Recognizing Graph Theoretic Properties with Polynomial Ideals

Many hard combinatorial problems can be modeled by a system of polynomial equations. N. Alon coined the term polynomial method to describe the use of nonlinear polynomials when solving combinatorial problems. We continue the exploration of the polynomial method and show how the algorithmic theory of polynomial ideals can be used to detect k-colorability, unique Hamiltonicity, and automorphism rigidity of graphs. Our techniques are diverse and involve Nullstellensatz certificates, linear algebra over finite fields, Groebner bases, toric algebra, convex programming, and real algebraic geometry.Comment: 20 pages, 3 figure

Graph-theoretical conditions for inscribability and Delaunay realizability

We present new graph-theoretical conditions for inscribable polyhedra and Delaunay triangulations. We establish several sufficient conditions of the following general form: if a polyhedron has a sufficiently rich collection of Hamiltonian subgraphs, then it is inscribable. These results have several consequences:All 4-connected polyhedra are inscribable.All simplical polyhedra in which all vertex degrees are between 4 and 6, inclusive, are inscribable.All triangulations without chords or nonfacial triangles are realizable as Delaunay triangulations.We also strengthen some earlier results about matchings in inscribable polyhedra. Specifically, we show that any nonbipartite inscribable polyhedron has a perfect matching containing any specified edge, and that any bipartite inscribable polyhedron has a perfect matching containing any two specified disjoint edges. We give examples showing that these results are best possible

The Hamiltonian index of a graph and its branch-bonds

Let $G$ be an undirected and loopless finite graph that is not a path. The minimum $m$ such that the iterated line graph $L^m(G)$ is hamiltonian is called the hamiltonian index of $G,$ denoted by $h(G).$ A reduction method to determine the hamiltonian index of a graph $G$ with $h(G)\geq 2$ is given here. With it we will establish a sharp lower bound and a sharp upper bound for $h(G)$, respectively, which improves some known results of P.A. Catlin et al. [J. Graph Theory 14 (1990)] and H.-J. Lai [Discrete Mathematics 69 (1988)]. Examples show that $h(G)$ may reach all integers between the lower bound and the upper bound. \u

Decycling a graph by the removal of a matching: new algorithmic and structural aspects in some classes of graphs

A graph $G$ is {\em matching-decyclable} if it has a matching $M$ such that $G-M$ is acyclic. Deciding whether $G$ is matching-decyclable is an NP-complete problem even if $G$ is 2-connected, planar, and subcubic. In this work we present results on matching-decyclability in the following classes: Hamiltonian subcubic graphs, chordal graphs, and distance-hereditary graphs. In Hamiltonian subcubic graphs we show that deciding matching-decyclability is NP-complete even if there are exactly two vertices of degree two. For chordal and distance-hereditary graphs, we present characterizations of matching-decyclability that lead to $O(n)$-time recognition algorithms