and generate nonisomorphic orientable (resp. nonorientable) quadrangular embeddings of the complete graph , (resp. ).     

A Combined Logarithmic Bound on the Chromatic Index of Multigraphs

For a multigraph G, the integer round‐up of the fractional chromatic index provides a good general lower bound for the chromatic index . For an upper bound, Kahn 1996 showed that for any real there exists a positive integer N so that whenever . We show that for any multigraph G with order n and at least one edge, ). This gives the following natural generalization of Kahn's result: for any positive reals , there exists a positive integer N so that + c whenever . We also compare the upper bound found here to other leading upper bounds.     

Extremal Graphs With a Given Number of Perfect Matchings

Let denote the maximum number of edges in a graph having n vertices and exactly p perfect matchings. For fixed p, Dudek and Schmitt showed that for some constant when n is at least some constant . For , they also determined and . For fixed p, we show that the extremal graphs for all n are determined by those with vertices. As a corollary, a computer search determines and for . We also present lower bounds on proving that for (as conjectured by Dudek and Schmitt), and we conjecture an upper bound on . Our structural results are based on Lovász's Cathedral Theorem.     

Finding for a Surface Σ of Characteristic −4

For each surface Σ, we define max G is a class two graph of maximum degree that can be embedded in . Hence, Vizing's Planar Graph Conjecture can be restated as if Σ is a sphere. In this article, by applying some newly obtained adjacency lemmas, we show that if Σ is a surface of characteristic . Until now, all known satisfy . This is the first case where .     

Upper Bounds for Erdös–Hajnal Coefficients of Tournaments

A celebrated unresolved conjecture of Erdös and Hajnal (see Discrete Appl Math 25 (1989), 37–52) states that for every undirected graph H, there exists , such that every graph on n vertices which does not contain H as an induced subgraph contains either a clique or an independent set of size at least . In (Combinatorica (2001), 155–170), Alon et al. proved that this conjecture was equivalent to a similar conjecture about tournaments. In the directed version of the conjecture cliques and stable sets are replaced by transitive subtournaments. For a fixed undirected graph H, define to be the supremum of all ε for which the following holds: for some n₀ and every every undirected graph with vertices not containing H as an induced subgraph has a clique or independent set of size at least . The analogous definition holds if H is a tournament. We call the Erdös–Hajnal coefficient of H. The Erdös–Hajnal conjecture is true if and only if for every H. We prove in this article that:

• the Erdös–Hajnal coefficient of every graph H is at most ,
• there exists such that the Erdös–Hajnal coefficient of almost every tournament T on k vertices is at most , i.e. the proportion of tournaments on k vertices with the coefficient exceeding goes to 0 as k goes to infinity.

     

Cycles Avoiding a Color in Colorful Graphs

The Ramsey numbers of cycles imply that every 2‐edge‐colored complete graph on n vertices contains monochromatic cycles of all lengths between 4 and at least . We generalize this result to colors by showing that every k‐edge‐colored complete graph on vertices contains ‐edge‐colored cycles of all lengths between 3 and at least .     

On Rooted Packings,Decompositions, and Factors of Graphs

In this article, we study so‐called rooted packings of rooted graphs. This concept is a mutual generalization of the concepts of a vertex packing and an edge packing of a graph. A rooted graph is a pair , where G is a graph and . Two rooted graphs and are isomorphic if there is an isomorphism of the graphs G and H such that S is the image of T in this isomorphism. A rooted graph is a rooted subgraph of a rooted graph if H is a subgraph of G and . By a rooted ‐packing into a rooted graph we mean a collection of rooted subgraphs of isomorphic to such that the sets of edges are pairwise disjoint and the sets are pairwise disjoint. In this article, we concentrate on studying maximum ‐packings when H is a star. We give a complete classification with respect to the computational complexity status of the problems of finding a maximum ‐packing of a rooted graph when H is a star. The most interesting polynomial case is the case when H is the 2‐edge star and S contains the center of the star only. We prove a min–max theorem for ‐packings in this case.     

Structure Theorem for U5‐free Tournaments

Let U₅ be the tournament with vertices v₁, …, v₅ such that , and if , and . In this article, we describe the tournaments that do not have U₅ as a subtournament. Specifically, we show that if a tournament G is “prime”—that is, if there is no subset , , such that for all , either for all or for all —then G is U₅‐free if and only if either G is a specific tournament or can be partitioned into sets X, Y, Z such that , , and are transitive. From the prime U₅‐free tournaments we can construct all the U₅‐free tournaments. We use the theorem to show that every U₅‐free tournament with n vertices has a transitive subtournament with at least vertices, and that this bound is tight.     

Eigenvalues of ‐Free Graphs and the Connectivity of Their Independence Complexes

Let G be a graph on n vertices, with maximal degree d, and not containing as an induced subgraph. We prove:

• 1.
• 2.

Here is the maximal eigenvalue of the Laplacian of G, is the independence complex of G, and denotes the topological connectivity of a complex plus 2. These results provide improved bounds for the existence of independent transversals in ‐free graphs.     

Face 2‐Colorable Embeddings with Faces of Specified Lengths

Suppose and are arbitrary lists of positive integers. In this article, we determine necessary and sufficient conditions on M and N for the existence of a simple graph G, which admits a face 2‐colorable planar embedding in which the faces of one color have boundary lengths and the faces of the other color have boundary lengths . Such a graph is said to have a planar ‐biembedding. We also determine necessary and sufficient conditions on M and N for the existence of a simple graph G whose edge set can be partitioned into r cycles of lengths and also into t cycles of lengths . Such a graph is said to be ‐decomposable.     

Cycle‐Saturated Graphs with Minimum Number of Edges

A graph G is called H‐saturated if it does not contain any copy of H, but for any edge e in the complement of G, the graph contains some H. The minimum size of an n‐vertex H‐saturated graph is denoted by . We prove holds for all , where is a cycle with length k. A graph G is H‐semisaturated if contains more copies of H than G does for . Let be the minimum size of an n‐vertex H‐semisaturated graph. We have We conjecture that our constructions are optimal for . © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Graph Theory 73: 203–215, 2013