We consider $2$-colourings $f : E(G) \rightarrow \{ -1 ,1 \}$ of the edges of a graph $G$ with colours $-1$ and $1$ in $\mathbb{Z}$. A subgraph $H$ of $G$ is said to be a zero-sum subgraph of $G$ under $f$ if $f(H) := \sum_{e\in E(H)} f(e) =0$. We study the following type of questions, in several cases obtaining best possible results: Under which conditions on $|f(G)|$ can we guarantee the existence of a zero-sum spanning tree of $G$? The types of $G$ we consider are complete graphs, $K_3$-free graphs, $d$-trees, and maximal planar graphs. We also answer the question of when any such colouring contains a zero-sum spanning path or a zero-sum spanning tree of diameter at most $3$, showing in passing that the diameter-$3$ condition is best possible. Finally, we give, for $G = K_n$, a sharp bound on $|f(K_n)|$ by which an interesting zero-sum connectivity property is forced, namely that any two vertices are joined by a zero-sum path of length at most $4$.
One feature of this paper is the proof of an Interpolation Lemma leading to a Master Theorem from which many of the above results follow and which can be of independent interest.
A spanning generalized caterpillar is a spanning tree in which all vertices of degree more than two are on a path. In this note, we find a relation between the existence of spanning generalized caterpillar and the independence and connectivity number in a graph. We also point out to an error in a "theorem" in the paper "Spanning spiders and light-splitting switches", by L. Gargano et al. in Discrete Math. (2004), and find out a relation between another mentioned theorem and the existence of spanning generalized caterpillar.
A $k$-container $C(u, v)$ of a graph $G$ is a set of $k$ internally disjoint paths between $u$ and $v$. A $k$-container $C(u, v)$ of $G$ is a $k^*$-container if it is a spanning subgraph of $G$. A graph $G$ is $k^*$-connected if there exists a $k^*$-container between any two different vertices of G. A $k$-regular graph $G$ is super spanning connected if $G$ is $i^*$-container for all $1\le i\le k$. In this paper, we prove that the arrangement graph $A_{n, k}$ is super spanning connected if $n\ge 4$ and $n-k\ge 2$.
The concept of pendant-tree connectivity, introduced by Hager in 1985, is a generalization of classical vertex-connectivity. In this paper, we study pendant-tree connectivity of line graphs.
In this paper we establish all extremal graphs with respect to augmented eccentric connectivity index among all (simple connected) graphs, among trees and among trees with perfect matching. For graphs that turn out to be extremal explicit formulas for the value of augmented eccentric connectivity index are derived.
In this paper, we present some new results describing connections between the spectrum of a regular graph and its generalized connectivity, toughness, and the existence of spanning trees with bounded degree.
Let $\mathcal{G}$ be the set of simple graphs (or multigraphs) $G$ such that for each $G \in \mathcal{G}$ there exists at least two non-empty disjoint proper subsets $V_{1},V_{2}\subseteq V(G)$ satisfying $V(G)\setminus(V_{1} \cup V_{2})\neq ϕ$ and edge connectivity $κ'(G)=e(V_{i},V(G)\backslash V_{i})$ for $1\leq i \leq 2$. A multigraph is a graph with possible multiple edges, but no loops. Let $τ(G)$ be the maximum number of edge-disjoint spanning trees of a graph $G$. Motivated by a question of Seymour on the relationship between eigenvalues of a graph $G$ and bounds of $τ(G)$, we mainly gi…
Random increasing k-trees represent an interesting, useful class of strongly dependent graphs for which analytic-combinatorial tools can be successfully applied. We study in this paper a notion called connectivity-profile and derive asymptotic estimates for it; some interesting consequences will also be given.
We obtain the maximum sum-connectivity indices of graphs in the set of trees and in the set of unicyclic graphs respectively with given number of vertices and maximum degree, and determine the corresponding extremal graphs. Additionally, we deduce the n-vertex unicyclic graphs with the first two maximum sum-connectivity indices for $n\ge 4$.
The concept of pedant tree-connectivity was introduced by Hager in 1985. For a graph $G=(V,E)$ and a set $S\subseteq V(G)$ of at least two vertices, \emph{an $S$-Steiner tree} or \emph{a Steiner tree connecting $S$} (or simply, \emph{an $S$-tree}) is a such subgraph $T=(V',E')$ of $G$ that is a tree with $S\subseteq V'$. For an $S$-Steiner tree, if the degree of each vertex in $S$ is equal to one, then this tree is called a \emph{pedant $S$-Steiner tree}. Two pedant $S$-Steiner trees $T$ and $T'$ are said to be \emph{internally disjoint} if $E(T)\cap E(T')=\varnothing$ and $V(T)\cap V(T')=S$. …
For a digraph $D=(V(D), A(D))$, and a set $S\subseteq V(D)$ with $r\in S$ and $|S|\geq 2$, an $(S, r)$-tree is an out-tree $T$ rooted at $r$ with $S\subseteq V(T)$. Two $(S, r)$-trees $T_1$ and $T_2$ are said to be arc-disjoint if $A(T_1)\cap A(T_2)=\emptyset$. Two arc-disjoint $(S, r)$-trees $T_1$ and $T_2$ are said to be internally disjoint if $V(T_1)\cap V(T_2)=S$. Let $κ_{S,r}(D)$ and $λ_{S,r}(D)$ be the maximum number of internally disjoint and arc-disjoint $(S, r)$-trees in $D$, respectively. The generalized $k$-vertex-strong connectivity of $D$ is defined as $$κ_k(D)= \min \{κ_{S,r}(D)\…
Generalizing well-known results of Erdős and Lovász, we show that every graph $G$ contains a spanning $k$-partite subgraph $H$ with $λ(H)\geq \lceil{}\frac{k-1}{k}λ(G)\rceil$, where $λ(G)$ is the edge-connectivity of $G$. In particular, together with a well-known result due to Nash-Williams and Tutte, this implies that every $7$-edge-connected graphs contains a spanning bipartite graph whose edge set decomposes into two edge-disjoint spanning trees. We show that this is best possible as it does not hold for infintely many $6$-edge-connected graphs. For directed graphs, it was shown in [6] that…
For any graph $G$ of order $n$, the spanning tree packing number \emph{$STP(G)$}, is the maximum number of edge-disjoint spanning trees contained in $G$. In this paper, we obtain some sharp lower bounds for the spanning tree numbers of Cartesian product graphs and Lexicographic product graphs.
The eccentric connectivity index $ξ^c$ is a distance--based molecular structure descriptor that was recently used for mathematical modeling of biological activities of diverse nature. We prove that the broom has maximum $ξ^c$ among trees with a fixed maximum vertex degree, and characterize such trees with minimum $ξ^c$\,. In addition, we propose a simple linear algorithm for calculating $ξ^c$ of trees.
We classify connected spanning convex subgraphs of the square cycles. We then show that every spanning tree of $C_n^2$ is contained in a unique nontrivial connected spanning convex subgraph of $C_n^2$. As a result, we obtain a purely combinatorial derivation of the formula for the number of spanning trees of the square cycles.
The Steiner tree problem in graphs has applications in network design or circuit layout. Given a set $S$ of vertices, $|S| \geq 2,$ a tree connecting all vertices of $S$ is called an $S$-Steiner tree (tree connecting $S$). The reliability of a network $G$ to connect any $S$ vertices ($|S|$ number of vertices) in $G$ can be measure by this parameter. For an $S$-Steiner tree, if the degree of each vertex in $S$ is equal to one, then that tree is called a pendant S-Steiner tree. Two pendant $S$-Steiner trees $T$ and $T'$ are said to be internally disjoint if $E(T) \cap E(T') = \emptyset$ and $V(T…
The main purpose of the paper is to develop an approach to evaluation or estimation of the spanning tree congestion of planar graphs. This approach is used to evaluate the spanning tree congestion of triangular grids.
Halin conjectured 20 years ago that a graph has a normal spanning tree if and only if every minor of it has countable colouring number. We prove Halin's conjecture. This implies a forbidden minor characterisation for the property of having a normal spanning tree.
A $k$-ended tree is a tree with at most $k$ leaves. In this note, we give a simple proof for the following theorem. Let $G$ be a connected graph and $k$ be an integer ($k\geq 2$). Let $S$ be a vertex subset of $G$ such that $α_{G}(S) \leq k + κ_{G}(S)- 1.$ Then, $G$ has a $k$-ended tree which covers $S.$ Moreover, the condition is sharp.
Schmidt characterised the class of rayless graphs by an ordinal rank function, which makes it possible to prove statements about rayless graphs by transfinite induction. Halin asked whether Schmidt's rank function can be generalised to characterise other important classes of graphs. We answer Halin's question in the affirmative. Another largely open problem raised by Halin asks for a characterisation of the class of graphs with an end-faithful spanning tree. A well-studied subclass is formed by the graphs with a normal spanning tree. We determine a larger subclass, the class of normally tracea…
For integer $k\geq2,$ a spanning $k$-ended-tree is a spanning tree with at most $k$ leaves. Motivated by the closure theorem of Broersma and Tuinstra [Independence trees and Hamilton cycles, J. Graph Theory 29 (1998) 227--237], we provide tight spectral conditions to guarantee the existence of a spanning $k$-ended-tree in a connected graph of order $n$ with extremal graphs being characterized. Moreover, by adopting Kaneko's theorem [Spanning trees with constraints on the leaf degree, Discrete Appl. Math. 115 (2001) 73--76], we also present tight spectral conditions for the existence of a spann…
A tree is called k-ended tree if it has at most k leaves, where a leaf is a vertex of degree one. In this paper we prove that every 3-regular connected graph with n vertices such that n is greater than 8 has spanning sub tree with at most [(2n+4)/9]-ended tree. At the end we give a conjecture about spanning k-ended trees on 3-regular connected graphs.
We provide a structural description of, and invariants for, maximum spanning tree-packable graphs, i.e. those graphs G for which the edge connectivity of G is equal to the maximum number of edge-disjoint spanning trees in G. These graphs are of interest for the k-tree protocol of Itai and Rodeh [Inform. and Comput. 79 (1988), 43-59].
With graphs considered as natural models for many network design problems, edge connectivity $κ'(G)$ and maximum number of edge-disjoint spanning trees $τ(G)$ of a graph $G$ have been used as measures for reliability and strength in communication networks modeled as graph $G$ (see \cite{Cunn85, Matula87}, among others). Mader \cite{Mader71} and Matula \cite{Matula72} introduced the maximum subgraph edge connectivity $\overline{κ'}(G)=\max \{κ'(H): H \mbox{ is a subgraph of } G \}$. Motivated by their applications in network design and by the established inequalities \[ \overline{κ'}(G)\ge κ'(G…
Let T1, T2,.... Tk be spanning trees in a graph G. If for any pair of vertices u and v of G, the paths between u and v in every Ti( 0 < i < k+1) do not contain common edges then T1, T2,.... Tk are called edge-disjoint spanning trees in G. The design of multiple edge-disjoint spanning trees has applications to the reliable communication protocols. The n-dimensional augmented cube, denoted as AQn, a variation of the hypercube, possesses some properties superior to those of the hypercube. For AQn (n > 2), construction of n-1 edge-disjoint spanning trees is given the result is optimal with respect…
The weighted spanning tree enumerator of a graph $G$ with weighted edges is the sum of the products of edge weights over all the spanning trees in $G$. In the special case that all of the edge weights equal $1$, the weighted spanning tree enumerator counts the number of spanning trees in $G$. The Weighted Matrix-Tree Theorem asserts that the weighted spanning tree enumerator can be calculated from the determinant of a reduced weighted Laplacian matrix of $G$. That determinant, however, is not always easy to compute. In this paper, we show how two well-known results from linear algebra, the Mat…
This note derives the characteristic polynomial of a graph that represents nonjump moves in a generalized game of checkers. The number of spanning trees is also determined.
A spanning tree without a vertex of degree two is called a Hist which is an abbreviation for homeomorphically irreducible spanning tree. We provide a necessary condition for the existence of a Hist in a cubic graph. As one consequence, we answer affirmatively an open question on Hists by Albertson, Berman, Hutchinson and Thomassen.
Let $τ(G)$ and $κ'(G)$ denote the edge-connectivity and the spanning tree packing number of a graph $G$, respectively. Proving a conjecture initiated by Cioaba and Wong, Liu et al. in 2014 showed that for any simple graph $G$ with minimum degree $δ\ge 2k \ge 4$, if the second largest adjacency eigenvalue of $G$ satisfies $λ_2(G) < δ- \frac{2k-1}{δ+1}$, then $τ(G) \ge k$. Similar results involving the Laplacian eigenvalues and the signless Laplacian eigenvalues of $G$ are also obtained. In this paper, we find a function $f(δ, k, g)$ such that for every graph $G$ with minimum degree $δ\ge 2k \ge…
A 2-tree is a graph that can be formed by starting with a triangle and iterating the operation of making a new vertex adjacent to two adjacent vertices of the existing graph. Leizhen Cai asked in 1995 whether every maximal planar graph contains a spanning 2-tree. We answer this question in the negative by constructing an infinite class of maximal planar graphs that have no spanning 2-tree.
Completely independent spanning trees in a graph $G$ are spanning trees of $G$ such that for any two distinct vertices of $G$, the paths between them in the spanning trees are pairwise edge-disjoint and internally vertex-disjoint. In this paper, we present a tight lower bound on the maximum number of completely independent spanning trees in $L(G)$, where $L(G)$ denotes the line graph of a graph $G$. Based on a new characterization of a graph with $k$ completely independent spanning trees, we also show that for any complete graph $K_n$ of order $n \geq 4$, there are $\lfloor \frac{n+1}{2} \rflo…
Albertson, Berman, Hutchinson, and Thomassen showed in 1990 that there exist highly connected graphs in which every spanning tree contains vertices of degree 2. Using a result of Alon and Wormald, we show that there exists a natural number $d$ such that every graph of minimum degree at least $d$ contains a spanning tree without adjacent vertices of degree 2. Moreover, we prove that every graph with minimum degree at least 3 has a spanning tree without three consecutive vertices of degree 2.
Hasunuma [J. Graph Theory 102 (2023) 423-435] conjectured that for any tree $T$ of order $m$, every $k$-connected (or $k$-edge-connected) graph $G$ with minimum degree at least $k+m-1$ contains a tree $T'\cong T$ such that $G-E(T')$ is still $k$-connected (or $k$-edge connected). Hasunuma verified this conjecture for $k\leq 2$. In this paper, we confirm this conjecture for $k=3$.
In the present paper we consider the problem of constructing all the projective rooted spanning trees of a given graph. We propose an algorithm based on reducing this problem to the problem of constructing all the maximal independent sets of a certain derived graph. We also offer an algorithm for step-by-step growing the spanning trees that sifts, at each step, any sub-trees non-extendable to projective spanning trees. The proposed algorithms were applied for analyzing the possible variants of the syntactic subordination of nouns through prepositions .
The concept of pendant-tree $k$-connectivity $τ_k(G)$ of a graph $G$, introduced by Hager in 1985, is a generalization of classical vertex-connectivity. Let $f(n,k,\ell)$ be the minimal number of edges of a graph $G$ of order $n$ with $τ_k(G)=\ell \ (1\leq \ell\leq n-k)$. In this paper, we give some exact value or sharp bounds of the parameter $f(n,k,\ell)$.
A tree with at most $k$ leaves is called a $k$-ended tree. A spanning 2-ended tree is a Hamilton path. A Hamilton cycle can be considered as a spanning 1-ended tree. The earliest result concerning spanning trees with few leaves states that if $k$ is a positive integer and $G$ is a connected graph of order $n$ with $d(x)+d(y)\ge n-k+1$ for each pair of nonadjacent vertices $x,y$, then $G$ has a spanning $k$-ended tree. In this paper, we improve this result in two ways, and an analogous result is proved for dominating $k$-ended trees based on the generalized parameter $t_k$ - the order of a larg…
We consider the number of spanning trees in circulant graphs of $βn$ vertices with generators depending linearly on $n$. The matrix tree theorem gives a closed formula of $βn$ factors, while we derive a formula of $β-1$ factors. Using the same trick, we also derive a formula for the number of spanning trees in discrete tori. Moreover, the spanning tree entropy of circulant graphs with fixed and non-fixed generators is compared.
We present two short proofs for Diestel's criterion that a connected graph has a normal spanning tree provided it contains no subdivision of a countable clique in which every edge has been replaced by uncountably many parallel edges.
Let $D$ be a digraph. A $k$-container of $D$ between $u$ and $v$, $C(u,v)$, is a set of $k$ internally disjoint paths between $u$ and $v$. A $k$-container $C(u,v)$ of $D$ is a strong (resp. weak) $k^{*}$-container if there is a set of $k$ internally disjoint paths with the same direction (resp. with different directions allowed) between $u$ and $v$ and it contains all vertices of $D$. A digraph $D$ is $k^{*}$-strongly (resp. $k^{*}$-weakly) connected if there exists a strong (resp. weak) $k^{*}$-container between any two distinct vertices. We define the strong (resp. weak) spanning connectivit…
We prove a refinement of the tree packing theorem by Tutte/Nash-Williams for finite graphs. This result is used to obtain a similar result for end faithful spanning tree packings in certain infinite graphs and consequently to establish a sufficient Hamiltonicity condition for the line graphs of such graphs.
For a graph $G=(V,E)$ and a set $S\subseteq V(G)$ of size at least $2$, an $S$-Steiner tree $T$ is a subgraph of $G$ that is a tree with $S\subseteq V(T)$. Two $S$-Steiner trees $T$ and $T'$ are internally disjoint (resp. edge-disjoint) if $E(T)\cap E(T')=\emptyset$ and $V(T)\cap V(T')=S$ (resp. if $E(T)\cap E(T')=\emptyset$). Let $κ_G (S)$ (resp. $λ_G (S)$) denote the maximum number of internally disjoint (resp. edge-disjoint) $S$-Steiner trees in $G$. The $k$-tree connectivity $κ_k(G)$ (resp. $k$-tree edge-connectivity $λ_k(G)$) of $G$ is then defined as the minimum $κ_G (S)$ (resp. $λ_G (S)…
In this paper we study the flow-property of graphs containing a spanning triangle-tree. Our main results provide a structure characterization of graphs with a spanning triangle-tree admitting a nowhere-zero $3$-flow. All these graphs without nowhere-zero $3$-flows are constructed from $K_4$ by a so-called bull-growing operation. This generalizes a result of Fan et al. in 2008 on triangularly-connected graphs and particularly shows that every $4$-edge-connected graph with a spanning triangle-tree has a nowhere-zero $3$-flow. A well-known classical theorem of Jaeger in 1979 shows that every grap…
We give a proof for sharp estimate for the number of spanning trees using linear algebra and generalize this bound to multigraphs. In addition, we show that this bound is tight for complete graphs. In addition, we give estimates for number of spanning trees in specific type of graphs such as product of graphs or Cartesian product of two graphs.
In this short note, we study pairwise edge-disjoint rainbow spanning trees in properly edge-coloured complete graphs, where a graph is rainbow if its edges have distinct colours. Brualdi and Hollingsworth conjectured that every $K_n$ properly edge-coloured by $n-1$ colours has $n/2$ edge-disjoint rainbow spanning trees. Kaneko, Kano and Suzuki later suggested this should hold for every properly edge-coloured $K_n$. Improving the previous best known bound, we show that every properly edge-coloured $K_n$ contains $Ω(n)$ pairwise edge-disjoint rainbow spanning trees. Independently, Pokrovskiy and…
A spanning tree of a properly edge-colored complete graph, $K_n$, is rainbow provided that each of its edges receives a distinct color. In 1996, Brualdi and Hollingsworth conjectured that if $K_{2m}$ is properly $(2m-1)$-edge-colored, then the edges of $K_{2m}$ can be partitioned into $m$ rainbow spanning trees except when $m=2$. By means of an explicit, constructive approach, in this paper we construct $\lfloor \sqrt{6m+9}/3 \rfloor$ mutually edge-disjoint rainbow spanning trees for any positive value of $m$. Not only are the rainbow trees produced, but also some structure of each rainbow spa…
