Related papers: An 8-flow theorem for signed graphs

We investigate multidimensional nowhere-zero flows of bridgeless graphs. By extending the established use of the Euclidean norm, this paper considers the Manhattan and Chebyshev norms, leading to the definition of the flow numbers…

Let $\Gamma$ be a multigraph with for each vertex a cyclic order of the edges incident with it. For $n \geq 3$, let $D_{2n}$ be the dihedral group of order $2n$. Define $\mathbb{D} := \{(\begin{smallmatrix} 1 & a \\ 0 & 1 \end{smallmatrix})…

Tutte initiated the study of nowhere-zero flows and proved the following fundamental theorem: For every graph $G$ there is a polynomial $f$ so that for every abelian group $\Gamma$ of order $n$, the number of nowhere-zero $\Gamma$-flows in…

In 1954, Tutte conjectured that every bridgeless graph has a nowhere-zero 5-flow. Let $\omega$ be the minimum number of odd cycles in a 2-factor of a bridgeless cubic graph. Tutte's conjecture is equivalent to its restriction to cubic…

Let $G$ be a bridgeless cubic graph, and $\mu_2(G)$ the minimum number $k$ such that two 1-factors of $G$ intersect in $k$ edges. A cyclically $n$-edge-connected cubic graph $G$ has a nowhere-zero 5-flow if (1) $n \geq 6$ and $\mu_2(G) \leq…

In this paper we study the flow-property of graphs containing a spanning triangle-tree. Our main results provide a structure characterization of graphs with a spanning triangle-tree admitting a nowhere-zero $3$-flow. All these graphs…

For integers $a\ge 2b>0$, a \emph{circular $a/b$-flow} is a flow that takes values from $\{\pm b, \pm(b+1), \dots, \pm(a-b)\}$. The Planar Circular Flow Conjecture states that every $2k$-edge-connected planar graph admits a circular…

In this article we introduce the flow polynomial of a digraph and use it to study nowhere-zero flows from a commutative algebraic perspective. Using Hilbert's Nullstellensatz, we establish a relation between nowhere-zero flows and dual…

A $3$-dimensional nowhere-zero flow on a graph $G$ is a flow where each edge is assigned a $3$-dimensional vector with unit norm (which corresponds to the points of a $2$-dimensional unit sphere $S^2$). K. Jain posed two conjectures related…

A signed circuit is a minimal signed graph (with respect to inclusion) that admits a nowhere-zero flow. We show that each flow-admissible signed graph on $m$ edges can be covered by signed circuits of total length at most $(3+2/3)\cdot m$,…

A bridgeless graph $G$ is called $3$-flow-critical if it does not admit a nowhere-zero $3$-flow, but $G/e$ has for any $e\in E(G)$. Tutte's $3$-flow conjecture can be equivalently stated as that every $3$-flow-critical graph contains a…

We verify Tutte's $3$-flow conjecture in the class of Cayley graphs on solvable groups of order $2n$, where $n$ is square-free. The proof relies on a new necessary and sufficient condition for a simple $5$-valent graph to admit a…

We generalise to signed graphs a classical result of Tutte [Canad. J. Math. 8 (1956), 13--28] stating that every integer flow can be expressed as a sum of characteristic flows of circuits. In our generalisation, the r\^ole of circuits is…

For an abelian group $\Gamma$, a graph $G$ is said to be $\Gamma$-flow-critical if $G$ does not admit a nowhere-zero $\Gamma$-flow, but for each edge $e\in E(G)$, the contraction $G/e$ has a nowhere-zero $\Gamma$-flow. A bound on the…

Let $r \geq 2$ be a real number. A complex nowhere-zero $r$-flow on a graph $G$ is an orientation of $G$ together with an assignment $\varphi\colon E(G)\to \mathbb{C}$ such that, for all $e \in E(G)$, the modulus of the complex number…

We study $2$-dimensional unit vector flows on graphs, that is, nowhere-zero flows that assign to each oriented edge a unit vector in $\mathbb R^{3}$. We give a new geometric characterization of $\mathbb S^{2}$-flows on cubic graphs. We also…

Tutte conjectured in 1972 that every 4-edge connected graph has a nowhere-zero 3-flow. This has long been known to be equivalent to the conjecture that every 5-regular 4-edge-connected graph has an edge orientation in which every out-degree…

A connected graph G is 3-flow-critical if G does not have a nowhere-zero 3-flow, but every proper contraction of G does. We prove that every n-vertex 3-flow-critical graph other than K_2 and K_4 has at least 5n/3 edges. This bound is tight…

An (r,alpha)-bounded excess flow ((r,alpha)-flow) in an orientation of a graph G=(V,E) is an assignment of a real "flow value" between 1 and r-1 to every edge. Rather than 0 as in an actual flow, some flow excess, which does not exceed…

We consider cell colorings of drawings of graphs in the plane. Given a multi-graph $G$ together with a drawing $\Gamma(G)$ in the plane with only finitely many crossings, we define a cell $k$-coloring of $\Gamma(G)$ to be a coloring of the…