Cuts in matchings of 3-connected cubic graphs

We discuss conjectures on Hamiltonicity in cubic graphs (Tait, Barnette, Tutte), on the dichromatic number of planar oriented graphs (Neumann-Lara), and on even graphs in digraphs whose contraction is strongly connected (Hochst\"attler). We show that all of them fit into the same framework related to cuts in matchings. This allows us to find a counterexample to the conjecture of Hochst\"attler and show that the conjecture of Neumann-Lara holds for all planar graphs on at most 26 vertices. Finally, we state a new conjecture on bipartite cubic oriented graphs, that naturally arises in this setting.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures, 1 table. Improved expositio

Planar digraphs without large acyclic sets

Given a directed graph, an acyclic set is a set of vertices inducing a subgraph with no directed cycle. In this note we show that there exist oriented planar graphs of order $n$ for which the size of the maximum acyclic set is at most $\lceil \frac{n+1}{2} \rceil$, for any $n$. This disproves a conjecture of Harutyunyan and shows that a question of Albertson is best possible.Comment: 3 pages, 1 figur

On powers of interval graphs and their orders

It was proved by Raychaudhuri in 1987 that if a graph power $G^{k-1}$ is an interval graph, then so is the next power $G^k$. This result was extended to $m$-trapezoid graphs by Flotow in 1995. We extend the statement for interval graphs by showing that any interval representation of $G^{k-1}$ can be extended to an interval representation of $G^k$ that induces the same left endpoint and right endpoint orders. The same holds for unit interval graphs. We also show that a similar fact does not hold for trapezoid graphs.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure. It has come to our attention that Theorem 1, the main result of this note, follows from earlier results of [G. Agnarsson, P. Damaschke and M. M. Halldorsson. Powers of geometric intersection graphs and dispersion algorithms. Discrete Applied Mathematics 132(1-3):3-16, 2003]. This version is updated accordingl

Strong edge colouring of subcubic graphs

AbstractA strong edge colouring of a graph G is a proper edge colouring such that every path of length 3 uses three colours. In this paper, we prove that every subcubic graph with maximum average degree strictly less than 157 (resp. 2711, 135, 3613) can be strong edge coloured with six (resp. seven, eight, nine) colours

Strong edge-colouring of sparse planar graphs

A strong edge-colouring of a graph is a proper edge-colouring where each colour class induces a matching. It is known that every planar graph with maximum degree $\Delta$ has a strong edge-colouring with at most $4\Delta+4$ colours. We show that $3\Delta+1$ colours suffice if the graph has girth 6, and $4\Delta$ colours suffice if $\Delta\geq 7$ or the girth is at least 5. In the last part of the paper, we raise some questions related to a long-standing conjecture of Vizing on proper edge-colouring of planar graphs

Enumerating kk-arc-connected orientations

12 pagesWe study the problem of enumerating the $k$-arc-connected orientations of a graph $G$, i.e., generating each exactly once. A first algorithm using submodular flow optimization is easy to state, but intricate to implement. In a second approach we present a simple algorithm with delay $O(knm^2)$ and amortized time $O(m^2)$, which improves over the analysis of the submodular flow algorithm. As ingredients, we obtain enumeration algorithms for the $\alpha$-orientations of a graph $G$ in delay $O(m^2)$ and for the outdegree sequences attained by $k$-arc-connected orientations of $G$ in delay $O(knm^2)$

Feedback vertex sets in (directed) graphs of bounded degeneracy or treewidth

We study the minimum size $f$ of a feedback vertex set in directed and undirected $n$-vertex graphs of given degeneracy or treewidth. In the undirected setting the bound $\frac{k-1}{k+1}n$ is known to be tight for graphs with bounded treewidth $k$ or bounded odd degeneracy $k$. We show that neither of the easy upper and lower bounds $\frac{k-1}{k+1}n$ and $\frac{k}{k+2}n$ can be exact for the case of even degeneracy. More precisely, for even degeneracy $k$ we prove that $f 0$, there exists a $k$-degenerate graph for which $f\geq \frac{3k-2}{3k+4}n -\epsilon$. For directed graphs of bounded degeneracy $k$, we prove that $f\leq\frac{k-1}{k+1}n$ and that this inequality is strict when $k$ is odd. For directed graphs of bounded treewidth $k\geq 2$, we show that $f \leq \frac{k}{k+3}n$ and for every $\epsilon>0$, there exists a $k$-degenerate graph for which $f\geq \frac{k-2\lfloor\log_2(k)\rfloor}{k+1}n -\epsilon$. Further, we provide several constructions of low degeneracy or treewidth and large $f$.Comment: 19 pages, 7 figures, 2 table

Strong edge-coloring of (3,Δ)(3, \Delta)-bipartite graphs

A strong edge-coloring of a graph $G$ is an assignment of colors to edges such that every color class induces a matching. We here focus on bipartite graphs whose one part is of maximum degree at most $3$ and the other part is of maximum degree $\Delta$. For every such graph, we prove that a strong $4\Delta$-edge-coloring can always be obtained. Together with a result of Steger and Yu, this result confirms a conjecture of Faudree, Gy\'arf\'as, Schelp and Tuza for this class of graphs