In this work we show that with high probability the chromatic number of a graph sampled from the random regular graph model $\Gnd$ for $d=o(n^{1/5})$ is concentrated in two consecutive values, thus extending a previous result of Achlioptas and Moore. This concentration phenomena is very similar to that of the binomial random graph model $\Gnp$ with $p=\frac{d}{n}$. Our proof is largely based on ideas of Alon and Krivelevich who proved this two-point concentration result for $\Gnp$ for $p=n^{-δ}$ where $δ>1/2$. The main tool used to derive such a result is a careful analysis of the distribution of edges in $\Gnd$, relying both on the switching technique and on bounding the probability of exponentially small events in the configuration model.
We show that the chromatic number of $G_{n, \frac 12}$ is not concentrated on fewer than $n^{\frac 14 - \varepsilon}$ consecutive values. This addresses a longstanding question raised by Erdős and several other authors.
Let 0<p<1 be fixed. Shamir and Spencer proved in the 1980s that the chromatic number of a random graph in G(n,p) is concentrated in an interval of length about n^{1/2}. In this explanatory note, we give a proof of a result due due Noga Alon, showing that the chromatic number is concentrated in an interval of length about n^{1/2}/log n.
Green showed that there exist constants $C_1,C_2>0$ such that the clique number $ω$ of the random Cayley graph on $\mathbb{F}_2^n$ satisfies $\lim_{n\to\infty}\mathbb{P}(C_1n\log n < ω< C_2n\log n)=1$. In this paper we find the best possible $C_1$ and $C_2$. Moreover, we prove that for $n$ in a set of density $1$, clique number is actually concentrated on a single value. As a simple consequence of these results, we also prove the one-point concentration result for the chromatic number, thus proving the $\mathbb{F}_2^n$ analogue of the famous conjecture by Bollobás and giving almost the complet…
An equitable colouring of a graph $G$ is a colouring of the vertices of $G$ so that no two adjacent vertices are coloured the same and, additionally, the colour class sizes differ by at most $1$. The equitable chromatic number $χ_=(G)$ is the minimum number of colours required for this. We study the equitable chromatic number of the dense random graph $G(n,m)$, where $m = \left\lfloor p {n \choose 2} \right \rfloor $ and $0<p< 0.86$ is constant. It is a well-known question of Bollobás whether for $p=1/2$ there is a function $f(n) \rightarrow \infty$ so that for any sequence of intervals of len…
Let G(n,d) be the random d-regular graph on n vertices. For any integer k exceeding a certain constant k_0 we identify a number d_{k-col} such that G(n,d) is k-colorable w.h.p. if d<d_{k-col} and non-k-colorable w.h.p. if d>d_{k-col}.
We estimate the likely values of the chromatic and independence numbers of the random $r$-uniform $d$-regular hypergraph on $n$ vertices for fixed $r$, large fixed $d$, and $n \rightarrow \infty$.
Given any integer d >= 3, let k be the smallest integer such that d < 2k log k. We prove that with high probability the chromatic number of a random d-regular graph is k, k+1, or k+2, and that if (2k-1) \log k < d < 2k \log k then the chromatic number is either k+1 or k+2.
The $b$-chromatic number of a graph $G$, denoted by $b(G)$, is the largest positive integer $k$ such that there exists a proper coloring for G with $k$ colors in which every color class contains at least one vertex adjacent to some vertex in each of the other color classes, such a vertex is called a dominant vertex. The $f$-chromatic vertex number of a $d$-regular graph $G$, denoted by $f(G)$, is the maximum number of dominant vertices of distinct colors in a proper coloring with $d+1$ colors. El Sahili and Kouider conjectured that $b(G)=d+1$ for any $d$-regular graph $G$ of girth 5. We study …
Inspired by Bondarenko's counter-example to Borsuk's conjecture, we notice some strongly regular graphs that provide examples of ball packings whose chromatic numbers are significantly higher than the dimensions. In particular, from generalized quadrangles we obtain unit ball packings in dimension $q^3-q^2+q$ with chromatic number $q^3+1$, where $q$ is a prime power. This improves the previous lower bound for the chromatic number of ball packings.
We introduce the characteristic numbers and the chromatic polynomial of a tensor. Our approach generalizes and unifies the chromatic polynomial of a graph and of a matroid, characteristic numbers of quadrics in Schubert calculus, Betti numbers of complements of hyperplane arrangements and Euler characteristic of complements of determinantal hypersurfaces and the maximum likelihood degree for general linear concentration models in algebraic statistics.
An edge-coloring of a graph $G$ with natural numbers is called a sum edge-coloring if the colors of edges incident to any vertex of $G$ are distinct and the sum of the colors of the edges of $G$ is minimum. The edge-chromatic sum of a graph $G$ is the sum of the colors of edges in a sum edge-coloring of $G$. It is known that the problem of finding the edge-chromatic sum of an $r$-regular ($r\geq 3$) graph is $NP$-complete. In this paper we give a polynomial time $(1+\frac{2r}{(r+1)^{2}})$-approximation algorithm for the edge-chromatic sum problem on $r$-regular graphs for $r\geq 3$. Also, it i…
In this work we show that, for any fixed d, random d-regular graphs asymptotically almost surely can be coloured with k colours, where k is the smallest integer satisfying d<2(k-1)log(k-1). From previous lower bounds due to Molloy and Reed, this establishes the chromatic number to be asymptotically almost surely k-1 or k. If moreover d>(2k-3)log(k-1), then the value k-1 is discarded and thus the chromatic number is exactly determined. Hence we improve a recently announced result by Achlioptas and Moore in which the chromatic number was allowed to take the value k+1. Our proof applies the small…
The famous Hadwiger-Nelson problem asks for the minimum number of colors needed to color the points of the Euclidean plane so that no two points unit distance apart are assigned the same color. In this note we consider a variant of the problem in Minkowski metric planes, where the unit circle is a regular polygon of even and at most 22 vertices. We present a simple lattice-sublattice coloring scheme that uses 6 colors, proving that the chromatic number of the Minkowski planes above are at most 6. This result is new for regular polygons having more than 8 vertices.
The b-chromatic number of a graph $G$, denoted by $ϕ(G)$, is the largest integer $k$ that $G$ admits a proper $k$-coloring such that each color class has a vertex that is adjacent to at least one vertex in each of the other color classes. We prove that for each $d$-regular graph $G$ which contains no 4-cycle, $ϕ(G)\geq\lfloor\frac{d+3}{2}\rfloor$ and if $G$ has a triangle, then $ϕ(G)\geq\lfloor\frac{d+4}{2}\rfloor$. Also, if $G$ is a $d$-regular graph which contains no 4-cycle and $diam(G)\geq6$, then $ϕ(G)=d+1$. Finally, we show that for any $d$-regular graph $G$ which does not contain 4-cycl…
A dynamic coloring of a graph $G$ is a proper coloring such that for every vertex $v\in V(G)$ of degree at least 2, the neighbors of $v$ receive at least 2 colors. It was conjectured [B. Montgomery. {\em Dynamic coloring of graphs}. PhD thesis, West Virginia University, 2001.] that if $G$ is a $k$-regular graph, then $χ_2(G)-χ(G)\leq 2$. In this paper, we prove that if $G$ is a $k$-regular graph with $χ(G)\geq 4$, then $χ_2(G)\leq χ(G)+α(G^2)$. It confirms the conjecture for all regular graph $G$ with diameter at most 2 and $χ(G)\geq 4$. In fact, it shows that $χ_2(G)-χ(G)\leq 1$ provided that…
A $b$-coloring of a graph is a proper coloring such that every color class contains a vertex adjacent to at least one vertex in each of the other color classes. The $b$-chromatic number of a graph $G$, denoted by $b(G)$, is the maximum integer $k$ such that $G$ admits a $b$-coloring with $k$ colors. El Sahili and Kouider conjectured that $b(G)=d+1$ for $d$-regular graph with girth 5, $d\geq4$. In this paper, we prove that this conjecture holds for $d$-regular graph with at least $d^3+d$ vertices. More precisely we show that $b(G)=d+$1 for $d$-regular graph with at least $d^3+d$ vertices and co…
Let $m(n,r)$ denote the minimal number of edges in an $n$-uniform hypergraph which is not $r$-colorable. It is known that for a fixed $n$ one has \[ c_n r^n < m(n,r) < C_n r^n. \] We prove that for any fixed $n$ the sequence $a_r := m(n,r)/r^n$ has a limit, which was conjectured by Alon. We also prove the list colorings analogue of this statement.
The Hadwiger-Nelson problem asks for the minimum number of colors, so that each point of the plane can be assigned a single color with the property that no two points unit-distance apart are identically colored. It is now known that the answer is $5$, $6$, or $7$, Here we consider the problem in the context of Minkowski planes, where the unit circle is a regular polygon with $8$, $10$, or $12$ vertices. We prove that in each of these cases, one also needs at least five colors.
A graph with chromatic number $k$ is called $k$-chromatic. Using computational methods, we show that the smallest triangle-free 6-chromatic graphs have at least 32 and at most 40 vertices. We also determine the complete set of all triangle-free 5-chromatic graphs up to 24 vertices. This implies that Reed's conjecture holds for triangle-free graphs up to at least this order. We also establish that the smallest regular triangle-free 5-chromatic graphs have 24 vertices. Finally, we show that the smallest 5-chromatic graphs of girth at least 5 have at least 29 vertices and that the smallest 4-chro…
Let $G = (V,E)$ be a connected simple graph of order $p$ and size $q$. A graph $G$ is called local antimagic if $G$ admits a local antimagic labeling. A bijection $f : E \to \{1,2,\ldots,q\}$ is called a local antimagic labeling of $G$ if for any two adjacent vertices $u$ and $v$, we have $f^+(u) \ne f^+(v)$, where $f^+(u) = \sum_{e\in E(u)} f(e)$, and $E(u)$ is the set of edges incident to $u$. Thus, any local antimagic labeling induces a proper vertex coloring of $G$ if vertex $v$ is assigned the color $f^+(v)$. The local antimagic chromatic number, denoted $χ_{la}(G)$, is the minimum number…
Finite graphs that have a common chromatic polynomial have the same number of regular $n$-colorings. A natural question is whether there exists a natural bijection between regular $n$-colorings. We address this question using a functorial formulation. Let $G$ be a simple graph. Then for each set $X$ we can associate a set of $X$-colorings. This defines a functor, "chromatic functor" from the category of sets with injections to itself. The first main result verifies that two finite graphs determine isomorphic chromatic functors if and only if they have the same chromatic polynomial. Chromatic f…
The clique chromatic number of a graph is the minimum number of colors required to assign to its vertex set so that no inclusion maximal clique is monochromatic. McDiarmid, Mitsche and Prałat proved that the clique chromatic number of the binomial random graph $G\left(n,\frac{1}{2}\right) $ is at most $\left(\frac{1}{2}+o(1)\right)\log_2n$ with high probability. Alon and Krivelevich showed that it is greater than $\frac{1}{2000}\log_2n$ with high probability and suggested that the right constant in front of the logarithm is $\frac{1}{2}.$ We prove their conjecture and, beyond that, obtain a ti…
Graph colorings is a fundamental topic in graph theory that require an assignment of labels (or colors) to vertices or edges subject to various constraints. We focus on the harmonious coloring of a graph, which is a proper vertex coloring such that for every two distinct colors i, j at most one pair of adjacent vertices are colored with i and j. This type of coloring is edge-distinguishing and has potential applications in transportation network, computer network, airway network system. The results presented in this paper fall into two categories: in the first part of the paper we are concerne…
Using a relation between domination number and incidence chromatic number, we obtain necessary and sufficient conditions for $r$-regular graphs to be $(r+1)$-incidence colorable. Also, we determine the optimal Nordhaus-Gaddum inequality for the incidence chromatic number.
\noindent The b-chromatic number of a graph $G$, denoted by $ϕ(G)$, is the largest integer $k$ that $G$ admits a proper coloring by $k$ colors, such that each color class has a vertex that is adjacent to at least one vertex in each of the other color classes. El Sahili and Kouider [About b-colorings of regular graphs, Res. Rep. 1432, LRI, Univ. Orsay, France, 2006] asked whether it is true that every $d$-regular graph $G$ of girth at least 5 satisfies $ϕ(G)=d+1$. Blidia, Maffray, and Zemir [On b-colorings in regular graphs, Discrete Appl. Math. 157 (2009), 1787-1793] showed that the Petersen g…
We prove that a formula predicted on the basis of non-rigorous physics arguments [Zdeborova and Krzakala: Phys. Rev. E (2007)] provides a lower bound on the chromatic number of sparse random graphs. The proof is based on the interpolation method from mathematical physics. In the case of random regular graphs the lower bound can be expressed algebraically, while in the case of the binomial random we obtain a variational formula. As an application we calculate improved explicit lower bounds on the chromatic number of random graphs for small (average) degrees. Additionally, show how asymptotic fo…
The chromatic number of a Latin square is the least number of partial transversals which cover its cells. This is just the chromatic number of its associated Latin square graph. Although Latin square graphs have been widely studied as strongly regular graphs, their chromatic numbers appear to be unexplored. We determine the chromatic number of a circulant Latin square, and find bounds for some other classes of Latin squares. With a computer, we find the chromatic number for all main classes of Latin squares of order at most eight.
We consider several semidefinite programming relaxations for the max-$k$-cut problem, with increasing complexity. The optimal solution of the weakest presented semidefinite programming relaxation has a closed form expression that includes the largest Laplacian eigenvalue of the graph under consideration. This is the first known eigenvalue bound for the max-$k$-cut when $k>2$ that is applicable to any graph. This bound is exploited to derive a new eigenvalue bound on the chromatic number of a graph. For regular graphs, the new bound on the chromatic number is the same as the well-known Hoffman …
In this paper we give a new characterization of the h-vector of the chromatic polynomial of a graph. We introduce reduced chromatic cohomology of a graph and show that h_i are its Betti numbers. We then discuss various combinatorial properties of these cohomologies. In particular we prove that these cohomologies depend only on the matroid type of the graph and describe their relationship to the regular chromatic cohomologies.
We give an upper bound on the list chromatic number of a 2-colorable hypergraph which generalizes the bound of Schauz on $k$-partite $k$-uniform hypergraphs. It makes sense for sparse hypergraphs: in particular we show that a $k$-uniform $k$-regular hypergraph has the list chromatic number 2 for $k \geq 4$. Also we obtain both lower and upper bound on the list chromatic number of a complete $s$-uniform 2-colorable hypergraph in the vein of Erd{\H o}s--Rubin--Taylor theorem.
An $r$-dynamic $k$-coloring of a graph $G$ is a proper vertex $k$-coloring such that the neighbors of any vertex $v$ receive at least $\min\{r,{\rm deg}(v)\}$ different colors. The $r$-dynamic chromatic number of $G$, $χ_r(G)$, is defined as the smallest $k$ such that $G$ admits an $r$-dynamic $k$-coloring. In this paper we introduce an upper bound for $χ_r(G)$ in terms of $r$, chromatic number, maximum degree and minimum degree. In 2001, Montgomery \cite{MR2702379} conjectured that, for a $d$-regular graph $G$, $χ_2(G)-χ(G)\leq 2$. In this regard, for a $d$-regular graph $G$, we present two u…
The Additive Coloring Problem is a variation of the Coloring Problem where labels of $\{1,\ldots,k\}$ are assigned to the vertices of a graph $G$ so that the sum of labels over the neighborhood of each vertex is a proper coloring of $G$. The least value $k$ for which $G$ admits such labeling is called \emph{additive chromatic number} of $G$. This problem was first presented by Czerwiński, Grytczuk and Żelazny who also proposed a conjecture that for every graph $G$, the additive chromatic number never exceeds the classic chromatic number. Up to date, the conjecture has been proved for complete …
An $acyclic$ edge coloring of a graph is a proper edge coloring such that there are no bichromatic cycles. The \emph{acyclic chromatic index} of a graph is the minimum number k such that there is an acyclic edge coloring using k colors and is denoted by $a'(G)$. It was conjectured by Alon, Sudakov and Zaks (and earlier by Fiamcik) that $a'(G)\le Δ+2$, where $Δ=Δ(G)$ denotes the maximum degree of the graph. Alon et.al also raised the question whether the complete graphs of even order are the only regular graphs which require $Δ+2$ colors to be acyclically edge colored. In this paper, using a si…
The regular Turán number of a graph $F$, denoted by rex$(n,F)$, is the largest number of edges in a regular graph $G$ of order $n$ such that $G$ does not contain subgraphs isomorphic to $F$. Giving a partial answer to a recent problem raised by Gerbner et al. [arXiv:1909.04980] we prove that rex$(n,F)$ asymptotically equals the (classical) Turán number whenever the chromatic number of $F$ is at least four; but it is substantially different for some 3-chromatic graphs $F$ if $n$ is odd.
The regular graph of ideals of the commutative ring $R$, denoted by $Γ_{reg}(R)$, is a graph whose vertex set is the set of all non-trivial ideals of $R$ and two distinct vertices $I$ and $J$ are adjacent if and only if either $I$ contains a $J$-regular element or $J$ contains an $I$-regular element. In this paper, it is shown that for every Artinian ring $R$, the edge chromatic number of $Γ_{reg}(R)$ equals its maximum degree. Then a formula for the clique number of $Γ_{reg}(R)$ is given. Also, it is proved that for every reduced ring $R$ with $n(\geq3)$ minimal prime ideals, the edge chromat…
We generalize proper coloring of gain graphs to totally frustrated states, where each vertex takes a value in a set of `qualities' or `spins' that is permuted by the gain group. (An example is the Potts model.) The number of totally frustrated states satisfies the usual deletion-contraction law but is matroidal only for standard coloring, where the group action is trivial or nearly regular. One can generalize chromatic polynomials by constructing spin sets with repeated transitive components.
Let $G$ be a graph and $f:V(G)\rightarrow \mathbb{N}$ be a function. An $f$-coloring of a graph $G$ is an edge coloring such that each color appears at each vertex $v\in V(G)$ at most $f (v)$ times. The minimum number of colors needed to $f$-color $G$ is called the $f$-chromatic index of $G$ and is denoted by $χ'_{f}(G)$. It was shown that for every graph $G$, $Δ_{f}(G)\le χ'_{f}(G)\le Δ_{f}(G)+1$, where $Δ_{f}(G)=\max_{v\in V(G)} \lceil \frac{d_G(v)}{f(v)} \rceil$. A graph $G$ is said to be $f$-Class $1$ if $χ'_{f}(G)=Δ_{f}(G)$, and $f$-Class $2$, otherwise. Also, $G_{Δ_f}$ is the induced sub…
In this paper, we will study the chromatic number of Cayley graphs of algebraic groups that arise from algebraic constructions. Using Lang-Weil bound and representation theory of finite simple groups of Lie type, we will establish lower bounds on the chromatic number of these graphs. This provides a lower bound for the chromatic number of Cayley graphs of the regular graphs associated to the ring of $n\times n$ matrices over finite fields. Using Weil's bound for Kloosterman sums we will also prove an analogous result for $\mathrm{SL}_2$ over finite rings.
Felsner, Hurtado, Noy and Streinu (2000) conjectured that arrangement graphs of simple great-circle arrangements have chromatic number at most $3$. Motivated by this conjecture, we study the colorability of arrangement graphs for different classes of arrangements of (pseudo-)circles. In this paper the conjecture is verified for $\triangle$-saturated pseudocircle arrangements, i.e., for arrangements where one color class of the 2-coloring of faces consists of triangles only, as well as for further classes of (pseudo-)circle arrangements. These results are complemented by a construction which ma…
In this work we study the uncountable Borel chromatic numbers, defined by Geschke (2011) as cardinal characteristics of the continuum, of low complexity graphs. We show that a strong form of locally countable graphs with compact totally disconnected set of vertices have Borel chromatic number bounded by the continuum of the ground model in the model obtained by adding $\aleph_2$ Laver reals. From this, we answer a question from Geschke and the second author (2022), and another question from Fisher, Friedman and Khomskii (2014) concerning regularity properties of subsets of the real line.
We show that for loopless $6$-regular triangulations on the torus the gap between the choice number and chromatic number is at most $2$. We also show that the largest gap for graphs embeddable in an orientable surface of genus $g$ is of the order $Θ(\sqrt{g})$, and moreover for graphs with chromatic number of the order $o(\sqrt{g}/\log_{2}(g))$ the largest gap is of the order $o(\sqrt{g})$.
A packing $k$-coloring of a graph $G$ is a partition of $V(G)$ into sets $V_1,\ldots,V_k$ such that for each $1\leq i\leq k$ the distance between any two distinct $x,y\in V_i$ is at least $i+1$. The packing chromatic number, $χ_p(G)$, of a graph $G$ is the minimum $k$ such that $G$ has a packing $k$-coloring. Sloper showed that there are $4$-regular graphs with arbitrarily large packing chromatic number. The question whether the packing chromatic number of subcubic graphs is bounded appears in several papers. We answer this question in the negative. Moreover, we show that for every fixed $k$ a…
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…
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…
Using an exhaustive search on cubic graphs of order 16, we find a unique cospectral pair with different chromatic indexes. This example indicates that the chromatic index of a regular graph is not characterized by its spectrum, which answers a question recently posed in [O. Etesami, W. H. Haemers, On NP-hard graph properties characterized by the spectrum, Discrete Appl. Math., 285(2020)526-529]. We prove that any orthogonal matrix representing the similarity between the two adjacency matrices of the cospectral pair cannot be rational. This implies that the cospectral pair cannot be obtained us…
An $n$-lift of a graph $G$ is a graph from which there is an $n$-to-$1$ covering map onto $G$. Amit, Linial, and Matou\v sek (2002) raised the question of whether the chromatic number of a random $n$-lift of $K_5$ is concentrated on a single value. We consider this problem for $G=K_{d+1}$, and show that for fixed $d\ge 3$ the chromatic number of a random lift of $K_d$ is (asymptotically almost surely) either $k$ or $k+1$, where $k$ is the smallest integer satisfying $d < 2k \log k$. Moreover, we show that, for roughly half of the values of $d$, the chromatic number is concentrated on $k$. The …
Motivated by a recent conjecture of the first author, we prove that every properly coloured triangle-free graph of chromatic number $χ$ contains a rainbow independent set of size $\lceil\frac12χ\rceil$. This is sharp up to a factor $2$. This result and its short proof have implications for the related notion of chromatic discrepancy. Drawing inspiration from both structural and extremal graph theory, we conjecture that every triangle-free graph of chromatic number $χ$ contains an induced cycle of length $Ω(χ\logχ)$ as $χ\to\infty$. Even if one only demands an induced path of length $Ω(χ\logχ)$…
