Equitable colorings of complete multipartite graphs

A $q$-\emph{equitable coloring} of a graph $G$ is a proper $q$-coloring such that the sizes of any two color classes differ by at most one. In contrast with ordinary coloring, a graph may have an equitable $q$-coloring but has no equitable $(q+1)$-coloring. The \emph{equitable chromatic threshold} is the minimum $p$ such that $G$ has an equitable $q$-coloring for every $q\geq p.$ In this paper, we establish the notion of $p(q: n_1,\ldots, n_k)$ which can be computed in linear-time and prove the following. Assume that $K_{n_1,\ldots,n_k}$ has an equitable $q$-coloring. Then $p(q: n_1,\ldots, n_k)$ is the minimum $p$ such that $K_{n_1,\ldots,n_k}$ has an equitable $r$-coloring for each $r$ satisfying $p \leq r \leq q.$ Since $K_{n_1,\ldots,n_k}$ has an equitable $(n_1+\cdots+n_k)$-coloring, the equitable chromatic threshold of $K_{n_1,\ldots,n_k}$ is $p(n_1+\cdots+n_k: n_1,\ldots, n_k).$ We find out later that the aforementioned immediate consequence is exactly the same as the formula of Yan and Wang \cite{YW12}. Nonetheless, the notion of $p(q: n_1,\ldots, n_k)$ can be used for each $q$ in which $K_{n_1,\ldots,n_k}$ has an equitable $q$-coloring and the proof presented here is much shorter.Comment: arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1506.0391

Complexity of equitable tree-coloring problems

A $(q,t)$\emph{-tree-coloring} of a graph $G$ is a $q$-coloring of vertices of $G$ such that the subgraph induced by each color class is a forest of maximum degree at most $t.$ A $(q,\infty)$\emph{-tree-coloring} of a graph $G$ is a $q$-coloring of vertices of $G$ such that the subgraph induced by each color class is a forest. Wu, Zhang, and Li introduced the concept of \emph{equitable $(q, t)$-tree-coloring} (respectively, \emph{equitable $(q, \infty)$-tree-coloring}) which is a $(q,t)$-tree-coloring (respectively, $(q, \infty)$-tree-coloring) such that the sizes of any two color classes differ by at most one. Among other results, they obtained a sharp upper bound on the minimum $p$ such that $K_{n,n}$ has an equitable $(q, 1)$-tree-coloring for every $q\geq p.$ In this paper, we obtain a polynomial time criterion to decide if a complete bipartite graph has an equitable $(q,t)$-tree-coloring or an equitable $(q,\infty)$-tree-coloring. Nevertheless, deciding if a graph $G$ in general has an equitable $(q,t)$-tree-coloring or an equitable $(q,\infty)$-tree-coloring is NP-complete.Comment: arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1506.0391

The strong equitable vertex 2-arboricity of complete bipartite and tripartite graphs

A $(q,r)$\emph{-tree-coloring} of a graph $G$ is a $q$-coloring of vertices of $G$ such that the subgraph induced by each color class is a forest of maximum degree at most $r.$ An \emph{equitable $(q, r)$-tree-coloring} of a graph $G$ is a $(q,r)$-tree-coloring such that the sizes of any two color classes differ by at most one. Let the \emph{strong equitable vertex $r$-arboricity} be the minimum $p$ such that $G$ has an equitable $(q, r)$-tree-coloring for every $q\geq p.$ In this paper, we find the exact value for each $va^\equiv_2(K_{m,n})$ and $va^\equiv_2(K_{l,m,n}).

Equitable vertex arboricity of graphs

An equitable $(t,k,d)$-tree-coloring of a graph $G$ is a coloring to vertices of $G$ such that the sizes of any two color classes differ by at most one and the subgraph induced by each color class is a forest of maximum degree at most $k$ and diameter at most $d$. The minimum $t$ such that $G$ has an equitable $(t',k,d)$-tree-coloring for every $t'\geq t$ is called the strong equitable $(k,d)$-vertex-arboricity and denoted by $va^{\equiv}_{k,d}(G)$. In this paper, we give sharp upper bounds for $va^{\equiv}_{1,1}(K_{n,n})$ and $va^{\equiv}_{k,\infty}(K_{n,n})$ by showing that $va^{\equiv}_{1,1}(K_{n,n})=O(n)$ and va^{\equiv}_{k,\infty}(K_{n,n})=O(n^{\1/2}) for every $k\geq 2$. It is also proved that $va^{\equiv}_{\infty,\infty}(G)\leq 3$ for every planar graph $G$ with girth at least 5 and $va^{\equiv}_{\infty,\infty}(G)\leq 2$ for every planar graph $G$ with girth at least 6 and for every outerplanar graph. We conjecture that $va^{\equiv}_{\infty,\infty}(G)=O(1)$ for every planar graph and $va^{\equiv}_{\infty,\infty}(G)\leq \lceil\frac{\Delta(G)+1}{2}\rceil$ for every graph $G$

A Note on the Equitable Choosability of Complete Bipartite Graphs

In 2003 Kostochka, Pelsmajer, and West introduced a list analogue of equitable coloring called equitable choosability. A $k$-assignment, $L$, for a graph $G$ assigns a list, $L(v)$, of $k$ available colors to each $v \in V(G)$, and an equitable $L$-coloring of $G$ is a proper coloring, $f$, of $G$ such that $f(v) \in L(v)$ for each $v \in V(G)$ and each color class of $f$ has size at most $\lceil |V(G)|/k \rceil$. Graph $G$ is said to be equitably $k$-choosable if an equitable $L$-coloring of $G$ exists whenever $L$ is a $k$-assignment for $G$. In this note we study the equitable choosability of complete bipartite graphs. A result of Kostochka, Pelsmajer, and West implies $K_{n,m}$ is equitably $k$-choosable if $k \geq \max \{n,m\}$ provided $K_{n,m} \neq K_{2l+1, 2l+1}$. We prove $K_{n,m}$ is equitably $k$-choosable if $m \leq \left\lceil (m+n)/k \right \rceil(k-n)$ which gives $K_{n,m}$ is equitably $k$-choosable for certain $k$ satisfying $k < \max \{n,m\}$. We also give a complete characterization of the equitable choosability of complete bipartite graphs that have a partite set of size at most 2.Comment: 9 page

A Simple Characterization of Proportionally 2-choosable Graphs

We recently introduced proportional choosability, a new list analogue of equitable coloring. Like equitable coloring, and unlike list equitable coloring (a.k.a. equitable choosability), proportional choosability bounds sizes of color classes both from above and from below. In this note, we show that a graph is proportionally 2-choosable if and only if it is a linear forest such that its largest component has at most 5 vertices and all of its other components have two or fewer vertices. We also construct examples that show that characterizing equitably 2-choosable graphs is still open.Comment: 9 page

Equitable Coloring and Equitable Choosability of Planar Graphs without chordal 4- and 6-Cycles

A graph $G$ is equitably $k$-choosable if, for any given $k$-uniform list assignment $L$, $G$ is $L$-colorable and each color appears on at most $\lceil\frac{|V(G)|}{k}\rceil$ vertices. A graph is equitably $k$-colorable if the vertex set $V(G)$ can be partitioned into $k$ independent subsets $V_1$, $V_2$, $\cdots$, $V_k$ such that $||V_i|-|V_j||\leq 1$ for $1\leq i, j\leq k$. In this paper, we prove that if $G$ is a planar graph without chordal $4$- and $6$-cycles, then $G$ is equitably $k$-colorable and equitably $k$-choosable where $k\geq\max\{\Delta(G), 7\}$.Comment: 21 pages,3 figure

Total Colourings - A survey

The smallest integer $k$ needed for the assignment of colors to the elements so that the coloring is proper (vertices and edges) is called the total chromatic number of a graph. Vizing and Behzed conjectured that the total coloring can be done using at most $\Delta(G)+2$ colors, where $\Delta(G)$ is the maximum degree of $G$. It is not settled even for planar graphs. In this paper we give a survey on total coloring of graphs.Comment: 23 pages, 3 figures 1 tabl

On List Equitable Total Colorings of the Generalized Theta Graph

In 2003 Kostochka, Pelsmajer, and West introduced a list analogue of equitable coloring called equitable choosability. A $k$-assignment, $L$, for a graph $G$ assigns a list, $L(v)$, of $k$ available colors to each $v \in V(G)$, and an equitable $L$-coloring of $G$ is a proper coloring, $f$, of $G$ such that $f(v) \in L(v)$ for each $v \in V(G)$ and each color class of $f$ has size at most $\lceil |V(G)|/k \rceil$. In 2018, Kaul, Mudrock, and Pelsmajer subsequently introduced the List Equitable Total Coloring Conjecture which states that if $T$ is a total graph of some simple graph, then $T$ is equitably $k$-choosable for each $k \geq \max \{\chi_\ell(T), \Delta(T)/2 + 2 \}$ where $\Delta(T)$ is the maximum degree of a vertex in $T$ and $\chi_\ell(T)$ is the list chromatic number of $T$. In this paper we verify the List Equitable Total Coloring Conjecture for subdivisions of stars and the generalized theta graph.Comment: 16 page

Problem collection from the IML programme: Graphs, Hypergraphs, and Computing

This collection of problems and conjectures is based on a subset of the open problems from the seminar series and the problem sessions of the Institut Mitag-Leffler programme Graphs, Hypergraphs, and Computing. Each problem contributor has provided a write up of their proposed problem and the collection has been edited by Klas Markstr\"om.Comment: This problem collection is published as part of the IML preprint series for the research programme and also available there http://www.mittag-leffler.se/research-programs/preprint-series?course_id=4401. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1403.5975, arXiv:0706.4101 by other author