The induced odd cycle packing number $iocp(G)$ of a graph $G$ is the maximum integer $k$ such that $G$ contains an induced subgraph consisting of $k$ pairwise vertex-disjoint odd cycles. Motivated by applications to geometric graphs, Bonamy et al.~\cite{indoc} proved that graphs of bounded induced odd cycle packing number, bounded VC dimension, and linear independence number admit a randomized EPTAS for the independence number. We show that the assumption of bounded VC dimension is not necessary, exhibiting a randomized algorithm that for any integers $k\ge 0$ and $t\ge 1$ and any $n$-vertex graph $G$ of induced odd cycle packing number at most $k$ returns in time $O_{k,t}(n^{k+4})$ an independent set of $G$ whose size is at least $α(G)-n/t$ with high probability. In addition, we present $χ$-boundedness results for graphs with bounded odd cycle packing number, and use them to design a QPTAS for the independence number only assuming bounded induced odd cycle packing number.
Although it has recently been proved that the packing chromatic number is unbounded on the class of subcubic graphs, there exists subclasses in which the packing chromatic number is finite (and small). These subclasses include subcubic trees, base-3 Sierpi{ń}ski graphs and hexagonal lattices.In this paper we are interested in the packing chromatic number of subcubic outerplanar graphs. We provide asymptotic bounds depending on structural properties of the outerplanar graphs and determine sharper bounds for some classes of subcubic outerplanar graphs.
An $i$-packing in a graph $G$ is a set of vertices at pairwise distance greater than $i$. For a nondecreasing sequence of integers $S=(s\_{1},s\_{2},\ldots)$, the $S$-packing chromatic number of a graph $G$ is the least integer $k$ such that there exists a coloring of $G$ into $k$ colors where each set of vertices colored $i$, $i=1,\ldots, k$, is an $s\_i$-packing. This paper describes various subdivisions of an $i$-packing into $j$-packings ($j\textgreater{}i$) for the hexagonal, square and triangular lattices. These results allow us to bound the $S$-packing chromatic number for these graphs,…
Using a SAT-solver on top of a partial previously-known solution we improve the upper bound of the packing chromatic number of the infinite square lattice from 17 to 15. We discuss the merits of SAT-solving for this kind of problem as well as compare the performance of different encodings. Further, we improve the lower bound from 12 to 13 again using a SAT-solver, demonstrating the versatility of this technology for our approach.
The packing chromatic number $χ_ρ(G)$ of a graph $G$ is the smallest integer $k$ such that vertices of $G$ can be partitioned into disjoint classes $X_1, ..., X_k$ where vertices in $X_i$ have pairwise distance greater than $i$. We study the packing chromatic number of infinite distance graphs $G(Z, D)$, i.e. graphs with the set $Z$ of integers as vertex set and in which two distinct vertices $i, j \in Z$ are adjacent if and only if $|i - j| \in D$. In this paper we focus on distance graphs with $D = \{1, t\}$. We improve some results of Togni who initiated the study. It is shown that $χ_ρ(G(Z…
The packing chromatic number $χ$ $ρ$ (G) of a graph G is the smallest integer k such that its set of vertices V (G) can be partitioned into k disjoint subsets V 1 ,. .. , V k , in such a way that every two distinct vertices in V i are at distance greater than i in G for every i, 1 $\le$ i $\le$ k. Recently, Balogh, Kostochka and Liu proved that $χ$ $ρ$ is not bounded in the class of subcubic graphs [Packing chromatic number of subcubic graphs, Discrete Math. 341 (2018), 474483], thus answering a question previously addressed in several papers. However, several subclasses of cubic or subcubic g…
The packing chromatic number $χ_ρ(G)$ of a graph $G$ is the smallest integer $k$ such that the vertex set $V(G)$ can be partitioned into disjoint classes $X_1, ..., X_k$, where vertices in $X_i$ have pairwise distance greater than $i$. For the 2-dimensional square lattice $\mathbb{Z}^2$ it is proved that $χ_ρ(\mathbb{Z}^2) \geq 12$, which improves the previously known lower bound 10.
The {\em packing chromatic number} $χ_ρ(G)$ of a graph $G$ is the least integer $k$ for which there exists a mapping $f$ from $V(G)$ to $\{1,2,\ldots ,k\}$ such that any two vertices of color $i$ are at distance at least $i+1$. This paper studies the packing chromatic number of infinite distance graphs $G(\mathbb{Z},D)$, i.e. graphs with the set $\mathbb{Z}$ of integers as vertex set, with two distinct vertices $i,j\in \mathbb{Z}$ being adjacent if and only if $|i-j|\in D$. We present lower and upper bounds for $χ_ρ(G(\mathbb{Z},D))$, showing that for finite $D$, the packing chromatic number i…
The packing chromatic number $χ$ $ρ$ (G) of an undirected (resp. oriented) graph G is the smallest integer k such that its set of vertices V (G) can be partitioned into k disjoint subsets V 1,..., V k, in such a way that every two distinct vertices in V i are at distance (resp. directed distance) greater than i in G for every i, 1 $\le$ i $\le$ k. The generalized theta graph $Θ$ {\ell} 1,...,{\ell}p consists in two end-vertices joined by p $\ge$ 2 internally vertex-disjoint paths with respective lengths 1 $\le$ {\ell} 1 $\le$ . . . $\le$ {\ell} p. We prove that the packing chromatic number of …
The packing chromatic number $χ_ρ(G)$ of a graph $G$ is the smallest integer $k$ needed to proper color the vertices of $G$ in such a way the distance between any two vertices having color $i$ be at least $i+1$. We obtain $χ_ρ(H_{q,m})$ for $m=3$, where $H_{q,m}$ is the Hamming graph of words of length $m$ and alphabet with $q$ symbols, and tabulate bounds of them for $m \geq 4$ up to 10000 vertices. We also give a polynomial reduction from the problem of finding $χ_ρ(G)$ to the Maximum Stable Set problem.
A graph is called odd (respectively, even) if every vertex has odd (respectively, even) degree. Gallai proved that every graph can be partitioned into two even induced subgraphs, or into an odd and an even induced subgraph. We refer to a partition into odd subgraphs as an odd colouring of G. Scott [Graphs and Combinatorics, 2001] proved that a graph admits an odd colouring if and only if it has an even number of vertices. We say that a graph G is k-odd colourable if it can be partitioned into at most k odd induced subgraphs. We initiate the systematic study of odd colouring and odd chromatic n…
A packing $k$-coloring for some integer $k$ of a graph $G=(V,E)$ is a mapping $φ:V\to\{1,\ldots,k\}$ such that any two vertices $u, v$ of color $φ(u)=φ(v)$ are in distance at least $φ(u)+1$. This concept is motivated by frequency assignment problems. The \emph{packing chromatic number} of $G$ is the smallest $k$ such that there exists a packing $k$-coloring of $G$. Fiala and Golovach showed that determining the packing chromatic number for chordal graphs is \NP-complete for diameter exactly 5. While the problem is easy to solve for diameter 2, we show \NP-completeness for any diameter at least…
The packing chromatic number $\pcn(G)$ of a graph $G$ is the smallest integer $k$ such that its set of vertices $V(G)$ can be partitioned into $k$ disjoint subsets $V\_1$, \ldots, $V\_k$, in such a way that every two distinct vertices in $V\_i$ are at distance greater than $i$ in $G$ for every $i$, $1\le i\le k$. For a given integer $p \ge 1$, the generalized corona $G\odot pK\_1$ of a graph $G$ is the graph obtained from $G$ by adding $p$ degree-one neighbors to every vertex of $G$. In this paper, we determine the packing chromatic number of generalized coronae of paths and cycles. Moreover, …
A hole is an induced cycle of length at least 4, and an odd hole is a hole of odd length. A full house is a graph composed by a vertex adjacent to both ends of an edge in $K_4$ . Let $H$ be the complement of a cycle on 7 vertices. Chudnovsky et al [6] proved that every (odd hole, $K_4$)-free graph is 4-colorable and is 3-colorable if it does not has $H$ as an induced subgraph. In this paper, we use the proving technique of Chudnovsky et al to generalize this conclusion to (odd hole, full house)-free graphs, and prove that for (odd hole, full house)-free graph $G$, $χ(G)\le ω(G)+1$, and the equ…
We investigate the problem of packing and covering odd $(u,v)$-trails in a graph. A $(u,v)$-trail is a $(u,v)$-walk that is allowed to have repeated vertices but no repeated edges. We call a trail odd if the number of edges in the trail is odd. Let $ν(u,v)$ denote the maximum number of edge-disjoint odd $(u,v)$-trails, and $τ(u,v)$ denote the minimum size of an edge-set that intersects every odd $(u,v)$-trail. We prove that $τ(u,v)\leq 2ν(u,v)+1$. Our result is tight---there are examples showing that $τ(u,v)=2ν(u,v)+1$---and substantially improves upon the bound of $8$ obtained in [Churchley e…
Consider the family of graphs without $ k $ node-disjoint odd cycles, where $ k $ is a constant. Determining the complexity of the stable set problem for such graphs $ G $ is a long-standing problem. We give a polynomial-time algorithm for the case that $ G $ can be further embedded in a (possibly non-orientable) surface of bounded genus. Moreover, we obtain polynomial-size extended formulations for the respective stable set polytopes. To this end, we show that $2$-sided odd cycles satisfy the Erdős-Pósa property in graphs embedded in a fixed surface. This extends the fact that odd cycles sati…
Hadwiger's conjecture states that every $K_t$-minor free graph is $(t-1)$-colorable. A qualitative strengthening of this conjecture raised by Gerards and Seymour, known as the Odd Hadwiger's conjecture, states similarly that every graph with no odd $K_t$-minor is $(t-1)$-colorable. For both conjectures, their asymptotic relaxations remain open, i.e., whether an upper bound on the chromatic number of the form $Ct$ for some constant $C>0$ exists. We show that if every graph without a $K_t$-minor is $f(t)$-colorable, then every graph without an odd $K_t$-minor is $2f(t)$-colorable. Using this, th…
In 1998, Reed conjectured that for any graph $G$, $χ(G) \leq \lceil \frac{ω(G) + Δ(G)+1}{2}\rceil$, where $χ(G)$, $ω(G)$, and $Δ(G)$ respectively denote the chromatic number, the clique number and the maximum degree of $G$. In this paper, we study this conjecture for some expansions of graphs, that is graphs obtained with the well known operation composition of graphs. We prove that Reed's Conjecture holds for expansions of bipartite graphs, for expansions of odd holes where the minimum chromatic number of the components is even, when some component of the expansion has chromatic number 1 or w…
Given a non-decreasing sequence S = (s 1,s 2,. .. ,s k) of positive integers, an S-packing edge-coloring of a graph G is a partition of the edge set of G into k subsets {X 1 ,X 2,. .. ,X k } such that for each 1 $\le$ i $\le$ k, the distance between two distinct edges e, e ' $\in$ X i is at least s i + 1. This paper studies S-packing edge-colorings of cubic graphs. Among other results, we prove that cubic graphs having a 2-factor are (1,1,1,3,3)-packing edge-colorable, (1,1,1,4,4,4,4,4)-packing edge-colorable and (1,1,2,2,2,2,2)-packing edge-colorable. We determine sharper results for cubic gr…
A {\em snark} is a cubic cyclically 4-edge connected graph with edge chromatic number four and girth at least five. We say that a graph $G$ is {\em odd 2-factored} if for each 2-factor F of G each cycle of F is odd. In this paper, we present a method for constructing odd 2--factored snarks. In particular, we construct two families of odd 2-factored snarks that disprove a conjecture by some of the authors. Moreover, we approach the problem of characterizing odd 2-factored snarks furnishing a partial characterization of cyclically 4-edge connected odd 2-factored snarks. Finally, we pose a new co…
Balanced-chromatic number and Hadwiger-like conjectures
Universidad de Valparaíso(瓦尔帕莱索大学);Millennium Nucleus for Social Data Science (SODAS)(社会数据科学千年核(SODAS));Auburn University(奥本大学);Université Paris Cité(巴黎西岱大学);CNRS(法国国家科学研究中心);IRIF(信息研究与研究所);École Normale Supérieure, Paris(巴黎高等师范学院)
A signed graph $(G, σ)$ is a graph $G$ along with a function $σ: E(G) \to \{+,-\}$. A closed walk of a signed graph is positive (resp., negative) if it has an even (resp., odd) number of negative edges, counting repetitions. A homomorphism of a (simple) signed graph to another signed graph is a vertex-mapping that preserves adjacencies and signs of closed walks. The signed chromatic number of a signed graph $(G, σ)$ is the minimum number of vertices $|V(H)|$ of a signed graph $(H, π)$ to which $(G, σ)$ admits a homomorphism.Homomorphisms of signed graphs have been attracting growing attention …
Erdös conjectured that if $G$ is a triangle free graph of chromatic number at least $k\geq 3$, then it contains an odd cycle of length at least $k^{2-o(1)}$ \cite{sudakovverstraete, verstraete}. Nothing better than a linear bound (\cite{gyarfas}, Problem 5.1.55 in \cite{West}) was so far known. We make progress on this conjecture by showing that $G$ contains an odd cycle of length at least $O(k\log\log k)$. Erdös' conjecture is known to hold for graphs with girth at least 5. We show that if a girth 4 graph is $C_5$ free, then Erdös' conjecture holds. When the number of vertices is not too larg…
Map vertices of a graph to (not necessarily distinct) points of the plane so that two adjacent vertices are mapped at least a unit distance apart. The plane-width of a graph is the minimum diameter of the image of the vertex set over all such mappings. We establish a relation between the plane-width of a graph and its chromatic number, and connect it to other well-known areas, including the circular chromatic number and the problem of packing unit discs in the plane. We also investigate how plane-width behaves under various operations, such as homomorphism, disjoint union, complement, and the …
A normal odd partition T of the edges of a cubic graph is a partition into trails of odd length (no repeated edge) such that each vertex is the end vertex of exactly one trail of the partition and internal in some trail. For each vertex v, we can distinguish the edge for which this vertex is pending. Three normal odd partitions are compatible whenever these distinguished edges are distinct for each vertex. We examine this notion and show that a cubic 3 edge-colorable graph can always be provided with three compatible normal odd partitions. The Petersen graph has this property and we can constr…