On The b-Chromatic Number of Regular Graphs Without 4-Cycle

The b-chromatic number of a graph $G$, denoted by $\phi(G)$, is the largest integer $k$ that $G$ admits a proper $k$-coloring such that each color class has a vertex that is adjacent to at least one vertex in each of the other color classes. We prove that for each $d$-regular graph $G$ which contains no 4-cycle, $\phi(G)\geq\lfloor\frac{d+3}{2}\rfloor$ and if $G$ has a triangle, then $\phi(G)\geq\lfloor\frac{d+4}{2}\rfloor$. Also, if $G$ is a $d$-regular graph which contains no 4-cycle and $diam(G)\geq6$, then $\phi(G)=d+1$. Finally, we show that for any $d$-regular graph $G$ which does not contain 4-cycle and $\kappa(G)\leq\frac{d+1}{2}$, $\phi(G)=d+1$

b-coloring is NP-hard on co-bipartite graphs and polytime solvable on tree-cographs

A b-coloring of a graph is a proper coloring such that every color class contains a vertex that is adjacent to all other color classes. The b-chromatic number of a graph G, denoted by \chi_b(G), is the maximum number t such that G admits a b-coloring with t colors. A graph G is called b-continuous if it admits a b-coloring with t colors, for every t = \chi(G),\ldots,\chi_b(G), and b-monotonic if \chi_b(H_1) \geq \chi_b(H_2) for every induced subgraph H_1 of G, and every induced subgraph H_2 of H_1. We investigate the b-chromatic number of graphs with stability number two. These are exactly the complements of triangle-free graphs, thus including all complements of bipartite graphs. The main results of this work are the following: - We characterize the b-colorings of a graph with stability number two in terms of matchings with no augmenting paths of length one or three. We derive that graphs with stability number two are b-continuous and b-monotonic. - We prove that it is NP-complete to decide whether the b-chromatic number of co-bipartite graph is at most a given threshold. - We describe a polynomial time dynamic programming algorithm to compute the b-chromatic number of co-trees. - Extending several previous results, we show that there is a polynomial time dynamic programming algorithm for computing the b-chromatic number of tree-cographs. Moreover, we show that tree-cographs are b-continuous and b-monotonic

b-Coloring Parameterized by Clique-Width

We provide a polynomial-time algorithm for b-Coloring on graphs of constant clique-width. This unifies and extends nearly all previously known polynomial-time results on graph classes, and answers open questions posed by Campos and Silva [Algorithmica, 2018] and Bonomo et al. [Graphs Combin., 2009]. This constitutes the first result concerning structural parameterizations of this problem. We show that the problem is FPT when parameterized by the vertex cover number on general graphs, and on chordal graphs when parameterized by the number of colors. Additionally, we observe that our algorithm for graphs of bounded clique-width can be adapted to solve the Fall Coloring problem within the same runtime bound. The running times of the clique-width based algorithms for b-Coloring and Fall Coloring are tight under the Exponential Time Hypothesis

Maximization Coloring Problems on graphs with few P4s

International audienceGiven a graph G = (V;E), a greedy coloring of G is a proper coloring such that, for each two colors i < j, every vertex of V(G) colored j has a neighbor with color i. The greatest k such that G has a greedy coloring with k colors is the Grundy number of G. A b-coloring of G is a proper coloring such that every color class contains a vertex which is adjacent to at least one vertex in every other color class. The greatest integer k for which there exists a b-coloring of G with k colors is its b-chromatic number. Determining the Grundy number and the b-chromatic number of a graph are NP-hard problems in general. For a fixed q, the (q;q-4)-graphs are the graphs for which no set of at most q vertices induces more than q-4 distinct induced P4s. In this paper, we obtain polynomial-time algorithms to determine the Grundy number and the b-chromatic number of (q;q-4)-graphs, for a fixed q. They generalize previous results obtained for cographs and P4-sparse graphs, classes strictly contained in the (q;q-4)-graphs

b-Coloring is NP-hard on Co-bipartite Graphs and Polytime Solvable on Tree-Cographs

no augmenting paths of length one or three. We derive that graphs with stability number two are b-continuous and b-monotonic. (2) We prove that it is NP-complete to decide whether the b-chromatic number of co-bipartite graph is at least a given threshold. (3) We describe a polynomial time dynamic programming algorithm to compute the b-chromatic number of co-trees. (4) Extending several previous results, we show that there is a polynomial time dynamic programming algorithm for computing the b-chromatic number of tree-cographs. Moreover, we show that tree-cographs are b-continuous and b-monotonic

On the b-coloring of cographs and P4-sparse graphs

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