Related papers: A formal proof of the four color theorem
Square coloring is a variant of graph coloring where vertices within distance two must receive different colors. When considering planar graphs, the most famous conjecture (Wegner, 1977) states that $\frac32\Delta+1$ colors are sufficient…
In 1972, Mader showed that every graph without a 3-connected subgraph is 4-degenerate and thus 5-colorable}. We show that the number 5 of colors can be replaced by 4, which is best possible.
A graph $G$ is $k$-{\em critical} if it has chromatic number $k$, but every proper subgraph of $G$ is $(k-1)$--colorable. Let $f_k(n)$ denote the minimum number of edges in an $n$-vertex $k$-critical graph. In a very recent paper, we gave a…
The precoloring problem of a graph involves assigning colors to some vertices beforehand, and the objective is to determine whether it can be extended to a proper k-coloring of the entire graph. In 1958, Grotzsch proved that every…
A {\it proper conflict-free $c$-coloring} of a graph is a proper $c$-coloring such that each non-isolated vertex has a color appearing exactly once on its neighborhood. This notion was formally introduced by Fabrici et al., who proved that…
Over 50 years ago, Lov\'{a}sz proved that two graphs are isomorphic if and only if they admit the same number of homomorphisms from any graph [Acta Math. Hungar. 18 (1967), pp. 321--328]. In this work we prove that two graphs are quantum…
We show that any planar graph $G=(V,E)$ has a 5-coloring such that one color class contains at most $|V|/6$ vertices. In other words, there exists a partition of $V$ into five independent sets $\{V_1, \cdots, V_5\}$ such that $|V_5| \leq…
We prove that every cyclically 4-edge-connected cubic graph that can be embedded in the torus, with the exceptional graph class called "Petersen-like", is 3-edge-colorable. This means every (non-trivial) toroidal snark can be obtained from…
We exhibit infinite families of planar graphs with real chromatic roots arbitrarily close to 4, thus resolving a long-standing conjecture in the affirmative.
Given a graph $G=(V,E)$ whose vertices have been properly coloured, we say that a path in $G$ is "colourful" if no two vertices in the path have the same colour. It is a corollary of the Gallai-Roy-Vitaver Theorem that every properly…
In this paper, we show that every $(2P_2,K_4)$-free graph is 4-colorable. The bound is attained by the five-wheel and the complement of the seven-cycle. This answers an open question by Wagon \cite{Wa80} in the 1980s. Our result can also be…
A \emph{unichord} in a graph is an edge that is the unique chord of a cycle. A \emph{square} is an induced cycle on four vertices. A graph is \emph{unichord-free} if none of its edges is a unichord. We give a slight restatement of a known…
An {\it odd $c$-coloring} of a graph is a proper $c$-coloring such that each non-isolated vertex has a color appearing an odd number of times on its neighborhood. This concept was introduced very recently by Petru\v sevski and \v Skrekovski…
One method to obtain a proper vertex coloring of graphs using a reasonable number of colors is to start from any arbitrary proper coloring and then repeat some local re-coloring techniques to reduce the number of color classes. The Grundy…
Hadwiger's Conjecture states that every graph with chromatic number $k$ contains a complete graph on $k$ vertices as a minor. This conjecture is a tremendous strengthening of the Four-Colour Theorem and is regarded as one of the most…
A signed bipartite (simple) graph $(G, \sigma)$ is said to be $C_{-4}$-critical if it admits no homomorphism to $C_{-4}$ (a negative 4-cycle) but every proper subgraph of it does. In this work, first of all we show that the notion of…
Barnette identified two interesting classes of cubic polyhedral graphs for which he conjectured the existence of a Hamiltonian cycle. Goodey proved the conjecture for the intersection of the two classes. We examine these classes from the…
In 1985, Erd\H{o}s and Ne\'{s}etril conjectured that the strong edge-coloring number of a graph is bounded above by ${5/4}\Delta^2$ when $\Delta$ is even and ${1/4}(5\Delta^2-2\Delta+1)$ when $\Delta$ is odd. They gave a simple construction…
This work is the PhD thesis of Nicolas Trotignon, written in 2004 under the supervision of Fr\'ed\'eric Maffray. It is motivated by the desire for a better understanding of perfect graphs. The proof of the Claude Berge's perfect graph…
A proper $k$-coloring of $G$ is called an odd coloring of $G$ if for every vertex $v$, there is a color that appears at an odd number of neighbors of $v$. This concept was introduced recently by Petru\v{s}evski and \v{S}krekovski, and they…