English

The feasibility problem for line graphs

Combinatorics 2022-05-20 v2

Abstract

We consider the following feasibility problem: given an integer n1n \geq 1 and an integer mm such that 0m(n2)0 \leq m \leq \binom{n}{2}, does there exist a line graph L=L(G)L = L(G) with exactly nn vertices and mm edges ? We say that a pair (n,m)(n,m) is non-feasible if there exists no line graph L(G)L(G) on nn vertices and mm edges, otherwise we say (n,m)(n,m) is a feasible pair. Our main result shows that for fixed n5n\geq 5, the values of mm for which (n,m)(n, m) is a non-feasible pair, form disjoint blocks of consecutive integers which we completely determine. On the other hand we prove, among other things, that for the more general family of claw-free graphs (with no induced K1,3K_{1,3}-free subgraph), all (n,m)(n,m)-pairs in the range 0m(n2)0 \leq m \leq \binom{n}{2} are feasible pairs.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2107.13806,
  title  = {The feasibility problem for line graphs},
  author = {Yair Caro and Josef Lauri and Christina Zarb},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2107.13806},
  year   = {2022}
}
R2 v1 2026-06-24T04:37:58.037Z