For a non-decreasing sequence of positive integers $S = (s_1,s_2,\ldots)$, the {\em $S$-packing chromatic number} $χ_S(G)$ of $G$ is the smallest integer $k$ such that the vertex set of $G$ can be partitioned into sets $X_i$, $i \in [k]$, where vertices in $X_i$ are pairwise at distance greater than $s_i$. In this paper we introduce $S$-packing chromatic vertex-critical graphs, $χ_{S}$-critical for short, as the graphs in which $χ_{S}(G-u)<χ_{S}(G)$ for every $u\in V(G)$. This extends the earlier concept of the packing chromatic vertex-critical graphs. We show that if $G$ is $χ_{S}$-critical, then the set $\{ χ_{S}(G)-χ_{S}(G-u); \, u\in V(G) \}$ can be almost arbitrary. If $G$ is $χ_{S}$-critical and $χ_{S}(G)=k$ ($k\in \mathbb{N}$), then $G$ is called $k$-$χ_{S}$-critical. We characterize $3$-$χ_{S}$-critical graphs and partially characterize $4$-$χ_{S}$-critical graphs when $s_1>1$. We also deal with $k$-$χ_{S}$-criticality of trees and caterpillars.
Recently, Balogh, Kostochka and Liu in [Packing chromatic number of cubic graphs, Discrete Math.~341 (2018) 474--483] answered in negative the question that was posed in several earlier papers whether the packing chromatic number is bounded in the class of graphs with maximum degree $3$. In this note, we present an explicit infinite family of subcubic graphs with unbounded packing chromatic number.
The \textit{packing chromatic number} of a graph $G$, denoted by $% χ_ρ(G)$, is the smallest integer $k$ such that the vertex set of $G$ can be partitioned into sets $V_i$, $i\in \{1,\ldots,k\}$, where each $V_i$ is an $i$-packing. In this paper, we present some general properties of packing chromatic numbers of \textit{finite super subdivisions} of graphs. We determine the packing chromatic numbers of the finite super subdivisions of complete graphs, cycles and \textit{neighborhood corona graphs} of a cycle and a path respectively of a complete graph and a path.
A packing $k$-coloring of a graph $G$ is a partition of $V(G)$ into sets $V_1,\ldots,V_k$ such that for each $1\leq i\leq k$ the distance between any two distinct $x,y\in V_i$ is at least $i+1$. The packing chromatic number, $χ_p(G)$, of a graph $G$ is the minimum $k$ such that $G$ has a packing $k$-coloring. Sloper showed that there are $4$-regular graphs with arbitrarily large packing chromatic number. The question whether the packing chromatic number of subcubic graphs is bounded appears in several papers. We answer this question in the negative. Moreover, we show that for every fixed $k$ a…
The packing chromatic number $χ_ρ(G)$ of a graph $G$ is the smallest integer $k$ such that there exists a $k$-vertex coloring of $G$ in which any two vertices receiving color $i$ are at distance at least $i+1$. It is proved that in the class of subcubic graphs the packing chromatic number is bigger than $13$, thus answering an open problem from [Gastineau, Togni, $S$-packing colorings of cubic graphs, Discrete Math.\ 339 (2016) 2461--2470]. In addition, the packing chromatic number is investigated with respect to several local operations. In particular, if $S_e(G)$ is the graph obtained from a…
The packing chromatic number $χ_ρ(G)$ of a graph $G$ is the smallest integer $k$ such that the vertex set of $G$ can be partitioned into sets $V_i$, $i\in [k]$, where each $V_i$ is an $i$-packing. In this paper, we investigate for a given triple $(a,b,c)$ of positive integers whether there exists a graph $G$ such that $ω(G) = a$, $χ(G) = b$, and $χ_ρ(G) = c$. If so, we say that $(a, b, c)$ is realizable. It is proved that $b=c\ge 3$ implies $a=b$, and that triples $(2,k,k+1)$ and $(2,k,k+2)$ are not realizable as soon as $k\ge 4$. Some of the obtained results are deduced from the bounds proved…
The packing chromatic number $χ_ρ(G)$ of a graph $G$ is the smallest integer $k$ such that there exists a $k$-vertex coloring of $G$ in which any two vertices receiving color $i$ are at distance at least $i+1$. In this short note we present upper and lower bound for the packing chromatic number of the lexicographic product $G\circ H$ of graphs $G$ and $H$. Both bounds coincide in many cases. In particular this happens if $|V(H)|-α(H)\geq {\rm diam}(G)-1$, where $α(G)$ denotes the independence number of $G$.
For a nondecreasing sequence of integers $S=(s_1, s_2, \ldots)$ an $S$-packing $k$-coloring of a graph $G$ is a mapping from $V(G)$ to $\{1, 2,\ldots,k\}$ such that vertices with color $i$ have pairwise distance greater than $s_i$. By setting $s_i = d + \lfloor \frac{i-1}{n} \rfloor$ we obtain a $(d,n)$-packing coloring of a graph $G$. The smallest integer $k$ for which there exists a $(d,n)$-packing coloring of $G$ is called the $(d,n)$-packing chromatic number of $G$. In the special case when $d$ and $n$ are both equal to one we speak of the packing chromatic number of $G$. We determine the …
Given a graph $G$, a function $c:V(G)\longrightarrow \{1,\ldots,k\}$ with the property that $c(u)=c(v)=i$ implies that the distance between $u$ and $v$ is greater than $i$, is called a $k$-packing coloring of $G$. The smallest integer $k$ for which there exists a $k$-packing coloring of $G$ is called the packing chromatic number of $G$, and is denoted by $χ_ρ$. Packing chromatic vertex-critical graphs are the graphs $G$ for which $χ_ρ(G-x) < χ_ρ(G)$ holds for every vertex $x$ of $G$. A graph $G$ is called a packing chromatic critical graph if for every proper subgraph $H$ of $G$, $χ_ρ(H) < χ_ρ…
The \emph{packing chromatic number $χ_ρ(G)$} of a graph $G$ is the smallest integer $k$ for which there exists a vertex coloring $Γ: V(G)\rightarrow \{1,2,\dots , k\}$ such that any two vertices of color $i$ are at distance at least $i + 1$. For $g\in \{6,8,12\}$, $(q+1,g)$-Moore graphs are $(q+1)$-regular graphs with girth $g$ which are the incidence graphs of a symmetric generalized $g/2$-gons of order $q$. In this paper we study the packing chromatic number of a $(q+1,g)$-Moore graph $G$. For $g=6$ we present the exact value of $χ_ρ(G)$. For $g=8$, we determine $χ_ρ(G)$ in terms of the inte…
Given a graph $G$, a coloring $c:V(G)\longrightarrow \{1,\ldots,k\}$ such that $c(u)=c(v)=i$ implies that vertices $u$ and $v$ are at distance greater than $i$, is called a packing coloring of $G$. The minimum number of colors in a packing coloring of $G$ is called the packing chromatic number of $G$, and is denoted by $χ_ρ(G)$. In this paper, we propose the study of $χ_ρ$-critical graphs, which are the graphs $G$ such that for any proper subgraph $H$ of $G$, $χ_ρ(H)<χ_ρ(G)$. We characterize $χ_ρ$-critical graphs with diameter 2, and $χ_ρ$-critical block graphs with diameter 3. Furthermore, we…
The packing chromatic number $χ_ρ(G)$ of a graph $G$ is the smallest integer $k$ such that the vertex set of $G$ can be partitioned into sets $V_i$, $i\in \{1,\ldots,k\}$, where each $V_i$ is an $i$-packing. In this paper, we consider the packing chromatic number of several families of Sierpiński-type graphs. While it is known that this number is bounded from above by $8$ in the family of Sierpiński graphs with base $3$, we prove that it is unbounded in the families of Sierpiński graphs with bases greater than $3$. On the other hand, we prove that the packing chromatic number in the family of …
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.
Inspired by Bondarenko's counter-example to Borsuk's conjecture, we notice some strongly regular graphs that provide examples of ball packings whose chromatic numbers are significantly higher than the dimensions. In particular, from generalized quadrangles we obtain unit ball packings in dimension $q^3-q^2+q$ with chromatic number $q^3+1$, where $q$ is a prime power. This improves the previous lower bound for the chromatic number of ball packings.
The packing chromatic number $χ_ρ(G)$ of a graph $G$ is the smallest integer $k$ such that the vertex set of $G$ can be partitioned into sets $Π_1,\ldots,Π_k$, where $Π_i$, $i\in [k]$, is an $i$-packing. The following conjecture is posed and studied: if $G$ is a subcubic graph, then $χ_ρ(S(G))\le 5$, where $S(G)$ is the subdivision of $G$. The conjecture is proved for all generalized prisms of cycles. To get this result it is proved that if $G$ is a generalized prism of a cycle, then $G$ is $(1,1,2,2)$-colorable if and only if $G$ is not the Petersen graph. The validity of the conjecture is fu…
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,…
A packing $k$-coloring of a graph $G$ is a partition of $V(G)$ into sets $V_1,\ldots,V_k$ such that for each $1\leq i\leq k$ the distance between any two distinct $x,y\in V_i$ is at least $i+1$. The packing chromatic number, $χ_p(G)$, of a graph $G$ is the minimum $k$ such that $G$ has a packing $k$-coloring. For a graph $G$, let $D(G)$ denote the graph obtained from $G$ by subdividing every edge. The questions on the value of the maximum of $χ_p(G)$ and of $χ_p(D(G))$ over the class of subcubic graphs $G$ appear in several papers. Gastineau and Togni asked whether $χ_p(D(G))\leq 5$ for any su…
The Gyárfás tree packing conjecture asserts that any set of trees with $2,3, ..., k$ vertices has an (edge-disjoint) packing into the complete graph on $k$ vertices. Gyárfás and Lehel proved that the conjecture holds in some special cases. We address the problem of packing trees into $k$-chromatic graphs. In particular, we prove that if all but three of the trees are stars then they have a packing into any $k$-chromatic graph. We also consider several other generalizations of the conjecture.
Given a graph $G$ and a non-decreasing sequence $S=(a_1,a_2,\ldots)$ of positive integers, the mapping $f:V(G) \rightarrow \{1,\ldots,k\}$ is an $S$-packing $k$-coloring of $G$ if for any distinct vertices $u,v\in V(G)$ with $f(u)=f(v)=i$ the distance between $u$ and $v$ in $G$ is greater than $a_i$. The smallest $k$ such that $G$ has an $S$-packing $k$-coloring is the $S$-packing chromatic number, $χ_S(G)$, of $G$. In this paper, we consider the distance graphs $G(\mathbb{Z},\{2,t\})$, where $t>1$ is an odd integer, which has $\mathbb{Z}$ as its vertex set, and $i,j\in\mathbb{Z}$ are adjacent…
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 $p$ such that vertices of $G$ can be partitioned into disjoint classes $X_{1}, ..., X_{p}$ where vertices in $X_{i}$ have pairwise distance greater than $i$. For $k < t$ we study the packing chromatic number of infinite distance graphs $D(k, t)$, 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 $|i - j| \in \{k, t\}$. We generalize results by Ekstein et al. for graphs $D (1, t)$. For sufficiently large $t$ we prove that $χ_ρ(D(k, t)) \…
The $b$-chromatic number of a graph $G$, denoted by $b(G)$, is the largest positive integer $k$ such that there exists a proper coloring for G with $k$ colors in which every color class contains at least one vertex adjacent to some vertex in each of the other color classes, such a vertex is called a dominant vertex. The $f$-chromatic vertex number of a $d$-regular graph $G$, denoted by $f(G)$, is the maximum number of dominant vertices of distinct colors in a proper coloring with $d+1$ colors. El Sahili and Kouider conjectured that $b(G)=d+1$ for any $d$-regular graph $G$ of girth 5. We study …
The (independent) chromatic vertex stability ($\ivs(G)$) $\vs(G)$ is the minimum size of (independent) set $S\subseteq V(G)$ such that $χ(G-S)=χ(G)-1$. In this paper we construct infinitely many graphs $G$ with $Δ(G)=4$, $χ(G)=3$, $\ivs(G)=3$ and $\vs(G)=2$, which gives a partial negative answer to a problem posed in \cite{ABKM}.
We study the problem of maximizing the number of independent sets in $n$-vertex $k$-chromatic $\ell$-connected graphs. First we consider maximizing the total number of independent sets in such graphs with $n$ sufficiently large, and for this problem we use a stability argument to find the unique extremal graph. We show that our result holds within the larger family of $n$-vertex $k$-chromatic graphs with minimum degree at least $\ell$, again for $n$ sufficiently large. We also maximize the number of independent sets of each fixed size in $n$-vertex 3-chromatic 2-connected graphs. We finally ad…
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…
A b-coloring of a graph is a proper coloring of its vertices such that each color class contains a vertex adjacent to at least one vertex of every other color class. The b-chromatic number of a graph is the largest integer k such that the graph has a b-coloring with k colors. In this work we present lower bounds for the b-chromatic number of a vertex-deleted subgraph of a graph, particularly regarding two important classes, quasi-line and chordal graphs. We also get bounds for the b-chromatic number of G -{x}, when G is a graph with large girth.
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…
Given a graph $G$ and a nondecreasing sequence $S=(s_1,\ldots,s_k)$ of positive integers, the mapping $c:V(G)\longrightarrow \{1,\ldots,k\}$ is called an $S$-packing coloring of $G$ if for any two distinct vertices $x$ and $y$ in $c^{-1}(i)$, the distance between $x$ and $y$ is greater than $s_i$. The smallest integer $k$ such that there exists a $(1,2,\ldots,k)$-packing coloring of a graph $G$ is called the packing chromatic number of $G$, denoted $χ_ρ(G)$. The question of boundedness of the packing chromatic number in the class of subcubic (planar) graphs was investigated in several earlier …
For an arbitrary invariant $ρ(G)$ of a graph $G$, the $ρ-$vertex stability number $vs_ρ(G)$ is the minimum number of vertices of $G$ whose removal results in a graph $H\subseteq G$ with $ρ(H)\neq ρ(G)$ or with $E(H)=\varnothing$. In this paper, first we give some general lower and upper bounds for the $ρ$-vertex stability number, and then study the edge chromatic stability number of graphs, $vs_{χ^{\prime}}(G)$, where $χ^{\prime}=χ^{\prime}(G)$ is edge chromatic number (chromatic index) of $G$. We prove some general results for this parameter and determine $vs_{χ^{\prime}}(G)$ for specific cla…
List packing is a notion that was introduced in 2021 (by Cambie et al.). The list packing number of a graph $G$, denoted $χ_{\ell}^*(G)$, is the least $k$ such that for any list assignment $L$ that assigns $k$ colors to each vertex of $G$, there is a set of $k$ proper $L$-colorings of $G$, $\{f_1, \ldots, f_k \}$, with the property $f_i(v) \neq f_j(v)$ whenever $1 \leq i < j \leq k$ and $v \in V(G)$. We present a short proof that for any graph $G$, $χ_{\ell}^*(G) \leq |V(G)|$. Interestingly, our proof makes use of Galvin's celebrated result that the list chromatic number of the line graph of a…
The chromatic vertex (resp.\ edge) stability number ${\rm vs}_χ(G)$ (resp.\ ${\rm es}_χ(G)$) of a graph $G$ is the minimum number of vertices (resp.\ edges) whose deletion results in a graph $H$ with $χ(H)=χ(G)-1$. In the main result it is proved that if $G$ is a graph with $χ(G) \in \{ Δ(G), Δ(G)+1 \}$, then ${\rm vs}_χ(G) = {\rm ivs}_χ(G)$, where ${\rm ivs}_χ(G)$ is the independent chromatic vertex stability number. The result need not hold for graphs $G$ with $χ(G) \le \frac{Δ(G)+1}{2}$. It is proved that if $χ(G) > \frac{Δ(G)}{2}+1$, then ${\rm vs}_χ(G) = {\rm es}_χ(G)$. A Nordhaus-Gaddum-…
Several games that arise from graph coloring have been introduced and studied. Let $φ$ denote a graph invariant that arises from such a game. If $G$ is a graph and $φ(G-x)\neq φ(G)=k$, $k \geq 1$, holds true for every vertex $x \in V(G)$, then $G$ is called a $k$-$φ$-game-vertex-critical graph. We study the concept of $φ$-game-vertex-criticality for $φ\in \{χ_g, χ_i, χ_{ig}^{A}, χ_{ig}^{AB}\}$, where $χ_g$ denotes the standard game chromatic number, $χ_i$ denotes the indicated game chromatic number and $χ_{ig}^{A}$, $χ_{ig}^{AB}$ denote two versions of the independence game chromatic number. S…
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…
This paper has two main parts. First, we consider the Tutte symmetric function $XB$, a generalization of the chromatic symmetric function. We introduce a vertex-weighted version of $XB$ and show that this function admits a deletion-contraction relation. We also demonstrate that the vertex-weighted $XB$ admits spanning-tree and spanning-forest expansions generalizing those of the Tutte polynomial by connecting $XB$ to other graph functions. Second, we give several methods for constructing nonisomorphic graphs with equal chromatic and Tutte symmetric functions, and use them to provide specific e…
We give a construction that provides infinitely many 2-connected, cubic, bipartite, and planar graphs G with 3k vertices and such that the number of disjoint copies of a 3-vertex path in G is less than k.
An adjacent vertex distinguishing edge-coloring or an \avd-coloring of a simple graph $G$ is a proper edge-coloring of $G$ such that no pair of adjacent vertices meets the same set of colors. We prove that every graph with maximum degree $Δ$ and with no isolated edges has an \avd-coloring with at most $Δ+300$ colors, provided that $Δ>10^{20}$.
In this paper, we prove that every 3-chromatic connected graph, except $C_7$, admits a 3-vertex coloring in which every vertex is the beginning of a 3-chromatic path. It is a special case of a conjecture due to S.~Akbari, F.~Khaghanpoor, and S.~Moazzeni, cited in [P.J. Cameron, Research problems from the BCC22, \emph{Discrete Math.} {\bf 311} (2011), 1074--1083], stating that every connected graph $G$ other than $C_7$ admits a $χ(G)$-coloring such that every vertex of $G$ is the beginning of a colorful path (i.e. a path of on $χ(G)$ vertices containing a vertex of each color). We also provide …
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 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 g…
Let $G$ be a connected undirected graph.~A vertex coloring $f$ of $G$ is an $N_i$-vertex coloring if for each vertex $x$ in $G$, the number of different colors assigned to $N_G(x)$ is at most $i$.~The $N_i$-chromatic number of $G$, denoted by $t_i(G)$, is the maximum number of colors which are used in an $N_i$-vertex coloring of $G$. In this paper, we provide sharp bounds for $t_i(G)$ of a graph $G$ in terms of its vertex cover number, maximum degree and diameter, respectively. We also determine precise values for $t_i(G)$ in some cases.
A well-studied concept is that of the total chromatic number. A proper total colouring of a graph is a colouring of both vertices and edges so that every pair of adjacent vertices receive different colours, every pair of adjacent edges receive different colours and every vertex and incident edge receive different colours. This paper considers a strengthening of this condition and examines the minimum number of colours required for a total colouring with the additional property that for any adjacent vertices $u$ and $v$, the sets of colours incident to $u$ is different from the set of colours i…
A graph G is H-free if it has no induced subgraph isomorphic to H. We prove that a $P_5$-free graph with clique number $ω\ge 3$ has chromatic number at most $ω^{\log_2(ω)}$. The best previous result was an exponential upper bound $(5/27)3^ω$, due to Esperet, Lemoine, Maffray, and Morel. A polynomial bound would imply that the celebrated Erdos-Hajnal conjecture holds for $P_5$, which is the smallest open case. Thus there is great interest in whether there is a polynomial bound for $P_5$-free graphs, and our result is an attempt to approach that.
The anagram-free chromatic number is a new graph parameter introduced independently Kamčev, Łuczak, and Sudakov (2017) and Wilson and Wood (2017). In this note, we show that there are planar graphs of pathwidth 3 with arbitrarily large anagram-free chromatic number. More specifically, we describe $2n$-vertex planar graphs of pathwidth 3 with anagram-free chromatic number $Ω(\log n)$. We also describe $kn$ vertex graphs with pathwidth $2k-1$ having anagram-free chromatic number in $Ω(k\log n)$.
An adjacent vertex distinguishing coloring of a graph G is a proper edge coloring of G such that any pair of adjacent vertices are incident with distinct sets of colors. The minimum number of colors needed for an adjacent vertex distinguishing coloring of G is denoted by $χ'_a(G)$. In this paper, we prove that $χ_a'(G)$ <= 5($Δ+2$)/2 for any graph G having maximum degree $Δ$ and no isolated edges. This improves a result in [S. Akbari, H. Bidkhori, N. Nosrati, r-Strong edge colorings of graphs, Discrete Math. 306 (2006), 3005-3010], which states that $χ_a'(G)$ <= 3$Δ$ for any graph G without is…
Schrijver graphs are vertex-color-critical subgraphs of Kneser graphs having the same chromatic number. They also share the value of their fractional chromatic number but Schrijver graphs are not critical for that. Here we present an induced subgraph of every Schrijver graph that is vertex-critical with respect to the fractional chromatic number. These subgraphs turn out to be isomorphic with certain circular complete graphs. We also characterize the critical edges within this subgraph.
