arXiv subjects

Florian Pfender

Publications and source records attributed to Florian Pfender.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2018

Erdős-Szekeres On-Line

In 1935, Erdős and Szekeres proved that $(m-1)(k-1)+1$ is the minimum number of points in the plane which definitely contain an increasing subset of $m$ points or a decreasing subset of $k$ points (as ordered by their $x$-coordinates). We consider their result from an on-line game perspective: Let points be determined one by one by player A first determining the $x$-coordinate and then player B determining the $y$-coordinate. What is the minimum number of points such that player A can force an increasing subset of $m$ points or a decreasing subset of $k$ points? We introduce this as the Erdős-Szekeres on-line number and denote it by $\text{ESO}(m,k)$. We observe that $\text{ESO}(m,k) < (m-1)(k-1)+1$ for $m,k \ge 3$, provide a general lower bound for $\text{ESO}(m,k)$, and determine $\text{ESO}(m,3)$ up to an additive constant.

math.CO↗

arXiv2017

Pentagons in triangle-free graphs

For all $n\ge 9$, we show that the only triangle-free graphs on $n$ vertices maximizing the number $5$-cycles are balanced blow-ups of a 5-cycle. This completely resolves a conjecture by Erdős, and extends results by Grzesik and Hatami, Hladký, Král', Norin and Razborov, where they independently showed this same result for large $n$ and for all $n$ divisible by $5$.

math.CO↗

arXiv2017

Notes on complexity of packing coloring

A packing $k$-coloring for some integer $k$ of a graph $G=(V,E)$ is a mapping $φ:V\to\{1,\ldots,k\}$ such that any two vertices $u, v$ of color $φ(u)=φ(v)$ are in distance at least $φ(u)+1$. This concept is motivated by frequency assignment problems. The \emph{packing chromatic number} of $G$ is the smallest $k$ such that there exists a packing $k$-coloring of $G$. Fiala and Golovach showed that determining the packing chromatic number for chordal graphs is \NP-complete for diameter exactly 5. While the problem is easy to solve for diameter 2, we show \NP-completeness for any diameter at least 3. Our reduction also shows that the packing chromatic number is hard to approximate within $n^{{1/2}-\varepsilon}$ for any $\varepsilon > 0$. In addition, we design an \FPT algorithm for interval graphs of bounded diameter. This leads us to exploring the problem of finding a partial coloring that maximizes the number of colored vertices.

cs.CC↗

arXiv2017

On Edge-Colored Saturation Problems

Let $\mathcal{C}$ be a family of edge-colored graphs. A $t$-edge colored graph $G$ is $(\mathcal{C}, t)$-saturated if $G$ does not contain any graph in $\mathcal{C}$ but the addition of any edge in any color in $[t]$ creates a copy of some graph in $\mathcal{C}$. Similarly to classical saturation functions, define $\mathrm{sat}_t(n, \mathcal{C})$ to be the minimum number of edges in a $(\mathcal{C},t)$ saturated graph. Let $\mathcal{C}_r(H)$ be the family consisting of every edge-colored copy of $H$ which uses exactly $r$ colors. In this paper we consider a variety of colored saturation problems. We determine the order of magnitude for $\mathrm{sat}_t(n, \mathcal{C}_r(K_k))$ for all $r$, showing a sharp change in behavior when $r\geq \binom{k-1}{2}+2$. A particular case of this theorem proves a conjecture of Barrus, Ferrara, Vandenbussche, and Wenger. We determine $\mathrm{sat}_t(n, \mathcal{C}_2(K_3))$ exactly and determine the extremal graphs. Additionally, we document some interesting irregularities in the colored saturation function.

math.CO↗

arXiv2016

The 1-2-3 Conjecture for Hypergraphs

A weighting of the edges of a hypergraph is called vertex-coloring if the weighted degrees of the vertices yield a proper coloring of the graph, i.e., every edge contains at least two vertices with different weighted degrees. In this paper we show that such a weighting is possible from the weight set {1,2,...,r+1} for all hypergraphs with maximum edge size r>3 and not containing edges solely consisting of identical vertices. The number r+1 is best possible for this statement. Further, the weight set {1,2,3,4,5} is sufficient for all hypergraphs with maximum edge size 3, up to some trivial exceptions.

math.CO↗

arXiv2015

Increasing paths in edge-ordered graphs: the hypercube and random graphs

An edge-ordering of a graph $G=(V,E)$ is a bijection $ϕ:E\to\{1,2,...,|E|\}$. Given an edge-ordering, a sequence of edges $P=e_1,e_2,...,e_k$ is an increasing path if it is a path in $G$ which satisfies $ϕ(e_i)<ϕ(e_j)$ for all $i<j$. For a graph $G$, let $f(G)$ be the largest integer $\ell$ such that every edge-ordering of $G$ contains an increasing path of length $\ell$. The parameter $f(G)$ was first studied for $G=K_n$ and has subsequently been studied for other families of graphs. This paper gives bounds on $f$ for the hypercube and the random graph $G(n,p)$.

math.CO↗

arXiv2014

Maximum density of an induced 5-cycle is achieved by an iterated blow-up of a 5-cycle

Let $C(n)$ denote the maximum number of induced copies of 5-cycles in graphs on $n$ vertices. For $n$ large enough, we show that $C(n)=a\cdot b\cdot c \cdot d \cdot e + C(a)+C(b)+C(c)+C(d)+C(e)$, where $a+b+c+d+e = n$ and $a,b,c,d,e$ are as equal as possible. Moreover, if $n$ is a power of 5, we show that the unique graph on $n$ vertices maximizing the number of induced 5-cycles is an iterated blow-up of a 5-cycle.

math.CO↗

arXiv2014

Crossing numbers of complete tripartite and balanced complete multipartite graphs

The crossing number cr(G) of a graph G is the minimum number of crossings in a nondegenerate planar drawing of G. The rectilinear crossing number cr'(G) of G is the minimum number of crossings in a rectilinear nondegenerate planar drawing (with edges as straight line segments) of G. Zarankiewicz proved in 1952 that cr'(K_{n_1,n_2})\le Z(n_1,n_2):= n_1/2*(n_1-1)/2*n_2/2*(n_2-1)/2. We define an analogous bound A(n_1,n_2,n_3) for the complete tripartite graph K_{n_1,n_2,n_3}, and prove that cr'(K_{n_1,n_2,n_3})\le A({n_1,n_2,n_3}). We also show that for n large enough, 0.973 A(n,n,n) \le cr'(K_{n,n,n}) and 0.666 A(n,n,n)\le cr(K_{n,n,n}), with the tighter rectilinear lower bound established through the use of flag algebras. A complete multipartite graph is balanced if the partite sets all have the same cardinality. We study asymptotic behavior of the crossing number of the balanced complete r-partite graph. Richter and Thomassen proved in 1997 that the limit as n\to\infty of cr(K_{n,n}) over the maximum number of crossings in a drawing of K_{n,n} exists and is at most 1/4. We define z(r)=3(r^2-r)/8(r^2+r-3) and show that for a fixed r and the balanced complete r-partite graph, z(r) is an upper bound to the limit superior of the crossing number divided by the maximum number of crossings in a drawing.

math.CO↗

arXiv2014

Rainbow triangles in three-colored graphs

Erdos and Sos proposed a problem of determining the maximum number F(n) of rainbow triangles in 3-edge-colored complete graphs on n vertices. They conjectured that F(n) = F(a)+ F(b)+F(c)+F(d)+abc+abd+acd+bcd, where a+b+c+d = n and a, b, c, d are as equal as possible. We prove that the conjectured recurrence holds for sufficiently large n. We also prove the conjecture for n = 4k for all k. These results imply that lim F(n) n^3/6 = 0.4, and determine the unique limit object. In the proof we use flag algebras combined with stability arguments.

math.CO↗

arXiv2014

Graph Saturation in Multipartite Graphs

Let $G$ be a fixed graph and let ${\mathcal F}$ be a family of graphs. A subgraph $J$ of $G$ is ${\mathcal F}$-saturated if no member of ${\mathcal F}$ is a subgraph of $J$, but for any edge $e$ in $E(G)-E(J)$, some element of ${\mathcal F}$ is a subgraph of $J+e$. We let $\text{ex}({\mathcal F},G)$ and $\text{sat}({\mathcal F},G)$ denote the maximum and minimum size of an ${\mathcal F}$-saturated subgraph of $G$, respectively. If no element of ${\mathcal F}$ is a subgraph of $G$, then $\text{sat}({\mathcal F},G) = \text{ex}({\mathcal F}, G) = |E(G)|$. In this paper, for $k\ge 3$ and $n\ge 100$ we determine $\text{sat}(K_3,K_k^n)$, where $K_k^n$ is the complete balanced $k$-partite graph with partite sets of size $n$. We also give several families of constructions of $K_t$-saturated subgraphs of $K_k^n$ for $t\ge 4$. Our results and constructions provide an informative contrast to recent results on the edge-density version of $\text{ex}(K_t,K_k^n)$ from [A. Bondy, J. Shen, S. Thomassé, and C. Thomassen, Density conditions for triangles in multipartite graphs, Combinatorica 26 (2006), 121--131] and [F. Pfender, Complete subgraphs in multipartite graphs, Combinatorica 32 (2012), no. 4, 483--495].

math.CO↗

arXiv2013

Complexity Results for Rainbow Matchings

A rainbow matching in an edge-colored graph is a matching whose edges have distinct colors. We address the complexity issue of the following problem, \mrbm: Given an edge-colored graph $G$, how large is the largest rainbow matching in $G$? We present several sharp contrasts in the complexity of this problem. We show, among others, that * can be approximated by a polynomial algorithm with approximation ratio $2/3-\eps$. * is APX-complete, even when restricted to properly edge-colored linear forests without a $5$-vertex path, and is solvable in %time $O(m^{3/2})$ on edge-colored $m$-edge polynomial time for edge-colored forests without a $4$-vertex path. * is APX-complete, even when restricted to properly edge-colored trees without an $8$-vertex path, and is solvable in %time $O(n^{7/2})$ on edge-colored $n$-vertex polynomial time for edge-colored trees without a $7$-vertex path. * is APX-complete, even when restricted to properly edge-colored paths. These results provide a dichotomy theorem for the complexity of the problem on forests and trees in terms of forbidding paths. The latter is somewhat surprising, since, to the best of our knowledge, no (unweighted) graph problem prior to our result is known to be NP-hard for simple paths. We also address the parameterized complexity of the problem.

cs.DM↗

arXiv2013

Total weight choosability in Hypergraphs

A total weighting of the vertices and edges of a hypergraph is called vertex-coloring if the total weights of the vertices yield a proper coloring of the graph, i.e., every edge contains at least two vertices with different weighted degrees. In this note we show that such a weighting is possible if every vertex has two, and every edge has three weights to choose from, extending a recent result on graphs to hypergraphs.

math.CO↗

arXiv2013

Quartic graphs with every edge in a triangle

We characterise the quartic (i.e. 4-regular) multigraphs with the property that every edge lies in a triangle. The main result is that such graphs are either squares of cycles, line multigraphs of cubic multigraphs, or are obtained from these by a number of simple subgraph-replacement operations. A corollary of this is that a simple quartic graph with every edge in a triangle is either the square of a cycle, the line graph of a cubic graph or a graph obtained from the line multigraph of a cubic multigraph by replacing triangles with copies of K_{1,1,3}.

math.CO↗

arXiv2012

Monochromatic triangles in three-coloured graphs

In 1959, Goodman determined the minimum number of monochromatic triangles in a complete graph whose edge set is two-coloured. Goodman also raised the question of proving analogous results for complete graphs whose edge sets are coloured with more than two colours. In this paper, we determine the minimum number of monochromatic triangles and the colourings which achieve this minimum in a sufficiently large three-coloured complete graph.

math.CO↗

arXiv2012

Combined degree and connectivity conditions for H-linked graphs

For a given multigraph H, a graph G is H-linked, if |G| \geq |H| and for every injective map τ: V (H) \rightarrow V (G), we can find internally disjoint paths in G, such that every edge from uv in H corresponds to a τ (u) - τ (v) path. To guarantee that a G is H-linked, you need a minimum degree larger than |G|/2. This situation changes, if you know that G has a certain connectivity k. Depending on k, even a minimum degree independent of |G| may suffice. Let δ(k, H, N) be the minimum number, such that every k-connected graph G with |G| = N and δ(G) \geq δ(k, H, N) is H-linked. We study bounds for this quantity. In particular, we find bounds for all multigraphs H with at most three edges, which are optimal up to small additive or multiplicative constants.

math.CO↗

arXiv2012

Large rainbow matchings in large graphs

A \textit{rainbow subgraph} of an edge-colored graph is a subgraph whose edges have distinct colors. The \textit{color degree} of a vertex $v$ is the number of different colors on edges incident to $v$. We show that if $n$ is large enough (namely, $n\geq 4.25k^2$), then each $n$-vertex graph $G$ with minimum color degree at least $k$ contains a rainbow matching of size at least $k$.

math.CO↗

arXiv2011

Rainbow Matchings of size δ(G) in Properly Edge-colored Graphs

A {\it rainbow matching} in an edge-colored graph is a matching in which all the edges have distinct colors. Wang asked if there is a function f(δ) such that a properly edge-colored graph G with minimum degree δand order at least f(δ) must have a rainbow matching of size δ. We answer this question in the affirmative; f(δ) = 6.5δsuffices. Furthermore, the proof provides a O(δ(G)|V(G)|^2)-time algorithm that generates such a matching.

math.CO↗

arXiv2011

Total Vertex Irregularity Strength of Forests

We investigate a graph parameter called the total vertex irregularity strength ($tvs(G)$), i.e. the minimal $s$ such that there is a labeling $w: E(G)\cup V(G)\rightarrow \{1,2,..,s\}$ of the edges and vertices of $G$ giving distinct weighted degrees $wt_G(v):=w(v)+\sum_{v\in e \in E(G)}w(e)$ for every pair of vertices of $G$. We prove that $tvs(F)=\lceil (n_1+1)/2 \rceil$ for every forest $F$ with no vertices of degree 2 and no isolated vertices, where $n_1$ is the number of pendant vertices in $F$. Stronger results for trees were recently proved by Nurdin et al.

math.CO↗