English

Vertex-Based Localization of Erd\H{o}s-Gallai Theorems for Paths and Cycles

Combinatorics 2025-05-08 v2 Discrete Mathematics

Abstract

For a simple graph GG, let nn and mm denote the number of vertices and edges in GG, respectively. The Erd\H{o}s-Gallai theorem for paths states that in a simple PkP_k-free graph, mn(k1)2m \leq \frac{n(k-1)}{2}, where PkP_k denotes a path with length kk (that is, with kk edges). In this paper, we generalize this result as follows: For each vV(G)v \in V(G), let p(v)p(v) be the length of the longest path that contains vv. We show that mvV(G)p(v)2m \leq \sum_{v \in V(G)} \frac{p(v)}{2} The Erd\H{o}s-Gallai theorem for cycles states that in a simple graph GG with circumference (that is, the length of the longest cycle) at most kk, we have mk(n1)2m \leq \frac{k(n-1)}{2}. We strengthen this result as follows: For each vV(G)v \in V(G), let c(v)c(v) be the length of the longest cycle that contains vv, or 22 if vv is not part of any cycle. We prove that m(vV(G)c(v)2)c(u)2m \leq \left( \sum_{v \in V(G)} \frac{c(v)}{2} \right) - \frac{c(u)}{2} where c(u)c(u) denotes the circumference of GG. \newline Furthermore, we characterize the class of extremal graphs that attain equality in these bounds.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2504.01501,
  title  = {Vertex-Based Localization of Erd\H{o}s-Gallai Theorems for Paths and Cycles},
  author = {Rajat Adak and L. Sunil Chandran},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2504.01501},
  year   = {2025}
}