We show that the independence complex of a chordal graph is contractible if and only if this complex is dismantlable (strong collapsible) and it is homotopy equivalent to a sphere if and only if its core is a cross-polytopal sphere. The proof uses the properties of tree models of chordal graphs.
A forest is the clique complex of a strongly chordal graph and a quasi-forest is the clique complex of a chordal graph. Kruskal--Katona type theorems for forests, quasi-forests, pure forests and pure quasi-forests will be presented. In addition, it will be shown that a quasi-forest is shellable if and only if its $h$-vector $(h_0, h_1, h_2, ...)$ satisfies $h_i = 0$ for $i > 1$.
We generalize the fundamental graph-theoretic notion of chordality for higher dimensional simplicial complexes by putting it into a proper context within homology theory. We generalize some of the classical results of graph chordality to this generality, including the fundamental relation to the Leray property and chordality theorems of Dirac.
Let $G$ be a graph on $V$. A vertex subset $S \subset V$ is called a cover of $G$ if its complement is an independent set, and $S$ is called a noncover if it is not a cover of $G$. A noncover complex $NC(G)$ of $G$ is the simplicial complex on $V$ whose faces are noncovers of $G$. The independence domination number $ iγ(G)$ of $G$ is the minimum integer $k$ such that every independent set of $G$ can be dominated by $k$ vertices. In this note, we prove that $NC(G)$ is $(|V|- iγ(G)-1)$-collapsible.
A recent conjecture that appeared in three papers by Bigdeli--Faridi, Dochtermann, and Nikseresht, is that every simplicial complex whose clique complex has shellable Alexander dual, is ridge-chordal. This strengthens the long-standing Simon's conjecture that the $k$-skeleton of the simplex is extendably shellable, for any $k$. We show that the stronger conjecture has a negative answer, by exhibiting an infinite family of counterexamples.
Let $G$ be a chordal graph and $I(G)$ its edge ideal. Let $β(I(G)) = (β_0, β_1, ..., β_p)$ denote the Betti sequence of $I(G)$, where $β_i$ stands for the $i$th total Betti number of $I(G)$ and where $p$ is the projective dimension of $I(G)$. It will be shown that there exists a simplicial complex $Δ$ of dimension $p$ whose $f$-vector $f (Δ) = (f_0, f_1, ..., f_p)$ coincides with $β(I(G))$.
In this paper we introduce a class of hypergraphs that we call chordal. We also extend the definition of triangulated hypergraphs, given in \cite{VT}, so that a triangulated hypergraph, according to our definition, is a natural generalization of a chordal (rigid circuit) graph. In \cite{F1}, Fröberg shows that the chordal graphs corresponds to graph algebras, $R/I(\mc{G})$, with linear resolutions. We extend Fröberg's method and show that the hypergraph algebras of generalized chordal hypergraphs, a class of hypergraphs that includes the chordal hypergraphs, have linear resolutions. The defini…
We introduce the notion of k-hyperclique complexes, i.e., the largest simplicial complexes on the set [n] with a fixed k-skeleton. These simplicial complexes are a higher-dimensional analogue of clique (or flag) complexes (case k=2) and they are a rich new class of simplicial complexes. We show that Dirac's theorem on chordal graphs has a higher-dimensional analogue in which graphs and clique complexes get replaced, respectively, by simplicial matroids and k-hyperclique complexes. We prove also a higher-dimensional analogue of Stanley's reformulation of Dirac's theorem on chordal graphs.
We generalize some homotopy calculation techniques such as splittings and matching trees that are introduced for the computations in the case of the independence complexes of graphs to arbitrary simplicial complexes, and exemplify their efficiency on some simplicial complexes, the devoid complexes of graphs, which are simplicial complexes parametrized by graphs. Additionally, we compute the homotopy type of dominance complexes of chordal graphs.
A graph $G$ is said to be chordal if it has no induced cycles of length four or more. In a recent preprint Culbertson, Guralnik, and Stiller give a new characterization of chordal graphs in terms of sequences of what they call `edge-erasures'. We show that these moves are in fact equivalent to a linear quotient ordering on $I_{\overline{G}}$, the edge ideal of the complement graph. Known results imply that $I_{\overline G}$ has linear quotients if and only if $G$ is chordal, and hence this recovers an algebraic proof of their characterization. We investigate higher-dimensional analogues of thi…
For $r\geq 1$, the $r$-independence complex of a graph $G$, denoted Ind$_r(G)$, is a simplicial complex whose faces are subsets $A \subseteq V(G)$ such that each component of the induced subgraph $G[A]$ has at most $r$ vertices. In this article, we establish a relation between the distance $r$-domination number of $G$ and (homological) connectivity of Ind$_r(G)$. We also prove that Ind$_r(G)$, for a chordal graph $G$, is either contractible or homotopy equivalent to a wedge of spheres. Given a wedge of spheres, we also provide a construction of a chordal graph whose $r$-independence complex ha…
Given a graph $G$, the non-cover complex of $G$ is the combinatorial Alexander dual of the independence complex of $G$. Aharoni asked if the non-cover complex of a graph $G$ without isolated vertices is $(|V(G)|-i γ(G)-1)$-collapsible where $i γ(G)$ denotes the independent domination number of $G$. Extending a result by the second author, who verified Aharoni's question in the affirmative for chordal graphs, we prove that the answer to the question is yes for all graphs. Namely, we show that for a graph $G$, the non-cover complex of a graph $G$ is $(|V(G)|-i γ(G)-1)$-collapsible.
We prove that for all $d \geq 1$ a shellable $d$-dimensional simplicial complex with at most $d+3$ vertices is extendably shellable. The proof involves considering the structure of `exposed' edges in chordal graphs as well as a connection to linear quotients of quadratic monomial ideals.
The clique complex of a graph G is a simplicial complex whose simplices are all the cliques of G, and the line graph L(G) of G is a graph whose vertices are the edges of G and the edges of L(G) are incident edges of G. In this article, we determine the homotopy type of the clique complexes of line graphs for several classes of graphs including triangle-free graphs, chordal graphs, complete multipartite graphs, wheel-free graphs, and 4-regular circulant graphs. We also give a closed form formula for the homotopy type of these complexes in several cases.
If $K$ is a simplicial complex on $m$ vertices the flagification of $K$ is the minimal flag complex $K^f$ on the same vertex set that contains $K$. Letting $L$ be the set of vertices, there is a sequence of simplicial inclusions $L\to K\to K^f$. This induces a sequence of maps of polyhedral products $(\underline X,\underline A)^L\stackrel g\longrightarrow(\underline X,\underline A)^K\stackrel f\longrightarrow (\underline X,\underline A)^{K^f}$. We show that $Ωf$ and $Ωf\circΩg$ have right homotopy inverses and draw consequences. For a flag complex $K$ the polyhedral product of the form $(\unde…