arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Thomas Zaslavsky.
Signed graphs have their edges labeled either as positive or negative. Here we introduce two types of signed distance matrix for signed graphs. We characterize balance in signed graphs using these matrices and we obtain explicit formulae for the distance spectrum of some unbalanced signed graphs. We also introduce the notion of distance-compatible signed graphs and partially characterize it.
Parts I-IV showed that the number of ways to place $q$ nonattacking queens or similar chess pieces on an $n\times n$ chessboard is a quasipolynomial function of $n$ whose coefficients are essentially polynomials in $q$. For partial queens, which have a subset of the queen's moves, we proved complete formulas for these counting quasipolynomials for small numbers of pieces and other formulas for high-order coefficients of the general counting quasipolynomials. We found some upper and lower bounds for the periods of those quasipolynomials by calculating explicit denominators of vertices of the inside-out polytope. Here we discover more about the counting quasipolynomials for partial queens, both familiar and strange, and the nightrider and its subpieces, and we compare our results to the empirical formulas found by Kotěšovec. We prove some of Kotěšovec's formulas and conjectures about the quasipolynomials and their high-order coefficients, and in some instances go beyond them.
A signed graph is a graph together with an assignment of signs to the edges. A closed walk in a signed graph is said to be positive (negative) if it has an even (odd) number of negative edges, counting repetition. Recognizing the signs of closed walks as one of the key structural properties of a signed graph, we define a homomorphism of a signed graph $(G,σ)$ to a signed graph $(H, π)$ to be a mapping of vertices and edges of $G$ to (respectively) vertices and edges of $H$ which preserves incidence, adjacency and the signs of closed walks. In this work we first give a characterization of the sets of closed walks in a graph $G$ that correspond to the set of negative walks in some signed graph on $G$. We also give an easy algorithm for the corresponding decision problem. After verifying the equivalence between this definition and earlier ones, we discuss the relation between homomorphisms of signed graphs and those of 2-edge-colored graphs. Next we provide some basic no-homomorphism lemmas. These lemmas lead to a general method of defining chromatic number which is discussed at length. Finally, we list a few problems that are the driving force behind the study of homomorphisms of signed graphs.
On a convex polygonal chessboard, the number of combinatorial types of nonattacking configuration of three identical chess riders with $r$ moves, such as queens, bishops, or nightriders, equals $r(r^2+3r-1)/3$, as conjectured by Chaiken, Hanusa, and Zaslavsky (2019). Similarly, for any number of identical 3-move riders the number of combinatorial types is independent of the actual moves.
In this article, we focus on the characteristic polynomial of a graph containingloops, but without multiple edges. We present a relationship between thecharacteristic polynomial of a graph with loops and the graph obtained byremoving all the loops. In turn, we compute the characteristic polynomial ofunitary addition Cayley graphs.
In a bidirected graph an edge has a direction at each end, so bidirected graphs generalize directed graphs. We generalize the definitions of transitive closure and transitive reduction from directed graphs to bidirected graphs by introducing new notions of bipath and bicircuit that generalize directed paths and cycles. We show how transitive reduction is related to transitive closure and to the matroids of the signed graph corresponding to the bidirected graph.
A biased graph is a graph with a class of selected circles ("cycles", "circuits"), called balanced, such that no theta subgraph contains exactly two balanced circles. A biased graph $Ω$ has two natural matroids, the frame matroid $G(Ω)$, and the lift matroid $L(Ω)$, and their extensions the full frame matroid $G^{{}^{{}_{{}_\bullet}}\!}(Ω)$ and the extended (or complete) lift matroid $L_0(Ω)$. In Part IV we used algebra to study the representations of these matroids by vectors over a skew field and the corresponding embeddings in Desarguesian projective spaces. Here we redevelop those representations, independently of Part IV and in greater generality, by using synthetic geometry.
The number of ways to place $q$ nonattacking queens, bishops, or similar chess pieces on an $n\times n$ square chessboard is essentially a quasipolynomial function of $n$ (by Part I of this series). The period of the quasipolynomial is difficult to settle. Here we prove that the empirically observed period 2 for three to ten bishops is the exact period for every number of bishops greater than 2. The proof depends on signed graphs and the Ehrhart theory of inside-out polytopes.
We apply our geometrical theory for counting placements of $q$ nonattacking on an $n\times n$ chessboard, from Parts~I and II, to partial queens: that is, chess pieces with any combination of horizontal, vertical, and $45^\circ$-diagonal moves. Parts~I and II showed that for any rider (a piece with moves of unlimited length) the answer will be a quasipolynomial function of $n$ in which the coefficients are essentially polynomials in $q$. Those general results gave the three highest-order coefficients of the counting quasipolynomial and formulas for counting placements of two nonattacking pieces and the combinatorially distinct types of such placements. By contrast, the unified framework we present here for partial queens allows us to explicitly compute the four highest-order coefficients of the counting quasipolynomial, show that the five highest-order coefficients are constant (independent of $n$), and find the period of the next coefficient (which depends upon the exact set of moves). Furthermore, for three nonattacking partial queens we are able to prove formulas for the total number of nonattacking placements and for the number of their combinatorially distinct types. The method of proof, as in the previous parts, is by detailed analysis of the lattice of subspaces of an inside-out polytope.
In Parts I-III we showed that the number of ways to place $q$ nonattacking queens or similar chess pieces on an $n\times n$ chessboard is a quasipolynomial function of $n$ whose coefficients are essentially polynomials in $q$. In this part we focus on the periods of those quasipolynomials. We calculate denominators of vertices of the inside-out polytope, since the period is bounded by, and conjecturally equal to, their least common denominator. We find an exact formula for that denominator of every piece with one move and of two-move pieces having a horizontal move. For pieces with three or more moves, we produce geometrical constructions related to the Fibonacci numbers that show the denominator grows at least exponentially with $q$.
A signed graph is a graph whose edges are labelled positive or negative. The sign of a circle (cycle, circuit) is the product of the signs of its edges. Most of the essential properties of a signed graph depend on the signs of its circles. Here I describe several questions regarding negative circles and their cousins the positive circles. Topics include incidence between signed circles and edges or vertices, characterizing signed graphs with special circle properties, counting negative circles, signed-circle packing and covering, signed circles and eigenvalues, and directed cycles in signed digraphs. A few of the questions come with answers.
In a signed graph each edge has a sign, $+1$ or $-1$. We introduce in the present paper a new definition of connection in a signed graph by the existence of both positive and negative chains between vertices. We prove some results and properties of this definition, such as sign components, sign articulation vertices, and sign isthmi, and we compare them to corresponding graph and signed-graphic matroid properties. We apply our results to signed graphs without positive cycles. For signed graphs in which every edge is negative our properties become parity properties.
A biased graph is a graph with a class of selected circles ("cycles", "circuits"), called "balanced", such that no theta subgraph contains exactly two balanced circles. A biased graph has two natural matroids, the frame matroid and the lift matroid. A classical question in matroid theory is whether a matroid can be embedded in a projective geometry. There is no known general answer, but for matroids of biased graphs it is possible to give algebraic criteria. Zaslavsky has previously given such criteria for embeddability of biased-graphic matroids in Desarguesian projective spaces; in this paper we establish criteria for the remaining case, that is, embeddability in an arbitrary projective plane that is not necessarily Desarguesian. The criteria depend on the embeddability of a quasigroup associated to the graph into the additive or multiplicative loop of a ternary coordinate ring for the plane. A 3-node biased graph is equivalent to an abstract partial 3-net; thus, we have a new algebraic criterion for an abstract 3-net to be realized in a non-Desarguesian projective plane. We work in terms of a special kind of 3-node biased graph called a biased expansion of a triangle. Our results apply to all finite 3-node biased graphs because, as we prove, every such biased graph is a subgraph of a finite biased expansion of a triangle. A biased expansion of a triangle, in turn, is equivalent to an isostrophe class of quasigroups, which is equivalent to a $3$-net. Much is not known about embedding a quasigroup into a ternary ring, so we do not say our criteria are definitive. For instance, it is not even known whether there is a finite quasigroup that cannot be embedded in any finite ternary ring. If there is, then there is a finite rank-3 matroid (of the corresponding biased expansion) that cannot be embedded in any finite projective plane---a presently unsolved problem.
A "signed graph" is a graph $Γ$ where the edges are assigned sign labels, either "$+$" or "$-$". The sign of a cycle is the product of the signs of its edges. Let $\mathrm{SpecC}(Γ)$ denote the list of lengths of cycles in $Γ$. We equip each signed graph with a vector whose entries are the numbers of negative $k$-cycles for $k\in\mathrm{SpecC}(Γ)$. These vectors generate a subspace of $\mathbb R^{\mathrm{SpecC}(Γ)}$. Using matchings with a strong permutability property, we provide lower bounds on the dimension of this space; in particular, we show for complete graphs, complete bipartite graphs, and a few other graphs that this space is all of $\mathbb R^{\mathrm{SpecC}(Γ)}$.
It is well known that each nonnegative integral flow on a graph can be decomposed into a sum of nonnegative graphic circuit flows, which cannot be further decomposed into nonnegative integral sub-flows. This is equivalent to saying that the indecomposable flows on graphs are those graphic circuit flows. Turning from graphs to signed graphs, the indecomposable flows are much richer than those of unsigned graphs. This paper gives a complete description of indecomposable flows on signed graphs from the viewpoint of resolution of singularities by means of double covering graphs.
Mock threshold graphs are a simple generalization of threshold graphs that, like threshold graphs, are perfect graphs. Our main theorem is a characterization of mock threshold graphs by forbidden induced subgraphs. Other theorems characterize mock threshold graphs that are claw-free and that are line graphs. We also discuss relations with chordality and well-quasi-ordering as well as algorithmic aspects.
In descending generality I survey: five partial orderings of graphs, the induced-subgraph ordering, and examples like perfect, threshold, and mock threshold graphs. The emphasis is on how the induced subgraph ordering differs from other popular orderings and leads to different basic questions.
I propose that most problems about circles (cycles, circuits) in ordinary graphs that have odd or even length find their proper setting in the theory of signed graphs, where each edge has a sign, $+$ or $-$. Even-circle and odd-circle problems correspond to questions about positive and negative circles in signed graphs. (The sign of a circle is the product of its edge signs.) I outline questions about circles in signed graphs, that seem natural and potentially important.