Heuristic Coloring Algorithm for the Composite Graph Coloring Problem

A composite graph is a finite undirected graph in which a positive integer known as a chromaticity is associated with each vertex of the graph. The composite graph coloring problem (CGCP) is the problem of finding the chromatic number of a composite graph, i.e., the minimum number of colors (positive integers) required to assign a sequence of consecutive colors to each vertex of the graph in a manner such that adjacent vertices are not assigned sequences with colors in common and the sequence assigned to a vertex has the number of colors indicated by the chromaticity of the vertex. The CGCP problem is an NP-complete problem that has applications to scheduling and resource allocation problems in which the tasks to be scheduled are of unequal durations. The pigeonhole principle gives rise to a problem reduction technique for the CGCP and a vertex ordering used in the vertex-sequentia1-with-interchange (VSI) algorithm. LFPHI. An upper bound on the chromatic number of a composite graph is obtained from the definition of a color-sequential coloring algorithm for the CGCP. The performances of twelve heuristic coloring algorithms are compared on a variety of random composite graphs. Three VSI algorithms (LF1I, LFPHI, and LFCDI) performed superior to the other algorithms on graphs having the lower numbers of vertices and low edge densities while two color-sequential algorithms (RLF1 and RLFD1) were superior on graphs having the higher numbers of vertices and high edge densities

Note on the game chromatic index of trees

We study edge coloring games defining the so-called game chromatic index of a graph. It has been reported that the game chromatic index of trees with maximum degree $\Delta = 3$ is at most $\Delta + 1$. We show that the same holds true in case $\Delta \geq 6$, which would leave only the cases $\Delta = 4$ and $\Delta = 5$ open. \u

On the phase transitions of graph coloring and independent sets

We study combinatorial indicators related to the characteristic phase transitions associated with coloring a graph optimally and finding a maximum independent set. In particular, we investigate the role of the acyclic orientations of the graph in the hardness of finding the graph's chromatic number and independence number. We provide empirical evidence that, along a sequence of increasingly denser random graphs, the fraction of acyclic orientations that are `shortest' peaks when the chromatic number increases, and that such maxima tend to coincide with locally easiest instances of the problem. Similar evidence is provided concerning the `widest' acyclic orientations and the independence number

Ground State Entropy of the Potts Antiferromagnet on Strips of the Square Lattice

We present exact solutions for the zero-temperature partition function (chromatic polynomial $P$) and the ground state degeneracy per site $W$ (= exponent of the ground-state entropy) for the $q$-state Potts antiferromagnet on strips of the square lattice of width $L_y$ vertices and arbitrarily great length $L_x$ vertices. The specific solutions are for (a) $L_y=4$, $(FBC_y,PBC_x)$ (cyclic); (b) $L_y=4$, $(FBC_y,TPBC_x)$ (M\"obius); (c) $L_y=5,6$, $(PBC_y,FBC_x)$ (cylindrical); and (d) $L_y=5$, $(FBC_y,FBC_x)$ (open), where $FBC$, $PBC$, and $TPBC$ denote free, periodic, and twisted periodic boundary conditions, respectively. In the $L_x \to \infty$ limit of each strip we discuss the analytic structure of $W$ in the complex $q$ plane. The respective $W$ functions are evaluated numerically for various values of $q$. Several inferences are presented for the chromatic polynomials and analytic structure of $W$ for lattice strips with arbitrarily great $L_y$. The absence of a nonpathological $L_x \to \infty$ limit for real nonintegral $q$ in the interval $0 < q < 3$ ($0 < q < 4$) for strips of the square (triangular) lattice is discussed.Comment: 37 pages, latex, 4 encapsulated postscript figure