Combinatorics (math.CO)

Abstract: We study the approximate core for edge cover games, which are cooperative games stemming from edge cover problems. In these games, each player controls a vertex on a network $G = (V, E; w)$, and the cost of a coalition $S\subseteq V$ is equivalent to the minimum weight of edge covers in the subgraph induced by $S$. We prove that the 3/4-core of edge cover games is always non-empty and can be computed in polynomial time by using linear program duality approach. This ratio is the best possible, as it represents the integrality gap of the natural LP for edge cover problems. Moreover, our analysis reveals that the ratio of approximate core corresponds with the length of the shortest odd cycle of underlying graphs.

Abstract: Let $G$ be a group. The intersection subgroup graph of $G$ (introduced by Anderson et al. \cite{anderson}) is the simple graph $\Gamma_{S}(G)$ whose vertices are those non-trivial subgroups say $H$ of $G$ with $H\cap K=\{e\}$ for some non-trivial subgroup $K$ of $G$; two distinct vertices $H$ and $K$ are adjacent if and only if $H\cap K=\{e\}$, where $e$ is the identity element of $G$. In this communication, we explore the groups whose intersection subgroup graph belongs to several significant graph classes including cluster graphs, perfect graphs, cographs, chordal graphs, bipartite graphs, triangle-free and claw-fee graphs. We categorize each nilpotent group $G$ so that $\Gamma_S(G)$ belongs to the above classes. We entirely classify the simple group of Lie type whose intersection subgroup graph is a cograph. Moreover, we deduce that $\Gamma_{S}(G)$ is neither a cograph nor a chordal graph if $G$ is a torsion-free nilpotent group.

Abstract: A graph is cubical if it is a subgraph of a hypercube. For a cubical graph $H$ and a hypercube $Q_n$, $ex(Q_n, H)$ is the largest number of edges in an $H$-free subgraph of $Q_n$. If $ex(Q_n, H)$ is at least a positive proportion of the number of edges in $Q_n$, $H$ is said to have a positive Tur\'an density in a hypercube or simply a positive Tur\'an density; otherwise it has a zero Tur\'an density. Determining $ex(Q_n, H)$ and even identifying whether $H$ has a positive or a zero Tur\'an density remains a widely open question for general $H$. By relating extremal numbers in a hypercube and certain corresponding hypergraphs, Conlon found a large class of cubical graphs, ones having so-called partite representation, that have a zero Tur\'an density. He raised a question whether this gives a characterisation, i.e., whether a cubical graph has zero Tur\'an density if and only if it has partite representation. Here, we show that, as suspected by Conlon, this is not the case. We give an example of a class of cubical graphs which have no partite representation, but on the other hand, have a zero Tur\'an density. In addition, we show that any graph whose every block has partite representation has a zero Tur\'an density in a hypercube.

Abstract: A subset $C$ of the vertex set of a graph $\Gamma$ is said to be $(a,b)$-regular if $C$ induces an $a$-regular subgraph and every vertex outside $C$ is adjacent to exactly $b$ vertices in $C$. In particular, if $C$ is an $(a,b)$-regular set of some Cayley graph on a finite group $G$, then $C$ is called an $(a,b)$-regular set of $G$ and a $(0,1)$-regular set is called a perfect code of $G$. In [Wang, Xia and Zhou, Regular sets in Cayley graphs, J. Algebr. Comb., 2022] it is proved that if $H$ is a normal subgroup of $G$, then $H$ is a perfect code of $G$ if and only if it is an $(a,b)$-regular set of $G$, for each $0\leq a\leq|H|-1$ and $0\leq b\leq|H|$ with $\gcd(2,|H|-1)\mid a$. In this paper, we generalize this result and show that a subgroup $H$ of $G$ is a perfect code of $G$ if and only if it is an $(a,b)$-regular set of $G$, for each $0\leq a\leq|H|-1$ and $0\leq b\leq|H|$ such that $\gcd(2,|H|-1)$ divides $a$.

Abstract: We determine upper and lower bounds on the zero forcing number of 2-connected outerplanar graphs in terms of the structure of the weak dual. We show that the upper bound is always at most half the number of vertices of the graph. This work generalizes work of Hern\'andez, Ranilla and Ranilla-Cortina who proved a similar result for maximal outerplanar graphs.

Abstract: A Neumaier graph is a non-complete edge-regular graph with the property that it has a regular clique. In this paper, we study Neumaier Cayley graphs. We give a necessary and sufficient condition under which a Neumaier Cayley graph is a strongly regular Neumaier Cayley graph. We also characterize Neumaier Cayley graphs with small valency at most $10$.

Abstract: Breuer and Klivans defined a diverse class of scheduling problems in terms of Boolean formulas with atomic clauses that are inequalities. We consider what we call graph-like scheduling problems. These are Boolean formulas that are conjunctions of disjunctions of atomic clauses $(x_i \neq x_j)$. These problems generalize proper coloring in graphs and hypergraphs. We focus on the existence of a solution with all $x_i$ taking the value of $0$ or $1$ (i.e. problems analogous to the bipartite case). When a graph-like scheduling problem has such a solution, we say it has property B just as is done for $2$-colorable hypergraphs. We define the notion of a $\lambda$-uniform graph-like scheduling problem for any integer partition $\lambda$. Some bounds are attained for the size of the smallest $\lambda$-uniform graph-like scheduling problems without property B. We make use of both random and constructive methods to obtain bounds. Just as in the case of hypergraphs finding tight bounds remains an open problem.

Abstract: A typical theme for many well-known decomposition problems is to show that some obvious necessary conditions for decomposing a graph $G$ into copies $H_1, \ldots, H_m$ are also sufficient. One such problem was posed in 1987, by Alavi, Boals, Chartrand, Erd\H{o}s, and Oellerman. They conjectured that the edges of every graph with $\binom{m+1}2$ edges can be decomposed into subgraphs $H_1, \dots, H_m$ such that each $H_i$ has $i$ edges and is isomorphic to a subgraph of $H_{i+1}$. In this paper we prove this conjecture for sufficiently large $m$.