Uniformly optimal graphs in some classes of graphs with node failures

The uniformly optimal graph problem with node failures consists of finding the most reliable graph in the class Ω(n,m) of all graphs with n nodes and m edges in which nodes fail independently and edges never fail. The graph G is called uniformly optimal in Ω(n,m) if, for all node-failure probabilities q∈(0,1), the graph G is the most reliable graph in the class of graphs Ω(n,m). This paper proves that the multipartite graphs K(b,b+1,…,b+1,b+2) are uniformly optimal in their classes Ω((k+2)(b+1),(k²+3k+2)(b+1)²/2−1), where k is the number of partite sets of size (b+1), while for i>2, the multipartite graphs K(b,b+1,…,b+1,b+i) are not uniformly optimal in their classes Ω((k+2)b+k+i,(k+2)(k+1)b²/2+(k+1)(k+i)b+k(k+2i−1)/2).     

On (s,t)-supereulerian graphs in locally highly connected graphs

Given two nonnegative integers s and t, a graph G is (s,t)-supereulerian if for any disjoint sets X,Y⊂E(G) with |X|≤s and |Y|≤t, there is a spanning eulerian subgraph H of G that contains X and avoids Y. We prove that if G is connected and locally k-edge-connected, then G is (s,t)-supereulerian, for any pair of nonnegative integers s and t with s+t≤k−1. We further show that if s+t≤k and G is a connected, locally k-edge-connected graph, then for any disjoint sets X,Y⊂E(G) with |X|≤s and |Y≤t, there is a spanning eulerian subgraph H that contains X and avoids Y, if and only if G−Y is not contractible to K₂ or to K_2,l with l odd.     

Chromaticity of certain tripartite graphs identified with a path

For a graph G, let P(G) be its chromatic polynomial. Two graphs G and H are chromatically equivalent if P(G)=P(H). A graph G is chromatically unique if P(H)=P(G) implies that H≅G. In this paper, we classify the chromatic classes of graphs obtained from K_2,2,2∪P_m(m?3), (K_2,2,2-e)∪P_m(m?5) and (K_2,2,2-2e)∪P_m(m?6) by identifying the end-vertices of the path P_m with any two vertices of K_2,2,2, K_2,2,2-e and K_2,2,2-2e, respectively, where e and 2e are, respectively, an edge and any two edges of K_2,2,2. As a by-product of this, we obtain some families of chromatically unique and chromatically equivalent classes of graphs.     

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.     

The Erd?s-Lovász Tihany conjecture for quasi-line graphs

Erd?s and Lovász conjectured in 1968 that for every graph G with χ(G)>ω(G) and any two integers s,t≥2 with s+t=χ(G)+1, there is a partition (S,T) of the vertex set V(G) such that χ(G[S])≥s and χ(G[T])≥t. Except for a few cases, this conjecture is still unsolved. In this note we prove the conjecture for quasi-line graphs and for graphs with independence number 2.     

The equivariant topology of stable Kneser graphs

The stable Kneser graph SG_n,k, n?1, k?0, introduced by Schrijver (1978) [19], is a vertex critical graph with chromatic number k+2, its vertices are certain subsets of a set of cardinality m=2n+k. Björner and de Longueville (2003) [5] have shown that its box complex is homotopy equivalent to a sphere, Hom(K₂,SG_n,k)?Sk. The dihedral group D2m acts canonically on SG_n,k, the group C₂ with 2 elements acts on K₂. We almost determine the (C₂×D2m)-homotopy type of Hom(K₂,SG_n,k) and use this to prove the following results.The graphs SG_2s,4 are homotopy test graphs, i.e. for every graph H and r?0 such that Hom(SG_2s,4,H) is (r−1)-connected, the chromatic number χ(H) is at least r+6.If k∉{0,1,2,4,8} and n?N(k) then SG_n,k is not a homotopy test graph, i.e. there are a graph G and an r?1 such that Hom(SG_n,k,G) is (r−1)-connected and χ(G)<r+k+2.     

Chromatic uniqueness of certain complete tripartite graphs

Let P(G, λ) be the chromatic polynomial of a graph G. A graph G is chromatically unique if for any graph H, P(H, λ) = P(G, λ) implies H is isomorphic to G. Liu et al. [Liu, R. Y., Zhao, H. X., Ye, C. F.: A complete solution to a conjecture on chromatic uniqueness of complete tripartite graphs. Discrete Math., 289, 175–179 (2004)], and Lau and Peng [Lau, G. C., Peng, Y. H.: Chromatic uniqueness of certain complete t-partite graphs. Ars Comb., 92, 353–376 (2009)] show that K(p − k, p − i, p) for i = 0, 1 are chromatically unique if p ≥ k + 2 ≥ 4. In this paper, we show that if 2 ≤ i ≤ 4, the complete tripartite graph K(p − k, p − i, p) is chromatically unique for integers k ≥ i and p ≥ k ²/4 + i + 1.     

2-extendability of toroidal polyhexes and Klein-bottle polyhexes

A toroidal polyhex (resp. Klein-bottle polyhex) described by a string (p,q,t) arises from a p×q-parallelogram of a hexagonal lattice by a usual torus (resp. Klein bottle) boundary identification with a torsion t. A connected graph G admitting a perfect matching is k-extendable if |V(G)|≥2k+2 and any k independent edges can be extended to a perfect matching of G. In this paper, we characterize 2-extendable toroidal polyhexes and 2-extendable Klein-bottle polyhexes.     

Removable matchings and hamiltonian cycles

For a graph G, let σ₂(G) denote the minimum degree sum of two nonadjacent vertices (when G is complete, we let σ₂(G)=∞). In this paper, we show the following two results: (i) Let G be a graph of order n≥4k+3 with σ₂(G)≥n and let F be a matching of size k in G such that G−F is 2-connected. Then G−F is hamiltonian or G≅K₂+(K₂∪K_n−4) or ; (ii) Let G be a graph of order n≥16k+1 with σ₂(G)≥n and let F be a set of k edges of G such that G−F is hamiltonian. Then G−F is either pancyclic or bipartite. Examples show that first result is the best possible.     

A note on acyclic edge coloring of complete bipartite graphs

An acyclic edge coloring of a graph is a proper edge coloring such that there are no bichromatic (2-colored) cycles. The acyclic chromatic index of a graph is the minimum number k such that there is an acyclic edge coloring using k colors and is denoted by a^′(G). Let Δ=Δ(G) denote the maximum degree of a vertex in a graph G. A complete bipartite graph with n vertices on each side is denoted by K_n,n. Alon, McDiarmid and Reed observed that a^′(K_p−1,p−1)=p for every prime p. In this paper we prove that a^′(K_p,p)≤p+2=Δ+2 when p is prime. Basavaraju, Chandran and Kummini proved that a^′(K_n,n)≥n+2=Δ+2 when n is odd, which combined with our result implies that a^′(K_p,p)=p+2=Δ+2 when p is an odd prime. Moreover we show that if we remove any edge from K_p,p, the resulting graph is acyclically Δ+1=p+1-edge-colorable.     

Properties of connected graphs having minimum degree distance

The degree distance of a connected graph, introduced by Dobrynin, Kochetova and Gutman, has been studied in mathematical chemistry. In this paper some properties of graphs having minimum degree distance in the class of connected graphs of order n and size m≥n−1 are deduced. It is shown that any such graph G has no induced subgraph isomorphic to P₄, contains a vertex z of degree n−1 such that G−z has at most one connected component C such that |C|≥2 and C has properties similar to those of G.For any fixed k such that k=0,1 or k≥3, if m=n+k and n≥k+3 then the extremal graph is unique and it is isomorphic to K₁+(K_1,k+1∪(n−k−3)K₁).     

On chromatic uniqueness of certain 5-partite graphs

Let P(G,λ) be the chromatic polynomial of a graph G. Two graphs G and H are said to be chromatically equivalent, denoted G～H, if P(G,λ)=P(H,λ). We write [G]={H∣H～G}. If [G]={G}, then G is said to be chromatically unique. In this paper, we first characterize certain complete 5-partite graphs with 5n+3 vertices according to the number of 6-independent partitions of G. Using these results, we investigate the chromaticity of G with certain star or matching deleted. As a by-product, many new families of chromatically unique complete 5-partite graphs with certain star or matching deleted are obtained.     

Pancyclic graphs and linear forests

Given integers k,s,t with 0≤s≤t and k≥0, a (k,t,s)-linear forest F is a graph that is the vertex disjoint union of t paths with a total of k edges and with s of the paths being single vertices. If the number of single vertex paths is not critical, the forest F will simply be called a (k,t)-linear forest. A graph G of order n≥k+t is (k,t)-hamiltonian if for any (k,t)-linear forest F there is a hamiltonian cycle containing F. More generally, given integers m and n with k+t≤m≤n, a graph G of order n is (k,t,s,m)-pancyclic if for any (k,t,s)-linear forest F and for each integer r with m≤r≤n, there is a cycle of length r containing the linear forest F. Minimum degree conditions and minimum sum of degree conditions of nonadjacent vertices that imply that a graph is (k,t,s,m)-pancyclic (or just (k,t,m)-pancyclic) are proved.     

Sets in Abelian groups with distinct sums of pairs

A subset S={s₁,…,sk} of an Abelian group G is called an St-set of size k if all sums of t different elements in S are distinct. Let s(G) denote the cardinality of the largest S₂-set in G. Let v(k) denote the order of the smallest Abelian group for which s(G)?k. In this article, bounds for s(G) are developed and v(k) is determined for k?15 by computing s(G) for Abelian groups of order up to 183 using exhaustive backtrack search with isomorph rejection.     

Graphic sequences with a realization containing a generalized friendship graph

Gould, Jacobson and Lehel [R.J. Gould, M.S. Jacobson, J. Lehel, Potentially G-graphical degree sequences, in: Y. Alavi, et al. (Eds.), Combinatorics, Graph Theory and Algorithms, vol. I, New Issues Press, Kalamazoo, MI, 1999, pp. 451-460] considered a variation of the classical Turán-type extremal problems as follows: for any simple graph H, determine the smallest even integer σ(H,n) such that every n-term graphic sequence π=(d₁,d₂,…,d_n) with term sum σ(π)=d₁+d₂+?+d_n≥σ(H,n) has a realization G containing H as a subgraph. Let F_t,r,k denote the generalized friendship graph on kt−kr+r vertices, that is, the graph of k copies of K_t meeting in a common r set, where K_t is the complete graph on t vertices and 0≤r≤t. In this paper, we determine σ(F_t,r,k,n) for k≥2, t≥3, 1≤r≤t−2 and n sufficiently large.     

Spectral upper bounds for the order of a k-regular induced subgraph

Let G be a simple graph with least eigenvalue λ and let S be a set of vertices in G which induce a subgraph with mean degree k. We use a quadratic programming technique in conjunction with the main angles of G to establish an upper bound of the form |S|?inf{(k+t)q_G(t):t>-λ} where q_G is a rational function determined by the spectra of G and its complement. In the case k=0 we obtain improved bounds for the independence number of various benchmark graphs.     

Cliques, minors and apex graphs

In this paper, we proved the following result: Let G be a (k+2)-connected, non-(k−3)-apex graph where k≥2. If G contains three k-cliques, say L₁, L₂, L₃, such that |L_i∩L_j|≤k−2(1≤i<j≤3), then G contains a K_k+2 as a minor. Note that a graph G is t-apex if G−X is planar for some subset X⊆V(G) of order at most t.This theorem generalizes some earlier results by Robertson, Seymour and Thomas [N. Robertson, P.D. Seymour, R. Thomas, Hadwiger conjecture for K₆-free graphs, Combinatorica 13 (1993) 279-361.], Kawarabayashi and Toft [K. Kawarabayashi, B. Toft, Any 7-chromatic graph has K₇ or K_4,4 as a minor, Combinatorica 25 (2005) 327-353] and Kawarabayashi, Luo, Niu and Zhang [K. Kawarabayashi, R. Luo, J. Niu, C.-Q. Zhang, On structure of k-connected graphs without K_k-minor, Europ. J. Combinatorics 26 (2005) 293-308].     

Degree-bounded factorizations of bipartite multigraphs and of pseudographs

For d≥1, s≥0 a (d,d+s)-graph is a graph whose degrees all lie in the interval {d,d+1,…,d+s}. For r≥1, a≥0 an (r,r+a)-factor of a graph G is a spanning (r,r+a)-subgraph of G. An (r,r+a)-factorization of a graph G is a decomposition of G into edge-disjoint (r,r+a)-factors. A graph is (r,r+a)-factorable if it has an (r,r+a)-factorization.We prove a number of results about (r,r+a)-factorizations of (d,d+s)-bipartite multigraphs and of (d,d+s)-pseudographs (multigraphs with loops permitted). For example, for t≥1 let β(r,s,a,t) be the least integer such that, if d≥β(r,s,a,t) then every (d,d+s)-bipartite multigraph G is (r,r+a)-factorable with x(r,r+a)-factors for at least t different values of x. Then we show that

     

Edge-deletable IM-extendable graphs with minimum number of edges

A graph G is induced matching extendable, shortly IM-extendable, if every induced matching of G is included in a perfect matching of G. For a nonnegative integer k, a graph G is called a k-edge-deletable IM-extendable graph, if, for every F⊆E(G) with |F|=k, G−F is IM-extendable. In this paper, we characterize the k-edge-deletable IM-extendable graphs with minimum number of edges. We show that, for a positive integer k, if G is ak-edge-deletable IM-extendable graph on 2n vertices, then |E(G)|≥(k+2)n; furthermore, the equality holds if and only if either G≅K_k+2,k+2, or k=4r−2 for some integer r≥3 and G≅C₅[N_2r], where N_2r is the empty graph on 2r vertices and C₅[N_2r] is the graph obtained from C₅ by replacing each vertex with a graph isomorphic to N_2r.     

A generalization of Fan’s results: Distribution of cycle lengths in graphs

Fan [G. Fan, Distribution of cycle lengths in graphs, J. Combin. Theory Ser. B 84 (2002) 187-202] proved that if G is a graph with minimum degree δ(G)≥3k for any positive integer k, then G contains k+1 cycles C₀,C₁,…,C_k such that k+1<|E(C₀)|<|E(C₁)|<?<|E(C_k)|, |E(C_i)−E(C_i−1)|=2, 1≤i≤k−1, and 1≤|E(C_k)|−|E(C_k−1)|≤2, and furthermore, if δ(G)≥3k+1, then |E(C_k)|−|E(C_k−1)|=2. In this paper, we generalize Fan’s result, and show that if we let G be a graph with minimum degree δ(G)≥3, for any positive integer k (if k≥2, then δ(G)≥4), if d_G(u)+d_G(v)≥6k−1 for every pair of adjacent vertices u,v∈V(G), then G contains k+1 cycles C₀,C₁,…,C_k such that k+1<|E(C₀)|<|E(C₁)|<?<|E(C_k)|, |E(C_i)−E(C_i−1)|=2, 1≤i≤k−1, and 1≤|E(C_k)|−|E(C_k−1)|≤2, and furthermore, if d_G(u)+d_G(v)≥6k+1, then |E(C_k)|−|E(C_k−1)|=2.