Global defensive k-alliances in graphs

Let $\Gamma=(V,E)$ be a simple graph. For a nonempty set $X\subseteq V$, and a vertex $v\in V$, $\delta_{X}(v)$ denotes the number of neighbors $v$ has in $X$. A nonempty set $S\subseteq V$ is a \emph{defensive $k$-alliance} in $\Gamma=(V,E)$ if $\delta_S(v)\ge \delta_{\bar{S}}(v)+k,$ $\forall v\in S.$ A defensive $k$-alliance $S$ is called \emph{global} if it forms a dominating set. The \emph{global defensive $k$-alliance number} of $\Gamma$, denoted by $\gamma_{k}^{a}(\Gamma)$, is the minimum cardinality of a defensive $k$-alliance in $\Gamma$. We study the mathematical properties of $\gamma_{k}^{a}(\Gamma)$

Offensive alliances in cubic graphs

An offensive alliance in a graph $\Gamma=(V,E)$ is a set of vertices $S\subset V$ where for every vertex $v$ in its boundary it holds that the majority of vertices in $v$'s closed neighborhood are in $S$. In the case of strong offensive alliance, strict majority is required. An alliance $S$ is called global if it affects every vertex in $V\backslash S$, that is, $S$ is a dominating set of $\Gamma$. The global offensive alliance number $\gamma_o(\Gamma)$ (respectively, global strong offensive alliance number $\gamma_{\hat{o}}(\Gamma)$) is the minimum cardinality of a global offensive (respectively, global strong offensive) alliance in $\Gamma$. If $\Gamma$ has global independent offensive alliances, then the \emph{global independent offensive alliance number} $\gamma_i(\Gamma)$ is the minimum cardinality among all independent global offensive alliances of $\Gamma$. In this paper we study mathematical properties of the global (strong) alliance number of cubic graphs. For instance, we show that for all connected cubic graph of order $n$, $$\frac{2n}{5}\le \gamma_i(\Gamma)\le \frac{n}{2}\le \gamma_{\hat{o}}(\Gamma)\le \frac{3n}{4} \le \gamma_{\hat{o}}({\cal L}(\Gamma))=\gamma_{o}({\cal L}(\Gamma))\le n,$$ where ${\cal L}(\Gamma)$ denotes the line graph of $\Gamma$. All the above bounds are tight

Global offensive kk-alliances in digraphs

In this paper, we initiate the study of global offensive $k$-alliances in digraphs. Given a digraph $D=(V(D),A(D))$, a global offensive $k$-alliance in a digraph $D$ is a subset $S\subseteq V(D)$ such that every vertex outside of $S$ has at least one in-neighbor from $S$ and also at least $k$ more in-neighbors from $S$ than from outside of $S$, by assuming $k$ is an integer lying between two minus the maximum in-degree of $D$ and the maximum in-degree of $D$. The global offensive $k$-alliance number $\gamma_{k}^{o}(D)$ is the minimum cardinality among all global offensive $k$-alliances in $D$. In this article we begin the study of the global offensive $k$-alliance number of digraphs. For instance, we prove that finding the global offensive $k$-alliance number of digraphs $D$ is an NP-hard problem for any value $k\in \{2-\Delta^-(D),\dots,\Delta^-(D)\}$ and that it remains NP-complete even when restricted to bipartite digraphs when we consider the non-negative values of $k$ given in the interval above. Based on these facts, lower bounds on $\gamma_{k}^{o}(D)$ with characterizations of all digraphs attaining the bounds are given in this work. We also bound this parameter for bipartite digraphs from above. For the particular case $k=1$, an immediate result from the definition shows that $\gamma(D)\leq \gamma_{1}^{o}(D)$ for all digraphs $D$, in which $\gamma(D)$ stands for the domination number of $D$. We show that these two digraph parameters are the same for some infinite families of digraphs like rooted trees and contrafunctional digraphs. Moreover, we show that the difference between $\gamma_{1}^{o}(D)$ and $\gamma(D)$ can be arbitrary large for directed trees and connected functional digraphs

On defensive alliances and line graphs

Let $\Gamma$ be a simple graph of size $m$ and degree sequence $\delta_1\ge \delta_2\ge ... \ge \delta_n$. Let ${\cal L}(\Gamma)$ denotes the line graph of $\Gamma$. The aim of this paper is to study mathematical properties of the alliance number, ${a}({\cal L}(\Gamma)$, and the global alliance number, $\gamma_{a}({\cal L}(\Gamma))$, of the line graph of a simple graph. We show that $\lceil\frac{\delta_{n}+\delta_{n-1}-1}{2}\rceil \le {a}({\cal L}(\Gamma))\le \delta_1.$ In particular, if $\Gamma$ is a $\delta$-regular graph ($\delta>0$), then $a({\cal L}(\Gamma))=\delta$, and if $\Gamma$ is a $(\delta_1,\delta_2)$-semiregular bipartite graph, then $a({\cal L}(\Gamma))=\lceil \frac{\delta_1+\delta_2-1}{2} \rceil$. As a consequence of the study we compare $a({\cal L}(\Gamma))$ and ${a}(\Gamma)$, and we characterize the graphs having $a({\cal L}(\Gamma))<4$. Moreover, we show that the global-connected alliance number of ${\cal L}(\Gamma)$ is bounded by $\gamma_{ca}({\cal L}(\Gamma)) \ge \lceil\sqrt{D(\Gamma)+m-1}-1\rceil,$ where $D(\Gamma)$ denotes the diameter of $\Gamma$, and we show that the global alliance number of ${\cal L}(\Gamma)$ is bounded by $\gamma_{a}({\cal L}(\Gamma))\geq \lceil\frac{2m}{\delta_{1}+\delta_{2}+1}\rceil$. The case of strong alliances is studied by analogy

Alliance free and alliance cover sets

A \emph{defensive} (\emph{offensive}) $k$-\emph{alliance} in $\Gamma=(V,E)$ is a set $S\subseteq V$ such that every $v$ in $S$ (in the boundary of $S$) has at least $k$ more neighbors in $S$ than it has in $V\setminus S$. A set $X\subseteq V$ is \emph{defensive} (\emph{offensive}) $k$-\emph{alliance free,} if for all defensive (offensive) $k$-alliance $S$, $S\setminus X\neq\emptyset$, i.e., $X$ does not contain any defensive (offensive) $k$-alliance as a subset. A set $Y \subseteq V$ is a \emph{defensive} (\emph{offensive}) $k$-\emph{alliance cover}, if for all defensive (offensive) $k$-alliance $S$, $S\cap Y\neq\emptyset$, i.e., $Y$ contains at least one vertex from each defensive (offensive) $k$-alliance of $\Gamma$. In this paper we show several mathematical properties of defensive (offensive) $k$-alliance free sets and defensive (offensive) $k$-alliance cover sets, including tight bounds on the cardinality of defensive (offensive) $k$-alliance free (cover) sets