On the computation of the hull number of a graph

Let G be a graph. If u,v∈V(G), a u-vshortest path of G is a path linking u and v with minimum number of edges. The closed interval I[u,v] consists of all vertices lying in some u-v shortest path of G. For S⊆V(G), the set I[S] is the union of all sets I[u,v] for u,v∈S. We say that S is a convex set if I[S]=S. The convex hull of S, denoted I_h[S], is the smallest convex set containing S. A set S is a hull set of G if I_h[S]=V(G). The cardinality of a minimum hull set of G is the hull number of G, denoted by hn(G). In this work we prove that deciding whether hn(G)≤k is NP-complete.We also present polynomial-time algorithms for computing hn(G) when G is a unit interval graph, a cograph or a split graph.     

Bijective linear maps on semimodules spanned by Boolean matrices of fixed rank

Let M_m,n(B) be the semimodule of all m×n Boolean matrices where B is the Boolean algebra with two elements. Let k be a positive integer such that 2?k?min(m,n). Let B(m,n,k) denote the subsemimodule of M_m,n(B) spanned by the set of all rank k matrices. We show that if T is a bijective linear mapping on B(m,n,k), then there exist permutation matrices P and Q such that T(A)=PAQ for all A∈B(m,n,k) or m=n and T(A)=PA^tQ for all A∈B(m,n,k). This result follows from a more general theorem we prove concerning the structure of linear mappings on B(m,n,k) that preserve both the weight of each matrix and rank one matrices of weight k². Here the weight of a Boolean matrix is the number of its nonzero entries.     

Coincidences of projections and linear n-valued maps of tori

We prove that the Nielsen fixed point number N(φ) of an n-valued map φ:X?X of a compact connected triangulated orientable q-manifold without boundary is equal to the Nielsen coincidence number of the projections of the graph of φ, a subset of X×X, to the two factors. For certain q×q integer matrices A, there exist “linear” n-valued maps Φn,A,σ:Tq?Tq of q-tori that generalize the single-valued maps fA:Tq→Tq induced by the linear transformations TA:Rq→Rq defined by TA(v)=Av. By calculating the Nielsen coincidence number of the projections of its graph, we calculate N(Φn,A,σ) for a large class of linear n-valued maps.     

Maximum nullity of outerplanar graphs and the path cover number

Let G=(V,E) be a graph with V={1,2,…,n}. Define S(G) as the set of all n×n real-valued symmetric matrices A=[a_ij] with a_ij≠0,i≠j if and only if ij∈E. By M(G) we denote the largest possible nullity of any matrix A∈S(G). The path cover number of a graph G, denoted P(G), is the minimum number of vertex disjoint paths occurring as induced subgraphs of G which cover all the vertices of G.There has been some success with relating the path cover number of a graph to its maximum nullity. Johnson and Duarte [5], have shown that for a tree T,M(T)=P(T). Barioli et al. [2], show that for a unicyclic graph G,M(G)=P(G) or M(G)=P(G)-1. Notice that both families of graphs are outerplanar. We show that for any outerplanar graph G,M(G)?P(G). Further we show that for any partial 2-path G,M(G)=P(G).     

Geodetic and Steiner geodetic sets in 3-Steiner distance hereditary graphs

Let G be a connected graph and S⊆V(G). Then the Steiner distance of S, denoted by d_G(S), is the smallest number of edges in a connected subgraph of G containing S. Such a subgraph is necessarily a tree called a Steiner tree for S. The Steiner interval for a set S of vertices in a graph, denoted by I(S) is the union of all vertices that belong to some Steiner tree for S. If S={u,v}, then I(S) is the interval I[u,v] between u and v. A connected graph G is 3-Steiner distance hereditary (3-SDH) if, for every connected induced subgraph H of order at least 3 and every set S of three vertices of H, d_H(S)=d_G(S). The eccentricity of a vertex v in a connected graph G is defined as e(v)=max{d(v,x)|x∈V(G)}. A vertex v in a graph G is a contour vertex if for every vertex u adjacent with v, e(u)?e(v). The closure of a set S of vertices, denoted by I[S], is defined to be the union of intervals between pairs of vertices of S taken over all pairs of vertices in S. A set of vertices of a graph G is a geodetic set if its closure is the vertex set of G. The smallest cardinality of a geodetic set of G is called the geodetic number of G and is denoted by g(G). A set S of vertices of a connected graph G is a Steiner geodetic set for G if I(S)=V(G). The smallest cardinality of a Steiner geodetic set of G is called the Steiner geodetic number of G and is denoted by sg(G). We show that the contour vertices of 3-SDH and HHD-free graphs are geodetic sets. For 3-SDH graphs we also show that g(G)?sg(G). An efficient algorithm for finding Steiner intervals in 3-SDH graphs is developed.     

The forcing hull and forcing geodetic numbers of graphs

For every pair of vertices u,v in a graph, a u-v geodesic is a shortest path from u to v. For a graph G, let I_G[u,v] denote the set of all vertices lying on a u-v geodesic. Let S⊆V(G) and I_G[S] denote the union of all I_G[u,v] for all u,v∈S. A subset S⊆V(G) is a convex set of G if I_G[S]=S. A convex hull [S]_G of S is a minimum convex set containing S. A subset S of V(G) is a hull set of G if [S]_G=V(G). The hull number h(G) of a graph G is the minimum cardinality of a hull set in G. A subset S of V(G) is a geodetic set if I_G[S]=V(G). The geodetic number g(G) of a graph G is the minimum cardinality of a geodetic set in G. A subset F⊆V(G) is called a forcing hull (or geodetic) subset of G if there exists a unique minimum hull (or geodetic) set containing F. The cardinality of a minimum forcing hull subset in G is called the forcing hull number f_h(G) of G and the cardinality of a minimum forcing geodetic subset in G is called the forcing geodetic number f_g(G) of G. In the paper, we construct some 2-connected graph G with (f_h(G),f_g(G))=(0,0),(1,0), or (0,1), and prove that, for any nonnegative integers a, b, and c with a+b≥2, there exists a 2-connected graph G with (f_h(G),f_g(G),h(G),g(G))=(a,b,a+b+c,a+2b+c) or (a,2a+b,a+b+c,2a+2b+c). These results confirm a conjecture of Chartrand and Zhang proposed in [G. Chartrand, P. Zhang, The forcing hull number of a graph, J. Combin. Math. Combin. Comput. 36 (2001) 81-94].     

Steiner intervals and Steiner geodetic numbers in distance-hereditary graphs

A Steiner tree for a set S of vertices in a connected graph G is a connected subgraph of G with a smallest number of edges that contains S. The Steiner interval I(S) of S is the union of all the vertices of G that belong to some Steiner tree for S. If S={u,v}, then I(S)=I[u,v] is called the interval between u and v and consists of all vertices that lie on some shortest u-v path in G. The smallest cardinality of a set S of vertices such that ?_u,v∈SI[u,v]=V(G) is called the geodetic number and is denoted by g(G). The smallest cardinality of a set S of vertices of G such that I(S)=V(G) is called the Steiner geodetic number of G and is denoted by sg(G). We show that for distance-hereditary graphs g(G)?sg(G) but that g(G)/sg(G) can be arbitrarily large if G is not distance hereditary. An efficient algorithm for finding the Steiner interval for a set of vertices in a distance-hereditary graph is described and it is shown how contour vertices can be used in developing an efficient algorithm for finding the Steiner geodetic number of a distance-hereditary graph.     

Euclidean ramsey theorems. I

The general Ramsey problem can be described as follows: Let A and B be two sets, and R a subset of A × B. For a?A denote by R(a) the set {b?B | (a, b) ?R}. R is called r-Ramsey if for any r-part partition of B there is some a?A with R(a) in one part. We investigate questions of whether or not certain R are r-Ramsey where B is a Euclidean space and R is defined geometrically.     

Greedy F-colorings of graphs

Let G=(V,E) be a connected graph. For a symmetric, integer-valued function δ on V×V, where K is an integer constant, N₀ is the set of nonnegative integers, and Z is the set of integers, we define a C-mapping by F(u,v,m)=δ(u,v)+m−K. A coloring c of G is an F-coloring if F(u,v,|c(u)−c(v)|)?0 for every two distinct vertices u and v of G. The maximum color assigned by c to a vertex of G is the value of c, and the F-chromatic number F(G) is the minimum value among all F-colorings of G. For an ordering of the vertices of G, a greedy F-coloring c of s is defined by (1) c(v₁)=1 and (2) for each i with 1?i<n, c(v_i+1) is the smallest positive integer p such that F(v_j,v_i+1,|c(v_j)−p|)?0, for each j with 1?j?i. The greedy F-chromatic number gF(s) of s is the maximum color assigned by c to a vertex of G. The greedy F-chromatic number of G is gF(G)=min{gF(s)} over all orderings s of V. The Grundy F-chromatic number is GF(G)=max{gF(s)} over all orderings s of V. It is shown that gF(G)=F(G) for every graph G and every F-coloring defined on G. The parameters gF(G) and GF(G) are studied and compared for a special case of the C-mapping F on a connected graph G, where δ(u,v) is the distance between u and v and .     

Higher rank numerical ranges and low rank perturbations of quantum channels

For a positive integer k, the rank-k numerical range Λk(A) of an operator A acting on a Hilbert space H of dimension at least k is the set of scalars λ such that PAP=λP for some rank k orthogonal projection P. In this paper, a close connection between low rank perturbation of an operator A and Λk(A) is established. In particular, for 1?r<k it is shown that Λk(A)⊆Λk−r(A+F) for any operator F with rank(F)?r. In quantum computing, this result implies that a quantum channel with a k-dimensional error correcting code under a perturbation of rank at most r will still have a (k−r)-dimensional error correcting code. Moreover, it is shown that if A is normal or if the dimension of A is finite, then Λk(A) can be obtained as the intersection of Λk−r(A+F) for a collection of rank r operators F. Examples are given to show that the result fails if A is a general operator. The closure and the interior of the convex set Λk(A) are completely determined. Analogous results are obtained for Λ_∞(A) defined as the set of scalars λ such that PAP=λP for an infinite rank orthogonal projection P. It is shown that Λ_∞(A) is the intersection of all Λk(A) for k=1,2,…. If A−μI is not compact for all μ∈C, then the closure and the interior of Λ_∞(A) coincide with those of the essential numerical range of A. The situation for the special case when A−μI is compact for some μ∈C is also studied.     

Some new spaces of double sequences

In this study, we define the double sequence spaces BS, BS(t), CSp, CSbp, CSr and BV, and also examine some properties of those sequence spaces. Furthermore, we show that these sequence spaces are complete paranormed or normed spaces under some certain conditions. We determine the α-duals of the spaces BS, BV, CSbp and the β(?)-duals of the spaces CSbp and CSr of double series. Finally, we give the conditions which characterize the class of four-dimensional matrix mappings defined on the spaces CSbp, CSr and CSp of double series.     

Perfect dexagon triple systems with given subsystems

The graph consisting of the six triples (or triangles) {a,b,c}, {c,d,e}, {e,f,a}, {x,a,y}, {x,c,z}, {x,e,w}, where a,b,c,d,e,f,x,y,z and w are distinct, is called a dexagon triple. In this case the six edges {a,c}, {c,e}, {e,a}, {x,a}, {x,c}, and {x,e} form a copy of K₄ and are called the inside edges of the dexagon triple. A dexagon triple system of order v is a pair (X,D), where D is a collection of edge disjoint dexagon triples which partitions the edge set of 3K_v. A dexagon triple system is said to be perfect if the inside copies of K₄ form a block design. In this note, we investigate the existence of a dexagon triple system with a subsystem. We show that the necessary conditions for the existence of a dexagon triple system of order v with a sub-dexagon triple system of order u are also sufficient.     

Labeling bipartite permutation graphs with a condition at distance two

An L(p,q)-labeling of a graph G is an assignment f from vertices of G to the set of non-negative integers {0,1,…,λ} such that |f(u)−f(v)|≥p if u and v are adjacent, and |f(u)−f(v)|≥q if u and v are at distance 2 apart. The minimum value of λ for which G has L(p,q)-labeling is denoted by λ_p,q(G). The L(p,q)-labeling problem is related to the channel assignment problem for wireless networks.In this paper, we present a polynomial time algorithm for computing L(p,q)-labeling of a bipartite permutation graph G such that the largest label is at most (2p−1)+q(bc(G)−2), where bc(G) is the biclique number of G. Since λ_p,q(G)≥p+q(bc(G)−2) for any bipartite graph G, the upper bound is at most p−1 far from optimal.     

Birational composition of quadratic forms over a local field

Let f(X) and g(Y) be nondegenerate quadratic forms of dimensions m and n, respectively, over K, char K ≠ 2. The problem of birational composition of f(X) and g(Y) is considered: When is the product f(X) · g(Y) birationally equivalent over K to a quadratic form h(Z) over K of dimension m + n? The solution of the birational composition problem for anisotropic quadratic forms over K in the case of m = n = 2 is given. The main result of the paper is the complete solution of the birational composition problem for forms f(X) and g(Y) over a local field P, char P ≠ 2.     

Weak solution of (r, (x, u(x)) u′(x))′ = (Fu)′(x) with r(0, u(0))u′(0) = ku(0), r(L, u(L))u′ (L) = hu(L) and k, h are suitable elements of [0, ∞]

We consider weak solutions to the nonlinear boundary value problem (r, (x, u(x)) u′(x))′ = (Fu)′(x) with r(0, u(0)) u′(0) = ku(0), r(L, u(L)) u′(L) = hu(L) and k, h are suitable elements of [0, ∞]. In addition to studying some new boundary conditions, we also relax the constraints on r(x, u) and (Fu)(x). r(x, u) > 0 may have a countable set of jump discontinuities in u and r(x, u)^?1?L_q((0, L) × (0, p)). F is an operator from a suitable set of functions to a subset of L_p(0, L) which have nonnegative values. F includes, among others, examples of the form (Fu)(x) = (1 ? H(x ? x₀)) u(x₀), (Fu)(x) = ∫_x^Lf(y, u(y)) dy where f(y, u) may have a countable set of jump discontinuities in u or F may be chosen so that (Fu)′(x) = ? g(x, u(x)) u′(x) ? q(x) u(x) ? f(x, u(x)) where q is a distributional derivative of an L₂(0, L) function.     

Geodesic-pancyclic graphs

A shortest path connecting two vertices u and v is called a u-v geodesic. The distance between u and v in a graph G, denoted by d_G(u,v), is the number of edges in a u-v geodesic. A graph G with n vertices is panconnected if, for each pair of vertices u,v∈V(G) and for each integer k with d_G(u,v)?k?n-1, there is a path of length k in G that connects u and v. A graph G with n vertices is geodesic-pancyclic if, for each pair of vertices u,v∈V(G), every u-v geodesic lies on every cycle of length k satisfying max{2d_G(u,v),3}?k?n. In this paper, we study sufficient conditions of geodesic-pancyclic graphs. In particular, we show that most of the known sufficient conditions of panconnected graphs can be applied to geodesic-pancyclic graphs.     

Inverse cyclotomic polynomials

Let Ψn(x) be the monic polynomial having precisely all non-primitive nth roots of unity as its simple zeros. One has Ψn(x)=(xn−1)/Φn(x), with Φn(x) the nth cyclotomic polynomial. The coefficients of Ψn(x) are integers that like the coefficients of Φn(x) tend to be surprisingly small in absolute value, e.g. for n<561 all coefficients of Ψn(x) are ?1 in absolute value. We establish various properties of the coefficients of Ψn(x), especially focusing on the easiest non-trivial case where n is composed of 3 distinct odd primes.     

Covering shadows with a smaller volume

For n?2 a construction is given for convex bodies K and L in Rn such that the orthogonal projection Lu onto the subspace u^⊥ contains a translate of Ku for every direction u, while the volumes of K and L satisfy Vn(K)>Vn(L).A more general construction is then given for n-dimensional convex bodies K and L such that each orthogonal projection Lξ onto a k-dimensional subspace ξ contains a translate of Kξ, while the mth intrinsic volumes of K and L satisfy Vm(K)>Vm(L) for all m>k.For each k=1,…,n, we then define the collection Cn,k to be the closure (under the Hausdorff topology) of all Blaschke combinations of suitably defined cylinder sets (prisms).It is subsequently shown that, if L∈Cn,k, and if the orthogonal projection Lξ contains a translate of Kξ for every k-dimensional subspace ξ of Rn, then Vn(K)?Vn(L).The families Cn,k, called k-cylinder bodies of Rn, form a strictly increasing chain

Cn,1⊂Cn,2⊂?⊂Cn,n−1⊂Cn,n,     

A closure concept in factor-critical graphs

A graph G is called n-factor-critical if the removal of every set of n vertices results in a~graph with a~1-factor. We prove the following theorem: Let G be a~graph and let x be a~locally n-connected vertex. Let {u,v} be a~pair of vertices in V(G)−{x} such that uv∉E(G), x∈N_G(u)∩N_G(v), and N_G(x)⊂N_G(u)∪N_G(v)∪{u,v}. Then G is n-factor-critical if and only if G+uv is n-factor-critical.     

A method of finding automorphism groups of endomorphism monoids of relational systems

For any set X and any relation ρ on X, let T(X,ρ) be the semigroup of all maps a:X→X that preserve ρ. Let S(X) be the symmetric group on X. If ρ is reflexive, the group of automorphisms of T(X,ρ) is isomorphic to N_S(X)(T(X,ρ)), the normalizer of T(X,ρ) in S(X), that is, the group of permutations on X that preserve T(X,ρ) under conjugation. The elements of N_S(X)(T(X,ρ)) have been described for the class of so-called dense relations ρ. The paper is dedicated to applications of this result.