Colourings of (m,n)(m, n)-coloured mixed graphs

A mixed graph is, informally, an object obtained from a simple undirected graph by choosing an orientation for a subset of its edges. A mixed graph is $(m, n)$-coloured if each edge is assigned one of $m \geq 0$ colours, and each arc is assigned one of $n \geq 0$ colours. Oriented graphs are $(0, 1)$-coloured mixed graphs, and 2-edge-coloured graphs are $(2, 0)$-coloured mixed graphs. We show that results of Sopena for vertex colourings of oriented graphs, and of Kostochka, Sopena and Zhu for vertex colourings oriented graphs and 2-edge-coloured graphs, are special cases of results about vertex colourings of $(m, n)$-coloured mixed graphs. Both of these can be regarded as a version of Brooks' Theorem.Comment: 7 pages, no figure

Oriented Colouring Graphs of Bounded Degree and Degeneracy

This paper considers upper bounds on the oriented chromatic number, $\chi_o$, of graphs in terms of their maximum degree $\Delta$ and/or their degeneracy $d$. In particular we show that asymptotically, $\chi_o \leq \chi_2 f(d) 2^d$ where $f(d) \geq (\frac{1}{\log_2(e) -1} + \epsilon) d^2$ and $\chi_2 \leq 2^{\frac{f(d)}{d}}$. This improves a result of MacGillivray, Raspaud, and Swartz of the form $\chi_o \leq 2^{\chi_2} -1$. The rest of the paper is devoted to improving prior bounds for $\chi_o$ in terms of $\Delta$ and $d$ by refining the asymptotic arguments involved.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figure

On the existence and non-existence of improper homomorphisms of oriented and 22-edge-coloured graphs to reflexive targets

We consider non-trivial homomorphisms to reflexive oriented graphs in which some pair of adjacent vertices have the same image. Using a notion of convexity for oriented graphs, we study those oriented graphs that do not admit such homomorphisms. We fully classify those oriented graphs with tree-width $2$ that do not admit such homomorphisms and show that it is NP-complete to decide if a graph admits an orientation that does not admit such homomorphisms. We prove analogous results for $2$-edge-coloured graphs. We apply our results on oriented graphs to provide a new tool in the study of chromatic number of orientations of planar graphs -- a long-standing open problem

On (n,m)(n,m)-chromatic numbers of graphs having bounded sparsity parameters

An $(n,m)$-graph is characterised by having $n$ types of arcs and $m$ types of edges. A homomorphism of an $(n,m)$-graph $G$ to an $(n,m)$-graph $H$, is a vertex mapping that preserves adjacency, direction, and type. The $(n,m)$-chromatic number of $G$, denoted by $\chi_{n,m}(G)$, is the minimum value of $|V(H)|$ such that there exists a homomorphism of $G$ to $H$. The theory of homomorphisms of $(n,m)$-graphs have connections with graph theoretic concepts like harmonious coloring, nowhere-zero flows; with other mathematical topics like binary predicate logic, Coxeter groups; and has application to the Query Evaluation Problem (QEP) in graph database. In this article, we show that the arboricity of $G$ is bounded by a function of $\chi_{n,m}(G)$ but not the other way around. Additionally, we show that the acyclic chromatic number of $G$ is bounded by a function of $\chi_{n,m}(G)$, a result already known in the reverse direction. Furthermore, we prove that the $(n,m)$-chromatic number for the family of graphs with a maximum average degree less than $2+ \frac{2}{4(2n+m)-1}$, including the subfamily of planar graphs with girth at least $8(2n+m)$, equals $2(2n+m)+1$. This improves upon previous findings, which proved the $(n,m)$-chromatic number for planar graphs with girth at least $10(2n+m)-4$ is $2(2n+m)+1$. It is established that the $(n,m)$-chromatic number for the family $\mathcal{T}_2$ of partial $2$-trees is both bounded below and above by quadratic functions of $(2n+m)$, with the lower bound being tight when $(2n+m)=2$. We prove $14 \leq \chi_{(0,3)}(\mathcal{T}_2) \leq 15$ and $14 \leq \chi_{(1,1)}(\mathcal{T}_2) \leq 21$ which improves both known lower bounds and the former upper bound. Moreover, for the latter upper bound, to the best of our knowledge we provide the first theoretical proof.Comment: 18 page

On Chromatic Number of Colored Mixed Graphs

An (m, n)-colored mixed graph G is a graph with its arcs having one of the m different colors and edges having one of the n different colors. A homomorphism f of an (m, n)-colored mixed graph G to an (m, n)-colored mixed graph H is a vertex mapping such that if uv is an arc (edge) of color c in G, then f (u)f (v) is an arc (edge) of color c in H. The (m,n)-colored mixed chromatic number x((m,n))(G) of an (m, n)-colored mixed graph G is the order (number of vertices) of a smallest homomorphic image of G. This notion was introduced by Nektfil and Raspaud (2000, J. Combin. Theory, Ser. B 80, 147-155). They showed that x((m,n))(G) <= k(2m n)(k-1) where G is a acyclic k-colorable graph. We prove the tightness of this bound. We also show that the acyclic chromatic number of a graph is bounded by k(2) k(2+) inverted left perpedicular log((2m+n)) log((2m+n)) k inverted right perpendicular if its (m, n)-colored mixed chromatic number is at most k. Furthermore, using probabilistic method, we show that for connected graphs with maximum degree its (m, n)-colored mixed chromatic number is at most 2(Delta-1)(2m+n) (2m + n)(Delta-min(2m+m3)+2) In particular, the last result directly improves the upper bound of 2 Delta(2)2(Delta) oriented chromatic number of graphs with maximum degree Delta, obtained by Kostochka et al. J. Graph Theory 24, 331-340) to 2(Delta-1)(2)2(Delta). We also show that there exists a connected graph with maximum degree Delta and (m, n)-colored mixed chromatic number at least (2m + n)(Delta/2)