Minimal counterexamples and discharging method

Recently, the author found that there is a common mistake in some papers by using minimal counterexample and discharging method. We first discuss how the mistake is generated, and give a method to fix the mistake. As an illustration, we consider total coloring of planar or toroidal graphs, and show that: if $G$ is a planar or toroidal graph with maximum degree at most $\kappa - 1$, where $\kappa \geq 11$, then the total chromatic number is at most $\kappa$.Comment: 8 pages. Preliminary version, comments are welcom

Chromatic roots are dense in the whole complex plane

I show that the zeros of the chromatic polynomials P_G(q) for the generalized theta graphs \Theta^{(s,p)} are, taken together, dense in the whole complex plane with the possible exception of the disc |q-1| < 1. The same holds for their dichromatic polynomials (alias Tutte polynomials, alias Potts-model partition functions) Z_G(q,v) outside the disc |q+v| < |v|. An immediate corollary is that the chromatic zeros of not-necessarily-planar graphs are dense in the whole complex plane. The main technical tool in the proof of these results is the Beraha-Kahane-Weiss theorem on the limit sets of zeros for certain sequences of analytic functions, for which I give a new and simpler proof.Comment: LaTeX2e, 53 pages. Version 2 includes a new Appendix B. Version 3 adds a new Theorem 1.4 and a new Section 5, and makes several small improvements. To appear in Combinatorics, Probability & Computin

Advances in Discrete Applied Mathematics and Graph Theory

The present reprint contains twelve papers published in the Special Issue “Advances in Discrete Applied Mathematics and Graph Theory, 2021” of the MDPI Mathematics journal, which cover a wide range of topics connected to the theory and applications of Graph Theory and Discrete Applied Mathematics. The focus of the majority of papers is on recent advances in graph theory and applications in chemical graph theory. In particular, the topics studied include bipartite and multipartite Ramsey numbers, graph coloring and chromatic numbers, several varieties of domination (Double Roman, Quasi-Total Roman, Total 3-Roman) and two graph indices of interest in chemical graph theory (Sombor index, generalized ABC index), as well as hyperspaces of graphs and local inclusive distance vertex irregular graphs

Coloring Random Triangulations

We introduce and solve a two-matrix model for the tri-coloring problem of the vertices of a random triangulation. We present three different solutions: (i) by orthogonal polynomial techniques (ii) by use of a discrete Hirota bilinear equation (iii) by direct expansion. The model is found to lie in the universality class of pure two-dimensional quantum gravity, despite the non-polynomiality of its potential.Comment: 50 pages, 4 figures, Tex, uses harvmac, eps

Chromatic roots are dense in the whole complex plane

I show that the zeros of the chromatic polynomials P-G(q) for the generalized theta graphs Theta((s.p)) are taken together, dense in the whole complex plane with the possible exception of the disc \q - l\ < l. The same holds for their dichromatic polynomials (alias Tutte polynomials, alias Potts-model partition functions) Z(G)(q,upsilon) outside the disc \q + upsilon\ < \upsilon\. An immediate corollary is that the chromatic roots of not-necessarily-planar graphs are dense in the whole complex plane. The main technical tool in the proof of these results is the Beraha-Kahane-Weiss theorem oil the limit sets of zeros for certain sequences of analytic functions, for which I give a new and simpler proof