139 research outputs found
Even Orientations and Pfaffian graphs
We give a characterization of Pfaffian graphs in terms of even orientations,
extending the characterization of near bipartite non--pfaffian graphs by
Fischer and Little \cite{FL}. Our graph theoretical characterization is
equivalent to the one proved by Little in \cite{L73} (cf. \cite{LR}) using
linear algebra arguments
Spanning trees of 3-uniform hypergraphs
Masbaum and Vaintrob's "Pfaffian matrix tree theorem" implies that counting
spanning trees of a 3-uniform hypergraph (abbreviated to 3-graph) can be done
in polynomial time for a class of "3-Pfaffian" 3-graphs, comparable to and
related to the class of Pfaffian graphs. We prove a complexity result for
recognizing a 3-Pfaffian 3-graph and describe two large classes of 3-Pfaffian
3-graphs -- one of these is given by a forbidden subgraph characterization
analogous to Little's for bipartite Pfaffian graphs, and the other consists of
a class of partial Steiner triple systems for which the property of being
3-Pfaffian can be reduced to the property of an associated graph being
Pfaffian. We exhibit an infinite set of partial Steiner triple systems that are
not 3-Pfaffian, none of which can be reduced to any other by deletion or
contraction of triples.
We also find some necessary or sufficient conditions for the existence of a
spanning tree of a 3-graph (much more succinct than can be obtained by the
currently fastest polynomial-time algorithm of Gabow and Stallmann for finding
a spanning tree) and a superexponential lower bound on the number of spanning
trees of a Steiner triple system.Comment: 34 pages, 9 figure
Even circuits of prescribed clockwise parity
We show that a graph has an orientation under which every circuit of even
length is clockwise odd if and only if the graph contains no subgraph which is,
after the contraction of at most one circuit of odd length, an even subdivision
of K_{2,3}. In fact we give a more general characterisation of graphs that have
an orientation under which every even circuit has a prescribed clockwise
parity. This problem was motivated by the study of Pfaffian graphs, which are
the graphs that have an orientation under which every alternating circuit is
clockwise odd. Their significance is that they are precisely the graphs to
which Kasteleyn's powerful method for enumerating perfect matchings may be
applied
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Graph Theory
This is the report on an Oberwolfach conference on graph theory, held 16-22 January 2005. There were three main components to the event: 5-minute presentations, lectures, and workshops. All participants were asked to give a 5-minute presentation of their interests on the first day, and subsequent days were divided into lectures and workshops. The latter ranged over many different topics, but the main three topics were: infinite graphs, topological methods and their use to prove theorems in graph theory, and Rota’s conjecture for matroids
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