Star 5-edge-colorings of subcubic multigraphs

The star chromatic index of a multigraph $G$, denoted $\chi'_{s}(G)$, is the minimum number of colors needed to properly color the edges of $G$ such that no path or cycle of length four is bi-colored. A multigraph $G$ is star $k$-edge-colorable if $\chi'_{s}(G)\le k$. Dvo\v{r}\'ak, Mohar and \v{S}\'amal [Star chromatic index, J Graph Theory 72 (2013), 313--326] proved that every subcubic multigraph is star $7$-edge-colorable, and conjectured that every subcubic multigraph should be star $6$-edge-colorable. Kerdjoudj, Kostochka and Raspaud considered the list version of this problem for simple graphs and proved that every subcubic graph with maximum average degree less than $7/3$ is star list-$5$-edge-colorable. It is known that a graph with maximum average degree $14/5$ is not necessarily star $5$-edge-colorable. In this paper, we prove that every subcubic multigraph with maximum average degree less than $12/5$ is star $5$-edge-colorable.Comment: to appear in Discrete Mathematics. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1701.0410

On star edge colorings of bipartite and subcubic graphs

A star edge coloring of a graph is a proper edge coloring with no $2$-colored path or cycle of length four. The star chromatic index $\chi'_{st}(G)$ of $G$ is the minimum number $t$ for which $G$ has a star edge coloring with $t$ colors. We prove upper bounds for the star chromatic index of complete bipartite graphs; in particular we obtain tight upper bounds for the case when one part has size at most $3$. We also consider bipartite graphs $G$ where all vertices in one part have maximum degree $2$ and all vertices in the other part has maximum degree $b$. Let $k$ be an integer ($k\geq 1$), we prove that if $b=2k+1$ then $\chi'_{st}(G) \leq 3k+2$; and if $b=2k$, then $\chi'_{st}(G) \leq 3k$; both upper bounds are sharp. Finally, we consider the well-known conjecture that subcubic graphs have star chromatic index at most $6$; in particular we settle this conjecture for cubic Halin graphs.Comment: 18 page

Graph Coloring Problems and Group Connectivity

1. Group connectivity. Let A be an abelian group and let iA(G) be the smallest positive integer m such that Lm(G) is A-connected. A path P of G is a normal divalent path if all internal vertices of P are of degree 2 in G and if |E(P)|= 2, then P is not in a 3-cycle of G. Let l(G) = max{lcub}m : G has a normal divalent path of length m{rcub}. We obtain the following result. (i) If |A| ≥ 4, then iA( G) ≤ l(G). (ii) If | A| ≥ 4, then iA(G) ≤ |V(G)| -- Delta(G). (iii) Suppose that |A| ≥ 4 and d = diam( G). If d ≤ |A| -- 1, then iA(G) ≤ d; and if d ≥ |A|, then iA(G) ≤ 2d -- |A| + 1. (iv) iZ 3 (G) ≤ l(G) + 2. All those bounds are best possible.;2. Modulo orientation. A mod (2p + 1)-orientation D is an orientation of G such that d +D(v) = d--D(v) (mod 2p + 1) for any vertex v ∈ V ( G). We prove that for any integer t ≥ 2, there exists a finite family F = F(p, t) of graphs that do not have a mod (2p + 1)-orientation, such that every graph G with independence number at most t either admits a mod (2p+1)-orientation or is contractible to a member in F. In particular, the graph family F(p, 2) is determined, and our results imply that every 8-edge-connected graph G with independence number at most two admits a mod 5-orientation.;3. Neighbor sum distinguishing total coloring. A proper total k-coloring &phis; of a graph G is a mapping from V(G) ∪ E(G) to {lcub}1,2, . . .,k{rcub} such that no adjacent or incident elements in V(G) ∪ E( G) receive the same color. Let m&phis;( v) denote the sum of the colors on the edges incident with the vertex v and the color on v. A proper total k-coloring of G is called neighbor sum distinguishing if m &phis;(u) ≠ m&phis;( v) for each edge uv ∈ E( G ). Let chitSigma(G) be the neighbor sum distinguishing total chromatic number of a graph G. Pilsniak and Wozniak conjectured that for any graph G, chitSigma( G) ≤ Delta(G) + 3. We show that if G is a graph with treewidth ℓ ≥ 3 and Delta(G) ≥ 2ℓ + 3, then chitSigma( G) + ℓ -- 1. This upper bound confirms the conjecture for graphs with treewidth 3 and 4. Furthermore, when ℓ = 3 and Delta ≥ 9, we show that Delta(G)+1 ≤ chit Sigma(G) ≤ Delta(G)+2 and characterize graphs with equalities.;4. Star edge coloring. A star edge coloring of a graph is a proper edge coloring such that every connected 2-colored subgraph is a path with at most 3 edges. Let ch\u27st(G) be the list star chromatic index of G: the minimum s such that for every s-list assignment L for the edges, G has a star edge coloring from L. By introducing a stronger coloring, we show with a very concise proof that the upper bound of the star chromatic index of trees also holds for list star chromatic index of trees, i.e. ch\u27st( T) ≤ [3Delta/2] for any tree T with maximum degree Delta. And then by applying some orientation technique we present two upper bounds for list star chromatic index of k-degenerate graphs

Edge colorings of graphs on surfaces and star edge colorings of sparse graphs

In my dissertation, I present results on two types of edge coloring problems for graphs. For each surface Σ, we define ∆(Σ) = max{∆(G)| G is a class two graph with maximum degree ∆(G) that can be embedded in Σ}. Hence Vizing’s Planar Graph Conjecture can be restated as ∆(Σ) = 5 if Σ is a sphere. For a surface Σ with characteristic χ(Σ) ≤ 0, it is known ∆(Σ) ≥ H(χ(Σ))−1, where H(χ(Σ)) is the Heawood number of the surface, and if the Euler char- acteristic χ(Σ) ∈ {−7, −6, . . . , −1, 0}, ∆(Σ) is already known. I study critical graphs on general surfaces and show that (1) if G is a critical graph embeddable on a surface Σ with Euler character- istic χ(Σ) ∈ {−6, −7}, then ∆(Σ) = 10, and (2) if G is a critical graph embeddable on a surface Σ with Euler characteristic χ(Σ) ≤ −8, then ∆(G) ≤ H(χ(Σ)) (or H(χ(Σ))+1) for some special families of graphs, namely if the minimum degree is at most 11 or if ∆ is very large et al. As applications, we show that ∆(Σ) ≤ H (χ(Σ)) if χ(Σ) ∈ {−22, −21, −20, −18, −17, −15, . . . , −8}and ∆(Σ) ≤ H (χ(Σ)) + 1 if χ(Σ) ∈ {−53, . . . , 23, −19, −16}. Combining this with [19], it follows that if χ(Σ) = −12 and Σ is orientable, then ∆(Σ) = H(χ(Σ)). A star k-edge-coloring is a proper k-edge-coloring such that every connected bicolored sub- graph is a path of length at most 3. The star chromatic index χ′st(G) of a graph G is the smallest integer k such that G has a star k-edge-coloring. The list star chromatic index ch′st(G) is defined analogously. Bezegova et al. and Deng et al. independently proved that χ′ (T) ≤ 3∆ for anyst 2 tree T with maximum degree ∆. Here, we study the list star edge coloring and give tree-like bounds for (list) star chromatic index of sparse graphs. We show that if mad(G) \u3c 2.4, then χ′ (G)≤3∆+2andifmad(G)\u3c15,thench′ (G)≤3∆+1.Wealsoshowthatforeveryε\u3e0st 2 7 st 2 there exists a constant c(ε) such that if mad(G) \u3c 8 − ε, then ch′ (G) ≤ 3∆ + c(ε). We also3 st 2 find guaranteed substructures of graph with mad(G) \u3c 3∆ − ε which may be of interest in other2 problems for sparse graphs

List Star Edge-Coloring of Subcubic Graphs

A star edge-coloring of a graph G is a proper edge coloring such that every 2-colored connected subgraph of G is a path of length at most 3. For a graph G, let the list star chromatic index of G, ch′st(G), be the minimum k such that for any k-uniform list assignment L for the set of edges, G has a star edge-coloring from L. Dvořák, Mohar and Šámal asked whether the list star chromatic index of every subcubic graph is at most 7. We prove that it is at most 8. We also prove that if the maximum average degree of a subcubic graph G is less than 73${7 \over 3}$ (respectively, 52${5 \over 2}$), then ch′st(G) ≤ 5 (respectively, ch′st(G) ≤ 6)

List Star Edge-Coloring of Subcubic Graphs

A star edge-coloring of a graph $G$ is a proper edge coloring such that every 2-colored connected subgraph of $G$ is a path of length at most 3. For a graph $G$, let the list star chromatic index of $G$, ch_{st}^' (G) , be the minimum $k$ such that for any $k$-uniform list assignment $L$ for the set of edges, $G$ has a star edge-coloring from L. Dvořák, Mohar and Šámal asked whether the list star chromatic index of every subcubic graph is at most 7. We prove that it is at most 8. We also prove that if the maximum average degree of a subcubic graph $G$ is less than $\tfrac{7}{3}$ (respectively, $\tfrac{5}{2}$), then ch_{st}^' (G) \le 5 (respectively, ch_{st}^' (G) \le 6 )