We propose a new coloring game on a graph, called the independence coloring game, which is played by two players with opposite goals. The result of the game is a proper coloring of vertices of a graph $G$, and Alice's goal is that as few colors as possible are used during the game, while Bob wants to maximize the number of colors. The game consists of rounds, and in round $i$, where $i=1,2,,\ldots$, the players are taking turns in selecting a previously unselected vertex of $G$ and giving it color $i$ (hence, in each round the selected vertices form an independent set). The game ends when all vertices of $G$ are selected (and thus colored), and the total number of rounds during the game when both players are playing optimally with respect to their goals, is called the independence game chromatic number, $χ_{ig}(G)$, of $G$. In fact, four different versions of the independence game chromatic number are considered, which depend on who starts a game and who starts next rounds. We prove that the new invariants lie between the chromatic number of a graph and the maximum degree plus $1$, and characterize the graphs in which each of the four versions of the game invariant equals $2$. We compare the versions of the independence game chromatic number among themselves and with the classical game chromatic number. In addition, we prove that the independence game chromatic number of a tree can be arbitrarily large.
We consider the graph coloring game, a game in which two players take turns properly coloring the vertices of a graph, with one player attempting to complete a proper coloring, and the other player attempting to prevent a proper coloring. We show that if a graph $G$ has a proper coloring in which the game coloring number of each bicolored subgraph is bounded, then the game chromatic number of $G$ is bounded. As a corollary to this result, we show that for two graphs $G_1$ and $G_2$ with bounded game coloring number, the Cartesian product $G_1 \square G_2$ has bounded game chromatic number, ans…
We consider the \emph{connected game coloring number} of a graph, introduced by Charpentier et al. as a game theoretic graph parameter that measures the degeneracy of a graph with respect to a certain two-player game played with an uncooperative adversary. We consider the connected game coloring number of graphs of bounded treedepth and of $k$-trees. In particular, we show that there exists an outerplanar $2$-tree with connected game coloring number of $5$, which answers a question from [C. Charpentier, H. Hocquard, E. Sopena, and X. Zhu. A connected version of the graph coloring game. \textit…
The game coloring number gcol($G$) of a graph $G$ is a two player competitive variant of the coloring number. We introduce the preordered game coloring number to study the consequences of either player skipping any number of turns. In particular, we show that neither player can improve their performance by doing so. We use this result to show that for any induced subgraph $H \subset G$, $|G-H| = k$ implies the tight bound gcol($H$) $\leq$ gcol($G$) $-$ $2k$ and if $d_G(x)$ $\leq$ gcol($G-x$), then gcol($G-x$) $\leq$ gcol($G$) $-$ $1$.
The independence number, coloring number and related parameters are investigated in the setting of oriented hypergraphs using the spectrum of the normalized Laplace operator. For the independence number, both an inertia--like bound and a ratio--like bound are shown. A Sandwich Theorem involving the clique number, the vector chromatic number and the coloring number is proved, as well as a lower bound for the vector chromatic number in terms of the smallest and the largest eigenvalue of the normalized Laplacian. In addition, spectral partition numbers are studied in relation to the coloring numb…
The paper deals with an algorithmic problem concerning combinatorial game theory. Here we introduce and analyze a continuous generalization of Chip Game from the work of Duraj, Gutowski and Kozik. The general Chip game was introduced by Aslam and Dhagat to model on-line type problems on hypergraph coloring.
Let ${\rm col_g}(G)$ be the game coloring number of a given graph $G.$ Define the game coloring number of a family of graphs $\mathcal{H}$ as ${\rm col_g}(\mathcal{H}) := \max\{{\rm col_g}(G):G \in \mathcal{H}\}.$ Let $\mathcal{P}_k$ be the family of planar graphs of girth at least $k.$ We show that ${\rm col_g}(\mathcal{P}_7) \leq 5.$ This result extends a result about the coloring number by Wang and Zhang {WZ11} (${\rm col_g}(\mathcal{P}_8) \leq 5).$ We also show that these bounds are sharp by constructing a graph $G$ where $G \in {\rm col_g}(\mathcal{P}_k) \geq 5$ for each $k \leq 8$ such t…
Total variant of well known graph coloring game is considered. We determine exact values of total game chromatic number for some classes of graphs and show show the strategie for first player to win the game. We also show relation between total game coloring number and game coloring index.
Game coloring is a well-studied two-player game in which each player properly colors one vertex of a graph at a time until all the vertices are colored. An `eternal' version of game coloring is introduced in this paper in which the vertices are colored and re-colored from a color set over a sequence of rounds. In a given round, each vertex is colored, or re-colored, once, so that a proper coloring is maintained. Player 1 wants to maintain a proper coloring forever, while player 2 wants to force the coloring process to fail. The eternal game chromatic number of a graph $G$ is defined to be the …
In this paper we prove that Sweller has a strategy so that the Sweller-Start Competition-Independence game lasts at least $(5n+3)/13$ moves for every tree. Moreover, we show that there exist arbitrarily large trees such that the Sweller-Start Competition-Independence game lasts at most $(5n+26)/12$ moves, disproving a conjecture by Henning.
A coloring of the ground set of a matroid is proper if elements of the same color form an independent set. For a loopless matroid $M$, its chromatic number $χ(M)$ is the minimum number of colors in a proper coloring. In this note we study a game-theoretic variant of this parameter. Suppose that Alice and Bob alternately properly color the ground set of a matroid $M$ using a fixed set of colors. The game ends when the whole matroid has been colored, or if they arrive to a partial coloring that cannot be further properly extended. Alice wins in the first case, while Bob in the second. The game c…
Consider the balanced Ramsey game, in which a player has r colors and where in each step r random edges of an initially empty graph on n vertices are presented. The player has to immediately assign a different color to each edge and her goal is to avoid creating a monochromatic copy of some fixed graph F for as long as possible. The Achlioptas game is similar, but the player only loses when she creates a copy of F in one distinguished color. We show that there is an infinite family of non-forests F for which the balanced Ramsey game has a different threshold than the Achlioptas game, settling …
Coloring games are combinatorial games where the players alternate painting uncolored vertices of a graph one of $k > 0$ colors. Each different ruleset specifies that game's coloring constraints. This paper investigates six impartial rulesets (five new), derived from previously-studied graph coloring schemes, including proper map coloring, oriented coloring, 2-distance coloring, weak coloring, and sequential coloring. For each, we study the outcome classes for special cases and general computational complexity. In some cases we pay special attention to the Grundy function.
The slow-coloring game is played by Lister and Painter on a graph $G$. On each round, Lister marks a nonempty subset $M$ of the uncolored vertices, scoring $|M|$ points. Painter then gives a color to a subset of $M$ that is independent in $G$. The game ends when all vertices are colored. Painter and Lister want to minimize and maximize the total score, respectively. The best score that each player can guarantee is the sum-color cost of $G$, written $\mathring{\mathrm{s}}(G)$. The game is an online variant of online sum list coloring. We proe $\frac{|V(G)|}{2α(G)} + \frac{1}{2} \leq \frac{\math…
The graph coloring game is a two-player game in which, given a graph G and a set of k colors, the two players, Alice and Bob, take turns coloring properly an uncolored vertex of G, Alice having the first move. Alice wins the game if and only if all the vertices of G are eventually colored. The game chromatic number of a graph G is then defined as the smallest integer k for which Alice has a winning strategy when playing the graph coloring game on G with k colors. In this paper, we introduce and study a new version of the graph coloring game by requiring that, after each player's turn, the subg…
Very recently, a long-standing open question proposed by Bodlaender in 1991 was answered: the graph coloring game is PSPACE-complete. In 2019, Andres and Lock proposed five variants of the graph coloring game and left open the question of PSPACE-hardness related to them. In this paper, we prove that these variants are PSPACE-complete for the graph coloring game and also for the greedy coloring game, even if the number of colors is the chromatic number. Finally, we also prove that a connected version of the graph coloring game, proposed by Charpentier et al. in 2019, is PSPACE-complete.
The \emph{slow-coloring game} is played by Lister and Painter on a graph $G$. Initially, all vertices of $G$ are uncolored. In each round, Lister marks a nonempty set $M$ of uncolored vertices, and Painter colors a subset of $M$ that is independent in $G$. The game ends when all vertices are colored. The score of the game is the sum of the sizes of all sets marked by Lister. The goal of Painter is to minimize the score, while Lister tries to maximize it. We provide strategies for Painter on various classes of graphs whose vertices can be partitioned into a bounded number of sets inducing fores…
Let $G$ be a simple graph of order $n$. A majority dominator coloring of a graph $G$ is proper coloring in which each vertex of the graph dominates at least half of one color class. The majority dominator chromatic number $χ_{md}(G)$ is the minimum number of color classes in a majority dominator coloring of $G$. In this paper we study properties of the majority dominator coloring of a graph. We obtain tight upper and lower bounds in terms of chromatic number, dominator chromatic number, maximum degree, domination and independence number. We also study majority dominator coloring number of sele…
We investigate a variation of the graph coloring game, as studied in [2]. In the original coloring game, two players, Alice and Bob, alternate coloring vertices on a graph with legal colors from a fixed color set, where a color α is legal for a vertex if said vertex has no neighbors colored α. Other variations of the game change this definition of a legal color. For a fixed color set, Alice wins the game if all vertices are colored when the game ends, while Bob wins if there is a point in the game in which a vertex cannot be assigned a legal color. The least number of colors needed for Alice t…
We show that every (sub)cubic n-vertex graph with sufficiently large girth has fractional chromatic number at most 2.2978 which implies that it contains an independent set of size at least 0.4352n. Our bound on the independence number is valid to random cubic graphs as well as it improves existing lower bounds on the maximum cut in cubic graphs with large girth.
The main result provide a common generalization for Ramsey-type theorems concerning finite colorings of edge sets of complete graphs with vertices in infinite semigroups. We capture the essence of theorems proved in different fields: for natural numbers due to Milliken--Tylor, Deuber--Hindman, Bergelson--Hindman, for combinatorial covering properties due to Scheepers and Tsaban, and local properties in function spaces due to Scheepers. To this end, we use idempotent ultrafilters in the Čech--Stone compactifications of discrete infinite semigroups and topological games. The research is motivate…
A coloring of a matroid is proper if elements of the same color form an independent set. For a loopless matroid M, its chromatic number χ(M) is the minimum number of colors that suffices to color properly the ground set E of M. In this note we study a game-theoretic variant of this parameter proposed by Grytczuk. Suppose that in each round of the game Alice indicates an uncolored yet element e of E, then Bob colors it using a color from a fixed set of colors C. The rule Bob has to obey is that it is a proper coloring. The game ends if the whole matroid has been colored or if Bob can not color …
A 2-hued coloring of a graph $G$ (also known as conditional $(k, 2)$-coloring and dynamic coloring) is a coloring such that for every vertex $v\in V(G)$ of degree at least $2$, the neighbors of $v$ receive at least $2$ colors. The smallest integer $k$ such that $G$ has a 2-hued coloring with $ k $ colors, is called the {\it 2-hued chromatic number} of $G$ and denoted by $χ_2(G)$. In this paper, we will show that if $G$ is a regular graph, then $ χ_{2}(G)- χ(G) \leq 2 \log _{2}(α(G)) +\mathcal{O}(1) $ and if $G$ is a graph and $δ(G)\geq 2$, then $ χ_{2}(G)- χ(G) \leq 1+\lceil \sqrt[δ-1]{4Δ^{2}}…
This thesis is basically devoted to matroids -- fundamental structure of combinatorial optimization -- though some of our results concern simplicial complexes, or Euclidean spaces. We study old and new problems for these structures, with combinatorial, algebraic, and topological flavor.
We study graphon counterparts of the chromatic and the clique number, the fractional chromatic number, the b-chromatic number, and the fractional clique number. We establish some basic properties of the independence set polytope in the graphon setting, and duality properties between the fractional chromatic number and the fractional clique number. We present a notion of perfect graphons and characterize them in terms of induced densities of odd cycles and its complements.
The odd independence number of graphs, I: Foundations and classical classes
University of Haifa-Oranim（海法奥拉尼姆大学）；Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje（斯库普西里尔和梅托迪乌斯大学）；University of Ljubljana（卢布尔雅那大学）；Faculty of Information Studies in Novo Mesto（新梅斯托信息研究学院）；Rudolfovo - Science and Technology Centre Novo Mesto, FAMNIT, University of Primorska（鲁道夫诺沃梅斯托科学与技术中心，FAMNIT，滨海大学）；Alfréd Rényi Institute of Mathematics（阿尔弗雷德·雷尼数学研究所）；University of Pannonia（潘诺尼亚大学）
The distinguishing number of a graph $H$ is a symmetry related graph invariant whose study started two decades ago. The distinguishing number $D(H)$ is the least integer $d$ such that $H$ has a $d$-distinguishing coloring. A $d$-distinguishing coloring is a coloring $c:V(H)\rightarrow\{1,\dots,d\}$ invariant only under the trivial automorphism. In this paper, we continue the study of a game variant of this parameter, recently introduced. The distinguishing game is a game with two players, Gentle and Rascal, with antagonist goals. This game is played on a graph $H$ with a fixed set of $d\in\mat…
We prove that the difference between the paint number and the choice number of a complete bipartite graph $K_{N,N}$ is $Θ(\log \log N )$. That answers the question of Zhu (2009) whether this difference, for all graphs, can be bounded by a common constant. By a classical correspondence, our result translates to the framework of on-line coloring of uniform hypergraphs. This way we obtain that for every on-line two coloring algorithm there exists a k-uniform hypergraph with $Θ(2^k )$ edges on which the strategy fails. The results are derived through an analysis of a natural family of chip games.
Consider the following game on a graph $G$: Alice and Bob take turns coloring the vertices of $G$ properly from a fixed set of colors; Alice wins when the entire graph has been colored, while Bob wins when some uncolored vertices have been left. The game chromatic number of $G$ is the minimum number of colors that allows Alice to win the game. The game Grundy number of $G$ is defined similarly except that the players color the vertices according to the first-fit rule and they only decide on the order in which it is applied. The $(a,b)$-game chromatic and Grundy numbers are defined likewise exc…
Let $\mathcal{C}_k(n)$ be the family of all connected $k$-chromatic graphs of order $n$. Given a natural number $x\geq k$, we consider the problem of finding the maximum number of $x$-colorings among graphs in $\mathcal{C}_k(n)$. When $k\leq 3$ the answer to this problem is known, and when $k\geq 4$ the problem is wide open. For $k\geq 4$ it was conjectured that the maximum number of $x$-colorings is $x(x-1)\cdots (x-k+1)\,x^{n-k}$. In this article, we prove this conjecture under the additional condition that the independence number of the graphs is at most $2$.
Let $\mathcal{R}$ be a family of axis-parallel rectangles in the plane. The transversal number $τ(\mathcal{R})$ is the minimum number of points needed to pierce all the rectangles. The independence number $ν(\mathcal{R})$ is the maximum number of pairwise disjoint rectangles. Given a positive real number $r$, we say that $\mathcal{R}$ is an r-bounded family if, for any rectangle in $\mathcal{R}$, the aspect ratio of the longer side over the shorter side is at most $r$. Gyárfás and Lehel asked if it is possible to bound the transversal number $τ(\mathcal{R})$ with a linear function of the indep…
We study the max k-cut game on an undirected and unweighted graph in order to find out whether an optimal solution is also a strong equilibrium. While we do fail to show that, by proving an alternate formula for computing the cut value difference for a strong deviation, we show that optimal solutions are 7-stable equilibria. Furthermore, we prove some properties of minimal subsets with respect to a strong deviation, showing that each of their nodes will deviate towards the color of one of their neighbors and that those subsets induce connected subgraphs.
An incidence of a graph $G$ is a pair $(v,e)$ where $v$ is a vertex of $G$ and $e$ an edge incident to $v$. Two incidences $(v,e)$ and $(w,f)$ are adjacent whenever $v = w$, or $e = f$, or $vw = e$ or $f$. The incidence coloring game [S.D. Andres, The incidence game chromatic number, Discrete Appl. Math. 157 (2009), 1980-1987] is a variation of the ordinary coloring game where the two players, Alice and Bob, alternately color the incidences of a graph, using a given number of colors, in such a way that adjacent incidences get distinct colors. If the whole graph is colored then Alice wins the g…
We denote by $χ$ g (G) the game chromatic number of a graph G, which is the smallest number of colors Alice needs to win the coloring game on G. We know from Montassier et al. [M. Montassier, P. Ossona de Mendez, A. Raspaud and X. Zhu, Decomposing a graph into forests, J. Graph Theory Ser. B, 102(1):38-52, 2012] and, independantly, from Wang and Zhang, [Y. Wang and Q. Zhang. Decomposing a planar graph with girth at least 8 into a forest and a matching, Discrete Maths, 311:844-849, 2011] that planar graphs with girth at least 8 have game chromatic number at most 5. One can ask if this bound of …
We characterize the initial positions from which the first player has a winning strategy in a certain two-player game. This provides a generalization of Hall's theorem. Vizing's edge coloring theorem follows from a special case.
Consider a two-player game between players Builder and Painter. Painter begins the game by picking a coloring of the edges of $K_n$, which is hidden from Builder. In each round, Builder points to an edge and Painter reveals its color. Builder's goal is to locate a particular monochromatic structure in Painter's coloring by revealing the color of as few edges as possible. The fewest number of turns required for Builder to win this game is known as the restricted online Ramsey number. In this paper, we consider the situation where this "particular monochromatic structure" is a large matching or …
The game domination number is a graph invariant that arises from a game, which is related to graph domination in a similar way as the game chromatic number is related to graph coloring. In this paper we show that verifying whether the game domination number of a graph is bounded by a given integer is PSPACE-complete. This contrasts the situation of the game coloring problem whose complexity is still unknown.
A $k$-coloring of a graph $G$ is a $k$-partition $Π=\{S_1,\ldots,S_k\}$ of $V(G)$ into independent sets, called \emph{colors}. A $k$-coloring is called \emph{neighbor-locating} if for every pair of vertices $u,v$ belonging to the same color $S_i$, the set of colors of the neighborhood of $u$ is different from the set of colors of the neighborhood of $v$. The neighbor-locating chromatic number $χ_{_{NL}}(G)$ is the minimum cardinality of a neighbor-locating coloring of $G$. We establish some tight bounds for the neighbor-locating chromatic number of a graph, in terms of its order, maximum degre…
The slow-coloring game is played by Lister and Painter on a graph $G$. On each round, Lister marks a nonempty subset $M$ of the remaining vertices, scoring $|M|$ points. Painter then gives a color to a subset of $M$ that is independent in $G$. The game ends when all vertices are colored. Painter's goal is to minimize the total score; Lister seeks to maximize it. The score that each player can guarantee doing no worse than is the sum-color cost of $G$, written $\mathring{\rm s}(G)$. We develop a linear-time algorithm to compute $\mathring{\rm s}(G)$ when $G$ is a tree, enabling us to characteri…
At most how many (proper) q-colorings does a regular graph admit? Galvin and Tetali conjectured that among all n-vertex, d-regular graphs with 2d|n, none admits more q-colorings than the disjoint union of n/2d copies of the complete bipartite graph K_{d,d}. In this note we give asymptotic evidence for this conjecture, giving an upper bound on the number of proper q-colorings admitted by an n-vertex, d-regular graph of the form a^n b^{n(1+o(1))/d} (where a and b depend on q and where o(1) goes to 0 as d goes to infinity) that agrees up to the o(1) term with the count of q-colorings of n/2d copi…
Given a family $\mathcal{B}$ of axis-parallel boxes in $\mathbb{R}^d$, let $τ$ denote its piercing number, and $ν$ its independence number. It is an old question whether $τ/ν$ can be arbitrarily large for given $d\geq 2$. Here, for every $ν$, we construct a family of axis-parallel boxes achieving $$τ\geq Ω_d(ν)\cdot\left(\frac{\log ν}{\log\log ν}\right)^{d-2}.$$ This not only answers the previous question for every $d\geq 3$ positively, but also matches the best known upper bound up to double-logarithmic factors. Our main construction has further implications about the Ramsey and coloring prop…
We study a combinatorial coloring game between two players, Spoiler and Algorithm, who alternate turns. First, Spoiler places a new token at a vertex in $G$, and Algorithm responds by assigning a color to the new token. Algorithm must ensure that tokens on the same or adjacent vertices receive distinct colors. Spoiler must ensure that the token graph (in which two tokens are adjacent if and only if their distance in $G$ is at most $1$) has chromatic number at most $w$. Algorithm wants to minimize the number of colors used, and Spoiler wants to force as many colors as possible. Let $f(w,G)$ be …
The chromatic number of a digraph $D$ is the minimum number of acyclic subgraphs covering the vertex set of $D$. A tournament $H$ is a hero if every $H$-free tournament $T$ has chromatic number bounded by a function of $H$. Inspired by the celebrated Erdős--Hajnal conjecture, Berger et al. fully characterized the class of heroes in 2013. We extend this framework to dense digraphs: A digraph $H$ is a superhero if every $H$-free digraph $D$ has chromatic number bounded by a function of $H$ and $α(D)$, the independence number of the underlying graph of $D$. We prove here that a digraph is a super…
Weak coloring numbers generalize the notion of degeneracy of a graph. They were introduced by Kierstead \& Yang in the context of games on graphs. Recently, several connections have been uncovered between weak coloring numbers and various parameters studied in graph minor theory and its generalizations. In this note, we show that for every fixed $k\geq1$, the maximum $r$-th weak coloring number of a graph with simple treewidth $k$ is $Θ(r^{k-1}\log r)$. As a corollary, we improve the lower bound on the maximum $r$-th weak coloring number of planar graphs from $Ω(r^2)$ to $Ω(r^2\log r)$, and we…
Indicated coloring is a type of game coloring in which two players collectively color the vertices of a graph in the following way. In each round the first player (Ann) selects a vertex, and then the second player (Ben) colors it properly, using a fixed set of colors. The goal of Ann is to achieve a proper coloring of the whole graph, while Ben is trying to prevent the realization of this project. The smallest number of colors necessary for Ann to win the game on a graph $G$ (regardless of Ben's strategy) is called the indicated chromatic number of $G$, denoted by $χ_i(G)$. In this paper, we o…
