Families of Small Regular Graphs of Girth 5

In this paper we obtain $(q+3)$--regular graphs of girth 5 with fewer vertices than previously known ones for $q=13,17,19$ and for any prime $q \ge 23$ performing operations of reductions and amalgams on the Levi graph $B_q$ of an elliptic semiplane of type ${\cal C}$. We also obtain a 13-regular graph of girth 5 on 236 vertices from $B_{11}$ using the same technique

On identifying codes in partial linear spaces

Let (P,L, I) be a partial linear space and X ⊆ P ∪ L. Let us denote by (X)I = x∈X{y : yIx} and by [X] = (X)I ∪ X. With this terminology a partial linear space (P,L, I) is said to admit a (1,≤ k)-identifying code if the sets [X] are mutually different for all X ⊆ P ∪L with |X| ≤ k. In this paper we give a characterization of k-regular partial linear spaces admitting a (1,≤ k)-identifying code. Equivalently, we give a characterization of k-regular bipartite graphs of girth at least six admitting a (1,≤ k)-identifying code. That is, k-regular bipartite graphs of girth at least six admitting a set C of vertices such that the sets N[x] ∩ C are nonempty and pairwise distinct for all vertex x ∈ X where X is a subset of vertices of |X| ≤ k. Moreover, we present a family of k-regular partial linear spaces on 2(k−1)2+k points and 2(k − 1)2 + k lines whose incidence graphs do not admit a (1,≤ k)-identifying code. Finally, we show that the smallest (k; 6)-graphs known up to now for k − 1 not a prime power admit a (1,≤ k)-identifying code.Peer Reviewe

Attainable bounds for algebraic connectivity and maximally-connected regular graphs

We derive attainable upper bounds on the algebraic connectivity (spectral gap) of a regular graph in terms of its diameter and girth. This bound agrees with the well-known Alon-Boppana-Friedman bound for graphs of even diameter, but is an improvement for graphs of odd diameter. For the girth bound, we show that only Moore graphs can attain it, and these only exist for very few possible girths. For diameter bound, we use a combination of stochastic algorithms and exhaustive search to find graphs which attain it. For 3-regular graphs, we find attainable graphs for all diameters $D$ up to and including $D=9$ (the case of $D=10$ is open). These graphs are extremely rare and also have high girth; for example we found exactly 45 distinct cubic graphs on 44 vertices attaining the upper bound when $D=7$; all have girth 8 (out of a total of about $10^{20}$ cubic graphs on 44 vertices, including 266362 having girth 8). We also exhibit families of $d$-regular graphs attaining upper bounds with $D=3$ and $4$, and with $g=6.$ Several conjectures are proposed

Small regular graphs of girth 7

In this paper, we construct new infinite families of regular graphs of girth 7 of smallest order known so far. Our constructions are based on combinatorial and geometric properties of (q + 1, 8)-cages, for q a prime power. We remove vertices from such cages and add matchings among the vertices of minimum degree to achieve regularity in the new graphs. We obtain (q + 1)-regular graphs of girth 7 and order 2q(3) + q(2) + 2q for each even prime power q >= 4, and of order 2q(3) + 2q(2) q + 1 for each odd prime power q >= 5.Postprint (published version

On the structure of graphs without short cycles

The objective of this thesis is to study cages, constructions and properties of such families of graphs. For this, the study of graphs without short cycles plays a fundamental role in order to develop some knowledge on their structure, so we can later deal with the problems on cages. Cages were introduced by Tutte in 1947. In 1963, Erdös and Sachs proved that (k, g) -cages exist for any given values of k and g. Since then, large amount of research in cages has been devoted to their construction. In this work we study structural properties such as the connectivity, diameter, and degree regularity of graphs without short cycles. In some sense, connectivity is a measure of the reliability of a network. Two graphs with the same edge-connectivity, may be considered to have different reliabilities, as a more refined index than the edge-connectivity, edge-superconnectivity is proposed together with some other parameters called restricted connectivities. By relaxing the conditions that are imposed for the graphs to be cages, we can achieve more refined connectivity properties on these families and also we have an approach to structural properties of the family of graphs with more restrictions (i.e., the cages). Our aim, by studying such structural properties of cages is to get a deeper insight into their structure so we can attack the problem of their construction. By way of example, we studied a condition on the diameter in relation to the girth pair of a graph, and as a corollary we obtained a result guaranteeing restricted connectivity of a special family of graphs arising from geometry, such as polarity graphs. Also, we obtained a result proving the edge superconnectivity of semiregular cages. Based on these studies it was possible to develop the study of cages. Therefore obtaining a relevant result with respect to the connectivity of cages, that is, cages are k/2-connected. And also arising from the previous work on girth pairs we obtained constructions for girth pair cages that proves a bound conjectured by Harary and Kovács, relating the order of girth pair cages with the one for cages. Concerning the degree and the diameter, there is the concept of a Moore graph, it was introduced by Hoffman and Singleton after Edward F. Moore, who posed the question of describing and classifying these graphs. As well as having the maximum possible number of vertices for a given combination of degree and diameter, Moore graphs have the minimum possible number of vertices for a regular graph with given degree and girth. That is, any Moore graph is a cage. The formula for the number of vertices in a Moore graph can be generalized to allow a definition of Moore graphs with even girth (bipartite Moore graphs) as well as odd girth, and again these graphs are cages. Thus, Moore graphs give a lower bound for the order of cages, but they are known to exist only for very specific values of k, therefore it is interesting to study how far a cage is from this bound, this value is called the excess of a cage. We studied the excess of graphs and give a contribution, in the sense of the work of Biggs and Ito, relating the bipartition of girth 6 cages with their orders. Entire families of cages can be obtained from finite geometries, for example, the graphs of incidence of projective planes of order q a prime power, are (q+1, 6)-cages. Also by using other incidence structures such as the generalized quadrangles or generalized hexagons, it can be obtained families of cages of girths 8 and 12. In this thesis, we present a construction of an entire family of girth 7 cages that arises from some combinatorial properties of the incidence graphs of generalized quadrangles of order (q,q)

Constructions of small regular bipartite graphs of girth 6

In this article, some structures in the projective plane of order q are found which allow us to construct small k - regular balanced bipartite graphs of girth 6 for all k ≤ q. When k = q, the order of these q-regular graphs is 2(q^2−1); and when k ≤ q−1, the order of these k -regular graphs is 2(qk − 2). Moreover, the incidence matrix of a k -regular balanced bipartite graph of girth 6 having 2(qk −2) vertices, where k is an integer and q is a prime power with 3 ≤ k ≤ q − 1, is provided. These graphs improve upon the best known upper bounds for the number of vertices in regular graphs of girth 6