More bounds for the Grundy number of graphs

A coloring of a graph \(G=(V,E)\) is a partition \(\{V_1, V_2, \ldots , V_k\}\) of V into independent sets or color classes. A vertex \(v\in V_i\) is a Grundy vertex if it is adjacent to at least one vertex in each color class \(V_j\) for every \(j<i\). A coloring is a Grundy coloring if every vertex is a Grundy vertex, and the Grundy number \(\Gamma (G)\) of a graph G is the maximum number of colors in a Grundy coloring. We provide two new upper bounds on Grundy number of a graph and a stronger version of the well-known Nordhaus-Gaddum theorem. In addition, we give a new characterization for a \(\{P_{4}, C_4\}\)-free graph by supporting a conjecture of Zaker, which says that \(\Gamma (G)\ge \delta (G)+1\) for any \(C_4\)-free graph G.     

List 2-distance $$\varDelta +3$$-coloring of planar graphs without 4,5-cycles

Let \(\chi _2(G)\) and \(\chi _2^l(G)\) be the 2-distance chromatic number and list 2-distance chromatic number of a graph G, respectively. Wegner conjectured that for each planar graph G with maximum degree \(\varDelta \) at least 4, \(\chi _2(G)\le \varDelta +5\) if \(4\le \varDelta \le 7\), and \(\chi _2(G)\le \lfloor \frac{3\varDelta }{2}\rfloor +1\) if \(\varDelta \ge 8\). Let G be a planar graph without 4,5-cycles. We show that if \(\varDelta \ge 26\), then \(\chi _2^l(G)\le \varDelta +3\). There exist planar graphs G with girth \(g(G)=6\) such that \(\chi _2^l(G)=\varDelta +2\) for arbitrarily large \(\varDelta \). In addition, we also discuss the list L(2, 1)-labeling number of G, and prove that \(\lambda _l(G)\le \varDelta +8\) for \(\varDelta \ge 27\).     

On the difference of two generalized connectivities of a graph

The concept of k-connectivity \(\kappa '_{k}(G)\) of a graph G, introduced by Chartrand in 1984, is a generalization of the cut-version of the classical connectivity. Another generalized connectivity of a graph G, named the generalized k-connectivity \(\kappa _{k}(G)\), mentioned by Hager in 1985, is a natural generalization of the path-version of the classical connectivity. In this paper, we get the lower and upper bounds for the difference of these two parameters by showing that for a connected graph G of order n, if \(\kappa '_k(G)\ne n-k+1\) where \(k\ge 3\), then \(0\le \kappa '_k(G)-\kappa _k(G)\le n-k-1\); otherwise, \(-\lfloor \frac{k}{2}\rfloor +1\le \kappa '_k(G)-\kappa _k(G)\le n-k\). Moreover, all of these bounds are sharp. Some specific study is focused for the case \(k=3\). As results, we characterize the graphs with \(\kappa '_3(G)=\kappa _3(G)=t\) for \(t\in \{1, n-3, n-2\}\), and give a necessary condition for \(\kappa '_3(G)=\kappa _3(G)\) by showing that for a connected graph G of order n and size m, if \(\kappa '_3(G)=\kappa _3(G)=t\) where \(1\le t\le n-3\), then \(m\le {n-2\atopwithdelims ()2}+2t\). Moreover, the unique extremal graph is given for the equality to hold.     

Total and forcing total edge-to-vertex monophonic number of a graph

For a connected graph \(G = \left( V,E\right) \), a set \(S\subseteq E(G)\) is called a total edge-to-vertex monophonic set of a connected graph G if the subgraph induced by S has no isolated edges. The total edge-to-vertex monophonic number \(m_{tev}(G)\) of G is the minimum cardinality of its total edge-to-vertex monophonic set of G. The total edge-to-vertex monophonic number of certain classes of graphs is determined and some of its general properties are studied. Connected graphs of size \(q \ge 3 \) with total edge-to-vertex monophonic number q is characterized. It is shown that for positive integers \(r_{m},d_{m}\) and \(l\ge 4\) with \(r_{m}< d_{m} \le 2 r_{m}\), there exists a connected graph G with \(\textit{rad}_ {m} G = r_{m}\), \(\textit{diam}_ {m} G = d_{m}\) and \(m_{tev}(G) = l\) and also shown that for every integers a and b with \(2 \le a \le b\), there exists a connected graph G such that \( m_{ev}\left( G\right) = b\) and \(m_{tev}(G) = a + b\). A forcing subset for S of minimum cardinality is a minimum forcing subset of S. The forcing total edge-to-vertex monophonic number of S, denoted by \(f_{tev}(S)\) is the cardinality of a minimum forcing subset of S. The forcing total edge-to-vertex monophonic number of G, denoted by \(f_{tev}(G) = \textit{min}\{f_{tev}(S)\}\), where the minimum is taken over all total edge-to-vertex monophonic set S in G. The forcing total edge-to-vertex monophonic number of certain classes of graphs are determined and some of its general properties are studied. It is shown that for every integers a and b with \(0 \le a \le b\) and \(b \ge 2\), there exists a connected graph G such that \(f_{tev}(G) = a\) and \( m _{tev}(G) = b\), where \( f _{tev}(G)\) is the forcing total edge-to-vertex monophonic number of G.     

Embeddings into almost self-centered graphs of given radius

A graph is almost self-centered (ASC) if all but two of its vertices are central. An almost self-centered graph with radius r is called an r-ASC graph. The r-ASC index \(\theta _r(G)\) of a graph G is the minimum number of vertices needed to be added to G such that an r-ASC graph is obtained that contains G as an induced subgraph. It is proved that \(\theta _r(G)\le 2r\) holds for any graph G and any \(r\ge 2\) which improves the earlier known bound \(\theta _r(G)\le 2r+1\). It is further proved that \(\theta _r(G)\le 2r-1\) holds if \(r\ge 3\) and G is of order at least 2. The 3-ASC index of complete graphs is determined. It is proved that \(\theta _3(G)\in \{3,4\}\) if G has diameter 2 and for several classes of graphs of diameter 2 the exact value of the 3-ASC index is obtained. For instance, if a graph G of diameter 2 does not contain a diametrical triple, then \(\theta _3(G) = 4\). The 3-ASC index of paths of order \(n\ge 1\), cycles of order \(n\ge 3\), and trees of order \(n\ge 10\) and diameter \(n-2\) are also determined, respectively, and several open problems proposed.     

Neighbor sum distinguishing total coloring of graphs with bounded treewidth

A proper total k-coloring \(\phi \) of a graph G is a mapping from \(V(G)\cup E(G)\) to \(\{1,2,\dots , k\}\) such that no adjacent or incident elements in \(V(G)\cup E(G)\) receive the same color. Let \(m_{\phi }(v)\) denote the sum of the colors on the edges incident with the vertex v and the color on v. A proper total k-coloring of G is called neighbor sum distinguishing if \(m_{\phi }(u)\not =m_{\phi }(v)\) for each edge \(uv\in E(G).\) Let \(\chi _{\Sigma }^t(G)\) be the neighbor sum distinguishing total chromatic number of a graph G. Pil?niak and Wo?niak conjectured that for any graph G, \(\chi _{\Sigma }^t(G)\le \Delta (G)+3\). In this paper, we show that if G is a graph with treewidth \(\ell \ge 3\) and \(\Delta (G)\ge 2\ell +3\), then \(\chi _{\Sigma }^t(G)\le \Delta (G)+\ell -1\). This upper bound confirms the conjecture for graphs with treewidth 3 and 4. Furthermore, when \(\ell =3\) and \(\Delta \ge 9\), we show that \(\Delta (G) + 1\le \chi _{\Sigma }^t(G)\le \Delta (G)+2\) and characterize graphs with equalities.     

Improved upper bound for the degenerate and star chromatic numbers of graphs

Let \(G=G(V,E)\) be a graph. A proper coloring of G is a function \(f:V\rightarrow N\) such that \(f(x)\ne f(y)\) for every edge \(xy\in E\). A proper coloring of a graph G such that for every \(k\ge 1\), the union of any k color classes induces a \((k-1)\)-degenerate subgraph is called a degenerate coloring; a proper coloring of a graph with no two-colored \(P_{4}\) is called a star coloring. If a coloring is both degenerate and star, then we call it a degenerate star coloring of graph. The corresponding chromatic number is denoted as \(\chi _{sd}(G)\). In this paper, we employ entropy compression method to obtain a new upper bound \(\chi _{sd}(G)\le \lceil \frac{19}{6}\Delta ^{\frac{3}{2}}+5\Delta \rceil \) for general graph G.     

Convex median and anti-median at prescribed distance

The status of a vertex v in a connected graph G is the sum of the distances between v and all the other vertices of G. The subgraph induced by the vertices of minimum (maximum) status in G is called median (anti-median) of G. Let \(H=(G_1,G_2,r)\) denote a graph with \(G_1\) as the median and \(G_2\) as the anti-median of H, \(d(G_1,G_2)=r\) and both \(G_1\) and \(G_2\) are convex subgraphs of H. It is known that \((G_1,G_2,r)\) exists for every \(G_1\), \(G_2\) with \(r \ge \left\lfloor diam(G_1)/2\right\rfloor +\left\lfloor diam(G_2)/2\right\rfloor +2\). In this paper we show the existence of \((G_1,G_2,r)\) for every \(G_1\), \(G_2\) and \(r \ge 1\). We also obtain a sharp upper bound for the maximum status difference in a graph G.     

On the algorithmic aspects of strong subcoloring

A partition of the vertex set V(G) of a graph G into \(V(G)=V_1\cup V_2\cup \cdots \cup V_k\) is called a k-strong subcoloring if \(d(x,y)\ne 2\) in G for every \(x,y\in V_i\), \(1\le i \le k\) where d(x, y) denotes the length of a shortest x-y path in G. The strong subchromatic number is defined as \(\chi _{sc}(G)=\text {min}\{ k:G \text { admits a }k\)-\(\text {strong subcoloring}\}\). In this paper, we explore the complexity status of the StrongSubcoloring problem: for a given graph G and a positive integer k, StrongSubcoloring is to decide whether G admits a k-strong subcoloring. We prove that StrongSubcoloring is NP-complete for subcubic bipartite graphs and the problem is polynomial time solvable for trees. In addition, we prove the following dichotomy results: (i) for the class of \(K_{1,r}\)-free split graphs, StrongSubcoloring is in P when \(r\le 3\) and NP-complete when \(r>3\) and (ii) for the class of H-free graphs, StrongSubcoloring is polynomial time solvable only if H is an induced subgraph of \(P_4\); otherwise the problem is NP-complete. Next, we consider a lower bound on the strong subchromatic number. A strong set is a set S of vertices of a graph G such that for every \(x,y\in S\), \(d(x,y)= 2\) in G and the cardinality of a maximum strong set in G is denoted by \(\alpha _{s}(G)\). Clearly, \(\alpha _{s}(G)\le \chi _{sc}(G)\). We consider the complexity status of the StrongSet problem: given a graph G and a positive integer k, StrongSet asks whether G contains a strong set of cardinality k. We prove that StrongSet is NP-complete for (i) bipartite graphs and (ii) \(K_{1,4}\)-free split graphs, and it is polynomial time solvable for (i) trees and (ii) \(P_4\)-free graphs.     

Planar graphs without chordal 5-cycles are 2-good

Let G be a connected graph with \(n\ge 2\) vertices. Suppose that a fire breaks out at a vertex v of G. A firefighter starts to protect vertices. At each step, the firefighter protects two vertices not yet on fire. At the end of each step, the fire spreads to all the unprotected vertices that have a neighbour on fire. Let sn\(_2(v)\) denote the maximum number of vertices in G that the firefighter can save when a fire breaks out at vertex v. The 2-surviving rate \(\rho _2(G)\) of G is defined to be the real number \(\frac{1}{n^2} \sum _{v\in V(G)} \mathrm{sn}_2(v)\). Then it is obvious that \(0<\rho _2(G)<1\). The graph G is called 2-good if there is a constant \(c>0\) such that \(\rho _2(G)>c\). In this paper, we prove that every planar graph with \(n\ge 2\) vertices and without chordal 5-cycles is 2-good.     

Neighbor sum distinguishing list total coloring of subcubic graphs

Let \(G=(V, E)\) be a simple graph and denote the set of edges incident to a vertex v by E(v). The neighbor sum distinguishing (NSD) total choice number of G, denoted by \(\mathrm{ch}_{\Sigma }^{t}(G)\), is the smallest integer k such that, after assigning each \(z\in V\cup E\) a set L(z) of k real numbers, G has a total coloring \(\phi \) satisfying \(\phi (z)\in L(z)\) for each \(z\in V\cup E\) and \(\sum _{z\in E(u)\cup \{u\}}\phi (z)\ne \sum _{z\in E(v)\cup \{v\}}\phi (z)\) for each \(uv\in E\). In this paper, we propose some reducible configurations of NSD list total coloring for general graphs by applying the Combinatorial Nullstellensatz. As an application, we present that \(\mathrm{ch}^{t}_{\Sigma }(G)\le \Delta (G)+3\) for every subcubic graph G.     

Paired-domination number of claw-free odd-regular graphs

A paired-dominating set of a graph G is a dominating set of vertices whose induced subgraph has a perfect matching, while the paired-domination number is the minimum cardinality of a paired-dominating set in the graph, denoted by \(\gamma _{pr}(G)\). Let G be a connected \(\{K_{1,3}, K_{4}-e\}\)-free cubic graph of order n. We show that \(\gamma _{pr}(G)\le \frac{10n+6}{27}\) if G is \(C_{4}\)-free and that \(\gamma _{pr}(G)\le \frac{n}{3}+\frac{n+6}{9(\lceil \frac{3}{4}(g_o+1)\rceil +1)}\) if G is \(\{C_{4}, C_{6}, C_{10}, \ldots , C_{2g_o}\}\)-free for an odd integer \(g_o\ge 3\); the extremal graphs are characterized; we also show that if G is a 2 -connected, \(\gamma _{pr}(G) = \frac{n}{3} \). Furthermore, if G is a connected \((2k+1)\)-regular \(\{K_{1,3}, K_4-e\}\)-free graph of order n, then \(\gamma _{pr}(G)\le \frac{n}{k+1} \), with equality if and only if \(G=L(F)\), where \(F\cong K_{1, 2k+2}\), or k is even and \(F\cong K_{k+1,k+2}\).     

On zero-sum $$\mathbb {Z}_{2j}^k$$-magic graphs

Let \(G = (V,E)\) be a finite graph and let \((\mathbb {A},+)\) be an abelian group with identity 0. Then G is \(\mathbb {A}\)-magic if and only if there exists a function \(\phi \) from E into \(\mathbb {A} - \{0\}\) such that for some \(c \in \mathbb {A}, \sum _{e \in E(v)} \phi (e) = c\) for every \(v \in V\), where E(v) is the set of edges incident to v. Additionally, G is zero-sum \(\mathbb {A}\)-magic if and only if \(\phi \) exists such that \(c = 0\). We consider zero-sum \(\mathbb {A}\)-magic labelings of graphs, with particular attention given to \(\mathbb {A} = \mathbb {Z}_{2j}^k\). For \(j \ge 1\), let \(\zeta _{2j}(G)\) be the smallest positive integer c such that G is zero-sum \(\mathbb {Z}_{2j}^c\)-magic if c exists; infinity otherwise. We establish upper bounds on \(\zeta _{2j}(G)\) when \(\zeta _{2j}(G)\) is finite, and show that \(\zeta _{2j}(G)\) is finite for all r-regular \(G, r \ge 2\). Appealing to classical results on the factors of cubic graphs, we prove that \(\zeta _4(G) \le 2\) for a cubic graph G, with equality if and only if G has no 1-factor. We discuss the problem of classifying cubic graphs according to the collection of finite abelian groups for which they are zero-sum group-magic.     

Minimum 2-distance coloring of planar graphs and channel assignment

A 2-distance k-coloring of a graph G is a proper k-coloring such that any two vertices at distance two get different colors. \(\chi _{2}(G)\)=min{k|G has a 2-distance k-coloring}. Wegner conjectured that for each planar graph G with maximum degree \(\Delta \), \(\chi _2(G) \le 7\) if \(\Delta \le 3\), \(\chi _2(G) \le \Delta +5\) if \(4\le \Delta \le 7\) and \(\chi _2(G) \le \lfloor \frac{3\Delta }{2}\rfloor +1\) if \(\Delta \ge 8\). In this paper, we prove that: (1) If G is a planar graph with maximum degree \(\Delta \le 5\), then \(\chi _{2}(G)\le 20\); (2) If G is a planar graph with maximum degree \(\Delta \ge 6\), then \(\chi _{2}(G)\le 5\Delta -7\).     

The game chromatic index of some trees with maximum degree four and adjacent degree-four vertices

A (proper) total-k-coloring of a graph G is a mapping \(\phi : V (G) \cup E(G)\mapsto \{1, 2, \ldots , k\}\) such that any two adjacent or incident elements in \(V (G) \cup E(G)\) receive different colors. Let C(v) denote the set of the color of a vertex v and the colors of all incident edges of v. An adjacent vertex distinguishing total-k-coloring of G is a total-k-coloring of G such that for each edge \(uv\in E(G)\), \(C(u)\ne C(v)\). We denote the smallest value k in such a coloring of G by \(\chi ^{\prime \prime }_{a}(G)\). It is known that \(\chi _{a}^{\prime \prime }(G)\le \Delta (G)+3\) for any planar graph with \(\Delta (G)\ge 10\). In this paper, we consider the list version of this coloring and show that if G is a planar graph with \(\Delta (G)\ge 11\), then \({ ch}_{a}^{\prime \prime }(G)\le \Delta (G)+3\), where \({ ch}^{\prime \prime }_a(G)\) is the adjacent vertex distinguishing total choosability.     

On minimally 2-connected graphs with generalized connectivity $$\kappa _{3}=2$$

For \(S\subseteq G\), let \(\kappa (S)\) denote the maximum number r of edge-disjoint trees \(T_1, T_2, \ldots , T_r\) in G such that \(V(T_i)\cap V(T_j)=S\) for any \(i,j\in \{1,2,\ldots ,r\}\) and \(i\ne j\). For every \(2\le k\le n\), the k-connectivity of G, denoted by \(\kappa _k(G)\), is defined as \(\kappa _k(G)=\hbox {min}\{\kappa (S)| S\subseteq V(G)\ and\ |S|=k\}\). Clearly, \(\kappa _2(G)\) corresponds to the traditional connectivity of G. In this paper, we focus on the structure of minimally 2-connected graphs with \(\kappa _{3}=2\). Denote by \(\mathcal {H}\) the set of minimally 2-connected graphs with \(\kappa _{3}=2\). Let \(\mathcal {B}\subseteq \mathcal {H}\) and every graph in \(\mathcal {B}\) is either \(K_{2,3}\) or the graph obtained by subdividing each edge of a triangle-free 3-connected graph. We obtain that \(H\in \mathcal {H}\) if and only if \(H\in \mathcal {B}\) or H can be constructed from one or some graphs \(H_{1},\ldots ,H_{k}\) in \(\mathcal {B}\) (\(k\ge 1\)) by applying some operations recursively.     

Neighbor product distinguishing total colorings

A total-[k]-coloring of a graph G is a mapping \(\phi : V (G) \cup E(G)\rightarrow \{1, 2, \ldots , k\}\) such that any two adjacent elements in \(V (G) \cup E(G)\) receive different colors. Let f(v) denote the product of the color of a vertex v and the colors of all edges incident to v. A total-[k]-neighbor product distinguishing-coloring of G is a total-[k]-coloring of G such that \(f(u)\ne f(v)\), where \(uv\in E(G)\). By \(\chi ^{\prime \prime }_{\prod }(G)\), we denote the smallest value k in such a coloring of G. We conjecture that \(\chi _{\prod }^{\prime \prime }(G)\le \Delta (G)+3\) for any simple graph with maximum degree \(\Delta (G)\). In this paper, we prove that the conjecture holds for complete graphs, cycles, trees, bipartite graphs and subcubic graphs. Furthermore, we show that if G is a \(K_4\)-minor free graph with \(\Delta (G)\ge 4\), then \(\chi _{\prod }^{\prime \prime }(G)\le \Delta (G)+2\).     

An upper bound on the double Roman domination number

A double Roman dominating function (DRDF) on a graph \(G=(V,E)\) is a function \(f : V \rightarrow \{0, 1, 2, 3\}\) having the property that if \(f(v) = 0\), then vertex v must have at least two neighbors assigned 2 under f or one neighbor w with \(f(w)=3\), and if \(f(v)=1\), then vertex v must have at least one neighbor w with \(f(w)\ge 2\). The weight of a DRDF f is the value \(f(V) = \sum _{u \in V}f(u)\). The double Roman domination number \(\gamma _{dR}(G)\) of a graph G is the minimum weight of a DRDF on G. Beeler et al. (Discrete Appl Math 211:23–29, 2016) observed that every connected graph G having minimum degree at least two satisfies the inequality \(\gamma _{dR}(G)\le \frac{6n}{5}\) and posed the question whether this bound can be improved. In this paper, we settle the question and prove that for any connected graph G of order n with minimum degree at least two, \(\gamma _{dR}(G)\le \frac{8n}{7}\).     

Upper bounds of proper connection number of graphs

A total weighting of a graph G is a mapping \(\phi \) that assigns a weight to each vertex and each edge of G. The vertex-sum of \(v \in V(G)\) with respect to \(\phi \) is \(S_{\phi }(v)=\sum _{e\in E(v)}\phi (e)+\phi (v)\). A total weighting is proper if adjacent vertices have distinct vertex-sums. A graph \(G=(V,E)\) is called \((k,k')\)-choosable if the following is true: If each vertex x is assigned a set L(x) of k real numbers, and each edge e is assigned a set L(e) of \(k'\) real numbers, then there is a proper total weighting \(\phi \) with \(\phi (y)\in L(y)\) for any \(y \in V \cup E\). In this paper, we prove that for any graph \(G\ne K_1\), the Mycielski graph of G is (1,4)-choosable. Moreover, we give some sufficient conditions for the Mycielski graph of G to be (1,3)-choosable. In particular, our result implies that if G is a complete bipartite graph, a complete graph, a tree, a subcubic graph, a fan, a wheel, a Halin graph, or a grid, then the Mycielski graph of G is (1,3)-choosable.     

Neighbor sum distinguishing total coloring of 2-degenerate graphs

A proper k-total coloring of a graph G is a mapping from \(V(G)\cup E(G)\) to \(\{1,2,\ldots ,k\}\) such that no two adjacent or incident elements in \(V(G)\cup E(G)\) receive the same color. Let f(v) denote the sum of the colors on the edges incident with v and the color on vertex v. A proper k-total coloring of G is called neighbor sum distinguishing if \(f(u)\ne f(v)\) for each edge \(uv\in E(G)\). Let \(\chi ''_{\Sigma }(G)\) denote the smallest integer k in such a coloring of G. Pil?niak and Wo?niak conjectured that for any graph G, \(\chi ''_{\Sigma }(G)\le \Delta (G)+3\). In this paper, we show that if G is a 2-degenerate graph, then \(\chi ''_{\Sigma }(G)\le \Delta (G)+3\); Moreover, if \(\Delta (G)\ge 5\) then \(\chi ''_{\Sigma }(G)\le \Delta (G)+2\).