Adjacent vertex distinguishing total coloring of planar graphs with maximum degree 9

Let $k$ be a positive integer. An adjacent vertex distinguishing (for short, AVD) total-$k$-coloring of a graph $G$ is a proper total-$k$-coloring of $G$ such that any two adjacent vertices have different color sets, where the color set of a vertex $v$ contains the color of $v$ and the colors of its incident edges. It was conjectured that any graph with maximum degree $\Delta$ has an AVD total-($\Delta +3$)-coloring. The conjecture was confirmed for any graph with maximum degree at most 4 and any planar graph with maximum degree at least 10. In this paper, we verify the conjecture for all planar graphs with maximum degree at least 9. Moreover, we prove that any planar graph with maximum degree at least 10 has an AVD total-($\Delta +2$)-coloring and the bound $\Delta +2$ is sharp.     

Postman problems on series–parallel mixed graphs

Given a strongly connected, mixed graph with costs on its edges and arcs, the mixed postman problem is to find a minimum cost closed walk traversing its edges and arcs at least once. This problem is NP-hard even on planar graphs but is solvable in polynomial time on series–parallel graphs. We give $O\left(n{m}^2\right)$ dynamic programming algorithms for the mixed postman problem and other similar problems on series–parallel graphs with $n$ vertices and $m$ edges and arcs.     

Edge integrity of nearest neighbor graphs and separator theorems

We give upper bounds for the edge integrity and the vertex integrity of $k$-type nearest neighbor graphs in ${\mathbb{R}}^d$. For $n$ the order of a graph, examples are constructed to show that the bounds are best possible in the parameters $n$ and $k$. The results follow from decompositions that are shown for certain graphs that possess small edge or vertex separators. A vertex separator theorem for nearest neighbor graphs is known, and an edge separator theorem is shown. We also apply the decompositions to obtain upper bounds for the edge integrity of planar graphs, graphs of fixed genus, and trees.     

Induced saturation of graphs

A graph $G$ is $H$-saturated for a graph $H$, if $G$ does not contain a copy of $H$ but adding any new edge to $G$ results in such a copy. An $H$-saturated graph on a given number of vertices always exists and the properties of such graphs, for example their highest density, have been studied intensively.A graph $G$ is $H$-induced-saturated if $G$ does not have an induced subgraph isomorphic to $H$, but adding an edge to $G$ from its complement or deleting an edge from $G$ results in an induced copy of $H$. It is not immediate anymore that $H$-induced-saturated graphs exist. In fact, Martin and Smith (2012) showed that there is no $P_4$-induced-saturated graph. Behrens et al. (2016) proved that if $H$ belongs to a few simple classes of graphs such as a class of odd cycles of length at least 5, stars of size at least 2, or matchings of size at least 2, then there is an $H$-induced-saturated graph.This paper addresses the existence question for $H$-induced-saturated graphs. It is shown that Cartesian products of cliques are $H$-induced-saturated graphs for $H$ in several infinite families, including large families of trees. A complete characterization of all connected graphs $H$ for which a Cartesian product of two cliques is an $H$-induced-saturated graph is given. Finally, several results on induced saturation for prime graphs and families of graphs are provided.     

Spectra of strongly Deza graphs

A Deza graph G with parameters $(n,k,b,a)$ is a k-regular graph with n vertices such that any two distinct vertices have b or a common neighbours. The children $G_A$ and $G_B$ of a Deza graph G are defined on the vertex set of G such that every two distinct vertices are adjacent in $G_A$ or $G_B$ if and only if they have a or b common neighbours, respectively. A strongly Deza graph is a Deza graph with strongly regular children. In this paper we give a spectral characterisation of strongly Deza graphs, show relationships between eigenvalues, and study strongly Deza graphs which are distance-regular.     

Gallai’s path decomposition conjecture for triangle-free planar graphs

A path decomposition of a graph $G$ is a collection of edge-disjoint paths of $G$ that covers the edge set of $G$. Gallai (1968) conjectured that every connected graph on $n$ vertices admits a path decomposition of cardinality at most $?(n+1)∕2?$. Gallai’s Conjecture has been verified for many classes of graphs. In particular, Lovász (1968) verified this conjecture for graphs with at most one vertex with even degree, and Pyber (1996) verified it for graphs in which every cycle contains a vertex with odd degree. Recently, Bonamy and Perrett (2016) verified Gallai’s Conjecture for graphs with maximum degree at most 5, and Botler et al. (2017) verified it for graphs with treewidth at most 3. In this paper, we verify Gallai’s Conjecture for triangle-free planar graphs.     

H-free subgraphs of dense graphs maximizing the number of cliques and their blow-ups

We consider the structure of $H$-free subgraphs of graphs with high minimal degree. We prove that for every $k>m$ there exists an $???(k,m)>0$ so that the following holds. For every graph $H$ with chromatic number $k$ from which one can delete an edge and reduce the chromatic number, and for every graph $G$ on $n>n_0\left(H\right)$ vertices in which all degrees are at least $(1??)n$, any subgraph of $G$ which is $H$-free and contains the maximum number of copies of the complete graph $K_m$ is $(k?1)$-colorable.We also consider several extensions for the case of a general forbidden graph $H$ of a given chromatic number, and for subgraphs maximizing the number of copies of balanced blowups of complete graphs.     

On s-hamiltonian line graphs of claw-free graphs

For an integer $s\ge 0$, a graph $G$ is $s$-hamiltonian if for any vertex subset $S?V\left(G\right)$ with $\left|S\right|\le s$, $G?S$ is hamiltonian, and $G$ is $s$-hamiltonian connected if for any vertex subset $S?V\left(G\right)$ with $\left|S\right|\le s$, $G?S$ is hamiltonian connected. Thomassen in 1984 conjectured that every 4-connected line graph is hamiltonian (see Thomassen, 1986), and Ku?zel and Xiong in 2004 conjectured that every 4-connected line graph is hamiltonian connected (see Ryjá?ek and Vrána, 2011). In Broersma and Veldman (1987), Broersma and Veldman raised the characterization problem of $s$-hamiltonian line graphs. In Lai and Shao (2013), it is conjectured that for $s\ge 2$, a line graph $L\left(G\right)$ is $s$-hamiltonian if and only if $L\left(G\right)$ is $(s+2)$-connected. In this paper we prove the following.(i) For an integer $s\ge 2$, the line graph $L\left(G\right)$ of a claw-free graph $G$ is $s$-hamiltonian if and only if $L\left(G\right)$ is $(s+2)$-connected.(ii) The line graph $L\left(G\right)$ of a claw-free graph $G$ is 1-hamiltonian connected if and only if $L\left(G\right)$ is 4-connected.     

Generalized Turán problems for disjoint copies of graphs

Given two graphs $H$ and $F$, the maximum possible number of copies of $H$ in an $F$-free graph on $n$ vertices is denoted by $ex(n,H,F)$. We investigate the function $ex(n,H,kF)$, where $kF$ denotes $k$ vertex disjoint copies of a fixed graph $F$. Our results include cases when $F$ is a complete graph, cycle or a complete bipartite graph.     

Vertex partitions of (C3,C4,C6)-free planar graphs

A graph is $(k_1,k_2)$-colorable if it admits a vertex partition into a graph with maximum degree at most $k_1$ and a graph with maximum degree at most $k_2$. We show that every $(C_3,C_4,C_6)$-free planar graph is $(0,6)$-colorable. We also show that deciding whether a $(C_3,C_4,C_6)$-free planar graph is $(0,3)$-colorable is NP-complete.     

Improved square coloring of planar graphs

Square coloring is a variant of graph coloring where vertices within distance two must receive different colors. When considering planar graphs, the most famous conjecture (Wegner, 1977) states that $\frac{3}{2}\mathrm{\Delta }+1$ colors are sufficient to square color every planar graph of maximum degree Δ. This conjecture has been proven asymptotically for graphs with large maximum degree. We consider here planar graphs with small maximum degree and show that $2\mathrm{\Delta }+7$ colors are sufficient, which improves the best known bounds when $6?\mathrm{\Delta }?31$.     

A constructive characterization of contraction critical 8-connected graphs with minimum degree 9

An edge of a $k$-connected graph is said to be $k$-contractible if its contraction results in a $k$-connected graph. A $k$-connected graph without $k$-contractible edge is said to be contraction critically $k$-connected. Y. Egawa and W. Mader, independently, showed that the minimum degree of a contraction critical $k$-connected graph is at most $\frac{5k}{4}?1$. Hence, the minimum degree of a contraction critical 8-connected graph is either 8 or 9. This paper shows that a graph $G$ is a contraction critical 8-connected graph with minimum degree 9 if and only if $G$ is the strong product of a contraction critical 4-connected graph $H$ and $K_2$.