arXiv subjects

Daniel W. Cranston

Publications and source records attributed to Daniel W. Cranston.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2024

Planar Graphs with Homomorphisms to the 9-cycle

We study the problem of finding homomorphisms into odd cycles from planar graphs with high odd-girth. The Jaeger-Zhang conjecture states that every planar graph of odd-girth at least $4k+1$ admits a homomorphism to the odd cycle $C_{2k+1}$. The $k=1$ case is the well-known Grötzsch's $3$-coloring theorem. For general $k$, in 2013 Lovász, Thomassen, Wu, and Zhang showed that it suffices to have odd-girth at least $6k+1$. Improvements are known for $C_5$ and $C_7$ in [Combinatorica 2017, SIDMA 2020, Combinatorica 2022]. For $C_9$ we improve this hypothesis by showing that it suffices to have odd-girth 23. Our main tool is a variation on the potential method applied to modular orientations. This allows more flexibility when seeking reducible configurations. The same techniques also prove some results on circular coloring of signed planar graphs.

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arXiv2023

Optimally Reconfiguring List and Correspondence Colourings

The reconfiguration graph $\mathcal{C}_k(G)$ for the $k$-colourings of a graph $G$ has a vertex for each proper $k$-colouring of $G$, and two vertices of $\mathcal{C}_k(G)$ are adjacent precisely when those $k$-colourings differ on a single vertex of $G$. Much work has focused on bounding the maximum value of ${\rm{diam}}~\mathcal{C}_k(G)$ over all $n$-vertex graphs $G$. We consider the analogous problems for list colourings and for correspondence colourings. We conjecture that if $L$ is a list-assignment for a graph $G$ with $|L(v)|\ge d(v)+2$ for all $v\in V(G)$, then ${\rm{diam}}~\mathcal{C}_L(G)\le n(G)+μ(G)$. We also conjecture that if $(L,H)$ is a correspondence cover for a graph $G$ with $|L(v)|\ge d(v)+2$ for all $v\in V(G)$, then ${\rm{diam}}~\mathcal{C}_{(L,H)}(G)\le n(G)+τ(G)$. (Here $μ(G)$ and $τ(G)$ denote the matching number and vertex cover number of $G$.) For every graph $G$, we give constructions showing that both conjectures are best possible. Our first main result proves the upper bounds (for the list and correspondence versions, respectively) ${\rm{diam}}~\mathcal{C}_L(G)\le n(G)+2μ(G)$ and ${\rm{diam}}~\mathcal{C}_{(L,H)}(G)\le n(G)+2τ(G)$. Our second main result proves that both conjectured bounds hold, whenever all $v$ satisfy $|L(v)|\ge 2d(v)+1$. We conclude by proving one or both conjectures for various classes of graphs such as complete bipartite graphs, subcubic graphs, cactuses, and graphs with bounded maximum average degree.

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arXiv2023

Kempe Equivalent List Colorings

An $α,β$-Kempe swap in a properly colored graph interchanges the colors on some component of the subgraph induced by colors $α$ and $β$. Two $k$-colorings of a graph are $k$-Kempe equivalent if we can form one from the other by a sequence of Kempe swaps (never using more than $k$ colors). Las Vergnas and Meyniel showed that if a graph is $(k-1)$-degenerate, then each pair of its $k$-colorings are $k$-Kempe equivalent. Mohar conjectured the same conclusion for connected $k$-regular graphs. This was proved for $k=3$ by Feghali, Johnson, and Paulusma (with a single exception $K_2\square K_3$, also called the 3-prism) and for $k\ge 4$ by Bonamy, Bousquet, Feghali, and Johnson. In this paper we prove an analogous result for list-coloring. For a list-assignment $L$ and an $L$-coloring $φ$, a Kempe swap is called $L$-valid for $φ$ if performing the Kempe swap yields another $L$-coloring. Two $L$-colorings are called $L$-equivalent if we can form one from the other by a sequence of $L$-valid Kempe swaps. Let $G$ be a connected $k$-regular graph with $k\ge 3$. We prove that if $L$ is a $k$-assignment, then all $L$-colorings are $L$-equivalent (again with a single exception $K_2 \square K_3$). When $k\ge 4$, the proof is completely self-contained, so implies an alternate proof of the result of Bonamy et al. Our proofs rely on the following key lemma, which may be of independent interest. Let $H$ be a graph such that for every degree-assignment $L_H$ all $L_H$-colorings are $L_H$-equivalent. If $G$ is a connected graph that contains $H$ as an induced subgraph, then for every degree-assignment $L_G$ for $G$ all $L_G$-colorings are $L_G$-equivalent.

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arXiv2023

Odd-Sum Colorings of Planar Graphs

A \emph{coloring} of a graph $G$ is a map $f:V(G)\to \mathbb{Z}^+$ such that $f(v)\ne f(w)$ for all $vw\in E(G)$. A coloring $f$ is an \emph{odd-sum} coloring if $\sum_{w\in N[v]}f(w)$ is odd, for each vertex $v\in V(G)$. The \emph{odd-sum chromatic number} of a graph $G$, denoted $χ_{os}(G)$, is the minimum number of colors used (that is, the minimum size of the range) in an odd-sum coloring of $G$. Caro, Petruševski, and Škrekovski showed, among other results, that $χ_{os}(G)$ is well-defined for every finite graph $G$ and, in fact, $χ_{os}(G)\le 2χ(G)$. Thus, $χ_{os}(G)\le 8$ for every planar graph $G$ (by the 4 Color Theorem), $χ_{os}(G)\le 6$ for every triangle-free planar graph $G$ (by Grötzsch's Theorem), and $χ_{os}(G)\le 4$ for every bipartite graph. Caro et al. asked, for every even $Δ\ge 4$, whether there exists $g_Δ$ such that if $G$ is planar with maximum degree $Δ$ and girth at least $g_Δ$ then $χ_{os}(G)\le 5$. They also asked, for every even $Δ\ge 4$, whether there exists $g_Δ$ such that if $G$ is planar and bipartite with maximum degree $Δ$ and girth at least $g_Δ$ then $χ_{os}(G)\le 3$. We answer both questions negatively. We also refute a conjecture they made, resolve one further problem they posed, and make progress on another.

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arXiv2022

The $t$-Tone Chromatic Number of Classes of Sparse Graphs

For a graph $G$ and $t,k\in\mathbb{Z}^+$ a \emph{$t$-tone $k$-coloring} of $G$ is a function $f:V(G)\rightarrow \binom{[k]}{t}$ such that $|f(v)\cap f(w)| < d(v,w)$ for all distinct $v,w \in V(G)$. The \emph{$t$-tone chromatic number} of $G$, denoted $τ_t(G)$, is the minimum $k$ such that $G$ is $t$-tone $k$-colorable. For small values of $t$, we prove sharp or nearly sharp upper bounds on the $t$-tone chromatic number of various classes of sparse graphs. In particular, we determine $τ_2(G)$ exactly when $\textrm{mad}(G) < 12/5$ and bound $τ_2(G)$, up to a small additive constant, when $G$ is outerplanar. We also determine $τ_t(C_n)$ exactly when $t\in\{3,4,5\}$.

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arXiv2022

Kempe Equivalent List Edge-Colorings of Planar Graphs

For a list assignment $L$ and an $L$-coloring $φ$, a Kempe swap in $φ$ is \emph{$L$-valid} if it yields another $L$-coloring. Two $L$-colorings are \emph{$L$-equivalent} if we can form one from another by a sequence of $L$-valid Kempe swaps. And a graph $G$ is \emph{$L$-swappable} if every two of its $L$-colorings are $L$-equivalent. We consider $L$-swappability of line graphs of planar graphs with large maximum degree. Let $G$ be a planar graph with $Δ(G)\ge 9$ and let $H$ be the line graph of $G$. If $L$ is a $(Δ(G)+1)$-assignment to $H$, then $H$ is $L$-swappable. Let $G$ be a planar graph with $Δ(G)\ge 15$ and let $H$ be the line graph of $G$. If $L$ is a $Δ(G)$-assignment to $H$, then $H$ is $L$-swappable. The first result is analogous to one for $L$-choosability by Borodin, which was later strengthened by Bonamy. The second result is analogous to another for $L$-choosability by Borodin, which was later strengthened by Borodin, Kostochka, and Woodall.

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arXiv2022

5-Coloring Reconfiguration of Planar Graphs with No Short Odd Cycles

The coloring reconfiguration graph $\mathcal{C}_k(G)$ has as its vertex set all the proper $k$-colorings of $G$, and two vertices in $\mathcal{C}_k(G)$ are adjacent if their corresponding $k$-colorings differ on a single vertex. Cereceda conjectured that if an $n$-vertex graph $G$ is $d$-degenerate and $k\geq d+2$, then the diameter of $\mathcal{C}_k(G)$ is $O(n^2)$. Bousquet and Heinrich proved that if $G$ is planar and bipartite, then the diameter of $\mathcal{C}_5(G)$ is $O(n^2)$. (This proves Cereceda's Conjecture for every such graph with degeneracy 3.) They also highlighted the particular case of Cereceda's Conjecture when $G$ is planar and has no 3-cycles. As a partial solution to this problem, we show that the diameter of $\mathcal{C}_5(G)$ is $O(n^2)$ for every planar graph $G$ with no 3-cycles and no 5-cycles.

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arXiv2022

Strong Edge-Coloring of Cubic Bipartite Graphs: A Counterexample

A strong edge-coloring $φ$ of a graph $G$ assigns colors to edges of $G$ such that $φ(e_1)\ne φ(e_2)$ whenever $e_1$ and $e_2$ are at distance no more than 1. It is equivalent to a proper vertex coloring of the square of the line graph of $G$. In 1990 Faudree, Schelp, Gyárfás, and Tuza conjectured that if $G$ is a bipartite graph with maximum degree 3 and sufficiently large girth, then $G$ has a strong edge-coloring with at most 5 colors. In 2021 this conjecture was disproved by Lužar, Mačajová, Škoviera, and Soták. Here we give an alternative construction to disprove the conjecture.

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arXiv2022

List-Recoloring of Sparse Graphs

Fix a graph $G$, a list-assignment $L$ for $G$, and $L$-colorings $α$ and $β$. An $L$-recoloring sequence, starting from $α$, recolors a single vertex at each step, so that each resulting intermediate coloring is a proper $L$-coloring. An $L$-recoloring sequence transforms $α$ to $β$ if its initial coloring is $α$ and its final coloring is $β$. We prove there exists an $L$-recoloring sequence that transforms $α$ to $β$ and recolors each vertex at most a constant number of times if (i) $G$ is triangle-free and planar and $L$ is a 7-assignment, or (ii) $\mathrm{mad}(G)<17/5$ and $L$ is a 6-assignment or (iii) $\mathrm{mad}(G)<22/9$ and $L$ is a 4-assignment. Parts (i) and (ii) confirm conjectures of Dvořák and Feghali.

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arXiv2022

In Most 6-regular Toroidal Graphs All 5-colorings are Kempe Equivalent

A Kempe swap in a proper coloring interchanges the colors on some maximal connected 2-colored subgraph. Two $k$-colorings are $k$-equivalent if we can transform one into the other using Kempe swaps. The triangulated toroidal grid, $T[m\times n]$, is formed from (a toroidal embedding of) the Cartesian product of $C_m$ and $C_n$ by adding parallel diagonals inside all 4-faces. Mohar and Salas showed that not all 4-colorings of $T[m\times n]$ are 4-equivalent. In contrast, Bonamy, Bousquet, Feghali, and Johnson showed that all 6-colorings of $T[m\times n]$ are 6-equivalent. They asked whether the same is true for 5-colorings. We answer their question affirmatively when $m,n\ge 6$. Further, we show that if $G$ is 6-regular with a toroidal embedding where every non-contractible cycle has length at least 7, then all 5-colorings of $G$ are 5-equivalent. Our results relate to the antiferromagnetic Pott's model in statistical mechanics.

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arXiv2022

A Note on Odd Colorings of 1-Planar Graphs

A proper coloring of a graph is odd if every non-isolated vertex has some color that appears an odd number of times on its neighborhood. This notion was recently introduced by Petruševski and Škrekovski, who proved that every planar graph admits an odd $9$-coloring; they also conjectured that every planar graph admits an odd $5$-coloring. Shortly after, this conjecture was confirmed for planar graphs of girth at least seven by Cranston; outerplanar graphs by Caro, Petruševski, and Škrekovski. Building on the work of Caro, Petruševski, and Škrekovski, Petr and Portier then further proved that every planar graph admits an odd $8$-coloring. In this note we prove that every 1-planar graph admits an odd $23$-coloring, where a graph is 1-planar if it can be drawn in the plane so that each edge is crossed by at most one other edge.

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arXiv2022

Odd Colorings of Sparse Graphs

A proper coloring of a graph is called \emph{odd} if every non-isolated vertex has some color that appears an odd number of times on its neighborhood. The smallest number of colors that admits an odd coloring of a graph $G$ is denoted $χ_o(G)$. This notion was introduced by Petruševski and Škrekovski, who proved that if $G$ is planar then $χ_o(G)\le 9$; they also conjectured that $χ_o(G)\le 5$. For a positive real number $α$, we consider the maximum value of $χ_o(G)$ over all graphs $G$ with maximum average degree less than $α$; we denote this value by $χ_o(\mathcal{G}_α)$. We note that $χ_o(\mathcal{G}_α)$ is undefined for all $α\ge 4$. In contrast, for each $α\in[0,4)$, we give a (nearly sharp) upper bound on $χ_o(\mathcal{G}_α)$. Finally, we prove $χ_o(\mathcal{G}_{20/7})= 5$ and $χ_o(\mathcal{G}_3)= 6$. Both of these results are sharp.

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arXiv2021

On Asymptotic Packing of Geometric Graphs

A set of geometric graphs is {\em geometric-packable} if it can be asymptotically packed into every sequence of drawings of the complete graph $K_n$. For example, the set of geometric triangles is geometric-packable due to the existence of Steiner Triple Systems. When $G$ is the $4$-cycle (or $4$-cycle with a chord), we show that the set of plane drawings of $G$ is geometric-packable. In contrast, the analogous statement is false when $G$ is nearly any other planar Hamiltonian graph (with at most 3 possible exceptions). A convex geometric graph is {\em convex-packable} if it can be asymptotically packed into the convex drawings of the complete graphs. For each planar Hamiltonian graph $G$, we determine whether or not a plane $G$ is convex-packable. Many of our proofs explicitly construct these packings; in these cases, the packings exhibit a symmetry that mirrors the vertex transitivity of $K_n$.

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arXiv2021

Planar Turán Numbers of Cycles: A Counterexample

The planar Turan number $\textrm{ex}_{\mathcal{P}}(C_{\ell},n)$ is the largest number of edges in an $n$-vertex planar graph with no $\ell$-cycle. For $\ell\in \{3,4,5,6\}$, upper bounds on $\textrm{ex}_{\mathcal{P}}(C_{\ell},n)$ are known that hold with equality infinitely often. Ghosh, Györi, Martin, Paulo, and Xiao [arxiv:2004.14094] conjectured an upper bound on $\textrm{ex}_{\mathcal{P}}(C_{\ell},n)$ for every $\ell\ge 7$ and $n$ sufficiently large. We disprove this conjecture for every $\ell\ge 11$. We also propose two revised versions of the conjecture.

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arXiv2021

Vertex Partitions into an Independent Set and a Forest with Each Component Small

For each integer k >= 2, we determine a sharp bound on mad(G) such that V(G) can be partitioned into sets I and F_k, where I is an independent set and G[F_k] is a forest in which each component has at most k vertices. For each k we construct an infinite family of examples showing our result is best possible. Our results imply that every planar graph G of girth at least 9 (resp. 8, 7) has a partition of V(G) into an independent set I and a set F such that G[F] is a forest with each component of order at most 3 (resp. 4, 6). Hendrey, Norin, and Wood asked for the largest function g(a,b) such that if mad(G) < g(a,b) then V(G) has a partition into sets A and B such that mad(G[A]) < a and mad(G[B]) < b. They specifically asked for the value of g(1,b), i.e., the case when A is an independent set. Previously, the only values known were g(1,4/3) and g(1,2). We find g(1,b) whenever 4/3 < b < 2.

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arXiv2021

Star coloring of sparse graphs

A proper coloring of the vertices of a graph is called a \emph{star coloring} if the union of every two color classes induces a star forest. The star chromatic number $χ_s(G)$ is the smallest number of colors required to obtain a star coloring of $G$. In this paper, we study the relationship between the star chromatic number $χ_s(G)$ and the maximum average degree $\mbox{Mad}(G)$ of a graph $G$. We prove that: (1) If $G$ is a graph with $\mbox{Mad}(G) < \frac{26}{11}$, then $χ_s(G)\leq 4$. (2) If $G$ is a graph with $\mbox{Mad}(G) < \frac{18}{7}$ and girth at least 6, then $χ_s(G)\leq 5$. (3) If $G$ is a graph with $\mbox{Mad}(G) < \frac{8}{3}$ and girth at least 6, then $χ_s(G)\leq 6$. These results are obtained by proving that such graphs admit a particular decomposition into a forest and some independent sets.

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arXiv2020

Coloring $(P_5, \text{gem})$-free graphs with $Δ-1$ colors

The Borodin-Kostochka Conjecture states that for a graph $G$, if $Δ(G) \geq 9$ and $ω(G) \leq Δ(G)-1$, then $χ(G)\leqΔ(G) -1$. We prove the Borodin-Kostochka Conjecture for $(P_5, \text{gem})$-free graphs, i.e., graphs with no induced $P_5$ and no induced $K_1\vee P_4$.

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arXiv2020

Sparse graphs are near-bipartite

A multigraph $G$ is near-bipartite if $V(G)$ can be partitioned as $I,F$ such that $I$ is an independent set and $F$ induces a forest. We prove that a multigraph $G$ is near-bipartite when $3|W|-2|E(G[W])|\ge -1$ for every $W\subseteq V(G)$, and $G$ contains no $K_4$ and no Moser spindle. We prove that a simple graph $G$ is near-bipartite when $8|W|-5|E(G[W])|\ge -4$ for every $W\subseteq V(G)$, and $G$ contains no subgraph from some finite family $\mathcal{H}$. We also construct infinite families to show that both results are best possible in a very sharp sense.

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