Brick assignments and homogeneously almost self-complementary graphs

AbstractA graph is called almost self-complementary if it is isomorphic to the graph obtained from its complement by removing a 1-factor. In this paper, we study a special class of vertex-transitive almost self-complementary graphs called homogeneously almost self-complementary. These graphs occur as factors of symmetric index-2 homogeneous factorizations of the “cocktail party graphs” K2n−nK2. We construct several infinite families of homogeneously almost self-complementary graphs, study their structure, and prove several classification results, including the characterization of all integers n of the form n=pr and n=2p with p prime for which there exists a homogeneously almost self-complementary graph on 2n vertices

The directed Oberwolfach problem with variable cycle lengths: a recursive construction

The directed Oberwolfach problem OP$^\ast(m_1,\ldots,m_k)$ asks whether the complete symmetric digraph $K_n^\ast$, assuming $n=m_1+\ldots +m_k$, admits a decomposition into spanning subdigraphs, each a disjoint union of $k$ directed cycles of lengths $m_1,\ldots,m_k$. We hereby describe a method for constructing a solution to OP$^\ast(m_1,\ldots,m_k)$ given a solution to OP$^\ast(m_1,\ldots,m_\ell)$, for some $\ell<k$, if certain conditions on $m_1,\ldots,m_k$ are satisfied. This approach enables us to extend a solution for OP$^\ast(m_1,\ldots,m_\ell)$ into a solution for OP$^\ast(m_1,\ldots,m_\ell,t)$, as well as into a solution for OP$^\ast(m_1,\ldots,m_\ell,2^{\langle t \rangle})$, where $2^{\langle t \rangle}$ denotes $t$ copies of 2, provided $t$ is sufficiently large. In particular, our recursive construction allows us to effectively address the two-table directed Oberwolfach problem. We show that OP$^\ast(m_1,m_2)$ has a solution for all $2 \le m_1\le m_2$, with a definite exception of $m_1=m_2=3$ and a possible exception in the case that $m_1 \in \{ 4,6 \}$, $m_2$ is even, and $m_1+m_2 \ge 14$. It has been shown previously that OP$^\ast(m_1,m_2)$ has a solution if $m_1+m_2$ is odd, and that OP$^\ast(m,m)$ has a solution if and only if $m \ne 3$. In addition to solving many other cases of OP$^\ast$, we show that when $2 \le m_1+\ldots +m_k \le 13$, OP$^\ast(m_1,\ldots,m_k)$ has a solution if and only if $(m_1,\ldots,m_k) \not\in \{ (4),(6),(3,3) \}$

Using edge cuts to find Euler tours and Euler families in hypergraphs

An Euler tour in a hypergraph is a closed walk that traverses each edge of the hypergraph exactly once, while an Euler family is a family of closed walks that jointly traverse each edge exactly once and cannot be concatenated. In this paper, we show how the problem of existence of an Euler tour (family) in a hypergraph $H$ can be reduced to the analogous problem in some smaller hypergraphs that are derived from $H$ using an edge cut of $H$. In the process, new techniques of edge cut assignments and collapsed hypergraphs are introduced. Moreover, we describe algorithms based on these characterizations that determine whether or not a hypergraph admits an Euler tour (family), and can also construct an Euler tour (family) if it exists

Cycle decompositions IV: complete directed graphs and fixed length directed cycles

We establish necessary and sufficient conditions for decomposing the complete symmetric digraph of order n into directed cycles of length m; where 2≼m≼n