English

A note on hamiltonian cycles in $4$-tough $(P_2\cup kP_1)$-free graphs

Combinatorics 2022-02-15 v1

Abstract

Let t>0t>0 be a real number and GG be a graph. We say GG is tt-tough if for every cutset SS of GG, the ratio of S|S| to the number of components of GSG-S is at least tt. The Toughness Conjecture of Chv\'atal, stating that there exists a constant t0t_0 such that every t0t_0-tough graph with at least three vertices is hamiltonian, is still open in general. For any given integer k1k\ge 1, a graph GG is (P2kP1)(P_2\cup kP_1) free if GG does not contain the disjoint union of P2P_2 and kk isolated vertices as an induced subgraph. In this note, we show that every 4-tough and 2k2k-connected (P2kP1)(P_2\cup kP_1)-free graph with at least three vertices is hamiltonian. This result in some sense is an "extension" of the classical Chv\'{a}tal-Erd\H{o}s Theorem that every max{2,k}\max\{2,k\}-connected (k+1)P1(k+1)P_1-free graph on at least three vertices is hamiltonian.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2202.06192,
  title  = {A note on hamiltonian cycles in $4$-tough $(P_2\cup kP_1)$-free graphs},
  author = {Lingjuan Shi and Songling Shan},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2202.06192},
  year   = {2022}
}

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6 pages