Related papers: Obstructions for three-coloring graphs without ind…

A graph is $H$-free if it has no induced subgraph isomorphic to $H$. We characterize all graphs $H$ for which there are only finitely many minimal non-three-colorable $H$-free graphs. Such a characterization was previously known only in the…

In this paper, we are interested in $4$-colouring algorithms for graphs that do not contain an induced path on $6$ vertices nor an induced bull, i.e., the graph with vertex set $\{v_1,v_2,v_3,v_4,v_5\}$ and edge set…

We describe an algorithm for generating all $k$-critical $\mathcal H$-free graphs, based on a method of Ho\`{a}ng et al. Using this algorithm, we prove that there are only finitely many $4$-critical $(P_7,C_k)$-free graphs, for both $k=4$…

A graph $G$ is $k$-vertex-critical if $\chi(G)=k$, but $\chi(G')<k$ for every proper induced subgraph $G'$ of $G$. For a family of graphs $\mathcal{F}$, $G$ is $\mathcal{F}$-free if no graph $F \in \mathcal{F}$ is an induced subgraph of…

A graph is $k$-critical if it is $k$-chromatic but each of its proper induced subgraphs is ($k-1$)-colorable. It is known that the number of $4$-critical $P_5$-free graphs is finite, but there is an infinite number of $k$-critical…

We show that every ($P_6$, diamond, $K_4$)-free graph is $6$-colorable. Moreover, we give an example of a ($P_6$, diamond, $K_4$)-free graph $G$ with $\chi(G) = 6$. This generalizes some known results in the literature.

We show that the 4-coloring problem can be solved in polynomial time for graphs with no induced 5-cycle $C_5$ and no induced 6-vertex path $P_6$.

The 3-coloring of hereditary graph classes has been a deeply-researched problem in the last decade. A hereditary graph class is characterized by a (possibly infinite) list of minimal forbidden induced subgraphs $H_1,H_2,\ldots$; the graphs…

In this paper, we prove that the class of graphs with no triangle and no induced cycle of even length at least 6 has bounded chromatic number. It is well-known that even-hole-free graphs are $\chi$-bounded but we allow here the existence of…

The diamond is the graph obtained by removing an edge from the complete graph on 4 vertices. A graph is ($P_6$, diamond)-free if it contains no induced subgraph isomorphic to a six-vertex path or a diamond. In this paper we show that the…

A graph is $H$-free if it does not contain an induced subgraph isomorphic to $H$. We denote by $P_k$ and $C_k$ the path and the cycle on $k$ vertices, respectively. In this paper, we prove that 4-COLORING is NP-complete for $P_7$-free…

Given two graphs $H_1$ and $H_2$, a graph $G$ is $(H_1,H_2)$-free if it contains no induced subgraph isomorphic to $H_1$ or $H_2$. A $P_t$ is the path on $t$ vertices. A chair is a $P_4$ with an additional vertex adjacent to one of the…

We provide a certifying algorithm for the problem of deciding whether a P5- free graph is 3-colorable by showing there are exactly six finite graphs that are P5-free and not 3-colorable and minimal with respect to this property.

For $k \geq 3$, we prove (i) there is a finite number of $k$-vertex-critical $(P_2+\ell P_1)$-free graphs and (ii) $k$-vertex-critical $(P_3+P_1)$-free graphs have at most $2k-1$ vertices. Together with previous research, these results…

Given two graphs $H_1$ and $H_2$, a graph is $(H_1,H_2)$-free if it contains no induced subgraph isomorphic to $H_1$ or $H_2$. Let $P_t$ and $C_t$ be the path and the cycle on $t$ vertices, respectively. A bull is the graph obtained from a…

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…

This is the first paper in a series whose goal is to give a polynomial time algorithm for the $4$-coloring problem and the $4$-precoloring extension problem restricted to the class of graphs with no induced six-vertex path, thus proving a…

We present a polynomial-time algorithm that determines whether a graph that contains no induced path on six vertices and no bull (the graph with vertices a, b, c, d, e and edges ab, bc, cd, be, ce) is 4-colorable. We also show that for any…

We present an algorithm to color a graph $G$ with no triangle and no induced $7$-vertex path (i.e., a $\{P_7,C_3\}$-free graph), where every vertex is assigned a list of possible colors which is a subset of $\{1,2,3\}$. While this is a…

Given two graphs $H_1$ and $H_2$, a graph $G$ is $(H_1,H_2)$-free if it contains no induced subgraph isomorphic to $H_1$ or $H_2$. Let $P_t$ be the path on $t$ vertices. A graph $G$ is $k$-vertex-critical if $G$ has chromatic number $k$ but…