Related papers: Nerves, minors, and piercing numbers

A graph $G$ is called universal for a family of graphs $\mathcal{F}$ if it contains every element $F \in \mathcal{F}$ as a subgraph. Let $\mathcal{F}(n,2)$ be the family of all graphs with maximum degree $2$. Ferber, Kronenberg, and Luh…

A partially embedded graph (or PEG) is a triple (G,H,\H), where G is a graph, H is a subgraph of G, and \H is a planar embedding of H. We say that a PEG (G,H,\H) is planar if the graph G has a planar embedding that extends the embedding \H.…

A graph is an apex graph if it contains a vertex whose deletion leaves a planar graph. The family of apex graphs is minor-closed and so it is characterized by a finite list of minor-minimal non-members. The long-standing problem of…

Let $G$ be a connected graph on $n$ vertices and at most $n(1+\epsilon)$ edges with bounded maximum degree, and $F$ a graph on $n$ vertices with minimum degree at least $n-k$, where $\epsilon$ is a constant depending on $k$. In this paper,…

It has been conjectured that if a finite graph has a vertex coloring such that the union of any two color classes induces a connected graph, then for every set $T$ of vertices containing exactly one member from each color class there exists…

A graph $G$ is perfectly divisible if every induced subgraph $H$ of $G$ contains a set $X$ of vertices such that $X$ meets all largest cliques of $H$, and $X$ induces a perfect graph. The chromatic number of a perfectly divisible graph $G$…

A family $\mathcal{F}$ of sets satisfies the $(p,q)$-property if among every $p$ members of $\mathcal{F}$, some $q$ can be pierced by a single point. The celebrated $(p,q)$-theorem of Alon and Kleitman asserts that for any $p \geq q \geq…

Let $S$ be a set of $n$ points in the plane in general position. Two line segments connecting pairs of points of $S$ cross if they have an interior point in common. Two vertex disjoint geometric graphs with vertices in $S$ cross if there…

Given a graph G, of arbitrary size and unbounded vertex degree, denote by |G| the one-complex associated with $G$. The topological space |G| is n-arc connected (n-ac) if every set of no more than n points of |G| are contained in an arc (a…

It is shown that if T is a connected nontrivial graph and X is an arbitrary finite simplicial complex, then there is a graph G such that the complex Hom(T,G) is homotopy equivalent to X. The proof is constructive, and uses a nerve lemma.…

We establish the following splitter theorem for graphs and its generalization for matroids: Let $G$ and $H$ be $3$-connected simple graphs such that $G$ has an $H$-minor and $k:=|V(G)|-|V(H)|\ge 2$. Let $n:=\left\lceil k/2\right\rceil+1$.…

A graph H is a vertex-minor of a graph G if it can be reached from G by the successive application of local complementations and vertex deletions. Vertex-minors have been the subject of intense study in graph theory over the last decades…

The language of graph theory, or network science, has proven to be an exceptional tool for addressing myriad problems in neuroscience. Yet, the use of networks is predicated on a critical simplifying assumption: that the quintessential unit…

Let $\mathcal{F}$ be a family of graphs, and let $p,r$ be nonnegative integers. The \textsc{$(p,r,\mathcal{F})$-Covering} problem asks whether for a graph $G$ and an integer $k$, there exists a set $D$ of at most $k$ vertices in $G$ such…

A $k$-graph $\mathcal{G}$ is asymmetric if there does not exist an automorphism on $\mathcal{G}$ other than the identity, and $\mathcal{G}$ is called minimal asymmetric if it is asymmetric but every non-trivial induced sub-hypergraph of…

A fundamental theorem of Wilson states that, for every graph $F$, every sufficiently large $F$-divisible clique has an $F$-decomposition. Here a graph $G$ is $F$-divisible if $e(F)$ divides $e(G)$ and the greatest common divisor of the…

Resolving a problem raised by Norin, we show that for each $k \in \mathbb{N}$, there exists an $f(k) \le 7k$ such that every graph $G$ with chromatic number at least $f(k)+1$ contains a subgraph $H$ with both connectivity and chromatic…

Let $k$ and $n$ be integers such that $1\leq k \leq n-1$, and let $G$ be a simple graph of order $n$. The $k$-token graph $F_k(G)$ of $G$ is the graph whose vertices are the $k$-subsets of $V(G)$, where two vertices are adjacent in $F_k(G)$…

We adapt the classical 3-decomposition of any 2-connected graph to the case of simple graphs (no loops or multiple edges). By analogy with the block-cutpoint tree of a connected graph, we deduce from this decomposition a bicolored tree…

A vertex whose removal in a graph $G$ increases the number of components of $G$ is called a cut vertex. For all $n,c$, we determine the maximum number of connected induced subgraphs in a connected graph with order $n$ and $c$ cut vertices,…