A counterexample to the pseudo 2-factor isomorphic graph conjecture

A graph $G$ is pseudo 2-factor isomorphic if the parity of the number of cycles in a 2-factor is the same for all 2-factors of $G$. Abreu et al. conjectured that $K_{3,3}$, the Heawood graph and the Pappus graph are the only essentially 4-edge-connected pseudo 2-factor isomorphic cubic bipartite graphs (Abreu et al., Journal of Combinatorial Theory, Series B, 2008, Conjecture 3.6). Using a computer search we show that this conjecture is false by constructing a counterexample with 30 vertices. We also show that this is the only counterexample up to at least 40 vertices. A graph $G$ is 2-factor hamiltonian if all 2-factors of $G$ are hamiltonian cycles. Funk et al. conjectured that every 2-factor hamiltonian cubic bipartite graph can be obtained from $K_{3,3}$ and the Heawood graph by applying repeated star products (Funk et al., Journal of Combinatorial Theory, Series B, 2003, Conjecture 3.2). We verify that this conjecture holds up to at least 40 vertices.Comment: 8 pages, added some extra information in Discrete Applied Mathematics (2015

Generation and Properties of Snarks

For many of the unsolved problems concerning cycles and matchings in graphs it is known that it is sufficient to prove them for \emph{snarks}, the class of nontrivial 3-regular graphs which cannot be 3-edge coloured. In the first part of this paper we present a new algorithm for generating all non-isomorphic snarks of a given order. Our implementation of the new algorithm is 14 times faster than previous programs for generating snarks, and 29 times faster for generating weak snarks. Using this program we have generated all non-isomorphic snarks on $n\leq 36$ vertices. Previously lists up to $n=28$ vertices have been published. In the second part of the paper we analyze the sets of generated snarks with respect to a number of properties and conjectures. We find that some of the strongest versions of the cycle double cover conjecture hold for all snarks of these orders, as does Jaeger's Petersen colouring conjecture, which in turn implies that Fulkerson's conjecture has no small counterexamples. In contrast to these positive results we also find counterexamples to eight previously published conjectures concerning cycle coverings and the general cycle structure of cubic graphs.Comment: Submitted for publication V2: various corrections V3: Figures updated and typos corrected. This version differs from the published one in that the Arxiv-version has data about the automorphisms of snarks; Journal of Combinatorial Theory. Series B. 201

More on quasi-random graphs, subgraph counts and graph limits

We study some properties of graphs (or, rather, graph sequences) defined by demanding that the number of subgraphs of a given type, with vertices in subsets of given sizes, approximatively equals the number expected in a random graph. It has been shown by several authors that several such conditions are quasi-random, but that there are exceptions. In order to understand this better, we investigate some new properties of this type. We show that these properties too are quasi-random, at least in some cases; however, there are also cases that are left as open problems, and we discuss why the proofs fail in these cases. The proofs are based on the theory of graph limits; and on the method and results developed by Janson (2011), this translates the combinatorial problem to an analytic problem, which then is translated to an algebraic problem.Comment: 35 page