Entire choosability of near-outerplane graphs

It is proved that if G is a plane embedding of a K4-minor-free graph with maximum degree Δ, then G is entirely 7-choosable if Δ≤4 and G is entirely (Δ+ 2)-choosable if Δ≥ 5; that is, if every vertex, edge and face of G is given a list of max{7,Δ+2} colours, then every element can be given a colour from its list such that no two adjacent or incident elements are given the same colour. It is proved also that this result holds if G is a plane embedding of a K2,3-minor-free graph or a (K2 + (K1 U K2))-minor-free graph. As a special case this proves that the Entire Colouring Conjecture, that a plane graph is entirely (Δ + 4)-colourable, holds if G is a plane embedding of a K4-minor-free graph, a K2,3-minor-free graph or a (K2 + (K1 U K2))-minor-free graph

Every plane graph of maximum degree 8 has an edge-face 9-colouring

An edge-face colouring of a plane graph with edge set $E$ and face set $F$ is a colouring of the elements of $E \cup F$ such that adjacent or incident elements receive different colours. Borodin proved that every plane graph of maximum degree $\Delta\ge10$ can be edge-face coloured with $\Delta+1$ colours. Borodin's bound was recently extended to the case where $\Delta=9$. In this paper, we extend it to the case $\Delta=8$.Comment: 29 pages, 1 figure; v2 corrects a contraction error in v1; to appear in SIDM

Bipartite partial duals and circuits in medial graphs

It is well known that a plane graph is Eulerian if and only if its geometric dual is bipartite. We extend this result to partial duals of plane graphs. We then characterize all bipartite partial duals of a plane graph in terms of oriented circuits in its medial graph.Comment: v2: minor changes. To appear in Combinatoric

Percolation on self-dual polygon configurations

Recently, Scullard and Ziff noticed that a broad class of planar percolation models are self-dual under a simple condition that, in a parametrized version of such a model, reduces to a single equation. They state that the solution of the resulting equation gives the critical point. However, just as in the classical case of bond percolation on the square lattice, self-duality is simply the starting point: the mathematical difficulty is precisely showing that self-duality implies criticality. Here we do so for a generalization of the models considered by Scullard and Ziff. In these models, the states of the bonds need not be independent; furthermore, increasing events need not be positively correlated, so new techniques are needed in the analysis. The main new ingredients are a generalization of Harris's Lemma to products of partially ordered sets, and a new proof of a type of Russo-Seymour-Welsh Lemma with minimal symmetry assumptions.Comment: Expanded; 73 pages, 24 figure

Dessins, their delta-matroids and partial duals

Given a map $\mathcal M$ on a connected and closed orientable surface, the delta-matroid of $\mathcal M$ is a combinatorial object associated to $\mathcal M$ which captures some topological information of the embedding. We explore how delta-matroids associated to dessins d'enfants behave under the action of the absolute Galois group. Twists of delta-matroids are considered as well; they correspond to the recently introduced operation of partial duality of maps. Furthermore, we prove that every map has a partial dual defined over its field of moduli. A relationship between dessins, partial duals and tropical curves arising from the cartography groups of dessins is observed as well.Comment: 34 pages, 20 figures. Accepted for publication in the SIGMAP14 Conference Proceeding