Extremal Metric and Topological Properties of Vertex Transitive and Cayley Graphs

We shall consider problems in two broad areas of mathematics, namely the area of the degree diameter problem and the area of regular maps. In the degree diameter problem we investigate finding graphs as large as possible with a given degree and diameter. Further, we may consider additional properties of such extremal graphs, for example restrictions on the kinds of symmetries that the graph in question exhibits. We provide two pieces of research relating to the degree diameter problem. First, we provide a new derivation of the Hoffman-Singleton graph and show that this derivation may be used with minor modification to derive the Bosák graph. Ultimately we show that no further natural modification of the construction we use can derive any other Moore or mixed-Moore graphs. Second, we answer the previously open question of whether the Gómez graphs, which are known to be vertex-transitive, are in addition also Cayley. In doing this, we also generalise the construction of the Gómez graphs and show that the Gómez graphs are the largest graphs for given degree and diameter following the generalised construction. We also provide two pieces of research relating to regular maps. We aim to address the related questions of for which triples of parameters k, l and m there exist finite regular maps of face length k, vertex order l and Petrie walk length m. We then address the related question of determining for which n there exist regular maps which are self dual and self Petrie dual which have face length, vertex order and Petrie dual walk length n. We address both questions by constructions of regular maps in fractional linear groups, necessarily leading us to study some interesting related number theoretic questions

On the structure of graphs without short cycles

The objective of this thesis is to study cages, constructions and properties of such families of graphs. For this, the study of graphs without short cycles plays a fundamental role in order to develop some knowledge on their structure, so we can later deal with the problems on cages. Cages were introduced by Tutte in 1947. In 1963, Erdös and Sachs proved that (k, g) -cages exist for any given values of k and g. Since then, large amount of research in cages has been devoted to their construction. In this work we study structural properties such as the connectivity, diameter, and degree regularity of graphs without short cycles. In some sense, connectivity is a measure of the reliability of a network. Two graphs with the same edge-connectivity, may be considered to have different reliabilities, as a more refined index than the edge-connectivity, edge-superconnectivity is proposed together with some other parameters called restricted connectivities. By relaxing the conditions that are imposed for the graphs to be cages, we can achieve more refined connectivity properties on these families and also we have an approach to structural properties of the family of graphs with more restrictions (i.e., the cages). Our aim, by studying such structural properties of cages is to get a deeper insight into their structure so we can attack the problem of their construction. By way of example, we studied a condition on the diameter in relation to the girth pair of a graph, and as a corollary we obtained a result guaranteeing restricted connectivity of a special family of graphs arising from geometry, such as polarity graphs. Also, we obtained a result proving the edge superconnectivity of semiregular cages. Based on these studies it was possible to develop the study of cages. Therefore obtaining a relevant result with respect to the connectivity of cages, that is, cages are k/2-connected. And also arising from the previous work on girth pairs we obtained constructions for girth pair cages that proves a bound conjectured by Harary and Kovács, relating the order of girth pair cages with the one for cages. Concerning the degree and the diameter, there is the concept of a Moore graph, it was introduced by Hoffman and Singleton after Edward F. Moore, who posed the question of describing and classifying these graphs. As well as having the maximum possible number of vertices for a given combination of degree and diameter, Moore graphs have the minimum possible number of vertices for a regular graph with given degree and girth. That is, any Moore graph is a cage. The formula for the number of vertices in a Moore graph can be generalized to allow a definition of Moore graphs with even girth (bipartite Moore graphs) as well as odd girth, and again these graphs are cages. Thus, Moore graphs give a lower bound for the order of cages, but they are known to exist only for very specific values of k, therefore it is interesting to study how far a cage is from this bound, this value is called the excess of a cage. We studied the excess of graphs and give a contribution, in the sense of the work of Biggs and Ito, relating the bipartition of girth 6 cages with their orders. Entire families of cages can be obtained from finite geometries, for example, the graphs of incidence of projective planes of order q a prime power, are (q+1, 6)-cages. Also by using other incidence structures such as the generalized quadrangles or generalized hexagons, it can be obtained families of cages of girths 8 and 12. In this thesis, we present a construction of an entire family of girth 7 cages that arises from some combinatorial properties of the incidence graphs of generalized quadrangles of order (q,q)

Topological properties of P.A. random graphs with edge-step functions

In this work we investigate a preferential attachment model whose parameter is a function $f:\mathbb{N}\to[0,1]$ that drives the asymptotic proportion between the numbers of vertices and edges of the graph. We investigate topological features of the graphs, proving general bounds for the diameter and the clique number. Our results regarding the diameter are sharp when $f$ is a regularly varying function at infinity with strictly negative index of regular variation $-\gamma$. For this particular class, we prove a characterization for the diameter that depends only on $-\gamma$. More specifically, we prove that the diameter of such graphs is of order $1/\gamma$ with high probability, although its vertex set order goes to infinity polynomially. Sharp results for the diameter for a wide class of slowly varying functions are also obtained. The almost sure convergence for the properly normalized logarithm of the clique number of the graphs generated by slowly varying functions is also proved

The degree-diameter problem for sparse graph classes

The degree-diameter problem asks for the maximum number of vertices in a graph with maximum degree $\Delta$ and diameter $k$. For fixed $k$, the answer is $\Theta(\Delta^k)$. We consider the degree-diameter problem for particular classes of sparse graphs, and establish the following results. For graphs of bounded average degree the answer is $\Theta(\Delta^{k-1})$, and for graphs of bounded arboricity the answer is \Theta(\Delta^{\floor{k/2}}), in both cases for fixed $k$. For graphs of given treewidth, we determine the the maximum number of vertices up to a constant factor. More precise bounds are given for graphs of given treewidth, graphs embeddable on a given surface, and apex-minor-free graphs

The degree/diameter problem in maximal planar bipartite graphs

The (Δ,D)(Δ,D) (degree/diameter) problem consists of finding the largest possible number of vertices nn among all the graphs with maximum degree ΔΔ and diameter DD. We consider the (Δ,D)(Δ,D) problem for maximal planar bipartite graphs, that is, simple planar graphs in which every face is a quadrangle. We obtain that for the (Δ,2)(Δ,2) problem, the number of vertices is n=Δ+2n=Δ+2; and for the (Δ,3)(Δ,3) problem, n=3Δ−1n=3Δ−1 if ΔΔ is odd and n=3Δ−2n=3Δ−2 if ΔΔ is even. Then, we prove that, for the general case of the (Δ,D)(Δ,D) problem, an upper bound on nn is approximately 3(2D+1)(Δ−2)⌊D/2⌋3(2D+1)(Δ−2)⌊D/2⌋, and another one is C(Δ−2)⌊D/2⌋C(Δ−2)⌊D/2⌋ if Δ≥DΔ≥D and CC is a sufficiently large constant. Our upper bounds improve for our kind of graphs the one given by Fellows, Hell and Seyffarth for general planar graphs. We also give a lower bound on nn for maximal planar bipartite graphs, which is approximately (Δ−2)k(Δ−2)k if D=2kD=2k, and 3(Δ−3)k3(Δ−3)k if D=2k+1D=2k+1, for ΔΔ and DD sufficiently large in both cases.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version