arXiv subjects

Robert Šámal

Publications and source records attributed to Robert Šámal.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2021

Random 2-cell embeddings of multistars

Random 2-cell embeddings of a given graph $G$ are obtained by choosing a random local rotation around every vertex. We analyze the expected number of faces, $\mathbb{E}[F_G]$, of such an embedding which is equivalent to studying its average genus. So far, tight results are known for two families called monopoles and dipoles. We extend the dipole result to a more general family called multistars, i.e., loopless multigraphs in which there is a vertex incident with all the edges. In particular, we show that the expected number of faces of every multistar with $n$ nonleaf edges lies in an interval of length $2/(n + 1)$ centered at the expected number of faces of an $n$-edge dipole. This allows us to derive bounds on $\mathbb{E}[F_G]$ for any given graph $G$ in terms of vertex degrees. We conjecture that $\mathbb{E}[F_G ] \le O(n)$ for any simple $n$-vertex graph $G$.

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arXiv2021

3-Flows with Large Support

We prove that every 3-edge-connected graph $G$ has a 3-flow $ϕ$ with the property that $|\mathop{supp}(ϕ)| \ge \frac{5}{6} |E(G)|$. The graph $K_4$ demonstrates that this $\frac{5}{6}$ ratio is best possible; there is an infinite family where $\frac 56$ is tight.

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arXiv2020

Many flows in the group connectivity setting

Two well-known results in the world of nowhere-zero flows are Jaeger's 4-flow theorem asserting that every 4-edge-connected graph has a nowhere-zero $\mathbb{Z}_2 \times \mathbb{Z}_2$-flow and Seymour's 6-flow theorem asserting that every 2-edge-connected graph has a nowhere-zero $\mathbb{Z}_6$-flow. Dvořák and the last two authors of this paper extended these results by proving the existence of exponentially many nowhere-zero flows under the same assumptions. We revisit this setting and provide extensions and simpler proofs of these results. The concept of a nowhere-zero flow was extended in a significant paper of Jaeger, Linial, Payan, and Tarsi to a choosability-type setting. For a fixed abelian group $Γ$, an oriented graph $G = (V,E)$ is called $Γ$-connected if for every function $f : E \rightarrow Γ$ there is a flow $ϕ: E \rightarrow Γ$ with $ϕ(e) \neq f(e)$ for every $e \in E$ (note that taking $f = 0$ forces $ϕ$ to be nowhere-zero). Jaeger et al. proved that every oriented 3-edge-connected graph is $Γ$-connected whenever $|Γ| \ge 6$. We prove that there are exponentially many solutions whenever $|Γ| \ge 8$. For the group $\mathbb{Z}_6$ we prove that for every oriented 3-edge-connected $G = (V,E)$ with $\ell = |E| - |V| \ge 11$ and every $f: E \rightarrow \mathbb{Z}_6$, there are at least $2^{ \sqrt{\ell} / \log \ell}$ flows $ϕ$ with $ϕ(e) \neq f(e)$ for every $e \in E$.

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arXiv2020

A rainbow version of Mantel's Theorem

Mantel's Theorem asserts that a simple $n$ vertex graph with more than $\frac{1}{4}n^2$ edges has a triangle (three mutually adjacent vertices). Here we consider a rainbow variant of this problem. We prove that whenever $G_1, G_2, G_3$ are simple graphs on a common set of $n$ vertices and $|E(G_i)| > ( \frac{ 26 - 2 \sqrt{7} }{81})n^2 \approx 0.2557 n^2$ for $1 \le i \le 3$, then there exist distinct vertices $v_1,v_2,v_3$ so that (working with the indices modulo 3) we have $v_i v_{i+1} \in E(G_i)$ for $1 \le i \le 3$. We provide an example to show this bound is best possible. This also answers a question of Diwan and Mubayi. We include a new short proof of Mantel's Theorem we obtained as a byproduct.

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arXiv2019

Exponentially many nowhere-zero $Z_3$-, $Z_4$-, and $Z_6$-flows

We prove that, in several settings, a graph has exponentially many nowhere-zero flows. These results may be seen as a counting alternative to the well-known proofs of existence of $Z_3$-, $Z_4$-, and $Z_6$-flows. In the dual setting, proving exponential number of 3-colorings of planar triangle-free graphs is a related open question due to Thomassen. As a part of the proof we obtain a new splitting lemma for 6-edge-connected graphs, that may be of independent interest.

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arXiv2019

Graph Homomorphisms via Vector Colorings

In this paper we study the existence of homomorphisms $G\to H$ using semidefinite programming. Specifically, we use the vector chromatic number of a graph, defined as the smallest real number $t \ge 2$ for which there exists an assignment of unit vectors $i\mapsto p_i$ to its vertices such that $\langle p_i, p_j\rangle\le -1/(t-1),$ when $i\sim j$. Our approach allows to reprove, without using the Erdős-Ko-Rado Theorem, that for $n>2r$ the Kneser graph $K_{n:r}$ and the $q$-Kneser graph $qK_{n:r}$ are cores, and furthermore, that for $n/r = n'/r'$ there exists a homomorphism $K_{n:r}\to K_{n':r'}$ if and only if $n$ divides $n'$. In terms of new applications, we show that the even-weight component of the distance $k$-graph of the $n$-cube $H_{n,k}$ is a core and also, that non-bipartite Taylor graphs are cores. Additionally, we give a necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of homomorphisms $H_{n,k}\to H_{n',k'}$ when $n/k = n'/k'$. Lastly, we show that if a 2-walk-regular graph (which is non-bipartite and not complete multipartite) has a unique optimal vector coloring, it is a core. Based on this sufficient condition we conducted a computational study on Ted Spence's list of strongly regular graphs and found that at least 84% are cores.

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arXiv2019

Homomorphisms of Cayley graphs and Cycle Double Covers

We study the following conjecture of Matt DeVos: If there is a graph homomorphism from Cayley graph Cay(M, B) to another Cayley graph Cay(M', B') then every graph with an (M, B)-flow has an (M', B')-flow. This conjecture was originally motivated by the flow-tension duality. We show that a natural strengthening of this conjecture does not hold in all cases but we conjecture that it still holds for an interesting subclass of them and we prove a partial result in this direction. We also show that the original conjecture implies the existence of an oriented cycle double cover with a small number of cycles.

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arXiv2018

Vector Coloring the Categorical Product of Graphs

A vector $t$-coloring of a graph is an assignment of real vectors $p_1, \ldots, p_n$ to its vertices such that $p_i^Tp_i = t-1$ for all $i=1, \ldots, n$ and $p_i^Tp_j \le -1$ whenever $i$ and $j$ are adjacent. The vector chromatic number of $G$ is the smallest real number $t \ge 1$ for which a vector $t$-coloring of $G$ exists. For a graph $H$ and a vector $t$-coloring $p_1,\ldots,p_n$ of a graph $G$, the assignment $(i,\ell) \mapsto p_i$ is a vector $t$-coloring of the categorical product $G \times H$. It follows that the vector chromatic number of $G \times H$ is at most the minimum of the vector chromatic numbers of the factors. We prove that equality always holds, constituting a vector coloring analog of the famous Hedetniemi Conjecture from graph coloring. Furthermore, we prove a necessary and sufficient condition for when all of the optimal vector colorings of the product can be expressed in terms of the optimal vector colorings of the factors. The vector chromatic number is closely related to the well-known Lovász theta function, and both of these parameters admit formulations as semidefinite programs. This connection to semidefinite programming is crucial to our work and the tools and techniques we develop could likely be of interest to others in this field.

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arXiv2017

Group Connectivity: $\mathbb Z_4$ v. $\mathbb Z_2^2$

We answer a question on group connectivity suggested by Jaeger et al. [Group connectivity of graphs -- A nonhomogeneous analogue of nowhere-zero flow properties, JCTB 1992]: we find that $\mathbb Z_2^2$-connectivity does not imply $\mathbb Z_4$-connectivity, neither vice versa. We use a computer to find the graphs certifying this and to verify their properties using non-trivial enumerative algorithm. While the graphs are small (the largest has 15 vertices and 21 edges), a computer-free approach remains elusive.

cs.DM↗

arXiv2017

Quantum and non-signalling graph isomorphisms

We introduce a two-player nonlocal game, called the $(G,H)$-isomorphism game, where classical players can win with certainty if and only if the graphs $G$ and $H$ are isomorphic. We then define the notions of quantum and non-signalling isomorphism, by considering perfect quantum and non-signalling strategies for the $(G,H)$-isomorphism game, respectively. In the quantum case, we consider both the tensor product and commuting frameworks for nonlocal games. We prove that non-signalling isomorphism coincides with the well-studied notion of fractional isomorphism, thus giving the latter an operational interpretation. Second, we show that, in the tensor product framework, quantum isomorphism is equivalent to the feasibility of two polynomial systems in non-commuting variables, obtained by relaxing the standard integer programming formulations for graph isomorphism to Hermitian variables. On the basis of this correspondence, we show that quantum isomorphic graphs are necessarily cospectral. Finally, we provide a construction for reducing linear binary constraint system games to isomorphism games. This allows us to produce quantum isomorphic graphs that are nevertheless not isomorphic. Furthermore, it allows us to show that our two notions of quantum isomorphism, from the tensor product and commuting frameworks, are in fact distinct relations, and that the latter is undecidable. Our construction is related to the FGLSS reduction from inapproximability literature, as well as the CFI construction.

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arXiv2017

A note on counting flows in signed graphs

Tutte initiated the study of nowhere-zero flows and proved the following fundamental theorem: For every graph $G$ there is a polynomial $f$ so that for every abelian group $Γ$ of order $n$, the number of nowhere-zero $Γ$-flows in $G$ is $f(n)$. For signed graphs (which have bidirected orientations), the situation is more subtle. For a finite group $Γ$, let $ε_2(Γ)$ be the largest integer $d$ so that $Γ$ has a subgroup isomorphic to $\mathbb{Z}_2^d$. We prove that for every signed graph $G$ and $d \ge 0$ there is a polynomial $f_d$ so that $f_d(n)$ is the number of nowhere-zero $Γ$-flows in $G$ for every abelian group $Γ$ with $ε_2(Γ) = d$ and $|Γ| = 2^d n$. Beck and Zaslavsky had previously established the special case of this result when $d=0$ (i.e., when $Γ$ has odd order).

math.CO↗

arXiv2017

Linear Bound for Majority Colourings of Digraphs

Given $η\in [0, 1]$, a colouring $C$ of $V(G)$ is an $η$-majority colouring if at most $ηd^+(v)$ out-neighbours of $v$ have colour $C(v)$, for any $v \in V(G)$. We show that every digraph $G$ equipped with an assignment of lists $L$, each of size at least $k$, has a $2/k$-majority $L$-colouring. For even $k$ this is best possible, while for odd $k$ the constant $2/k$ cannot be replaced by any number less than $2/(k+1)$. This generalizes a result of Anholcer, Bosek and Grytczuk, who proved the cases $k=3$ and $k=4$ and gave a weaker result for general $k$.

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arXiv2015

A new proof of Seymour's 6-flow theorem

Tutte's famous 5-flow conjecture asserts that every bridgeless graph has a nowhere-zero 5-flow. Seymour proved that every such graph has a nowhere-zero 6-flow. Here we give (two versions of) a new proof of Seymour's Theorem. Both are roughly equal to Seymour's in terms of complexity, but they offer an alternative perspective which we hope will be of value.

math.CO↗

arXiv2015

Universal completability, least eigenvalue frameworks, and vector colorings

An embedding $i \mapsto p_i\in \mathbb{R}^d$ of the vertices of a graph $G$ is called universally completable if the following holds: For any other embedding $i\mapsto q_i~\in \mathbb{R}^{k}$ satisfying $q_i^T q_j = p_i^T p_j$ for $i = j$ and $i$ adjacent to $j$, there exists an isometry mapping the $q_i$'s to the $p_i$'s for all $ i\in V(G)$. The notion of universal completability was introduced recently due to its relevance to the positive semidefinite matrix completion problem. In this work we focus on graph embeddings constructed using the eigenvectors of the least eigenvalue of the adjacency matrix of $G$, which we call least eigenvalue frameworks. We identify two necessary and sufficient conditions for such frameworks to be universally completable. Our conditions also allow us to give algorithms for determining whether a least eigenvalue framework is universally completable. Furthermore, our computations for Cayley graphs on $\mathbb{Z}_2^n \ (n \le 5)$ show that almost all of these graphs have universally completable least eigenvalue frameworks. In the second part of this work we study uniquely vector colorable (UVC) graphs, i.e., graphs for which the semidefinite program corresponding to the Lovász theta number (of the complementary graph) admits a unique optimal solution. We identify a sufficient condition for showing that a graph is UVC based on the universal completability of an associated framework. This allows us to prove that Kneser and $q$-Kneser graphs are UVC. Lastly, we show that least eigenvalue frameworks of 1-walk-regular graphs always provide optimal vector colorings and furthermore, we are able to characterize all optimal vector colorings of such graphs. In particular, we give a necessary and sufficient condition for a 1-walk-regular graph to be uniquely vector colorable.

math.CO↗

arXiv2015

Cubical coloring -- fractional covering by cuts and semidefinite programming

We introduce a new graph invariant that measures fractional covering of a graph by cuts. Besides being interesting in its own right, it is useful for study of homomorphisms and tension-continuous mappings. We study the relations with chromatic number, bipartite density, and other graph parameters. We find the value of our parameter for a family of graphs based on hypercubes. These graphs play for our parameter the role that circular cliques play for the circular chromatic number. The fact that the defined parameter attains on these graphs the `correct' value suggests that the definition is a natural one. In the proof we use the eigenvalue bound for maximum cut and a recent result of Engström, Färnqvist, Jonsson, and Thapper. We also provide a polynomial time approximation algorithm based on semidefinite programming and in particular on vector chromatic number (defined by Karger, Motwani and Sudan [Approximate graph coloring by semidefinite programming, J. ACM 45 (1998), no. 2, 246--265]).

math.CO↗

arXiv2013

Highly arc-transitive digraphs -- counterexamples and structure

We resolve two problems of [Cameron, Praeger, and Wormald -- Infinite highly arc transitive digraphs and universal covering digraphs, Combinatorica 1993]. First, we construct a locally finite highly arc-transitive digraph with universal reachability relation. Second, we provide constructions of 2-ended highly arc transitive digraphs where each `building block' is a finite bipartite graph that is not a disjoint union of complete bipartite graphs. This was conjectured impossible in the above paper. We also describe the structure of 2-ended highly arc transitive digraphs in more generality, although complete characterization remains elusive.

math.CO↗

arXiv2013

Flow-continuous mappings -- influence of the group

Many questions at the core of graph theory can be formulated as questions about certain group-valued flows: examples are the cycle double cover conjecture, Berge-Fulkerson conjecture, and Tutte's 3-flow, 4-flow, and 5-flow conjectures. As an approach to these problems Jaeger and DeVos, Nešetřil, and Raspaud define a notion of graph morphisms continuous with respect to group-valued flows. We discuss the influence of the group on these maps. In particular, we prove that the number of flow-continuous mappings between two graphs does not depend on the group, but only on the largest order of an element of the group (i.e., on the exponent of the group). Further, there is a nice algebraic structure describing for which groups a mapping is flow-continuous. On the combinatorial side, we show that for cubic graphs the only relevant groups are $\Z_2$, $\Z_3$, and $\Z$.

math.CO↗

arXiv2013

Sabidussi Versus Hedetniemi for Three Variations of the Chromatic Number

We investigate vector chromatic number, Lovasz theta of the complement, and quantum chromatic number from the perspective of graph homomorphisms. We prove an analog of Sabidussi's theorem for each of these parameters, i.e. that for each of the parameters, the value on the Cartesian product of graphs is equal to the maximum of the values on the factors. We also prove an analog of Hedetniemi's conjecture for Lovasz theta of the complement, i.e. that its value on the categorical product of graphs is equal to the minimum of its values on the factors. We conjecture that the analogous results hold for vector and quantum chromatic number, and we prove that this is the case for some special classes of graphs.

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