On antimagic directed graphs

An antimagic labeling of an undirected graph G with n vertices and m edges is a bijection from the set of edges of G to the integers {1, …, m} such that all n vertex sums are pairwise distinct, where a vertex sum is the sum of labels of all edges incident with that vertex. A graph is called antimagic if it admits an antimagic labeling. In (N. Hartsfield and G. Ringel, Pearls in Graph Theory, Academic Press, Boston, 1990, pp. 108–109), Hartsfield and Ringel conjectured that every simple connected graph, other than K₂, is antimagic. Despite considerable effort in recent years, this conjecture is still open. In this article we study a natural variation; namely, we consider antimagic labelings of directed graphs. In particular, we prove that every directed graph whose underlying undirected graph is “dense” is antimagic, and that almost every undirected d‐regular graph admits an orientation which is antimagic. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 64: 219–232, 2010     

Anti‐magic graphs via the Combinatorial NullStellenSatz

An antimagic labeling of a graph with m edges and n vertices is a bijection from the set of edges to the integers 1,…,m such that all n vertex sums are pairwise distinct, where a vertex sum is the sum of labels of all edges incident with that vertex. A graph is called antimagic if it has an antimagic labeling. In [ 10 ], Ringel conjectured that every simple connected graph, other than K₂, is antimagic. We prove several special cases and variants of this conjecture. Our main tool is the Combinatorial NullStellenSatz (cf. [ 1 ]). © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory     

Regular bipartite graphs are antimagic

A labeling of a graph G is a bijection from E(G) to the set {1, 2,… |E(G)|}. A labeling is antimagic if for any distinct vertices u and v, the sum of the labels on edges incident to u is different from the sum of the labels on edges incident to v. We say a graph is antimagic if it has an antimagic labeling. In 1990, Hartsfield and Ringel conjectured that every connected graph other than K₂ is antimagic. In this article, we show that every regular bipartite graph (with degree at least 2) is antimagic. Our technique relies heavily on the Marriage Theorem. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 60: 173–182, 2009     

Construction of Antimagic Labeling for the Cartesian Product of Regular Graphs

An antimagic labeling of a graph with p vertices and q edges is a bijection from the set of edges to the set of integers {1, 2, . . . , q} such that all vertex weights are pairwise distinct, where a vertex weight is the sum of labels of all edges incident with the vertex. A graph is antimagic if it has an antimagic labeling. In 1990, Hartsfield and Ringel conjectured that that every connected graph, except K ₂, is antimagic. Recently, using completely separating systems, Phanalasy et al. showed that for each k 3 2, q 3 \binomk+12{k\geq 2,\,q\geq\binom{k+1}{2}} with k|2q, there exists an antimagic k-regular graph with q edges and p = 2q/k vertices. In this paper we prove constructively that certain families of Cartesian products of regular graphs are antimagic.     

Antimagic labelling of vertex weighted graphs

Suppose G is a graph, k is a non‐negative integer. We say G is k‐antimagic if there is an injection f: E→{1, 2, …, |E| + k} such that for any two distinct vertices u and v, . We say G is weighted‐k‐antimagic if for any vertex weight function w: V→?, there is an injection f: E→{1, 2, …, |E| + k} such that for any two distinct vertices u and v, . A well‐known conjecture asserts that every connected graph G≠K₂ is 0‐antimagic. On the other hand, there are connected graphs G≠K₂ which are not weighted‐1‐antimagic. It is unknown whether every connected graph G≠K₂ is weighted‐2‐antimagic. In this paper, we prove that if G has a universal vertex, then G is weighted‐2‐antimagic. If G has a prime number of vertices and has a Hamiltonian path, then G is weighted‐1‐antimagic. We also prove that every connected graph G≠K₂ on n vertices is weighted‐ ?3n/2?‐antimagic. Copyright © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory     

Fragile graphs with small independent cuts

A graph is called fragile if it has a vertex cut which is also an independent set. Chen and Yu proved that every graph with n vertices and at most 2n?4 edges is fragile, which was conjectured to be true by Caro. However, their proof does not give any information on the number of vertices in the independent cuts. The purpose of this paper is to investigate when a graph has a small independent cut. We show that if G is a graph on n vertices and at most (12n/7)?3 edges, then G contains an independent cut S with ∣S∣≤3. Upper bounds on the number of edges of a graph having an independent cut of size 1 or 2 are also obtained. We also show that for any positive integer k, there is a positive number ε such that there are infinitely many graphs G with n vertices and at most (2?ε)n edges, but G has no independent cut with less than k vertices. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 41: 327–341, 2002     

Closure for the property of having a hamiltonian prism

We prove that a graph G of order n has a hamiltonian prism if and only if the graph Cl_4n/3–4/3(G) has a hamiltonian prism where Cl_4n/3–4/3(G) is the graph obtained from G by sequential adding edges between non‐adjacent vertices whose degree sum is at least 4n/3–4/3. We show that this cannot be improved to less than 4n/3–5. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 54: 209–220, 2007     

A new class of antimagic Cartesian product graphs

An antimagic labeling of a finite undirected simple graph with m edges and n vertices is a bijection from the set of edges to the integers 1,…,m such that all n-vertex sums are pairwise distinct, where a vertex sum is the sum of labels of all edges incident with the same vertex. A graph is called antimagic if it has an antimagic labeling. In 1990, Hartsfield and Ringel [N. Hartsfield, G. Ringel, Pearls in Graph Theory, Academic Press, INC., Boston, 1990, pp. 108-109, Revised version, 1994] conjectured that every simple connected graph, except K₂, is antimagic. In this article, we prove that a new class of Cartesian product graphs are antimagic. In particular, by combining this result and the antimagicness result on toroidal grids (Cartesian products of two cycles) in [Tao-Ming Wang, Toroidal grids are anti-magic, in: Proc. 11th Annual International Computing and Combinatorics Conference COCOON’2005, in: LNCS, vol. 3595, Springer, 2005, pp. 671-679], all Cartesian products of two or more regular graphs of positive degree can be proved to be antimagic.     

Cycle and cocycle coverings of graphs

In this article, we show that for any simple, bridgeless graph G on n vertices, there is a family ?? of at most n?1 cycles which cover the edges of G at least twice. A similar, dual result is also proven for cocycles namely: for any loopless graph G on n vertices and ε edges having cogirth g^*?3 and k(G) components, there is a family of at most ε?n+k(G) cocycles which cover the edges of G at least twice. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 65: 270–284, 2010     

A Characterization of b‐Perfect Graphs

A b‐coloring is a coloring of the vertices of a graph such that each color class contains a vertex that has a neighbor in all other color classes, and the b‐chromatic number of a graph G is the largest integer k such that G admits a b‐coloring with k colors. A graph is b‐perfect if the b‐chromatic number is equal to the chromatic number for every induced subgraph of G. We prove that a graph is b‐perfect if and only if it does not contain as an induced subgraph a member of a certain list of 22 graphs. This entails the existence of a polynomial‐time recognition algorithm and of a polynomial‐time algorithm for coloring exactly the vertices of every b‐perfect graph. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 71:95–122, 2012     

Pentagons and cycle coverings

Let G be a graph of order n ≥ 5k + 2, where k is a positive integer. Suppose that the minimum degree of G is at least ?(n + k)/2?. We show that G contains k pentagons and a path such that they are vertex‐disjoint and cover all the vertices of G. Moreover, if n ≥ 5k + 7, then G contains k + 1 vertex‐disjoint cycles covering all the vertices of G such that k of them are pentagons. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 54: 194–208, 2007     

Polychromatic colorings of bounded degree plane graphs

A polychromatic k‐coloring of a plane graph G is an assignment of k colors to the vertices of G such that every face of G has all k colors on its boundary. For a given plane graph G, one seeks the maximum number k such that G admits a polychromatic k ‐coloring. In this paper, it is proven that every connected plane graph of order at least three, and maximum degree three, other than K₄ or a subdivision of K₄ on five vertices, admits a 3‐coloring in the regular sense (i.e., no monochromatic edges) that is also a polychromatic 3‐coloring. Our proof is constructive and implies a polynomial‐time algorithm. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 60: 269‐283, 2009     

On k‐ordered graphs

Ng and Schultz [J Graph Theory 1 ( 6 ), 45–57] introduced the idea of cycle orderability. For a positive integer k, a graph G is k‐ordered if for every ordered sequence of k vertices, there is a cycle that encounters the vertices of the sequence in the given order. If the cycle is also a Hamiltonian cycle, then G is said to be k‐ordered Hamiltonian. We give sum of degree conditions for nonadjacent vertices and neighborhood union conditions that imply a graph is k‐ordered Hamiltonian. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Graph Theory 35: 69–82, 2000     

6‐Star‐Coloring of Subcubic Graphs

A star coloring of an undirected graph G is a proper vertex coloring of G (i.e., no two adjacent vertices are assigned the same color) such that no path on four vertices is 2‐colored. The star chromatic number of G is the smallest integer k for which G admits a star coloring with k colors. In this paper, we prove that every subcubic graph is 6‐star‐colorable. Moreover, the upper bound 6 is best possible, based on the example constructed by Fertin, Raspaud, and Reed (J Graph Theory 47(3) (2004), 140–153).     

Nowhere‐zero 3‐flows in locally connected graphs

Let G be a graph. For each vertex v ∈V(G), N_v denotes the subgraph induces by the vertices adjacent to v in G. The graph G is locally k‐edge‐connected if for each vertex v ∈V(G), N_v is k‐edge‐connected. In this paper we study the existence of nowhere‐zero 3‐flows in locally k‐edge‐connected graphs. In particular, we show that every 2‐edge‐connected, locally 3‐edge‐connected graph admits a nowhere‐zero 3‐flow. This result is best possible in the sense that there exists an infinite family of 2‐edge‐connected, locally 2‐edge‐connected graphs each of which does not have a 3‐NZF. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 42: 211–219, 2003     

Hamiltonian cycles in n‐extendable graphs

A graph G of order at least 2n+2 is said to be n‐extendable if G has a perfect matching and every set of n independent edges extends to a perfect matching in G. We prove that every pair of nonadjacent vertices x and y in a connected n‐extendable graph of order p satisfy deg_G x+deg_G y ≥ p ? n ? 1, then either G is hamiltonian or G is isomorphic to one of two exceptional graphs. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 40: 75–82, 2002     

Vertex‐disjoint cycles of length at most four each of which contains a specified vertex*

We obtain a sharp minimum degree condition δ (G) ≥ of a graph G of order n ≥ 3k guaranteeing that, for any k distinct vertices, G contains k vertex‐disjoint cycles of length at most four each of which contains one of the k prescribed vertices. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Graph Theory 37: 37–47, 2001     

Non-traceability of large connected claw-free graphs

Let G be a connected claw-free graph on n vertices. Let ς₃(G) be the minimum degree sum among triples of independent vertices in G. It is proved that if ς₃(G) ≥ n − 3 then G is traceable or else G is one of graphs G_n each of which comprises three disjoint nontrivial complete graphs joined together by three additional edges which induce a triangle K₃. Moreover, it is shown that for any integer k ≥ 4 there exists a positive integer ν(k) such that if ς₃(G) ≥ n − k, n > ν(k) and G is non-traceable, then G is a factor of a graph G_n. Consequently, the problem HAMILTONIAN PATH restricted to claw-free graphs G = (V, E) (which is known to be NP-complete) has linear time complexity O(|E|) provided that ς₃(G) ≥ . This contrasts sharply with known results on NP-completeness among dense graphs. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Graph Theory 27: 75–86, 1998     

A lower bound for partial list colorings

Let G be an n-vertex graph with list-chromatic number χ_ℓ. Suppose that each vertex of G is assigned a list of t colors. Albertson, Grossman, and Haas [1] conjecture that at least t_n/χ_ℓ vertices can be colored from these lists. We prove a lower bound for the number of colorable vertices. As a corollary, we show that at least of the conjectured number can be colored. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Graph Theory 32: 390–393, 1999     

Total domination in graphs with minimum degree three

A set S of vertices of a graph G is a total dominating set, if every vertex of V(G) is adjacent to some vertex in S. The total domination number of G, denoted by γ_t(G), is the minimum cardinality of a total dominating set of G. We prove that, if G is a graph of order n with minimum degree at least 3, then γ_t(G) ≤ 7n/13. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Graph Theory 34:9–19, 2000