Backbone colorings of graphs with bounded degree

We study backbone colorings, a variation on classical vertex colorings: Given a graph G and a subgraph H of G (the backbone of G), a backbone coloring for G and H is a proper vertex k-coloring of G in which the colors assigned to adjacent vertices in H differ by at least 2. The minimal k∈N for which such a coloring exists is called the backbone chromatic number of G. We show that for a graph G of maximum degree Δ where the backbone graph is a d-degenerated subgraph of G, the backbone chromatic number is at most Δ+d+1 and moreover, in the case when the backbone graph being a matching we prove that the backbone chromatic number is at most Δ+1. We also present examples where these bounds are attained.Finally, the asymptotic behavior of the backbone chromatic number is studied regarding the degrees of G and H. We prove for any sparse graph G that if the maximum degree of a backbone graph is small compared to the maximum degree of G, then the backbone chromatic number is at most .     

Multicuts in unweighted graphs and digraphs with bounded degree and bounded tree-width

The Multicut problem can be defined as: given a graph G and a collection of pairs of distinct vertices {s_i,t_i} of G, find a minimum set of edges of G whose removal disconnects each s_i from the corresponding t_i. Multicut is known to be NP-hard and Max SNP-hard even when the input graph is restricted to being a tree. The main result of the paper is a polynomial-time approximation scheme (PTAS) for Multicut in unweighted graphs with bounded degree and bounded tree-width. That is, for any ε>0, we present a polynomial-time (1+ε)-approximation algorithm. In the particular case when the input is a bounded-degree tree, we have a linear-time implementation of the algorithm. We also provide some hardness results: we prove that Multicut is still NP-hard for binary trees and that it is Max SNP-hard if we drop any of the three conditions (unweighted, bounded-degree, bounded tree-width). Finally we show that some of these results extend to the vertex version of Multicut and to a directed version of Multicut.     

Nonrepetitive colorings of graphs excluding a fixed immersion or topological minor

We prove that graphs excluding a fixed immersion have bounded nonrepetitive chromatic number. More generally, we prove that if is a fixed planar graph that has a planar embedding with all the vertices with degree at least 4 on a single face, then graphs excluding as a topological minor have bounded nonrepetitive chromatic number. This is the largest class of graphs known to have bounded nonrepetitive chromatic number.     

Nonrepetitive colorings of graphs

A coloring of the vertices of a graph G is nonrepetitive if there is no even path in G whose first half looks the same as the second half. This notion arose as an analogue of the famous nonrepetitive sequences of Thue. We consider here the list analogue and the game analogue of nonrepetitive colorings.     

Conditional colorings of graphs

For an integer r>0, a conditional(k,r)-coloring of a graph G is a proper k-coloring of the vertices of G such that every vertex of degree at least r in G will be adjacent to vertices with at least r different colors. The smallest integer k for which a graph G has a conditional (k,r)-coloring is the rth order conditional chromatic number χ_r(G). In this paper, the behavior and bounds of conditional chromatic number of a graph G are investigated.     

Nonrepetitive vertex colorings of graphs

We prove new upper bounds on the Thue chromatic number of an arbitrary graph and on the facial Thue chromatic number of a plane graph in terms of its maximum degree.     

Consecutive colorings of graphs

In a simple graphG=(X.E) a positive integerc _i is associated with every nodei. We consider node colorings where nodei receives a setS(i) ofc _i consecutive colors andS(i)S(j)=Ø whenever nodesi andj are linked inG. Upper bounds on the minimum number of colors needed are derived. The case of perfect graphs is discussed.

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Zusammenfassung In einem schlichten GraphenG=(X, E) gibt man jedem Knotenpunkti einen positiven ganzzahligen Wertc _i. Wir betrachten Färbungen der Knotenpunkte, bei denen jeder Knotenpunkti eine MengeS(i) vonc _i konsekutiven Farben erhält mitS(i)S(j)=Ø wenn die Kante [i.j] existiert. Obere Grenzen für die minimale Anzahl der Farben solcher Färbungen werden hergeleitet. Der Fall der perfekten Graphen wird auch kurz diskutiert.

     

Minimum cycle cover and Chinese postman problems on mixed graphs with bounded tree-width

Let M=(V,E,A) be a mixed graph with vertex set V, edge set E and arc set A. A cycle cover of M is a family C={C₁,…,C_k} of cycles of M such that each edge/arc of M belongs to at least one cycle in C. The weight of C is . The minimum cycle cover problem is the following: given a strongly connected mixed graph M without bridges, find a cycle cover of M with weight as small as possible. The Chinese postman problem is: given a strongly connected mixed graph M, find a minimum length closed walk using all edges and arcs of M. These problems are NP-hard. We show that they can be solved in polynomial time if M has bounded tree-width.     

Vertex‐distinguishing edge colorings of graphs

We consider lower bounds on the the vertex‐distinguishing edge chromatic number of graphs and prove that these are compatible with a conjecture of Burris and Schelp 8 . We also find upper bounds on this number for certain regular graphs G of low degree and hence verify the conjecture for a reasonably large class of such graphs. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 42: 95–109, 2003     

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     

Acyclic edge colorings of graphs

A proper coloring of the edges of a graph G is called acyclic if there is no 2‐colored cycle in G. The acyclic edge chromatic number of G, denoted by a′(G), is the least number of colors in an acyclic edge coloring of G. For certain graphs G, a′(G) ≥ Δ(G) + 2 where Δ(G) is the maximum degree in G. It is known that a′(G) ≤ 16 Δ(G) for any graph G. We prove that there exists a constant c such that a′(G) ≤ Δ(G) + 2 for any graph G whose girth is at least cΔ(G) log Δ(G), and conjecture that this upper bound for a′(G) holds for all graphs G. We also show that a′(G) ≤ Δ + 2 for almost all Δ‐regular graphs. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Graph Theory 37: 157–167, 2001     

Injective colorings of planar graphs with few colors

An injective coloring of a graph is a vertex coloring where two vertices have distinct colors if a path of length two exists between them. In this paper some results on injective colorings of planar graphs with few colors are presented. We show that all planar graphs of girth ≥ 19 and maximum degree Δ are injectively Δ-colorable. We also show that all planar graphs of girth ≥ 10 are injectively (Δ+1)-colorable, that Δ+4 colors are sufficient for planar graphs of girth ≥ 5 if Δ is large enough, and that subcubic planar graphs of girth ≥ 7 are injectively 5-colorable.     

Distinguishing colorings of Cartesian products of complete graphs

We determine the values of s and t for which there is a coloring of the edges of the complete bipartite graph K_s,t which admits only the identity automorphism. In particular, this allows us to determine the distinguishing number of the Cartesian product of complete graphs.     

Acrylic improper colorings of graphs

In this article, we introduce the new notion of acyclic improper colorings of graphs. An improper coloring of a graph is a vertex-coloring in which adjacent vertices are allowed to have the same color, but each color class V_i satisfies some condition depending on i. Such a coloring is acyclic if there are no alternating 2-colored cycles. We prove that every outerplanar graph can be acyclically 2-colored in such a way that each monochromatic subgraph has degree at most five and that this result is best possible. For planar graphs, we prove some negative results and state some open problems. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Graph Theory 32: 97–107, 1999     

Hall number for list colorings of graphs: Extremal results

Given a graph G=(V,E) and sets L(v) of allowed colors for each v∈V, a list coloring of G is an assignment of colors φ(v) to the vertices, such that φ(v)∈L(v) for all v∈V and φ(u)≠φ(v) for all uv∈E. The choice number of G is the smallest natural number k admitting a list coloring for G whenever |L(v)|≥k holds for every vertex v. This concept has an interesting variant, called Hall number, where an obvious necessary condition for colorability is put as a restriction on the lists L(v). (On complete graphs, this condition is equivalent to the well-known one in Hall’s Marriage Theorem.) We prove that vertex deletion or edge insertion in a graph of order n>3 may make the Hall number decrease by as much as n−3. This estimate is tight for all n. Tightness is deduced from the upper bound that every graph of order n has Hall number at most n−2. We also characterize the cases of equality; for n≥6 these are precisely the graphs whose complements are K₂∪(n−2)K₁, P₄∪(n−4)K₁, and C₅∪(n−5)K₁. Our results completely solve a problem raised by Hilton, Johnson and Wantland [A.J.W. Hilton, P.D. Johnson, Jr., E. B. Wantland, The Hall number of a simple graph, Congr. Numer. 121 (1996), 161-182, Problem 7] in terms of the number of vertices, and strongly improve some estimates due to Hilton and Johnson [A.J.W. Hilton, P.D. Johnson, Jr., The Hall number, the Hall index, and the total Hall number of a graph, Discrete Appl. Math. 94 (1999), 227-245] as a function of maximum degree.     

Equitable colorings of Kronecker products of graphs

For a positive integer k, a graph G is equitably k-colorable if there is a mapping f:V(G)→{1,2,…,k} such that f(x)≠f(y) whenever xy∈E(G) and ||f⁻¹(i)|−|f⁻¹(j)||≤1 for 1≤i<j≤k. The equitable chromatic number of a graph G, denoted by χ₌(G), is the minimum k such that G is equitably k-colorable. The equitable chromatic threshold of a graph G, denoted by , is the minimum t such that G is equitably k-colorable for k≥t. The current paper studies equitable chromatic numbers of Kronecker products of graphs. In particular, we give exact values or upper bounds on χ₌(G×H) and when G and H are complete graphs, bipartite graphs, paths or cycles.