Lovasz's striking proof of Kneser's conjecture from 1978 using the Borsuk--Ulam theorem provides a lower bound on the chromatic number of a graph. We introduce the shore subdivision of simplicial complexes and use it to show an upper bound to this topological lower bound and to construct a strong Z_2-deformation retraction from the box complex (in the version introduced by Matousek and Ziegler) to the Lovasz complex. In the process, we analyze and clarify the combinatorics of the complexes involved and link their structure via several ``intermediate'' complexes.
We find families of simplicial complexes where the simplicial chromatic polynomials defined by Cooper--de Silva--Sazdanovic \cite{CdSS} are Hilbert series of Stanley--Reisner rings of auxiliary simplicial complexes. As a result, such generalized chromatic polynomials are determined by $h$-vectors of auxiliary simplicial complexes. In addition to generalizing related results on graphs and matroids, the simplicial complexes used allow us to consider problems that are not necessarily analogues of those considered for graphs. Some examples include supports of cyclotomic polynomials, log concavity …
We introduce the notion of r-neighborhood complex for a positive integer r, which is a natural generalization of Lovasz neighborhood complex. The topologies of these complexes give some obstructions of the existence of graph maps. We applied these complexes to prove the nonexistence of graph maps about Kneser graphs. We prove that the fundamental groups of r-neighborhood complexes are closely related to the (2r)-fundamental groups defined in the author's previous paper.
Combinatorics, in particular graph theory, has a rich history of being a domain of successful applications of tools from other areas of mathematics, including topological methods. Here, we survey the study of the Hom-complexes, and the ways these can be used to obtain lower bounds for the chromatic numbers of graphs, presented in a recent series of papers \cite{BK03a,BK03b,BK03c,CK1,CK2,K4,K5}. The structural theory is developed and put in the historical context, culminating in the proof of the Lovász Conjecture, which can be stated as follows: For a graph G, such that the complex Hom(C_{2r+1}…
In this paper we provide concrete combinatorial formal deformation algorithms, namely sequences of elementary collapses and expansions, which relate various previously extensively studied families of combinatorially defined polyhedral complexes. To start with, we give a sequence of elementary collapses leading from the barycentric subdivision of the neighborhood complex to the Lovász complex of a graph. Then, for an arbitrary lattice ${\mathcal L}$ we describe a formal deformation of the barycentric subdivision of the atom crosscut complex $Γ({\mathcal L})$ to its order complex $Δ(\bar{\mathca…
We introduce new methods for understanding the topology of $\Hom$ complexes (spaces of homomorphisms between two graphs), mostly in the context of group actions on graphs and posets. We view $\Hom(T,-)$ and $\Hom(-,G)$ as functors from graphs to posets, and introduce a functor $(-)^1$ from posets to graphs obtained by taking atoms as vertices. Our main structural results establish useful interpretations of the equivariant homotopy type of $\Hom$ complexes in terms of spaces of equivariant poset maps and $Γ$-twisted products of spaces. When $P = F(X)$ is the face poset of a simplicial complex $…
Ramanujan complexes are high dimensional simplical complexes generalizing Ramanujan graphs. A result of Oh on quantitative property (T) for Lie groups over local fields is used to deduce a Mixing Lemma for such complexes. As an application we prove that non-partite Ramanujan complexes have 'high girth' and high chromatic number, generalizing a well known result about Ramanujan graphs.
Box complex is a $\mathbb{Z}_2$-space associated to a graph, and it is known that a certain $\mathbb{Z}_2$-homotopy invariant of it, called the $\mathbb{Z}_2$-index, gives an effective lower bound for the chromatic number. On the other hand, we show that any $\mathbb{Z}_2$-homotopy invariant of the box complex is not equivalent to the chromatic number. Namely, we construct a graph homomorphism $f:X \rightarrow Y$ such that it gives rise to a $\mathbb{Z}_2$-homotopy equivalence between their box complexes, but $X$ and $Y$ have different chromatic numbers. To see this, we show that some deformat…
The neighborhood complex $N(G)$ is a simplicial complex assigned to a graph $G$ whose connectivity gives a lower bound for the chromatic number of $G$. We show that if the Kronecker double coverings of graphs are isomorphic, then their neighborhood complexes are isomorphic. As an application, for integers $m$ and $n$ greater than 2, we construct connected graphs $G$ and $H$ such that $N(G) \cong N(H)$ but $χ(G) = m$ and $χ(H) = n$. We also construct a graph $KG_{n,k}'$ such that $KG_{n,k}'$ and the Kneser graph $KG_{n,k}$ are not isomorphic but their Kronecker double coverings are isomorphic.
Any graph $G$ with chromatic number $k$ can be constructed by iteratively performing certain graph operations on a sequence of graphs starting with $K_k$, resulting in a variety of Hajós-type constructions for $G$. Finding such constructions for a given graph or family of graphs is a challenging task. We show that the basic steps in these Hajós-type constructions frequently result in the presence of an $S^1$-wedge summand in the neighborhood complex of the resulting graph. Our results imply that for a graph $G$ with a highly-connected neighborhood complex, the end behavior of the construction …
Buchstaber invariant is a numerical characteristic of a simplicial complex, arising from torus actions on moment-angle complexes. In the paper we study the relation between Buchstaber invariants and classical invariants of simplicial complexes such as bigraded Betti numbers and chromatic invariants. The following two statements are proved. (1) There exists a simplicial complex U with different real and ordinary Buchstaber invariants. (2) There exist two simplicial complexes with equal bigraded Betti numbers and chromatic numbers, but different Buchstaber invariants. To prove the first theorem …
The neighborhood complexes of graphs were introduced by Lovász in his proof of the Kneser conjecture. He showed that a certain topological property of $N(G)$ gives a lower bound for the chromatic number of $G$. In this paper, we study a combinatorial description of the fundamental groups of the neighborhood complexes. For a positive integer $r$, we introduce the $r$-fundamental group $π_1^r(G,v)$ of a based graph $(G,v)$ and the $r$-neighborhood complex $N_r(G)$ of $G$. The $1$-neighborhood complex is the neighborhood complex. We show that the even part $π_1^{2r}(G,v)_{ev}$, which is a subgrou…
Phil Hanlon proved that the coefficients of the chromatic polynomial of a graph G are equal (up to sign) to the dimensions of the summands in a Hodge-type decomposition of the top homology of the coloring complex for G. We prove a type B analogue of this result for chromatic polynomials of signed graphs using hyperoctahedral Eulerian idempotents.
In this article, we prove that the neighborhood complex of the Kneser graph $KG_{3,k}$ is of the same homotopy type as that of a wedge of $\frac{(k+1)(k+3)(k+4)(k+6)}{4}+1$ spheres of dimension $k$. We construct a maximal subgraph $S_{3,k}$ of $KG_{3,k}$, whose neighborhood complex deformation retracts onto the neighborhood complex of $SG_{3,k}$.
The Hom complex ${\rm Hom}(T,G)$ of graphs is a CW-complex associated to a pair of graphs $T$ and $G$, considered in the graph coloring problem. It is known that certain homotopy invariants of ${\rm Hom}(T,G)$ give lower bounds for the chromatic number of $G$. For a fixed finite graph $T$, we show that there is no homotopy invariant of ${\rm Hom}(T,G)$ which gives an upper bound for the chromatic number of $G$. More precisely, for a non-bipartite graph $G$, we construct a graph $H$ such that ${\rm Hom}(T,G)$ and ${\rm Hom}(T,H)$ are homotopy equivalent but $χ(H)$ is much larger than $χ(G)$. Th…
Kierstead, Szemerédi, and Trotter showed that a graph with at most $\lfloor r/(2n)\rfloor^n$ vertices such that each ball of radius $r$ in it is $c$-colorable should have chromatic number at most $n(c-1)+1$. We show that this estimate is sharp in $r$. Namely, for every $n$, $r$, and $c$ we construct a graph $G$ containing $O((2rc)^{n-1}c)$ vertices such that $χ(G)\geq n(c-1)+1$, although each ball of radius $r$ in $G$ is $c$-colorable. The core idea is the construction of a graph whose neighborhood complex is homotopy equivalent to the join of neighborhood complexes of two given graphs.
We refine Catalan numbers and Fuß-Catalan numbers by introducing colour statistics for triangulations of polygons and $d$-dimensional generalisations there-of which we call Fuß-Catalan complexes. Our refinements consist in showing that the number of triangulations, respectively Fuß-Catalan complexes, with a given colour distribution of its vertices is given by closed product formulae. The crucial ingredient in the proof is the Lagrange-Good inversion formula.
In this paper, we introduce the notions of $r$-fundamental groups of graphs, $r$-covering maps, and $r$-neighborhood complexes of graphs for a positive integer $r$. There is a natural correspondence between $r$-covering maps and $r$-fundamental groups as is the case of the covering space theory in topology. We can derive obstructions of the existences of graph maps from $r$-fundamental groups. Especially, $r$-fundamental groups gives deep informations about the existences of graph maps to odd cycles. For example, we prove the Kneser graph $K_{2k+1,k}$ has no graph maps to $C_5$. $r$-neighborho…
In this paper, we have obtained the total chromatic as well as equitable and neighborhood sum distinguishing total chromatic numbers of some classes of the circulant graphs.
In 2002, A. Björner and M. de Longueville showed the neighborhood complex of the $2$-stable Kneser graph ${KG(n, k)}_{2-\textit{stab}}$ has the same homotopy type as the $(n-2k)$-sphere. A short time ago, an analogous result about the homotopy type of the neighborhood complex of almost $s$-stable Kneser graph has been announced by J. Osztényi. Combining this result with the famous Lovász's topological lower bound on the chromatic number of graphs has been yielded a new way for determining the chromatic number of these graphs which was determined a bit earlier by P. Chen. In this paper we prese…
Schrijver identified a family of vertex critical subgraphs of the Kneser graphs called the stable Kneser graphs $SG_{n,k}$. Björner and de Longueville proved that the neighborhood complex of the stable Kneser graph $SG_{n,k}$ is homotopy equivalent to a $k-$sphere. In this article, we prove that the homotopy type of the neighborhood complex of the Kneser graph $KG_{2,k}$ is a wedge of $(k+4)(k+1)+1$ spheres of dimension $k$. We construct a maximal subgraph $S_{2,k}$ of $KG_{2,k}$, whose neighborhood complex is homotopy equivalent to the neighborhood complex of $SG_{2,k}$. Further, we prove tha…
We introduce the notion of \textit{star cluster} of a simplex in a simplicial complex. This concept provides a general tool to study the topology of independence complexes of graphs. We use star clusters to answer a question arisen from works of Engström and Jonsson on the homotopy type of independence complexes of triangle-free graphs and to investigate a large number of examples which appear in the literature. We present an alternative way to study the chromatic number of a graph from a homotopical point of view and obtain new results regarding the connectivity of independence complexes.
In this article, we consider the bipartite graphs $K_2 \times K_n$. We first show that the connectedness of $\mathcal{N}(K_{n+1}^{K_n}) =0$. Further, we show that $\text{Hom}(K_2 \times K_{n}, K_{m})$ is homotopic to $S^{m-2}$, if $2\leq m <n$.
To estimate the lower bound for the chromatic number of a graph $G$, Lovász associated a simplicial complex $\mathcal{N}(G)$ called the neighborhood complex and relates the topological connectivity of $\mathcal{N}(G)$ to the chromatic number of $G$. More generally he proved that the chromatic number of $G$ is bounded below by the topological connectivity of $\mathcal{N}(G)$ plus $3$. In this article, we consider the graphs of maximal degree at most $3$ and $4$-regular circulant graphs. We show that each connected component of the neighborhood complexes of these graphs is homotopy equivalent ei…
In 2003, A. Bjorner and M. de Longueville proved that the neighborhood complex of the stable Kneser graph SG_{n,k} is homotopy equivalent to a k-sphere. Further, for n=2 they showed that the neighborhood complex deformation retracts to a subcomplex isomorphic to the associahedron. They went on to ask whether or not, for all n and k, the neighborhood complex of SG_{n,k} contains as a deformation retract the boundary complex of a simplicial polytope. Our purpose is to give a positive answer to this question in the case k=2. We also find in this case that, after partially subdividing the neighbor…
In [MZ04] Matousek and Ziegler compared various topological lower bounds for the chromatic number. They proved that Lovasz's original bound [L78] can be restated as $\chr G \geq \ind (\B(G)) +2$. Sarkaria's bound [S90] can be formulated as $\chr G \geq \ind (\B_0(G)) +1$. It is known that these lower bounds are close to each other, namely the difference between them is at most 1. In this paper we study these lower bounds, and the homotopy types of box complexes. Some of the results was announced in [MZ04].
We introduce the signless 1-Laplacians and the dual Cheeger constants on simplicial complexes. The connection of its spectrum to the combinatorial properties like independence number, chromatic number and dual Cheeger constant is investigated. Our estimates can be comparable to Hoffman's bounds in virtue of Laplacian on simplicial complexes. An interesting inequality relating multiplicity of the largest eigenvalue, independence number and chromatic number are provided, which could be regarded as a variant version of Lovasz sandwich theorem. Also, the behavior of the operator under the topologi…
A vertex coloring of a given graph $G$ is conflict-free if the closed neighborhood of every vertex contains a unique color (i.e. a color appearing only once in the neighborhood). The minimum number of colors in such a coloring is the conflict-free chromatic number of $G$, denoted $χ_{CF}(G)$. What is the maximum possible conflict-free chromatic number of a graph with a given maximum degree $Δ$? Trivially, $χ_{CF}(G)\leq χ(G)\leq Δ+1$, but it is far from optimal - due to results of Glebov, Szabó and Tardos, and of Bhyravarapu, Kalyanasundaram and Mathew, the answer in known to be $Θ\left(\ln^2Δ…
We show that the vanishing of certain cohomology groups of polyhedral complexes imply upper bounds on Ramsey numbers. Lovasz bounded the chromatic numbers of graphs using Hom complexes. Babson and Kozlov proved Lovasz conjecture and developed a Hom complex theory. We generalize the Hom complexes to Ramsey complexes. The main theorem states that if certain cohomology groups of the Ramsey complex Ram(dDelta_{p^k}, Sigma) are trivial, then the vertices of the simplicial complex Sigma cannot be n-colored such that every color correspond to a face of Sigma. In a corollary, we give an explicit descr…
For a pair $(H_1,H_2)$ of graphs, Lovász introduced a polytopal complex called the Hom complex $\text{Hom}(H_1,H_2)$, in order to estimate topological lower bounds for chromatic numbers of graphs. The definition is generalized to hypergraphs. Denoted by $K_r^r$ the complete $r$-graph on $r$ vertices. Given an $r$-graph $H$, we compare $\text{Hom}(K_r^r,H)$ with the box complex $\mathsf{B}_{\text{edge}}(H)$, invented by Alon, Frankl and Lovász. We verify that $\text{Hom}(K_r^r,H)$ and $\mathsf{B}_{\text{edge}}(H)$, both are equipped with right actions of the symmetric group on $r$ letters $S_r$…
The local chromatic number of a graph G is the number of colors appearing in the most colorful closed neighborhood of a vertex minimized over all proper colorings of G. We show that two specific topological obstructions that have the same implications for the chromatic number have different implications for the local chromatic number. These two obstructions can be formulated in terms of the homomorphism complex Hom(K_2,G) and its suspension, respectively. These investigations follow the line of research initiated by Matousek and Ziegler who recognized a hierarchy of the different topological e…
The `Conflict-Free Open (Closed) Neighborhood coloring', abbreviated CFON (CFCN) coloring, of a graph $G$ using $r$ colors is a coloring of the vertices of $G$ such that every vertex sees some color exactly once in its open (closed) neighborhood. The minimum $r$ such that $G$ has a CFON (CFCN) coloring using $r$ colors is called the `CFON chromatic number' (`CFCN chromatic number') of $G$. This is denoted by $χ_{CF}^{ON}(G)$ ($χ_{CF}^{CN}(G)$). D\k ebski and Przybyło in [J. Graph Theory, 2021] showed that if $G$ is a line graph with maximum degree $Δ$, then $χ_{CF}^{CN}(G) = O(\ln Δ)$. As an o…
We prove that the topological connectivity of a graph homomorphism complex Hom($G,K_m$) is at least $m-D(G)-2$, where $\displaystyle D(G)=\max_{H\subseteq G}δ(H)$. This is a strong generalization of a theorem of Cukić and Kozlov, in which $D(G)$ is replaced by the maximum degree $Δ(G)$. It also generalizes the graph theoretic bound for chromatic number, $\displaystyleχ(G)\leq D(G)+1$, as $\displaystyleχ(G)=\min\{ m:\text{Hom}(G,K_m)\neq\varnothing\}$. Furthermore, we use this result to examine homological phase transitions in the random polyhedral complexes Hom$(G(n,p),K_m)$ when $p=c/n$ for a…
The main result of this paper is a proof of the following conjecture of Babson & Kozlov: Theorem. Let G be a graph of maximal valency d, then the complex Hom(G,K_n) is at least (n-d-2)-connected. Here Hom(-,-) denotes the polyhedral complex introduced by Lovász to study the topological lower bounds for chromatic numbers of graphs. We will also prove, as a corollary to the main theorem, that the complex Hom(C_{2r+1},K_n) is (n-4)-connected, for $n\geq 3$.
Higher chromatic numbers $χ_s$ of simplicial complexes naturally generalize the chromatic number $χ_1$ of a graph. In any fixed dimension $d$, the $s$-chromatic number $χ_s$ of $d$-complexes can become arbitrarily large for $s\leq\lceil d/2\rceil$ [6,18]. In contrast, $χ_{d+1}=1$, and only little is known on $χ_s$ for $\lceil d/2\rceil<s\leq d$. A particular class of $d$-complexes are triangulations of $d$-manifolds. As a consequence of the Map Color Theorem for surfaces [29], the 2-chromatic number of any fixed surface is finite. However, by combining results from the literature, we will see …
The neighborhood complex $\N(G)$ of a graph $G$ were introduced by L. Lov{á}sz in his proof of Kneser conjecture. He proved that for any graph $G$, \begin{align} \label{abstract} χ(G) \geq conn(\N(G))+3. \end{align} In this article we show that for a class of exponential graphs the bound given in (\ref{abstract}) is sharp. Further, we show that the neighborhood complexes of these exponential graphs are spheres up to homotopy. We were also able to find a class of exponential graphs, which are homotopy test graphs. Hedetniemi's conjecture states that the chromatic number of the categorical produ…
Given a_1,a_2,...,a_n in Z^d, we examine the set, G, of all non-negative integer combinations of these a_i. In particular, we examine the generating function f(z)=\sum_{b\in G} z^b. We prove that one can write this generating function as a rational function using the neighborhood complex (sometimes called the complex of maximal lattice-free bodies or the Scarf complex) on a particular lattice in Z^n. In the generic case, this follows from algebraic results of D. Bayer and B. Sturmfels. Here we prove it geometrically in all cases, and we examine a generalization involving the neighborhood compl…
In this paper we study implications of folds in both parameters of Lovász' Hom(-,-) complexes. There is an important connection between the topological properties of these complexes and lower bounds for chromatic numbers. We give a very short and conceptual proof of the fact that if G-v is a fold of G, then Bd(Hom(G,H)) collapses onto Bd Hom(G-v,H), whereas Hom(H,G) collapses onto Hom(H,G-v). We also give an easy inductive proof of the only nonelementary fact which we use for our arguments: if $ϕ$ is a closure operator on P, then $Δ(P)$ collapses onto $Δ(ϕ(P))$.
Steingrimsson's coloring complex and Jonsson's unipolar complex are interpreted in terms of hyperplane arrangements. This viewpoint leads to short proofs that all coloring complexes and a large class of unipolar complexes have convex ear decompositions. These convex ear decompositions impose strong new restrictions on the chromatic polynomials of all finite graphs. Similar results are obtained for characteristic polynomials of submatroids of type B_n arrangements.
The \emph{chromatic number} of a directed graph $D$ is the minimum number of colors needed to color the vertices of $D$ such that each color class of $D$ induces an acyclic subdigraph. Thus, the chromatic number of a tournament $T$ is the minimum number of transitive subtournaments which cover the vertex set of $T$. We show in this paper that tournaments are significantly simpler than graphs with respect to coloring. Indeed, while undirected graphs can be altogether "locally simple" (every neighborhood is a stable set) and have large chromatic number, we show that locally simple tournaments ar…
We show that the discrete versions of the systolic inequality that estimate the number of vertices of a simplicial complex from below have substantial applications to graphs, the one-dimensional simplicial complexes. Almost directly they provide good estimates for the number of vertices of a graph in terms of its chromatic number and the length of the smallest odd cycle. Combined with the graph-theoretic techniques of Berlov and Bogdanov, the systolic approach produces even better estimates.
For a graph G, the neighborhood complex N[G] is the simplicial complex having all subsets of vertices with a common neighbor as its faces. It is a well known result of Lovasz that if N[G] is k-connected, then the chromatic number of G is at least k + 3. We prove that the connectivity of the neighborhood complex of a random graph is tightly concentrated, almost always between 1/2 and 2/3 of the expected clique number. We also show that the number of dimensions of nontrivial homology is almost always small, O(log d), compared to the expected dimension d of the complex itself.
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.
We study quasipolynomials enumerating proper colorings, nowhere-zero tensions, and nowhere-zero flows in an arbitrary CW-complex $X$, generalizing the chromatic, tension and flow polynomials of a graph. Our colorings, tensions and flows may be either modular (with values in $\mathbb{Z}/k\mathbb{Z}$ for some $k$) or integral (with values in $\{-k+1,\dots,k-1\}$). We obtain deletion-contraction recurrences and closed formulas for the chromatic, tension and flow quasipolynomials, assuming certain unimodularity conditions. We use geometric methods, specifically Ehrhart theory and inside-out polyto…
For integers n\geq 1, k\geq 0, the stable Kneser graph SG_{n,k} (also called the Schrijver graph) has as vertex set the stable n-subsets of [2n+k] and as edges disjoint pairs of n-subsets, where a stable n-subset is one that does not contain any 2-subset of the form {i,i+1} or {1,2n+k}. The stable Kneser graphs have been an interesting object of study since the late 1970's when A. Schrijver determined that they are a vertex critical class of graphs with chromatic number k+2. This article contains a study of the independence complexes of SG_{n,k} for small values of n and k. Our contributions a…
In this paper we study a pair of numerical parameters associated to a graph $G$. One the one hand, one can construct $\text{Hom}(K_2, G)$, a space of homomorphisms from a edge $K_2$ into $G$ and study its (topological) connectivity. This approach dates back to the neighborhood complexes introduced by Lovász in his proof of the Kneser conjecture. In another direction Brightwell and Winkler introduced a graph parameter called the warmth $ζ(G)$ of a graph $G$, based on asymptotic behavior of $d$-branching walks in $G$ and inspired by constructions in statistical physics. Both the warmth of $G$ an…
In this paper we consider a family of simplicial complexes, which we call the view complexes. Our choice of objects of study is motivated by theoretical distributed computing, since the view complex is a key simplicial construction used for protocol complexes in the snapshot computational model. We show that the view complex $\view$ can be collapsed to the well-known complex $χ(Δ^n)$, called standard chromatic subdivision of a simplex, and that $χ(Δ^n)$ is itself collapsible. Furthermore, we show that the collapses can be performed simultaneously in entire orbits of the natural symmetric group…
