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Maria Chudnovsky

Publications and source records attributed to Maria Chudnovsky.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources
arXiv2018

Induced subgraphs of graphs with large chromatic number. XII. Distant stars

The Gyarfas-Sumner conjecture asserts that if H is a tree then every graph with bounded clique number and very large chromatic number contains H as an induced subgraph. This is still open, although it has been proved for a few simple families of trees, including trees of radius two, some special trees of radius three, and subdivided stars. These trees all have the property that their vertices of degree more than two are clustered quite closely together. In this paper, we prove the conjecture for two families of trees which do not have this restriction. As special cases, these families contain all double-ended brooms and two-legged caterpillars.

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arXiv2018

Proof of the Kalai-Meshulam conjecture

Let $G$ be a graph, and let $f_G$ be the sum of $(-1)^{|A|}$, over all stable sets $A$. If $G$ is a cycle with length divisible by three, then $f_G= \pm 2$. Motivated by topological considerations, G. Kalai and R. Meshulam made the conjecture that,if no induced cycle of a graph $G$ has length divisible by three, then $|f_G|\le 1$. We prove this conjecture.

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arXiv2018

Vertex-minors and the Erdős-Hajnal conjecture

We prove that for every graph $H$, there exists $\varepsilon>0$ such that every $n$-vertex graph with no vertex-minors isomorphic to $H$ has a pair of disjoint sets $A$, $B$ of vertices such that $|A|, |B|\ge \varepsilon n$ and $A$ is complete or anticomplete to $B$. We deduce this from recent work of Chudnovsky, Scott, Seymour, and Spirkl (2018). This proves the analog of the Erdős-Hajnal conjecture for vertex-minors.

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arXiv2018

Induced subgraphs of graphs with large chromatic number. XI. Orientations

Fix an oriented graph H, and let G be a graph with bounded clique number and very large chromatic number. If we somehow orient its edges, must there be an induced subdigraph isomorphic to H? Kierstead and Rodl raised this question for two specific kinds of digraph H: the three-edge path, with the first and last edges both directed towards the interior; and stars (with many edges directed out and many directed in). Aboulker et al subsequently conjectured that the answer is affirmative in both cases. We give affirmative answers to both questions.

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arXiv2018

Four-coloring $P_6$-free graphs. I. Extending an excellent precoloring

This is the first paper in a series whose goal is to give a polynomial time algorithm for the $4$-coloring problem and the $4$-precoloring extension problem restricted to the class of graphs with no induced six-vertex path, thus proving a conjecture of Huang. Combined with previously known results this completes the classification of the complexity of the $4$-coloring problem for graphs with a connected forbidden induced subgraph. In this paper we give a polynomial time algorithm that determines if a special kind of precoloring of a $P_6$-free graph has a precoloring extension, and constructs such an extension if one exists. Combined with the main result of the second paper of the series, this gives a complete solution to the problem.

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arXiv2018

Large rainbow matchings in general graphs

By a theorem of Drisko, any $2n-1$ matchings of size $n$ in a bipartite graph have a partial rainbow matching of size $n$. Inspired by discussion of Barát, Gyárfás and Sárközy, we conjecture that if $n$ is odd then the same is true also in general graphs, and that if $n$ is even then $2n$ matchings of size $n$ suffice. We prove that any $3n-2$ matchings of size $n$ have a partial rainbow matching of size $n$.

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arXiv2018

List-three-coloring graphs with no induced $P_6+rP_3$

For an integer $r$, the graph $P_6+rP_3$ has $r+1$ components, one of which is a path on $6$ vertices, and each of the others is a path on $3$ vertices. In this paper we provide a polynomial-time algorithm to test if a graph with no induced subgraph isomorphic to $P_6+rP_3$ is three-colorable. We also solve the list version of this problem, where each vertex is assigned a list of possible colors, which is a subset of $\{1,2,3\}$.

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arXiv2018

Towards Erdos-Hajnal for graphs with no 5-hole

The Erdos-Hajnal conjecture says that for every graph $H$ there exists $c>0$ such that $\max(α(G),ω(G))\ge n^c$ for every $H$-free graph $G$ with $n$ vertices, and this is still open when $H=C_5$. Until now the best bound known on $\max(α(G),ω(G))$ for $C_5$-free graphs was the general bound of Erdos and Hajnal, that for all $H$, $\max(α(G),ω(G))\ge 2^{Ω(\sqrt{\log n })}$ if $G$ is $H$-free. We improve this when $H=C_5$ to $\max(α(G),ω(G))\ge 2^{Ω(\sqrt{\log n \log \log n})}.$

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arXiv2018

Four-coloring $P_6$-free graphs. II. Finding an excellent precoloring

This is the second paper in a series of two. The goal of the series is to give a polynomial time algorithm for the $4$-coloring problem and the $4$-precoloring extension problem restricted to the class of graphs with no induced six-vertex path, thus proving a conjecture of Huang. Combined with previously known results this completes the classification of the complexity of the $4$-coloring problem for graphs with a connected forbidden induced subgraph. In this paper we give a polynomial time algorithm that starts with a $4$-precoloring of a graph with no induced six-vertex path, and outputs a polynomial-size collection of so-called excellent precolorings. Excellent precolorings are easier to handle than general ones, and, in addition, in order to determine whether the initial precoloring can be extended to the whole graph, it is enough to answer the same question for each of the excellent precolorings in the collection. The first paper in the series deals with excellent precolorings, thus providing a complete solution to the problem.

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arXiv2018

Obstructions for three-coloring and list three-coloring $H$-free graphs

A graph is $H$-free if it has no induced subgraph isomorphic to $H$. We characterize all graphs $H$ for which there are only finitely many minimal non-three-colorable $H$-free graphs. Such a characterization was previously known only in the case when $H$ is connected. This solves a problem posed by Golovach et al. As a second result, we characterize all graphs $H$ for which there are only finitely many $H$-free minimal obstructions for list 3-colorability.

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arXiv2017

Piercing axis-parallel boxes

Let $\F$ be a finite family of axis-parallel boxes in $\R^d$ such that $\F$ contains no $k+1$ pairwise disjoint boxes. We prove that if $\F$ contains a subfamily $\M$ of $k$ pairwise disjoint boxes with the property that for every $F\in \F$ and $M\in \M$ with $F \cap M \neq \emptyset$, either $F$ contains a corner of $M$ or $M$ contains $2^{d-1}$ corners of $F$, then $\F$ can be pierced by $O(k)$ points. One consequence of this result is that if $d=2$ and the ratio between any of the side lengths of any box is bounded by a constant, then $\F$ can be pierced by $O(k)$ points. We further show that if for each two intersecting boxes in $\F$ a corner of one is contained in the other, then $\F$ can be pierced by at most $O(k\log\log(k))$ points, and in the special case where $\F$ contains only cubes this bound improves to $O(k)$.

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arXiv2017

Colouring perfect graphs with bounded clique number

A graph is perfect if the chromatic number of every induced subgraph equals the size of its largest clique, and an algorithm of Grötschel, Lovász, and Schrijver from 1988 finds an optimal colouring of a perfect graph in polynomial time. But this algorithm uses the ellipsoid method, and it is a well-known open question to construct a "combinatorial" polynomial-time algorithm that yields an optimal colouring of a perfect graph. A skew partition in $G$ is a partition $(A,B)$ of $V(G)$ such that $G[A]$ is not connected and $\bar{G}[B]$ is not connected, where $\bar{G}$ denotes the complement graph ; and it is balanced if an additional parity condition of paths in $G$ and $\bar{G}$ is satisfied. In this paper we first give a polynomial-time algorithm that, with input a perfect graph, outputs a balanced skew partition if there is one. Then we use this to obtain a combinatorial algorithm that finds an optimal colouring of a perfect graph with clique number $k$, in time that is polynomial for fixed $k$.

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arXiv2017

Perfect divisibility and 2-divisibility

A graph $G$ is said to be $2$-divisible if for all (nonempty) induced subgraphs $H$ of $G$, $V(H)$ can be partitioned into two sets $A,B$ such that $ω(A) < ω(H)$ and $ω(B) < ω(H)$. A graph $G$ is said to be perfectly divisible if for all induced subgraphs $H$ of $G$, $V(H)$ can be partitioned into two sets $A,B$ such that $H[A]$ is perfect and $ω(B) < ω(H)$. We prove that if a graph is $(P_5,C_5)$-free, then it is $2$-divisible. We also prove that if a graph is bull-free and either odd-hole-free or $P_5$-free, then it is perfectly divisible.

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arXiv2017

Odd holes in bull-free graphs

The complexity of testing whether a graph contains an induced odd cycle of length at least five is currently unknown. In this paper we show that this can be done in polynomial time if the input graph has no induced subgraph isomorphic to the bull (a triangle with two disjoint pendant edges).

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arXiv2016

Fair representation by independent sets

For a hypergraph $H$ let $β(H)$ denote the minimal number of edges from $H$ covering $V(H)$. An edge $S$ of $H$ is said to represent {\em fairly} (resp. {\em almost fairly}) a partition $(V_1,V_2, \ldots, V_m)$ of $V(H)$ if $|S\cap V_i|\ge \lfloor\frac{|V_i|}{β(H)}\rfloor$ (resp. $|S\cap V_i|\ge \lfloor\frac{|V_i|}{β(H)}\rfloor-1$) for all $i \le m$. In matroids any partition of $V(H)$ can be represented fairly by some independent set. We look for classes of hypergraphs $H$ in which any partition of $V(H)$ can be represented almost fairly by some edge. We show that this is true when $H$ is the set of independent sets in a path, and conjecture that it is true when $H$ is the set of matchings in $K_{n,n}$. We prove that partitions of $E(K_{n,n})$ into three sets can be represented almost fairly. The methods of proofs are topological.

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arXiv2016

The Erdös-Hajnal Conjecture---A Survey

The Erdös-Hajnal conjecture states that for every graph $H$, there exists a constant $δ(H) > 0$ such that every graph $G$ with no induced subgraph isomorphic to $H$ has either a clique or a stable set of size at least $|V(G)|^{δ(H)}$. This paper is a survey of some of the known results on this conjecture.

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