Line graphs of bipartite graphs with Hamiltonian paths

It is shown that, if t is an integer ≥3 and not equal to 7 or 8, then there is a unique maximal graph having the path P_t as a star complement for the eigenvalue ?2. The maximal graph is the line graph of K_m,m if t = 2m?1, and of K_m,m+1 if t = 2m. This result yields a characterization of L(G ) when G is a (t + 1)‐vertex bipartite graph with a Hamiltonian path. The graphs with star complement P_r ∪ P_s or P_r ∪ C_s for ?2 are also determined. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 43: 137–149, 2003     

A forbidden subgraph characterization of line-polar bipartite graphs

A graph is polar if the vertex set can be partitioned into A and B in such a way that the subgraph induced by A is a complete multipartite graph and the subgraph induced by B is a disjoint union of cliques. Polar graphs are a common generalization of bipartite, cobipartite, and split graphs. However, recognizing polar graphs is an NP-complete problem in general. This led to the study of the polarity of special classes of graphs such as cographs and chordal graphs, cf. Ekim et al. (2008) [7] and [5]. In this paper, we study the polarity of line graphs and call a graph line-polar if its line graph is polar. We characterize line-polar bipartite graphs in terms of forbidden subgraphs. This answers a question raised in the fist reference mentioned above. Our characterization has already been used to develop a linear time algorithm for recognizing line-polar bipartite graphs, cf. Ekim (submitted for publication) [6].     

Excluding a bipartite circle graph from line graphs

We prove that, for a fixed bipartite circle graph H, all line graphs with sufficiently large rank‐width (or clique‐width) must have a pivot‐minor isomorphic to H. To prove this, we introduce graphic delta‐matroids. Graphic delta‐matroids are minors of delta‐matroids of line graphs and they generalize graphic and cographic matroids. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 60: 183–203, 2009     

The bipartite edge frustration of composite graphs

The smallest number of edges that have to be deleted from a graph to obtain a bipartite spanning subgraph is called the bipartite edge frustration of G and denoted by φ(G). In this paper we determine the bipartite edge frustration of some classes of composite graphs.     

Topological minors in bipartite graphs

For a bipartite graph G on m and n vertices, respectively, in its vertices classes, and for integers s and t such that 2 ≤ s ≤ t, 0 ≤ m − s ≤ n − t, and m + n ≤ 2s + t − 1, we prove that if G has at least mn − (2(m − s) + n − t) edges then it contains a subdivision of the complete bipartite K _(s,t) with s vertices in the m-class and t vertices in the n-class. Furthermore, we characterize the corresponding extremal bipartite graphs with mn − (2(m − s) + n − t + 1) edges for this topological Turan type problem.     

Asymptotic enumeration of dense 0-1 matrices with specified line sums

Let s=(s₁,s₂,…,sm) and t=(t₁,t₂,…,tn) be vectors of non-negative integers with . Let B(s,t) be the number of m×n matrices over {0,1} with jth row sum equal to sj for 1?j?m and kth column sum equal to tk for 1?k?n. Equivalently, B(s,t) is the number of bipartite graphs with m vertices in one part with degrees given by s, and n vertices in the other part with degrees given by t. Most research on the asymptotics of B(s,t) has focused on the sparse case, where the best result is that of Greenhill, McKay and Wang (2006). In the case of dense matrices, the only precise result is for the case of equal row sums and equal column sums (Canfield and McKay, 2005). This paper extends the analytic methods used by the latter paper to the case where the row and column sums can vary within certain limits. Interestingly, the result can be expressed by the same formula which holds in the sparse case.     

Connected subgraphs with small degree sums in 3‐connected planar graphs

It is well‐known that every planar graph has a vertex of degree at most five. Kotzig proved that every 3‐connected planar graph has an edge xy such that deg(x) + deg (y) ≤ 13. In this article, considering a similar problem for the case of three or more vertices that induce a connected subgraph, we show that, for a given positive integer t, every 3‐connected planar graph G with |V(G)| ≥ t has a connected subgraph H of order t such that Σ_x∈V(H) deg_G(x) ≤ 8t − 1. As a tool for proving this result, we consider decompositions of 3‐connected planar graphs into connected subgraphs of order at least t and at most 2t − 1. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Graph Theory 30: 191–203, 1999     

On cover-structure graphs

Motivated by a problem in communication complexity, we study cover-structure graphs (cs-graphs), defined as intersection graphs of maximal monochromatic rectangles in a matrix. We show that not every graph is a cs-graph. Especially, squares and odd holes are not cs-graphs.It is natural to look at graphs (beautiful graphs) having the property that each induced subgraph is a cs-graph. They form a new class of Berge graphs. We make progress towards their characterization by showing that every square-free bipartite graph is beautiful, and that beautiful line graphs of square-free bipartite graphs are just Path-or-Even-Cycle-of-Cliques graphs.     

On directed local chromatic number,shift graphs,and Borsuk‐like graphs

We investigate the local chromatic number of shift graphs and prove that it is close to their chromatic number. This implies that the gap between the directed local chromatic number of an oriented graph and the local chromatic number of the underlying undirected graph can be arbitrarily large. We also investigate the minimum possible directed local chromatic number of oriented versions of “topologically t‐chromatic” graphs. We show that this minimum for large enough t‐chromatic Schrijver graphs and t‐chromatic generalized Mycielski graphs of appropriate parameters is ?t/4?+1. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 66: 65‐82, 2010     

Archimedean ϕ ‐tolerance graphs

Let ? be a symmetric binary function, positive valued on positive arguments. A graph G = (V,E) is a ?‐tolerance graph if each vertex υ ∈ V can be assigned a closed interval I_υ and a positive tolerance t_υ so that xy ∈ E ? | I_x ∩ I_y|≥ ? (t_x,t_y). An Archimedean function has the property of tending to infinity whenever one of its arguments tends to infinity. Generalizing a known result of [15] for trees, we prove that every graph in a large class (which includes all chordless suns and cacti and the complete bipartite graphs K_2,k) is a ?‐tolerance graph for all Archimedean functions ?. This property does not hold for most graphs. Next, we present the result that every graph G can be represented as a ?_G‐tolerance graph for some Archimedean polynomial ?_G. Finally, we prove that there is a ?universal”? Archimedean function ? ^* such that every graph G is a ?^*‐tolerance graph. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 41: 179–194, 2002     

Bipartite Subgraphs of Graphs with Maximum Degree Three

We prove that for a connected graph G with maximum degree 3 there exists a bipartite subgraph of G containing almost of the edges of G. Furthermore, we completely characterize the set of all extremal graphs, i.e. all connected graphs G=(V, E) with maximum degree 3 for which no bipartite subgraph has more than of the edges; |E| denotes the cardinality of E. For 2-edge-connected graphs there are two kinds of extremal graphs which realize the lower bound . Received: July 17, 1995 / Revised: April 5, 1996     

Spanning subgraphs of graphs partitioned into two isomorphic pieces

A graph has the neighbor‐closed‐co‐neighbor, or ncc property, if for each of its vertices x, the subgraph induced by the neighbor set of x is isomorphic to the subgraph induced by the closed non‐neighbor set of x. As proved by Bonato and Nowakowski [ 5 ], graphs with the ncc property are characterized by the existence of perfect matchings satisfying certain local conditions. In the present article, we investigate the spanning subgraphs of ncc graphs, which we name sub‐ncc. Several equivalent characterizations of finite sub‐ncc graphs are given, along with a polynomial time algorithm for their recognition. The infinite sub‐ncc graphs are characterized, and we demonstrate the existence of a countable universal sub‐ncc graph satisfying a strong symmetry condition called pseudo‐homogeneity. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory     

Weight choosability of graphs

Suppose the edges of a graph G are assigned 3‐element lists of real weights. Is it possible to choose a weight for each edge from its list so that the sums of weights around adjacent vertices were different? We prove that the answer is positive for several classes of graphs, including complete graphs, complete bipartite graphs, and trees (except K₂). The argument is algebraic and uses permanents of matrices and Combinatorial Nullstellensatz. We also consider a directed version of the problem. We prove by an elementary argument that for digraphs the answer to the above question is positive even with lists of size two. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 60: 242–256, 2009     

Largest bipartite subgraphs in triangle-free graphs with maximum degree three

Let G be a triangle-free, loopless graph with maximum degree three. We display a polynomial algorithm which returns a bipartite subgraph of G containing at least ? of the edges of G. Furthermore, we characterize the dodecahedron and the Petersen graph as the only 3-regular, triangle-free, loopless, connected graphs for which no bipartite subgraph has more than this proportion.     

Hereditary modular graphs

In a hereditary modular graphG, for any three verticesu, v, w of an isometric subgraph ofG, there exists a vertex of this subgraph that is simultaneously on some shortestu, v-path,u, w-path andv, w-path. It is shown that the hereditary modular graphs are precisely those bipartite graphs which do not contain any isometric cycle of length greater than four. There is a polynomial-time algorithm available which decides whether a given (bipartite) graph is hereditary modular or not. Finally, the chordal bipartite graphs are characterized by forbidden isometric subgraphs.     

Minimal claw-free graphs

A graph G is a minimal claw-free graph (m.c.f. graph) if it contains no K _1,3 (claw) as an induced subgraph and if, for each edge e of G, G ™ e contains an induced claw. We investigate properties of m.c.f. graphs, establish sharp bounds on their orders and the degrees of their vertices, and characterize graphs which have m.c.f. line graphs. Support by the South African National Research Foundation is gratefully acknowledged.     

The number of graphs and a random graph with a given degree sequence

We consider the set of all graphs on n labeled vertices with prescribed degrees D = (d₁,…,d_n). For a wide class of tame degree sequences D we obtain a computationally efficient asymptotic formula approximating the number of graphs within a relative error which approaches 0 as n grows. As a corollary, we prove that the structure of a random graph with a given tame degree sequence D is well described by a certain maximum entropy matrix computed from D. We also establish an asymptotic formula for the number of bipartite graphs with prescribed degrees of vertices, or, equivalently, for the number of 0‐1 matrices with prescribed row and column sums. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Random Struct. Alg., 2013     

On bipartite zero-divisor graphs

A (finite or infinite) complete bipartite graph together with some end vertices all adjacent to a common vertex is called a complete bipartite graph with a horn. For any bipartite graph G, we show that G is the graph of a commutative semigroup with 0 if and only if it is one of the following graphs: star graph, two-star graph, complete bipartite graph, complete bipartite graph with a horn. We also prove that a zero-divisor graph is bipartite if and only if it contains no triangles. In addition, we give all corresponding zero-divisor semigroups of a class of complete bipartite graphs with a horn and determine which complete r-partite graphs with a horn have a corresponding semigroup for r≥3.