English

Injective (edge) colorings of generalized Sierpi\'{n}ski graphs

Combinatorics 2026-04-23 v2

Abstract

Generalized Sierpi\'{n}ski graphs constitute a distinctive class of fractal-like networks with recursive definition: given a graph GG, SG1=GS_G^1=G while SGnS_G^n is obtained from V(G)|V(G)| copies of SGn1S_G^{n-1} by adding some edges in a prescribed way that reflects the structure of GG. Many graph invariants have been studied in generalized Sierpi\'{n}ski graphs. In this paper, we focus on their injective colorings, both the vertex and the edge version. Given a graph GG, a mapping ff that assigns an integer from {1,,k}\{1,\ldots,k\} to each vertex (resp.\ edge) of GG is an injective (edge) coloring of GG if f(x)=f(y)f(x)=f(y) implies that xx and yy are not in a common triangle nor at distance 22 for any two vertices (resp.\ edges) xx and yy in GG. The minimum number of colors kk for which there exists an injective (edge) coloring of GG is called the injective chromatic number (resp.\ injective chromatic index) of GG and is denoted by χi(G)\chi_i(G) (resp.\ χi(G)\chi_i'(G)). The vertex version of injective colorings in generalized Sierpi\'{n}ski graphs was studied in an earlier paper, where the authors determined the injective chromatic numbers of standard Sierpi\'{n}ski graphs, and asked about the values when GG is a cycle. We resolve this question by proving that χi(SCkn)=3\chi_i(S_{C_k}^n)=3 for every n2n\ge 2 and every k3k\ge 3. Moreover, we prove an almost conclusive result that χi(SGn){χi(G),χi(G)+1}\chi_i(S_G^n)\in \{\chi_i(G),\chi_i(G)+1\} for any graph GG and any n2n\ge 2. For injective edge colorings we prove that χi(SK3n)=5\chi_i'(S_{K_3}^n)=5 for all n3n\ge 3, while χi(SK32)=4\chi_i'(S_{K_3}^2)=4 and χi(SK31)=3\chi_i'(S_{K_3}^1)=3. Furthermore, if GG is a triangle-free graph, we prove that χi(SGn){χi(SG3),χi(SG3)+1}\chi_i'(S_G^n)\in \{\chi_i'(S_G^3),\chi_i'(S_G^3)+1\} for all n4n\ge 4, and provide some sufficient conditions on an injective edge coloring of the 3-dimensional Sierpi\'{n}ski graph over GG, which ensure that χi(SGn)=χi(SG3)\chi_i'(S_G^n)=\chi_i'(S_G^3).

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2508.14479,
  title  = {Injective (edge) colorings of generalized Sierpi\'{n}ski graphs},
  author = {C. K. Bhanupriya and Boštjan Brešar},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2508.14479},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

17 pages, 10 figures