The cochromatic index of a graph

We discuss partitions of the edge set of a graph into subsets which are uniform in their internal relationships; i.e., the edges are independent, they are incident with a common vertex (a star), or three edges meet in a triangle. We define the cochromatic index z′(G) of G to be the minimum number of subsets into which the edge set of G can be partitioned so that the edges in any subset are either mutually adjacent or independent.Several bounds for z′(G) are discussed. For example, it is shown that δ(G) - 1 ? z′(G)? Δ(G) + 1, with the lower bound being attained only for a complete graph. Here δ(G) and Δ(G) denote the minimum and maximum degrees of G, respectively. The cochromatic index is also found for complete n-partite graphs.Given a graph G define a sequence of graphs G₀, G₁,…, G_k, with G₀=G and

, with k being the first value of i for which G_i is regular. Let φ_i(G) = |V(G) – V(G_i| + Δ (G_i) and setφ(G) = min_0?i?kφ_i(G). We show that φ(G) ? 1 ?z′(G)?φ(G) + 1. We then s that a graph G is of class A, B or C, if z′(G) = φ(G) ? 1, φ(G), orφ(G) + 1, respectively. Examples of graphs of each class are presented; in particular, it is shown that any bipartite graph belongs to class B.Finally, we show that if a, b and c are positive integers with a?b?c + 1 and a?c, then unless a = c = b - 1 = 1, there exists a graph G having δ(G) = a, Δ(G) =c, and z′(G) = b.