English

Divisible subdivisions of graphs in subdivisions of complete graphs

Combinatorics 2025-10-08 v1

Abstract

Let Zq\mathbb{Z}_q denote the cyclic group of order qq. A Zq\mathbb{Z}_q-edge-weighted KfK_f is the complete graph KfK_f equipped with a weight function ω:E(Kf)Zq\omega : E(K_f) \to \mathbb{Z}_q. A subdivision of a graph HH in a Zq\mathbb{Z}_q-edge-weighted KfK_f is called a qq-divisible subdivision of HH if every subdivision path has weight congruent to zero modulo qq. Let q2q\ge 2 be an integer and let HH be a graph with nn vertices and mm edges. Define sq(H)s_q(H) to be the smallest number ff such that every Zq\mathbb{Z}_q-edge-weighted KfK_{f} contains a qq-divisible subdivision of HH. Das, Dragani\'c, and Steiner raised the following question (Problem 4.1 in [Tight bounds for divisible subdivisions, J. Combin. Theory, Ser. B 165 (2024) 1-19]): Given qNq\in\mathbb{N} and a subcubic graph HH with nn vertices and mm edges, is it true sq(H)=m(q1)+ns_q(H)= m(q - 1) + n? They also established the upper bound sq(H)7mq+8n+14qs_q(H)\le 7mq+8n+14q for such a graph HH. In this paper, we improve this bound by showing that sq(H)(2q1)m+2n1+4qs_q(H)\le (2q - 1)m + 2n - 1 + 4q, and establishing a sharper bound sp(H)3p12mp12n+p+12s_p(H)\le \frac{3p - 1}{2}m - \frac{p - 1}{2}n + \frac{p + 1}{2} for prime pp and connected HH. We resolve this problem in the case q=2q=2 by proving that s2(H)=m+ns_2(H) = m + n for any 5-degenerate graph HH, and in the case q2q\ge 2 and TT being a tree, by showing that sq(T)=nqq+1s_q(T) = nq - q + 1. Let sq(H,t)s_q(H,t) be the minimum number ff such that every Zq\mathbb{Z}_q-edge-weighted KfK_f contains a qq-divisible tt-subdivision of HH, where a tt-subdivision of HH is a subdivision of HH such that each edge of HH is subdivided exactly tt times. We also prove that s2(H,1)=m+ns_2(H,1)= m + n, where HH is a tree or a cycle on nn vertices with mm edges.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2510.05697,
  title  = {Divisible subdivisions of graphs in subdivisions of complete graphs},
  author = {Xinmin Hou and Xiangyang Wang},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2510.05697},
  year   = {2025}
}

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28 pages