On some intriguing problems in Hamiltonian graph theory -- A survey

We survey results and open problems in Hamiltonian graph theory centred around three themes: regular graphs, $t$-tough graphs, and claw-free graphs

A Survey of Best Monotone Degree Conditions for Graph Properties

We survey sufficient degree conditions, for a variety of graph properties, that are best possible in the same sense that Chvatal's well-known degree condition for hamiltonicity is best possible.Comment: 25 page

Toughness and hamiltonicity in kk-trees

We consider toughness conditions that guarantee the existence of a hamiltonian cycle in $k$-trees, a subclass of the class of chordal graphs. By a result of Chen et al.\ 18-tough chordal graphs are hamiltonian, and by a result of Bauer et al.\ there exist nontraceable chordal graphs with toughness arbitrarily close to $\frac{7}{4}$. It is believed that the best possible value of the toughness guaranteeing hamiltonicity of chordal graphs is less than 18, but the proof of Chen et al.\ indicates that proving a better result could be very complicated. We show that every 1-tough 2-tree on at least three vertices is hamiltonian, a best possible result since 1-toughness is a necessary condition for hamiltonicity. We generalize the result to $k$-trees for $k\ge 2$: Let $G$ be a $k$-tree. If $G$ has toughness at least $\frac{k+1}{3},$ then $G$ is hamiltonian. Moreover, we present infinite classes of nonhamiltonian 1-tough $k$-trees for each $k\ge 3

Long cycles, degree sums and neighborhood unions

AbstractFor a graph G, define the parameters α(G)=max{|S| |S is an independent set of vertices of G}, σk(G)=min{∑ki=1d(vi)|{v1,…,vk} is an independent set} and NCk(G)= min{|∪ki=1 N(vi)∥{v1,…,vk} is an independent set} (k⩾2). It is shown that every 1-tough graph G of order n⩾3 with σ3(G)⩾n+r⩾n has a cycle of length at least min{n,n+NCr+5+∈(n+r)(G)-α(G)}, where ε(i)=3(⌈13i⌉−13i). This result extends previous results in Bauer et al. (1989/90), Faßbender (1992) and Flandrin et al. (1991). It is also shown that a 1-tough graph G of order n⩾3 with σ3(G)⩾n+r⩾n has a cycle of length at least min{n,2NC⌊18(n+6r+17)⌋(G)}. Analogous results are established for 2-connected graphs