Given two graphs $H_1$ and $H_2$, a graph $G$ is $(H_1,H_2)$-free if it contains no induced subgraph isomorphic to $H_1$ or $H_2$. Let $P_t$ be the path on $t$ vertices. A graph $G$ is $k$-vertex-critical if $G$ has chromatic number $k$ but every proper induced subgraph of $G$ has chromatic number less than $k$. The study of $k$-vertex-critical graphs for graph classes is an important topic in algorithmic graph theory because if the number of such graphs that are in a given hereditary graph class is finite, then there is a polynomial-time algorithm to decide if a graph in the class is $(k-1)$-colorable.
In this paper, we initiate a systematic study of the finiteness of $k$-vertex-critical graphs in subclasses of $P_5$-free graphs. Our main result is a complete classification of the finiteness of $k$-vertex-critical graphs in the class of $(P_5,H)$-free graphs for all graphs $H$ on 4 vertices. To obtain the complete dichotomy, we prove the finiteness for four new graphs $H$ using various techniques -- such as Ramsey-type arguments and the dual of Dilworth's Theorem -- that may be of independent interest.
A graph of order $n$ is $p$-factor-critical, where $p$ is an integer of the same parity as $n$, if the removal of any set of $p$ vertices results in a graph with a perfect matching. 1-Factor-critical graphs and 2-factor-critical graphs are factor-critical graphs and bicritical graphs, respectively. It is well known that every connected vertex-transitive graph of odd order is factor-critical and every connected non-bipartite vertex-transitive graph of even order is bicritical. In this paper, we show that a simple connected vertex-transitive graph of odd order at least 5 is 3-factor-critical if …
A connected graph $G$ with chromatic number $t$ is double-critical if $G \backslash \{x, y\}$ is $(t - 2)$-colorable for each edge $xy \in E(G)$. The complete graphs are the only known examples of double-critical graphs. A long-standing conjecture of Erd\H os and Lovász from 1966, which is referred to as the Double-Critical Graph Conjecture, states that there are no other double-critical graphs. That is, if a graph $G$ with chromatic number $t$ is double-critical, then $G$ is the complete graph on $t$ vertices. This has been verified for $t \le 5$, but remains open for $t \ge 6$. In this paper…
A graph G is equimatchable if every maximal matching of G has the same cardinality. In this paper, we investigate equimatchable graphs such that the removal of any edge harms the equimatchability, called edge-critical equimatchable graphs (ECE-graphs). We show that apart from two simple cases, namely bipartite ECE-graphs and even cliques, all ECE-graphs are 2-connected factor-critical. Accordingly, we give a characterization of factor-critical ECE-graphs with connectivity 2. Our result provides a partial answer to an open question posed by Levit and Mandrescu on the characterization of well-co…
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.
A graph $G$ is said to be $k$-critical if $G$ is $k$-colorable and $G-e$ is not $k$-colorable for every edge $e$ of $G$. In this paper, we present some new methods from two or more small 4-critical graphs to construct a larger 4-critical planar graphs.
A graph of order $n$ is $p$-factor-critical, where $p$ is an integer of the same parity as $n$, if the removal of any set of $p$ vertices results in a graph with a perfect matching. 1-factor-critical graphs and 2-factor-critical graphs are well-known factor-critical graphs and bicritical graphs, respectively. It is known that if a connected vertex-transitive graph has odd order, then it is factor-critical, otherwise it is elementary bipartite or bicritical. In this paper, we show that a connected vertex-transitive non-bipartite graph of even order at least 6 is 4-factor-critical if and only if…
We determine the minimum size of $n$-factor-critical graphs and that of $k$-extendable bipartite graphs, by considering Harary graphs and related graphs. Moreover, we determine the minimum size of $k$-extendable non-bipartite graphs for $k=1,\ 2$, and pose a related conjecture for general $k$.
The distinguishing number $D(G)$ of a graph $G$ is the least integer $d$ such that $G$ has a vertex labeling with $d$ labels that is preserved only by a trivial automorphism. We say that a graph $G$ is $d$-distinguishing critical, if $D(G)=d$ and $D(H)\neq D(G)$, for every proper induced subgraph $H$ of $G$. This generalizes the usual definition of a $d$-chromatic critical graph. While the investigation of $d$-critical graphs is a well established part of coloring theory, not much is known about $d$-distinguishing critical graphs. In this paper we determine all $d$-distinguishing critical grap…
A connected $k$-chromatic graph $G$ is double-critical if for all edges $uv$ of $G$ the graph $G - u - v$ is $(k-2)$-colourable. The only known double-critical $k$-chromatic graph is the complete $k$-graph $K_k$. The conjecture that there are no other double-critical graphs is a special case of a conjecture from 1966, due to Erdős and Lovász. The conjecture has been verified for $k \leq 5$. We prove for $k=6$ and $k=7$ that any non-complete double-critical $k$-chromatic graph is 6-connected and has $K_k$ as a minor.
A near-factor of a finite simple graph $G$ is a matching that saturates all vertices except one. A graph $G$ is said to be near-factor-critical if the deletion of any vertex from $G$ results in a subgraph that has a near-factor. We prove that a connected graph $G$ is near-factor-critical if and only if it has a perfect matching. We also characterize disconnected near-factor-critical graphs.
We improve the best known bounds on average degree of $k$-list-critical graphs for $k \ge 6$. Specifically, for $k \ge 7$ we show that every non-complete $k$-list-critical graph has average degree at least $k-1 + \frac{(k-3)^2 (2 k-3)}{k^4-2 k^3-11 k^2+28 k-14}$ and every non-complete $6$-list-critical graph has average degree at least $5 + \frac{93}{766}$. The same bounds hold for online $k$-list-critical graphs.
The critical group of a graph is a finite abelian group whose order is the number of spanning forests of the graph. This paper provides three basic structural results on the critical group of a line graph. The first deals with connected graphs containing no cut-edge. Here the number of independent cycles in the graph, which is known to bound the number of generators for the critical group of the graph, is shown also to bound the number of generators for the critical group of its line graph. The second gives, for each prime p, a constraint on the p-primary structure of the critical group, based…
A connected $k$-chromatic graph $G$ is said to be {\it double-critical} if for all edges $uv$ of $G$ the graph $G - u - v$ is $(k-2)$-colourable. A longstanding conjecture of Erdős and Lovász states that the complete graphs are the only double-critical graphs. Kawarabayashi, Pedersen and Toft [\it{Electron. J. Combin.}, 17(1): Research Paper 87, 2010] proved that every double-critical $k$-chromatic graph with $k \leq 7$ contains a $K_k$ minor. It remains unknown whether an arbitrary double-critical $8$-chromatic graph contains a $K_8$ minor, but in this paper we prove that any double-critical …
A signed graph $(G,Σ)$ is a graph $G$ together with a set $Σ\subseteq E(G)$ of negative edges. A circuit is positive if the product of the signs of its edges is positive. A signed graph $(G,Σ)$ is balanced if all its circuits are positive. The frustration index $l(G,Σ)$ is the minimum cardinality of a set $E \subseteq E(G)$ such that $(G-E,Σ-E)$ is balanced, and $(G,Σ)$ is $k$-critical if $l(G,Σ) = k$ and $l(G-e, Σ- e)<k$, for every $e \in E(G)$. We study decomposition and subdivision of critical signed graphs and completely determine the set of $t$-critical signed graphs, for $t \leq 2$. Crit…
A graph G is 5/2-critical if G has no circular 5/2-coloring (or equivalently, homomorphism to C_5), but every proper subgraph of G has one. We prove that every 5/2-critical graph on n>=4 vertices has at least (5n-2)/4 edges, and list all 5/2-critical graphs achieving this bound. This implies that every planar or projective-planar graph of girth at least 10 is 5/2-colorable.
We define three new pebbling parameters of a connected graph $G$, the $r$-, $g$-, and $u$-critical pebbling numbers. Together with the pebbling number, the optimal pebbling number, the number of vertices $n$ and the diameter $d$ of the graph, this yields 7 graph parameters. We determine the relationships between these parameters. We investigate properties of the $r$-critical pebbling number, and distinguish between greedy graphs, thrifty graphs, and graphs for which the $r$-critical pebbling number is $2^d$.
This short note proves that every incomplete $k$-list-critical graph has average degree at least $k-1 + \frac{k-3}{k^2-2k+2}$. This improves the best known bound for $k = 4,5,6$. The same bound holds for online $k$-list-critical graphs.
We discuss the problem of finding critical sets in graphs, a concept which has appeared in a number of guises in the combinatorics and graph theory literature. The case of the Sudoku graph receives particular attention, because critical sets correspond to minimal fair puzzles. We define four parameters associated with the sizes of extremal critical sets and (a) prove several general results about these parameters' properties, including their computational intractability, (b) compute their values exactly for some classes of graphs, (c) obtain bounds for generalized Sudoku graphs, and (d) offer …
A bridgeless graph $G$ is called $3$-flow-critical if it does not admit a nowhere-zero $3$-flow, but $G/e$ has for any $e\in E(G)$. Tutte's $3$-flow conjecture can be equivalently stated as that every $3$-flow-critical graph contains a vertex of degree three. In this paper, we study the structure and extreme edge density of $3$-flow-critical graphs. We apply structure properties to obtain lower and upper bounds on the density of $3$-flow-critical graphs, that is, for any $3$-flow-critical graph $G$ on $n$ vertices, $$\frac{8n-2}{5}\le |E(G)|\le 4n-10,$$ where each equality holds if and only if…
A $p$-improper interval graph is an interval graph that has an interval representation in which no interval contains more than $p$ other intervals. A critical $p$-improper interval graph is $p-1$ improper when any vertex is removed. In this paper we investigate the spectrum of impropriety of critical $p$-improper interval graphs upon the removal of a single vertex, which is informally known as the stability of the graph.
Let $γ(G)$ denote the domination number of a graph $G$. A vertex $v\in V(G)$ is called a \emph{critical vertex} of $G$ if $γ(G-v)=γ(G)-1$. A graph is called \emph{vertex-critical} if every vertex of it is critical. In this paper, we correspondingly introduce two such definitions: (i) a set $S\subseteq V(G)$ is called a \emph{strong critical vertex-set} of $G$ if $γ(G-S)=γ(G)-|S|$; (ii) a graph $G$ is called \emph{strong $l$-vertex-sets-critical} if $V(G)$ can be partitioned into $l$ strong critical vertex-sets of $G$. Whereafter, we give some properties of strong $l$-vertex-sets-critical graph…
The chromatic edge-stability number ${\rm es}_χ(G)$ of a graph $G$ is the minimum number of edges whose removal results in a spanning subgraph $G'$ with $χ(G')=χ(G)-1$. Edge-stability critical graphs are introduced as the graphs $G$ with the property that ${\rm es}_χ(G-e) < {\rm es}_χ(G)$ holds for every edge $e\in E(G)$. If $G$ is an edge-stability critical graph with $χ(G)=k$ and ${\rm es}_χ(G)=\ell$, then $G$ is $(k,\ell)$-critical. Graphs which are $(3,2)$-critical and contain at most four odd cycles are classified. It is also proved that the problem of deciding whether a graph $G$ has $χ(…
After $2$-crossing-critical graphs were characterized in 2016, their most general subfamily, large $3$-connected $2$-crossing-critical graphs, has attracted separate attention. This paper presents sharp upper and lower bounds for their domination and independence number.
A connected $n$-chromatic graph $G$ is double-critical if for all the edges $xy$ of $G$, the graph $G-x-y$ is $(n-2)$-chromatic. In 1966, Erd\H os and Lovász conjectured that the only double-critical $n$-chromatic graph is $K_n$. This conjecture remains unresolved for $n \ge 6.$ In this short note, we verify this conjecture for claw-free graphs $G$ of chromatic number $6$.
A graph $G$ is a fractional $(a,b,k)$-critical covered graph if $G-U$ is a fractional $[a,b]$-covered graph for every $U\subseteq V(G)$ with $|U|=k$, which is first defined by Zhou, Xu and Sun (S. Zhou, Y. Xu, Z. Sun, Degree conditions for fractional $(a,b,k)$-critical covered graphs, Information Processing Letters, DOI: 10.1016/j.ipl.2019.105838). Furthermore, they derived a degree condition for a graph to be a fractional $(a,b,k)$-critical covered graph. In this paper, we gain an independence number and connectivity condition for a graph to be a fractional $(a,b,k)$-critical covered graph an…
Let $γ(G)$ be the domination number of a graph $G$. A graph $G$ is \emph{domination-vertex-critical}, or \emph{$γ$-vertex-critical}, if $γ(G-v)< γ(G)$ for every vertex $v \in V(G)$. In this paper, we show that: Let $G$ be a $γ$-vertex-critical graph and $γ(G)=3$. (1) If $G$ is of even order and $K_{1,6}$-free, then $G$ has a perfect matching; (2) If $G$ is of odd order and $K_{1,7}$-free, then $G$ has a near perfect matching with only three exceptions. All these results improve the known results.
The only open case of Vizing's conjecture that every planar graph with $Δ\geq 6$ is a class 1 graph is $Δ= 6$. We give a short proof of the following statement: there is no 6-critical plane graph $G$, such that every vertex of $G$ is incident to at most three 3-faces. A stronger statement without restriction to critical graphs is stated in \cite{Wang_Xu_2013}. However, the proof given there works only for critical graphs. Furthermore, we show that every 5-critical plane graph has a 3-face which is adjacent to a $k$-face $(k\in \{3,4\})$. For $Δ= 5$ our result gives insights into the structure …
A vertex subset $S$ of a graph $G$ is a double dominating set of $G$ if $|N[v]\cap S|\geq 2$ for each vertex $v$ of $G$, where $N[v]$ is the set of the vertex $v$ and vertices adjacent to $v$. The double domination number of $G$, denoted by $γ_{\times 2}(G)$, is the cardinality of a smallest double dominating set of $G$. A graph $G$ is said to be double domination edge critical if $γ_{\times 2}(G+e)<γ_{\times 2}(G)$ for any edge $e \notin E$. A double domination edge critical graph $G$ with $γ_{\times 2}(G)=k$ is called $k$-$γ_{\times 2}(G)$-critical. A graph $G$ is $r$-factor-critical if $G-S…
A graph $G$ is said to be $k$-$γ$-vertex critical if the domination numbers $γ(G)$ of $G$ is $k$ and $γ(G - v) < k$ for any vertex $v$ of $G$. Similarly, A graph $G$ is said to be $k$-$γ_{c}$-vertex critical if the connected domination numbers $γ_{c}(G)$ of $G$ is $k$ and $γ_{c}(G - v) < k$ for any vertex $v$ of $G$. The problem of interest is to determine whether or not $2$-connected $k$-$γ$-vertex critical graphs are Hamiltonian. In this paper, for all $k \geq 3$, we provide a $2$-connected $k$-$γ$-vertex critical graph which is non-Hamiltonian. We prove that every $2$-connected $3$-$γ$-vert…
A vertex subset $S$ of a graph $G$ is a dominating set if every vertex of $G$ either belongs to $S$ or is adjacent to a vertex of $S$. The cardinality of a smallest dominating set is called the dominating number of $G$ and is denoted by $γ(G)$. A graph $G$ is said to be $γ$- vertex-critical if $γ(G-v)< γ(G)$, for every vertex $v$ in $G$. Let $G$ be a 2-connected $K_{1,5}$-free 3-vertex-critical graph. For any vertex $v \in V(G)$, we show that $G-v$ has a perfect matching (except two graphs), which is a conjecture posed by Ananchuen and Plummer.
The class of bipartite permutation graphs enjoys many nice and important properties. In particular, this class is critically important in the study of clique- and rank-width of graphs, because it is one of the minimal hereditary classes of graphs of unbounded clique- and rank-width. It also contains a number of important subclasses, which are critical with respect to other parameters, such as graph lettericity or shrub-depth, and with respect to other notions, such as well-quasi-ordering or complexity of algorithmic problems. In the present paper we identify critical subclasses of bipartite pe…
A graph $G=(V,E)$ is a $k$-critical graph if $G$ is not $(k -1)$-colorable but $G-e$ is $(k-1)$-colorable for every $e\in E(G)$. In this paper, we construct a family of 4-critical planar graphs with $n$ vertices and $\frac{7n-13}{3}$ edges. As a consequence, this improved the bound for the maximum edge density obtained by Abbott and Zhou. We conjecture that this is the largest edge density for a 4-critical planar graph.
Graph coverings are known to induce surjections of their critical groups. Here we describe the kernels of these morphisms in terms of data parametrizing the covering. Regular coverings are parametrized by voltage graphs, and the above kernel can be identified with a naturally defined voltage graph critical group. For double covers, the voltage graph is a signed graph, and the theory takes a particularly pleasant form, leading also to a theory of double covers of signed graphs.
A graph is $k$-critical if it is $k$-chromatic but each of its proper induced subgraphs is ($k-1$)-colorable. It is known that the number of $4$-critical $P_5$-free graphs is finite, but there is an infinite number of $k$-critical $P_5$-free graphs for each $k \geq 5$. We show that the number of $k$-critical $(P_5, \overline{P}_5)$-free graphs is finite for every fixed $k$. Our result implies the existence of a certifying algorithm for $k$-coloring $(P_5, \overline{P}_5)$-free graphs.
A connected $k$-chromatic graph $G$ with $k \geq 3$ is said to be triangle-critical, if every edge of $G$ is contained in an induced triangle of $G$ and the removal of any triangle from $G$ decreases the chromatic number of $G$ by three. B. Toft posed the problem of showing that the complete graphs on more than two vertices are the only triangle-critical graphs. By applying a method of M. Stiebitz [Discrete Math. 64 (1987), 91--93], we answer the problem affirmatively for triangle-critical $k$-chromatic graphs with $k \leq 6$.
The critical ideals of a graph are the determinantal ideals of the generalized Laplacian matrix associated to a graph. A basic property of the critical ideals of graphs asserts that the graphs with at most k trivial critical ideals, $Γ_{\leq k}$, are closed under induced subgraphs. In this article we find the set of minimal forbidden subgraphs for $Γ_{\leq 2}$, and we use this forbidden subgraphs to get a classification of the graphs in $Γ_{\leq 2}$. As a consequence we give a classification of the simple graphs whose critical group has two invariant factors equal to one. At the end of this ar…
Motivated by the famous Hadwiger's Conjecture, we study the properties of $8$-contraction-critical graphs with no $K_7$ minor; we prove that every $8$-contraction-critical graph with no $K_7$ minor has at most one vertex of degree $8$, where a graph $G$ is $8$-contraction-critical if $G$ is not $7$-colorable but every proper minor of $G$ is $7$-colorable. This is one step in our effort to prove that every graph with no $K_7$ minor is $7$-colorable, which remains open.
The colouring number col(G) of a graph G is the smallest integer k for which there is an ordering of the vertices of G such that when removing the vertices of G in the specified order no vertex of degree more than k-1 in the remaining graph is removed at any step. An edge e of a graph G is said to be double-col-critical if the colouring number of G-V(e) is at most the colouring number of G minus 2. A connected graph G is said to be double-col-critical if each edge of G is double-col-critical. We characterise the double-col-critical graphs with colouring number at most 5. In addition, we prove …
It is very well-known that there are precisely two minimal non-planar graphs: $K_5$ and $K_{3,3}$ (degree 2 vertices being irrelevant in this context). In the language of crossing numbers, these are the only 1-crossing-critical graphs: they each have crossing number at least one, and every proper subgraph has crossing number less than one. In 1987, Kochol exhibited an infinite family of 3-connected, simple 2-crossing-critical graphs. In this work, we: (i) determine all the 3-connected 2-crossing-critical graphs that contain a subdivision of the Möbius Ladder $V_{10}$; (ii) show how to obtain a…
Gallai asked in 1984 if any $k$-critical graph on $n$ vertices contains at least $n$ distinct $(k-1)$-critical subgraphs. The answer is trivial for $k\leq 3$. Improving a result of Stiebitz, Abbott and Zhou proved in 1995 that for all $k\geq 4$, such graph contains $Ω(n^{1/(k-1)})$ distinct $(k-1)$-critical subgraphs. Since then no progress had been made until very recently, Hare resolved the case $k=4$ by showing that any $4$-critical graph on $n$ vertices contains at least $(8n-29)/3$ odd cycles. In this paper, we mainly focus on 4-critical graphs and develop some novel tools for counting cy…
This note answers a question posed by Levine in arkiv:math.CO/0906.2809. The main result is Theorem 1 which shows that under certain circumstances a critical group of a directed graph is the quotient of a critical group of its directed line graph.
The stability number of a graph G, denoted by alpha(G), is the cardinality of a stable set of maximum size in G. If alpha(G-e) > alpha(G), then e is an alpha-critical edge, and if mu(G-e) < mu(G), then e is a mu-critical edge, where mu(G) is the cardinality of a maximum matching in G. G is a Koenig-Egervary graph if alpha(G) + mu(G) equals its order. Beineke, Harary and Plummer have shown that the set of alpha-critical edges of a bipartite graph is a matching. In this paper we generalize this statement to Koenig-Egervary graphs. We also prove that in a Koenig-Egervary graph alpha-critical edge…
In this paper, we provide a natural bijection between a special family of block circulant graphs and the graphs of critical pairs of the posets known as generalized crowns. In particular, every graph in this family of block circulant graphs we investigate has a generating block row that follows a symmetric growth pattern of the all ones matrix. The natural bijection provides an upper bound on the chromatic number for this infinite family of graphs.
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…
A finite simple connected graph $G$ with maximum degree $k$ is $k$-critical if it has chromatic index $χ'(G)=k+1$ and $χ'(G-e)=k$ for every edge $e\in E(G)$. Bej and the first author raised the question whether every $k$-critical graph has an even factor. We prove that every $k$-critical graph with at most $2k-6$ vertices of degree 2 has an even factor.
The tree-depth of $G$ is the smallest value of $k$ for which a labeling of the vertices of $G$ with elements from $\{1,\dots,k\}$ exists such that any path joining two vertices with the same label contains a vertex having a higher label. The graph $G$ is $k$-critical if it has tree-depth $k$ and every proper minor of $G$ has smaller tree-depth. Motivated by a conjecture on the maximum degree of $k$-critical graphs, we consider the property of 1-uniqueness, wherein any vertex of a critical graph can be the unique vertex receiving label 1 in an optimal labeling. Contrary to an earlier conjecture…
A graph is crossing-critical if the removal of any of its edges decreases its crossing number. This work is motivated by the following question: to what extent is crossing- criticality a property that is inherent to the structure of a graph, and to what extent can it be induced on a noncritical graph by multiplying (all or some of) its edges? It is shown that if a nonplanar graph G is obtained by adding an edge to a cubic polyhedral graph, and G is sufficiently connected, then G can be made crossing-critical by a suitable multiplication of edges.
A graph G is k-critical if every proper subgraph of G is (k-1)-colorable, but the graph G itself is not. We prove that every k-critical graph on n vertices has a cycle of length at least log n/(100log k), improving a bound of Alon, Krivelevich and Seymour from 2000. Examples of Gallai from 1963 show that the bound cannot be improved to exceed 2(k-1)log n/log(k-2). We thus settle the problem of bounding the minimal circumference of k-critical graphs, raised by Dirac in 1952 and Kelly and Kelly in 1954.
For an abelian group $Γ$, a graph $G$ is said to be $Γ$-flow-critical if $G$ does not admit a nowhere-zero $Γ$-flow, but for each edge $e\in E(G)$, the contraction $G/e$ has a nowhere-zero $Γ$-flow. A bound on the density of $Z_3$-flow-critical graphs drawn on a fixed surface is obtained, generalizing the planar case of the bound on the density of 4-critical graphs by Kostochka and Yancey.
A graph $G$ of order $n$ is said to be $k$-factor-critical for integers $1\leq k < n$, if the removal of any $k$ vertices results in a graph with a perfect matching. $1$- and $2$-factor-critical graphs are the well-known factor-critical and bicritical graphs, respectively. A $k$-factor-critical graph $G$ is called minimal if for any edge $e\in E(G)$, $G-e$ is not $k$-factor-critical. In 1998, O. Favaron and M. Shi conjectured that every minimally $k$-factor-critical graph of order $n$ has the minimum degree $k+1$ and confirmed it for $k=1, n-2, n-4$ and $n-6$. In this paper, we use a simple me…
In this note, we describe a construction that leads to families of graphs whose critical groups are cyclic. For some of these families we are able to give a formula for the number of spanning trees of the graph, which then determines the group exactly. We also pose several open questions related to this work.
A graph $G$ is called $3$-choice critical if $G$ is not $2$-choosable but any proper subgraph is $2$-choosable. A characterization of $3$-choice critical graphs was given by Voigt in [On list Colourings and Choosability of Graphs, Habilitationsschrift, Tu Ilmenau(1998)]. Voigt conjectured that if $G$ is a bipartite $3$-choice critical graph, then $G$ is $(4m, 2m)$-choosable for every integer $m$. This conjecture was disproved by Meng, Puleo and Zhu in [On (4, 2)-Choosable Graphs, Journal of Graph Theory 85(2):412-428(2017)]. They showed that if $G=Θ_{r,s,t}$ where $r,s,t$ have the same parity …
The critical group of a graph is a finite abelian group whose order is the number of spanning forests of the graph. For a graph G with a certain reflective symmetry, we generalize a result of Ciucu-Yan-Zhang factorizing the spanning tree number of G by interpreting this as a result about the critical group of G. Our result takes the form of an exact sequence, and explicit connections to bicycle spaces are made.
