English

3-Coloring $P_t$-Free Graphs With Only One Prescribed Induced Odd Cycle Length

Combinatorics 2025-12-09 v1

Abstract

A graph is PtP_t-free if it contains no induced subgraph isomorphic to a tt-vertex path. A graph is not bipartite if and only if it contains an induced subgraph isomorphic to a kk-vertex cycle, where kk is odd. We focus on the 3-coloring problem for PtP_t-free graphs that have only one prescribed induced odd cycle length. For any integer tt and any odd integer kk, let Gt,k\mathcal{G}_{t,k} be the class of graphs that are PtP_{t}-free and all their induced odd cycles must be CkC_k. In this paper, we present a polynomial-time algorithm that solves the 3-coloring problem for any graph in G10,7\mathcal{G}_{10,7}.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2512.06367,
  title  = {3-Coloring $P_t$-Free Graphs With Only One Prescribed Induced Odd Cycle Length},
  author = {Yidong Zhou and Mingxian Zhong and Shenwei Huang},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2512.06367},
  year   = {2025}
}