Induced Cycles in Graphs

The maximum number vertices of a graph G inducing a 2-regular subgraph of G is denoted by \(c_\mathrm{ind}(G)\). We prove that if G is an r-regular graph of order n, then \(c_\mathrm{ind}(G) \ge \frac{n}{2(r-1)} + \frac{1}{(r-1)(r-2)}\) and we prove that if G is a cubic, claw-free graph on order n, then \(c_\mathrm{ind}(G) > \frac{13}{20}n\) and this bound is asymptotically best possible.     

Rainbow Connection Number and Independence Number of a Graph

A path in an edge-colored graph is called rainbow if any two edges of the path have distinct colors. An edge-colored graph is called rainbow connected if there exists a rainbow path between every two vertices of the graph. For a connected graph G, the minimum number of colors that are needed to make G rainbow connected is called the rainbow connection number of G, denoted by rc(G). In this paper, we investigate the relation between the rainbow connection number and the independence number of a graph. We show that if G is a connected graph without pendant vertices, then \(\mathrm{rc}(G)\le 2\alpha (G)-1\). An example is given showing that the upper bound \(2\alpha (G)-1\) is equal to the diameter of G, and so the upper bound is sharp since the diameter of G is a lower bound of \(\mathrm{rc}(G)\).     

Graphs with small total rainbow connection number

A total-colored path is total rainbow if its edges and internal vertices have distinct colors. A total-colored graph G is total rainbow connected if any two distinct vertices are connected by some total rainbow path. The total rainbow connection number of G, denoted by trc(G), is the smallest number of colors required to color the edges and vertices of G in order to make G total rainbow connected. In this paper, we investigate graphs with small total rainbow connection number. First, for a connected graph G, we prove that \({\text{trc(G) = 3 if}}\left( {\begin{array}{*{20}{c}}{n - 1} \\2\end{array}} \right) + 1 \leqslant \left| {{\text{E(G)}}} \right| \leqslant \left( {\begin{array}{*{20}{c}}n \\2\end{array}} \right) - 1\), and \({\text{trc(G)}} \leqslant {\text{6 if }}\left| {{\text{E(G)}}} \right| \geqslant \left( {\begin{array}{*{20}{c}}{n - 2} \\2\end{array}} \right) + 2\). Next, we investigate the total rainbow connection numbers of graphs G with |V(G)| = n, diam(G) ≥ 2, and clique number ω(G) = n ? s for 1 ≤ s ≤ 3. In this paper, we find Theorem 3 of [Discuss. Math. Graph Theory, 2011, 31(2): 313–320] is not completely correct, and we provide a complete result for this theorem.     

On a theorem of Halin

This note presents a new, elementary proof of a generalization of a theorem of Halin to graphs with unbounded degrees, which is then applied to show that every connected, countably infinite graph G, with \(\aleph _0 \le |{\text {Aut}}(G)| < 2^{\aleph _0}\) and subdegree-finite automorphism group, has a finite set F of vertices that is setwise stabilized only by the identity automorphism. A bound on the size of such sets, which are called distinguishing, is also provided. To put this theorem of Halin and its generalization into perspective, we also discuss several related non-elementary, independent results and their methods of proof.     

Nordhaus–Gaddum Results for the Induced Path Number of a Graph When Neither the Graph Nor Its Complement Contains Isolates

The induced path number \(\rho (G)\) of a graph G is defined as the minimum number of subsets into which the vertex set of G can be partitioned so that each subset induces a path. A product Nordhaus–Gaddum-type result is a bound on the product of a parameter of a graph and its complement. Hattingh et al. (Util Math 94:275–285, 2014) showed that if G is a graph of order n, then \(\lceil \frac{n}{4} \rceil \le \rho (G) \rho (\overline{G}) \le n \lceil \frac{n}{2} \rceil \), where these bounds are best possible. It was also noted that the upper bound is achieved when either G or \(\overline{G}\) is a graph consisting of n isolated vertices. In this paper, we determine best possible upper and lower bounds for \(\rho (G) \rho (\overline{G})\) when either both G and \(\overline{G}\) are connected or neither G nor \(\overline{G}\) has isolated vertices.     

On Modular Edge-Graceful Graphs

Let G be a connected graph of order \({n\ge 3}\) and size m and \({f:E(G)\to \mathbb{Z}_n}\) an edge labeling of G. Define a vertex labeling \({f': V(G)\to \mathbb{Z}_n}\) by \({f'(v)= \sum_{u\in N(v)}f(uv)}\) where the sum is computed in \({\mathbb{Z}_n}\) . If f′ is one-to-one, then f is called a modular edge-graceful labeling and G is a modular edge-graceful graph. A graph G is modular edge-graceful if G contains a modular edge-graceful spanning tree. Several classes of modular edge-graceful trees are determined. For a tree T of order n where \({n\not\equiv 2 \pmod 4}\) , it is shown that if T contains at most two even vertices or the set of even vertices of T induces a path, then T is modular edge-graceful. It is also shown that every tree of order n where \({n\not\equiv 2\pmod 4}\) having diameter at most 5 is modular edge-graceful.     

On color-preserving automorphisms of Cayley graphs of odd square-free order

An automorphism \(\alpha \) of a Cayley graph \(\mathrm{Cay}(G,S)\) of a group G with connection set S is color-preserving if \(\alpha (g,gs) = (h,hs)\) or \((h,hs^{-1})\) for every edge \((g,gs)\in E(\mathrm{Cay}(G,S))\). If every color-preserving automorphism of \(\mathrm{Cay}(G,S)\) is also affine, then \(\mathrm{Cay}(G,S)\) is a Cayley color automorphism (CCA) graph. If every Cayley graph \(\mathrm{Cay}(G,S)\) is a CCA graph, then G is a CCA group. Hujdurovi? et al. have shown that every non-CCA group G contains a section isomorphic to the non-abelian group \(F_{21}\) of order 21. We first show that there is a unique non-CCA Cayley graph \(\Gamma \) of \(F_{21}\). We then show that if \(\mathrm{Cay}(G,S)\) is a non-CCA graph of a group G of odd square-free order, then \(G = H\times F_{21}\) for some CCA group H, and \(\mathrm{Cay}(G,S) = \mathrm{Cay}(H,T)\mathbin {\square }\Gamma \).     

Total Rainbow Connection Number and Complementary Graph

A vertex-colored graph G is rainbow vertex connected if any two distinct vertices are connected by a path whose internal vertices have distinct colors. The rainbow vertex connection number of G, denoted by rvc(G), is the smallest number of colors that are needed in order to make G rainbow vertex connected. In this paper, we prove that for a connected graph G, if \({{\rm diam}(\overline{G}) \geq 3}\), then \({{\rm rvc}(G) \leq 2}\), and this bound is tight. Next, we obtain that for a triangle-free graph \({\overline{G}}\) with \({{\rm diam}(\overline{G}) = 2}\), if G is connected, then \({{\rm rvc}(G) \leq 2}\), and this bound is tight. A total-colored path is total rainbow if its edges and internal vertices have distinct colors. A total-colored graph G is total rainbow connected if any two distinct vertices are connected by some total rainbow path. The total rainbow connection number of G, denoted by trc(G), is the smallest number of colors required to color the edges and vertices of G in order to make G total rainbow connected. In this paper, we prove that for a triangle-free graph \({\overline{G}}\) with \({{\rm diam}(\overline{G}) = 3}\), if G is connected, then trc\({(G) \leq 5}\), and this bound is tight. Next, a Nordhaus–Gaddum-type result for the total rainbow connection number is provided. We show that if G and \({\overline{G}}\) are both connected, then \({6 \leq {\rm trc} (G) + {\rm trc}(\overline{G}) \leq 4n - 6.}\) Examples are given to show that the lower bound is tight for \({n \geq 7}\) and n = 5. Tight lower bounds are also given for n = 4, 6.     

The power graph on the conjugacy classes of a finite group

A digraph \({\overrightarrow{\mathcal{Pc}}(G)}\) is said to be the directed power graph on the conjugacy classes of a group G, if its vertices are the non-trivial conjugacy classes of G, and there is an arc from vertex C to C′ if and only if \({C \neq C'}\) and \({C \subseteqq {C'}^{m}}\) for some positive integer \({m > 0}\). Moreover, the simple graph \({\mathcal{Pc}(G)}\) is said to be the (undirected) power graph on the conjugacy classes of a group G if its vertices are the conjugacy classes of G and two distinct vertices C and C′ are adjacent in \({\mathcal{Pc}(G)}\) if one is a subset of a power of the other. In this paper, we find some connections between algebraic properties of some groups and properties of the associated graph.     

On the Maximum Weight of a Sparse Connected Graph of Given Order and Size

The weight of an edge of a graph is defined to be the sum of degrees of vertices incident to the edge. The weight of a graph G is the minimum of weights of edges of G. Jendrol’ and Schiermeyer (Combinatorica 21:351–359, 2001) determined the maximum weight of a graph having n vertices and m edges, thus solving a problem posed in 1990 by Erd?s. The present paper is concerned with a modification of the mentioned problem, in which involved graphs are connected and of size \(m\le \left( {\begin{array}{c}n\\ 2\end{array}}\right) -\left( {\begin{array}{c}\lceil n/2\rceil \\ 2\end{array}}\right) \).     

Edge clique covering sum of graphs

The edge clique cover sum number (resp. edge clique partition sum number) of a graph G, denoted by scc(G) (resp. scp(G)), is defined as the smallest integer k for which there exists a collection of complete subgraphs of G, covering (resp. partitioning) all edges of G such that the sum of sizes of the cliques is at most k. By definition, scc(G) \({\leqq}\) scp(G). Also, it is known that for every graph G on n vertices, scp(G) \({\leqq n^{2}/2}\). In this paper, among some other results, we improve this bound for scc(G). In particular, we prove that if G is a graph on n vertices with no isolated vertex and the maximum degree of the complement of G is d ? 1, for some integer d, then scc(G) \({\leqq cnd\left\lceil\log \left(({n-1})/(d-1)\right)\right\rceil}\), where c is a constant. Moreover, we conjecture that this bound is best possible up to a constant factor. Using a well-known result by Bollobás on set systems, we prove that this conjecture is true at least for d = 2. Finally, we give an interpretation of this conjecture as an interesting set system problem which can be viewed as a multipartite generalization of Bollobás’ two families theorem.     

Critical Independent Sets and König–Egerváry Graphs

A set S of vertices is independent or stable in a graph G, and we write S ∈ Ind (G), if no two vertices from S are adjacent, and α(G) is the cardinality of an independent set of maximum size, while core(G) denotes the intersection of all maximum independent sets. G is called a König–Egerváry graph if its order equals α(G) + μ(G), where μ(G) denotes the size of a maximum matching. The number def (G) = | V(G) | ?2μ(G) is the deficiency of G. The number \({d(G)=\max\{\left\vert S\right\vert -\left\vert N(S)\right\vert :S\in\mathrm{Ind}(G)\}}\) is the critical difference of G. An independent set A is critical if \({\left\vert A\right\vert -\left\vert N(A)\right\vert =d(G)}\) , where N(S) is the neighborhood of S, and α _c (G) denotes the maximum size of a critical independent set. Larson (Eur J Comb 32:294–300, 2011) demonstrated that G is a König–Egerváry graph if and only if there exists a maximum independent set that is also critical, i.e., α _c (G) = α(G). In this paper we prove that: (i) \({d(G)=\left \vert \mathrm{core}(G) \right \vert -\left \vert N (\mathrm{core}(G))\right\vert =\alpha(G)-\mu(G)=def \left(G\right)}\) holds for every König–Egerváry graph G; (ii) G is König–Egerváry graph if and only if each maximum independent set of G is critical.     

Decomposing Oriented Graphs into Six Locally Irregular Oriented Graphs

An undirected graph G is locally irregular if every two of its adjacent vertices have distinct degrees. We say that G is decomposable into k locally irregular graphs if there exists a partition \(E_1 \cup E_2 \cup \cdots \cup E_k\) of the edge set E(G) such that each \(E_i\) induces a locally irregular graph. It was recently conjectured by Baudon et al. that every undirected graph admits a decomposition into at most three locally irregular graphs, except for a well-characterized set of indecomposable graphs. We herein consider an oriented version of this conjecture. Namely, can every oriented graph be decomposed into at most three locally irregular oriented graphs, i.e. whose adjacent vertices have distinct outdegrees? We start by supporting this conjecture by verifying it for several classes of oriented graphs. We then prove a weaker version of this conjecture. Namely, we prove that every oriented graph can be decomposed into at most six locally irregular oriented graphs. We finally prove that even if our conjecture were true, it would remain NP-complete to decide whether an oriented graph is decomposable into at most two locally irregular oriented graphs.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">s</Emphasis>-Vertex Pancyclic Index

A graph G is vertex pancyclic if for each vertex \({v \in V(G)}\) , and for each integer k with 3 ≤ k ≤ |V(G)|, G has a k-cycle C _k such that \({v \in V(C_k)}\) . Let s ≥ 0 be an integer. If the removal of at most s vertices in G results in a vertex pancyclic graph, we say G is an s-vertex pancyclic graph. Let G be a simple connected graph that is not a path, cycle or K _1,3. Let l(G) = max{m : G has a divalent path of length m that is not both of length 2 and in a K ₃}, where a divalent path in G is a path whose interval vertices have degree two in G. The s-vertex pancyclic index of G, written vp _s (G), is the least nonnegative integer m such that L ^m (G) is s-vertex pancyclic. We show that for a given integer s ≥ 0,

$vp_s(G)\le \left\{\begin{array}{l@{\quad}l}\qquad\quad\quad\,\,\,\,\,\,\, l(G)+s+1: \quad {\rm if} \,\, 0 \le s \le 4 \\ l(G)+\lceil {\rm log}_2(s-2) \rceil+4: \quad {\rm if} \,\, s \ge 5 \end{array}\right.$

And we improve the bound for essentially 3-edge-connected graphs. The lower bound and whether the upper bound is sharp are also discussed.

     

Induced-Universal Graphs for Graphs with Bounded Maximum Degree

For a family \(\mathcal {F}\) of graphs, a graph U is induced-universal for \({\mathcal{F}}\) if every graph in \({\mathcal{F}}\) is an induced subgraph of U. We give a construction for an induced-universal graph for the family of graphs on n vertices with degree at most r, which has \(Cn^{\lfloor (r+1)/2\rfloor}\) vertices and \(Dn^{2\lfloor (r+1)/2\rfloor -1}\) edges, where C and D are constants depending only on r. This construction is nearly optimal when r is even in that such an induced-universal graph must have at least cn ^r/2 vertices for some c depending only on r.Our construction is explicit in that no probabilistic tools are needed to show that the graph exists or that a given graph is induced-universal. The construction also extends to multigraphs and directed graphs with bounded degree.     

Approximate results for rainbow labelings

A simple graph \(G=(V,\,E)\) is said to be antimagic if there exists a bijection \(f{\text {:}}\,E\rightarrow [1,\,|E|]\) such that the sum of the values of f on edges incident to a vertex takes different values on distinct vertices. The graph G is distance antimagic if there exists a bijection \(f{\text {:}}\,V\rightarrow [1,\, |V|],\) such that \(\forall x,\,y\in V,\)

$$\begin{aligned} \sum _{x_i\in N(x)}f\left( x_i\right) \ne \sum _{x_j\in N(y)}f\left( x_j\right) . \end{aligned}$$

Using the polynomial method of Alon we prove that there are antimagic injections of any graph G with n vertices and m edges in the interval \([1,\,2n+m-4]\) and, for trees with k inner vertices, in the interval \([1,\,m+k].\) In particular, a tree all of whose inner vertices are adjacent to a leaf is antimagic. This gives a partial positive answer to a conjecture by Hartsfield and Ringel. We also show that there are distance antimagic injections of a graph G with order n and maximum degree \(\Delta \) in the interval \([1,\,n+t(n-t)],\) where \( t=\min \{\Delta ,\,\lfloor n/2\rfloor \},\) and, for trees with k leaves, in the interval \([1,\, 3n-4k].\) In particular, all trees with \(n=2k\) vertices and no pairs of leaves sharing their neighbour are distance antimagic, a partial solution to a conjecture of Arumugam.

     

Relationships Between the 2-Metric Dimension and the 2-Adjacency Dimension in the Lexicographic Product of Graphs

Given a connected simple graph \(G=(V(G),E(G))\), a set \(S\subseteq V(G)\) is said to be a 2-metric generator for G if and only if for any pair of different vertices \(u,v\in V(G)\), there exist at least two vertices \(w_1,w_2\in S\) such that \(d_G(u,w_i)\ne d_G(v,w_i)\), for every \(i\in \{1,2\}\), where \(d_G(x,y)\) is the length of a shortest path between x and y. The minimum cardinality of a 2-metric generator is the 2-metric dimension of G, denoted by \(\dim _2(G)\). The metric \(d_{G,2}: V(G)\times V(G)\longmapsto {\mathbb {N}}\cup \{0\}\) is defined as \(d_{G,2}(x,y)=\min \{d_G(x,y),2\}\). Now, a set \(S\subseteq V(G)\) is a 2-adjacency generator for G, if for every two vertices \(x,y\in V(G)\) there exist at least two vertices \(w_1,w_2\in S\), such that \(d_{G,2}(x,w_i)\ne d_{G,2}(y,w_i)\) for every \(i\in \{1,2\}\). The minimum cardinality of a 2-adjacency generator is the 2-adjacency dimension of G, denoted by \({\mathrm {adim}}_2(G)\). In this article, we obtain closed formulae for the 2-metric dimension of the lexicographic product \(G\circ H\) of two graphs G and H. Specifically, we show that \(\dim _2(G\circ H)=n\cdot {\mathrm {adim}}_2(H)+f(G,H),\) where \(f(G,H)\ge 0\), and determine all the possible values of f(G, H).     

Solution to a Problem on Hamiltonicity of Graphs Under Ore- and Fan-Type Heavy Subgraph Conditions

A graph G is called claw-o-heavy if every induced claw (\(K_{1,3}\)) of G has two end-vertices with degree sum at least |V(G)|. For a given graph S,  G is called S-f-heavy if for every induced subgraph H of G isomorphic to S and every pair of vertices \(u,v\in V(H)\) with \(d_H(u,v)=2,\) there holds \(\max \{d(u),d(v)\}\ge |V(G)|/2.\) In this paper, we prove that every 2-connected claw-o-heavy and \(Z_3\)-f-heavy graph is hamiltonian (with two exceptional graphs), where \(Z_3\) is the graph obtained by identifying one end-vertex of \(P_4\) (a path with 4 vertices) with one vertex of a triangle. This result gives a positive answer to a problem proposed Ning and Zhang (Discrete Math 313:1715–1725, 2013), and also implies two previous theorems of Faudree et al. and Chen et al., respectively.     

On eigenvalues of Seidel matrices and Haemers’ conjecture

For a graph G, let S(G) be the Seidel matrix of G and \({\theta }_1(G),\ldots ,{\theta }_n(G)\) be the eigenvalues of S(G). The Seidel energy of G is defined as \(|{\theta }_1(G)|+\cdots +|{\theta }_n(G)|\). Willem Haemers conjectured that the Seidel energy of any graph with n vertices is at least \(2n-2\), the Seidel energy of the complete graph with n vertices. Motivated by this conjecture, we prove that for any \(\alpha \) with \(0<\alpha <2,|{\theta }_1(G)|^\alpha +\cdots +|{\theta }_n(G)|^\alpha \geqslant (n-1)^\alpha +n-1\) if and only if \(|\hbox {det}\,S(G)|\geqslant n-1\). This, in particular, implies the Haemers’ conjecture for all graphs G with \(|\hbox {det}\,S(G)|\geqslant n-1\). A computation on the fraction of graphs with \(|\hbox {det}\,S(G)|<n-1\) is reported. Motivated by that, we conjecture that almost all graphs G of order n satisfy \(|\hbox {det}\,S(G)|\geqslant n-1\). In connection with this conjecture, we note that almost all graphs of order n have a Seidel energy of order \(\Theta (n^{3/2})\). Finally, we prove that self-complementary graphs G of order \(n\equiv 1\pmod 4\) have \(\det S(G)=0\).     

Some class 1 graphs on <Emphasis Type="Italic">g</Emphasis><Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">c</Emphasis></Subscript>-colorings

An edge-coloring of a graph G is an assignment of colors to all the edges of G. A g _c -coloring of a graph G is an edge-coloring of G such that each color appears at each vertex at least g(v) times. The maximum integer k such that G has a g _c -coloring with k colors is called the g _c -chromatic index of G and denoted by \(\chi\prime_{g_{c}}\)(G). In this paper, we extend a result on edge-covering coloring of Zhang and Liu in 2011, and give a new sufficient condition for a simple graph G to satisfy \(\chi\prime_{g_{c}}\)(G) = δ _g (G), where \(\delta_{g}\left(G\right) = min_{v\epsilon V (G)}\left\{\lfloor\frac{d\left(v\right)}{g\left(v\right)}\rfloor\right\}\).