Partitioning complete graphs by heterochromatic trees

A heterochromatic tree is an edge-colored tree in which any two edges have different colors. The heterochromatic tree partition number of an r-edge-colored graph G, denoted by t _r (G), is the minimum positive integer p such that whenever the edges of the graph G are colored with r colors, the vertices of G can be covered by at most p vertex-disjoint heterochromatic trees. In this paper we determine the heterochromatic tree partition number of r-edge-colored complete graphs. We also find at most t _r (K _n ) vertex-disjoint heterochromatic trees to cover all the vertices in polynomial time for a given r-edge-coloring of K _n .     

An Ore-type condition for arbitrarily vertex decomposable graphs

Let G be a graph of order n and r, 1≤r≤n, a fixed integer. G is said to be r-vertex decomposable if for each sequence (n₁,…,n_r) of positive integers such that n₁+?+n_r=n there exists a partition (V₁,…,V_r) of the vertex set of G such that for each i∈{1,…,r}, V_i induces a connected subgraph of G on n_i vertices. G is called arbitrarily vertex decomposable if it is r-vertex decomposable for each r∈{1,…,n}.In this paper we show that if G is a connected graph on n vertices with the independence number at most ⌈n/2⌉ and such that the degree sum of any pair of non-adjacent vertices is at least n−3, then G is arbitrarily vertex decomposable or isomorphic to one of two exceptional graphs. We also exhibit the integers r for which the graphs verifying the above degree-sum condition are not r-vertex decomposable.     

Small subgraphs in random graphs and the power of multiple choices

The standard paradigm for online power of two choices problems in random graphs is the Achlioptas process. Here we consider the following natural generalization: Starting with G₀ as the empty graph on n vertices, in every step a set of r edges is drawn uniformly at random from all edges that have not been drawn in previous steps. From these, one edge has to be selected, and the remaining r−1 edges are discarded. Thus after N steps, we have seen rN edges, and selected exactly N out of these to create a graph GN.In a recent paper by Krivelevich, Loh, and Sudakov (2009) [11], the problem of avoiding a copy of some fixed graph F in GN for as long as possible is considered, and a threshold result is derived for some special cases. Moreover, the authors conjecture a general threshold formula for arbitrary graphs F. In this work we disprove this conjecture and give the complete solution of the problem by deriving explicit threshold functions N₀(F,r,n) for arbitrary graphs F and any fixed integer r. That is, we propose an edge selection strategy that a.a.s. (asymptotically almost surely, i.e. with probability 1−o(1) as n→∞) avoids creating a copy of F for as long as N=o(N₀), and prove that any online strategy will a.a.s. create such a copy once N=ω(N₀).     

Star-critical Ramsey numbers

The graph Ramsey numberR(G,H) is the smallest integer r such that every 2-coloring of the edges of K_r contains either a red copy of G or a blue copy of H. We find the largest star that can be removed from K_r such that the underlying graph is still forced to have a red G or a blue H. Thus, we introduce the star-critical Ramsey numberr_∗(G,H) as the smallest integer k such that every 2-coloring of the edges of K_r−K_1,r−1−k contains either a red copy of G or a blue copy of H. We find the star-critical Ramsey number for trees versus complete graphs, multiple copies of K₂ and K₃, and paths versus a 4-cycle. In addition to finding the star-critical Ramsey numbers, the critical graphs are classified for R(T_n,K_m), R(nK₂,mK₂) and R(P_n,C₄).     

Laplacian integral graphs in S(a, b)

Let G_n,m be the family of graphs with n vertices and m edges, when n and m are previously given. It is well-known that there is a subset of G_n,m constituted by graphs G such that the vertex connectivity, the edge connectivity, and the minimum degree are all equal. In this paper, S(a, b)-classes of connected (a, b)-linear graphs with n vertices and m edges are described, where m is given as a function of a,b∈N/2. Some of them have extremal graphs for which the equalities above are extended to algebraic connectivity. These graphs are Laplacian integral although they are not threshold graphs. However, we do build threshold graphs in S(a, b).     

The new methods for constructing matching-equivalence graphs

Two graphs G and H with order n are said to be matching-equivalent if and only if the number of r-matchings (i.e., the number of ways in which r disjoint edges can be chosen) is the same for each of the graphs G and H for each r, where 0?r?n. In this paper, the new methods for constructing ‘matching-equivalent’ graphs are given, and some families of non-matching unique graphs are also obtained.     

Bounds on Randi? indices

The general Randi? index of a molecular graph G is the sum of [d(u)d(v)]^α over all edges uv∈G, where d(v) denotes the degree of the vertex v in G and α is an arbitrary number. When α=−1/2, it is called the Randi? index. Delorme et al. stated a best possible lower bound on the Randi? index of a triangle-free graph with given minimum degree. Their false proof was pointed out by Liu et al. In this note, we derive some sharp bounds on the general Randi? index which implies their lower bound for triangle-free graphs of order n with maximum degree at most n/4, and also prove it for triangle-free graphs with small minimum degree.     

Graphs whose critical groups have larger rank

The critical group C(G) of a graph G is a refinement of the number of spanning trees of the graph and is closely connected with the Laplacian matrix. Let r(G) be the minimum number of generators (i.e., the rank) of the group C(G) and β(G) be the number of independent cycles of G. In this paper, some forbidden induced subgraphs are given for r(G) = n − 3 and all graphs with r(G) = β(G) = n − 3 are characterized.     

Some results on the spectral radii of bicyclic graphs

A bicyclic graph is a connected graph in which the number of edges equals the number of vertices plus one. Let Δ(G) and ρ(G) denote the maximum degree and the spectral radius of a graph G, respectively. Let B(n) be the set of bicyclic graphs on n vertices, and B(n,Δ)={G∈B(n)∣Δ(G)=Δ}. When Δ≥(n+3)/2 we characterize the graph which alone maximizes the spectral radius among all the graphs in B(n,Δ). It is also proved that for two graphs G₁ and G₂ in B(n), if Δ(G₁)>Δ(G₂) and Δ(G₁)≥⌈7n/9⌉+9, then ρ(G₁)>ρ(G₂).     

Zero-Sum Flows in Regular Graphs

For an undirected graph G, a zero-sum flow is an assignment of non-zero real numbers to the edges, such that the sum of the values of all edges incident with each vertex is zero. It has been conjectured that if a graph G has a zero-sum flow, then it has a zero-sum 6-flow. We prove this conjecture and Bouchet’s Conjecture for bidirected graphs are equivalent. Among other results it is shown that if G is an r-regular graph (r ≥ 3), then G has a zero-sum 7-flow. Furthermore, if r is divisible by 3, then G has a zero-sum 5-flow. We also show a graph of order n with a zero-sum flow has a zero-sum (n + 3)²-flow. Finally, the existence of k-flows for small graphs is investigated.     

On the Laplacian spectral radii of bicyclic graphs

A graph G of order n is called a bicyclic graph if G is connected and the number of edges of G is n+1. Let B(n) be the set of all bicyclic graphs on n vertices. In this paper, we obtain the first four largest Laplacian spectral radii among all the graphs in the class B(n) (n≥7) together with the corresponding graphs.     

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.     

Secure domination critical graphs

A secure dominating set X of a graph G is a dominating set with the property that each vertex u∈V_G−X is adjacent to a vertex v∈X such that (X−{v})∪{u} is dominating. The minimum cardinality of such a set is called the secure domination number, denoted by γ_s(G). We are interested in the effect of edge removal on γ_s(G), and characterize γ_s-ER-critical graphs, i.e. graphs for which γ_s(G−e)>γ_s(G) for any edge e of G, bipartite γ_s-ER-critical graphs and γ_s-ER-critical trees.     

Comparing Zagreb indices for connected graphs

It was conjectured that for each simple graph G=(V,E) with n=|V(G)| vertices and m=|E(G)| edges, it holds M₂(G)/m≥M₁(G)/n, where M₁ and M₂ are the first and second Zagreb indices. Hansen and Vuki?evi? proved that it is true for all chemical graphs and does not hold in general. Also the conjecture was proved for all trees, unicyclic graphs, and all bicyclic graphs except one class. In this paper, we show that for every positive integer k, there exists a connected graph such that m−n=k and the conjecture does not hold. Moreover, by introducing some transformations, we show that M₂/(m−1)>M₁/n for all bicyclic graphs and it does not hold for general graphs. Using these transformations we give new and shorter proofs of some known results.     

The lollipop graph is determined by its Q-spectrum

A graph G is said to be determined by its Q-spectrum if with respect to the signless Laplacian matrix Q, any graph having the same spectrum as G is isomorphic to G. The lollipop graph, denoted by H_n,p, is obtained by appending a cycle C_p to a pendant vertex of a path P_n−p. In this paper, it is proved that all lollipop graphs are determined by their Q-spectra.     

On bipartite graphs with minimal energy

The energy of a graph is the sum of the absolute values of the eigenvalues of the graph. In a paper [G. Caporossi, D. Cvetkovi, I. Gutman, P. Hansen, Variable neighborhood search for extremal graphs. 2. Finding graphs with external energy, J. Chem. Inf. Comput. Sci. 39 (1999) 984-996] Caporossi et al. conjectured that among all connected graphs G with n≥6 vertices and n−1≤m≤2(n−2) edges, the graphs with minimum energy are the star S_n with m−n+1 additional edges all connected to the same vertices for m≤n+⌊(n−7)/2⌋, and the bipartite graph with two vertices on one side, one of which is connected to all vertices on the other side, otherwise. The conjecture is proved to be true for m=n−1,2(n−2) in the same paper by Caporossi et al. themselves, and for m=n by Hou in [Y. Hou, Unicyclic graphs with minimal energy, J. Math. Chem. 29 (2001) 163-168]. In this paper, we give a complete solution for the second part of the conjecture on bipartite graphs. Moreover, we determine the graph with the second-minimal energy in all connected bipartite graphs with n vertices and edges.     

An upper bound for the restrained domination number of a graph with minimum degree at least two in terms of order and minimum degree

Let G=(V,E) be a graph. A set S⊆V is a restrained dominating set if every vertex in V−S is adjacent to a vertex in S and to a vertex in V−S. The restrained domination number of G, denoted γ_r(G), is the smallest cardinality of a restrained dominating set of G. We will show that if G is a connected graph of order n and minimum degree δ and not isomorphic to one of nine exceptional graphs, then .     

Graphs satisfying inequality θ(G)θ(G)

In this paper, we study the edge clique cover number of squares of graphs. More specifically, we study the inequality θ(G²)θ(G) where θ(G) is the edge clique cover number of a graph G. We show that any graph G with at most θ(G) vertices satisfies the inequality. Among the graphs with more than θ(G) vertices, we find some graphs violating the inequality and show that dually chordal graphs and power-chordal graphs satisfy the inequality. Especially, we give an exact formula computing θ(T²) for a tree T.     

Containment properties of product and power graphs

In this paper, we study containment properties of graphs in relation with the Cartesian product operation. These results can be used to derive embedding results for interconnection networks for parallel architectures.First, we show that the isomorphism of two Cartesian powers G^r and H^r implies the isomorphism of G and H, while G^r⊆H^r does not imply G⊆H, even for the special cases when G and H are prime, and when they are connected and have the same number of nodes at the same time.Then, we find a simple sufficient condition under which the containment of products implies the containment of the factors: if , where all graphs G_i are connected and no graph H_j has 4-cycles, then each G_i is a subgraph of a different graph H_j. Hence, if G is connected and H has no 4-cycles, then G^r⊆H^r implies G⊆H.Finally, we focus on the particular case of products of graphs with the linear array. We show that the fact that G×L_n⊆H×L_n does not imply that G⊆H even in the case when G and H are connected and have the same number of nodes. However, we find a sufficient condition under which G×L_n⊆H×L_n implies G⊆H.     

Triangle-free partial graphs and edge covering theorems

In section 1 some lower bounds are given for the maximal number of edges ofa (p ? 1)- colorable partial graph. Among others we show that a graph on n vertices with m edges has a (p?1)-colorable partial graph with at least mT_n.p/(ⁿ₂) edges, where T_n.p denotes the so called Turán number. These results are used to obtain upper bounds for special edge covering numbers of graphs. In Section 2 we prove the following theorem: If G is a simple graph and μ is the maximal cardinality of a triangle-free edge set of G, then the edges of G can be covered by μ triangles and edges. In Section 3 related questions are examined.