Illumination by Taylor Polynomials

Let f(x) be a differentiable function on the real line R, and let P be a point not on the graph of f(x). Define the illumination index of P to be the number of distinct tangents to the graph of f which pass thru P. We prove that if f '' is continuous and nonnegative on R, f '' > m >0 outside a closed interval of R, and f '' has finitely many zeroes on R, then every point below the graph of f has illumination index 2. This result fails in general if f '' is not bounded away from 0 on R. Also, if f '' has finitely many zeroes and f '' is not nonnnegative on R, then some point below the graph has illumination index not equal to 2. Finally, we generalize our results to illumination by odd order Taylor polynomials.Comment: Minor modifications and correction

A proof for a conjecture on the Randić index of graphs with diameter

AbstractThe Randić index R(G) of a graph G is defined by R(G)=∑uv1d(u)d(v), where d(u) is the degree of a vertex u in G and the summation extends over all edges uv of G. Aouchiche et al. proposed a conjecture on the relationship between the Randić index and the diameter: for any connected graph on n≥3 vertices with the Randić index R(G) and the diameter D(G), R(G)−D(G)≥2−n+12andR(G)D(G)≥n−3+222n−2, with equalities if and only if G is a path. In this work, we show that this conjecture is true for trees. Furthermore, we prove that for any connected graph on n≥3 vertices with the Randić index R(G) and the diameter D(G), R(G)−D(G)≥2−n+12, with equality if and only if G is a path

The Randic index and the diameter of graphs

The {\it Randi\'c index} $R(G)$ of a graph $G$ is defined as the sum of 1/\sqrt{d_ud_v} over all edges $uv$ of $G$, where $d_u$ and $d_v$ are the degrees of vertices $u$ and $v,$ respectively. Let $D(G)$ be the diameter of $G$ when $G$ is connected. Aouchiche-Hansen-Zheng conjectured that among all connected graphs $G$ on $n$ vertices the path $P_n$ achieves the minimum values for both $R(G)/D(G)$ and $R(G)- D(G)$. We prove this conjecture completely. In fact, we prove a stronger theorem: If $G$ is a connected graph, then $R(G)-(1/2)D(G)\geq \sqrt{2}-1$, with equality if and only if $G$ is a path with at least three vertices.Comment: 17 pages, accepted by Discrete Mathematic

The median function on graphs with bounded profiles

AbstractThe median of a profile π=(u1,…,uk) of vertices of a graph G is the set of vertices x that minimize the sum of distances from x to the vertices of π. It is shown that for profiles π with diameter θ the median set can be computed within an isometric subgraph of G that contains a vertex x of π and the r-ball around x, where r>2θ−1−2θ/|π|. The median index of a graph and r-joins of graphs are introduced and it is shown that r-joins preserve the property of having a large median index. Consensus strategies are also briefly discussed on a graph with bounded profiles