The Cycle Spectrum of Claw-free Hamiltonian Graphs

If $G$ is a claw-free hamiltonian graph of order $n$ and maximum degree $\Delta$ with $\Delta\geq 24$, then $G$ has cycles of at least $\min\left\{ n,\left\lceil\frac{3}{2}\Delta\right\rceil\right\}-2$ many different lengths.Comment: 9 page

Long paths and cycles in random subgraphs of graphs with large minimum degree

For a given finite graph $G$ of minimum degree at least $k$, let $G_{p}$ be a random subgraph of $G$ obtained by taking each edge independently with probability $p$. We prove that (i) if $p \ge \omega/k$ for a function $\omega=\omega(k)$ that tends to infinity as $k$ does, then $G_p$ asymptotically almost surely contains a cycle (and thus a path) of length at least $(1-o(1))k$, and (ii) if $p \ge (1+o(1))\ln k/k$, then $G_p$ asymptotically almost surely contains a path of length at least $k$. Our theorems extend classical results on paths and cycles in the binomial random graph, obtained by taking $G$ to be the complete graph on $k+1$ vertices.Comment: 26 page

Precise Partitions Of Large Graphs

First by using an easy application of the Regularity Lemma, we extend some known results about cycles of many lengths to include a specified edge on the cycles. The results in this chapter will help us in rest of this thesis. In 2000, Enomoto and Ota posed a conjecture on the existence of path decomposition of graphs with fixed start vertices and fixed lengths. We prove this conjecture when |G| is large. Our proof uses the Regularity Lemma along with several extremal lemmas, concluding with an absorbing argument to retrieve misbehaving vertices. Furthermore, sharp minimum degree and degree sum conditions are proven for the existance of a Hamiltonian cycle passing through specified vertices with prescribed distances between them in large graphs. Finally, we prove a sharp connectivity and degree sum condition for the existence of a subdivision of a multigraph in which some of the vertices are specified and the distance between each pair of vertices in the subdivision is prescribed (within one)

Matchings and Hamilton Cycles with Constraints on Sets of Edges

The aim of this paper is to extend and generalise some work of Katona on the existence of perfect matchings or Hamilton cycles in graphs subject to certain constraints. The most general form of these constraints is that we are given a family of sets of edges of our graph and are not allowed to use all the edges of any member of this family. We consider two natural ways of expressing constraints of this kind using graphs and using set systems. For the first version we ask for conditions on regular bipartite graphs $G$ and $H$ for there to exist a perfect matching in $G$, no two edges of which form a $4$-cycle with two edges of $H$. In the second, we ask for conditions under which a Hamilton cycle in the complete graph (or equivalently a cyclic permutation) exists, with the property that it has no collection of intervals of prescribed lengths whose union is an element of a given family of sets. For instance we prove that the smallest family of $4$-sets with the property that every cyclic permutation of an $n$-set contains two adjacent pairs of points has size between $(1/9+o(1))n^2$ and $(1/2-o(1))n^2$. We also give bounds on the general version of this problem and on other natural special cases. We finish by raising numerous open problems and directions for further study.Comment: 21 page

A Tight Lower Bound for Counting Hamiltonian Cycles via Matrix Rank

For even $k$, the matchings connectivity matrix $\mathbf{M}_k$ encodes which pairs of perfect matchings on $k$ vertices form a single cycle. Cygan et al. (STOC 2013) showed that the rank of $\mathbf{M}_k$ over $\mathbb{Z}_2$ is $\Theta(\sqrt 2^k)$ and used this to give an $O^*((2+\sqrt{2})^{\mathsf{pw}})$ time algorithm for counting Hamiltonian cycles modulo $2$ on graphs of pathwidth $\mathsf{pw}$. The same authors complemented their algorithm by an essentially tight lower bound under the Strong Exponential Time Hypothesis (SETH). This bound crucially relied on a large permutation submatrix within $\mathbf{M}_k$, which enabled a "pattern propagation" commonly used in previous related lower bounds, as initiated by Lokshtanov et al. (SODA 2011). We present a new technique for a similar pattern propagation when only a black-box lower bound on the asymptotic rank of $\mathbf{M}_k$ is given; no stronger structural insights such as the existence of large permutation submatrices in $\mathbf{M}_k$ are needed. Given appropriate rank bounds, our technique yields lower bounds for counting Hamiltonian cycles (also modulo fixed primes $p$) parameterized by pathwidth. To apply this technique, we prove that the rank of $\mathbf{M}_k$ over the rationals is $4^k / \mathrm{poly}(k)$. We also show that the rank of $\mathbf{M}_k$ over $\mathbb{Z}_p$ is $\Omega(1.97^k)$ for any prime $p\neq 2$ and even $\Omega(2.15^k)$ for some primes. As a consequence, we obtain that Hamiltonian cycles cannot be counted in time $O^*((6-\epsilon)^{\mathsf{pw}})$ for any $\epsilon>0$ unless SETH fails. This bound is tight due to a $O^*(6^{\mathsf{pw}})$ time algorithm by Bodlaender et al. (ICALP 2013). Under SETH, we also obtain that Hamiltonian cycles cannot be counted modulo primes $p\neq 2$ in time $O^*(3.97^\mathsf{pw})$, indicating that the modulus can affect the complexity in intricate ways.Comment: improved lower bounds modulo primes, improved figures, to appear in SODA 201