English

The minimum number of maximal independent sets in graphs with given order and independence number

Combinatorics 2024-10-24 v1

Abstract

Let MIS(G)MIS(G) be the set of all maximal independent sets in a graph GG, and let mis(G)=MIS(G)mis(G)=|MIS(G)|. In this paper, we show that for any tree TT with nn vertices and independence number α\alpha, mis(T)f(nα),mis(T)\geq f(n-\alpha), and for any unicyclic graph GG with nn vertices and independence number α\alpha, \begin{align*} mis(G)\geq \begin{cases} 2, & \text{if} \ n=4\ \text{and}\ \alpha=2, 3, & \text{if} \; \alpha=n-2 \; \text{and} \; n\neq4, 2f(n-\alpha), & \text{if} \; n\geq 5\; \text{and}\; \lceil \frac{n}{2} \rceil \leq \alpha < n-2, f(n-\alpha+2)-f(n-\alpha-3), &\text{if} \; n\geq 5, \;\text{and}\ n \; \text{is odd}, \; \text{and} \; \alpha = \lfloor \frac{n}{2} \rfloor, \end{cases} \end{align*} where f(n)f(n) represent the nnth Fibonacci number. Moreover, we also show that the above inequalities are sharp.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2410.17717,
  title  = {The minimum number of maximal independent sets in graphs with given order and independence number},
  author = {Yuting Tian and Jianhua Tu},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2410.17717},
  year   = {2024}
}