English

(4,2)-choosability of planar graphs with forbidden structures

Combinatorics 2017-07-11 v1

Abstract

All planar graphs are 4-colorable and 5-choosable, while some planar graphs are not 4-choosable. Determining which properties guarantee that a planar graph can be colored using lists of size four has received significant attention. In terms of constraining the structure of the graph, for any {3,4,5,6,7}\ell \in \{3,4,5,6,7\}, a planar graph is 4-choosable if it is \ell-cycle-free. In terms of constraining the list assignment, one refinement of kk-choosability is choosability with separation. A graph is (k,s)(k,s)-choosable if the graph is colorable from lists of size kk where adjacent vertices have at most ss common colors in their lists. Every planar graph is (4,1)(4,1)-choosable, but there exist planar graphs that are not (4,3)(4,3)-choosable. It is an open question whether planar graphs are always (4,2)(4,2)-choosable. A chorded \ell-cycle is an \ell-cycle with one additional edge. We demonstrate for each {5,6,7}\ell \in \{5,6,7\} that a planar graph is (4,2)(4,2)-choosable if it does not contain chorded \ell-cycles.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1512.03787,
  title  = {(4,2)-choosability of planar graphs with forbidden structures},
  author = {Zhanar Berikkyzy and Christopher Cox and Michael Dairyko and Kirsten Hogenson and Mohit Kumbhat and Bernard Lidický and Kacy Messerschmidt and Kevin Moss and Kathleen Nowak and Kevin F. Palmowski and Derrick Stolee},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1512.03787},
  year   = {2017}
}

Comments

33 pages, 14 figures. Collaboration began in the Iowa State University Discrete Mathematics Working Seminar 2014-2015

R2 v1 2026-06-22T12:07:43.510Z