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We show, without using the Four Color Theorem, that for each planar triangulation, the number of its proper vertex colorings by 4 colors is a determinant and thus can be calculated in a polynomial time. In particular, we can efficiently…

Combinatorics · Mathematics 2016-03-24 Martin Loebl

We say that a graph $H$ is planar unavoidable if there is a planar graph $G$ such that any red/blue coloring of the edges of $G$ contains a monochromatic copy of $H$, otherwise we say that $H$ is planar avoidable. I.e., $H$ is planar…

Combinatorics · Mathematics 2018-12-04 Maria Axenovich , Carsten Thomassen , Ursula Schade , Torsten Ueckerdt

A "dominating $K_t$-model" in a graph $G$ is a sequence $(T_1,\dots,T_t)$ of pairwise vertex-disjoint connected subgraphs of $G$, such that whenever $1\leq i<j\leq t$ every vertex in $T_j$ has a neighbour in $T_i$. Replacing "every vertex…

Our purpose is to show that complements of line graphs enjoy nice coloring properties. We show that for all graphs in this class the local and usual chromatic numbers are equal. We also prove a sufficient condition for the chromatic number…

Combinatorics · Mathematics 2020-04-07 Hamid Reza Daneshpajouh , Frédéric Meunier , Guilhem Mizrahi

There are many variations on partition functions for graph homomorphisms or colorings. The case considered here is a counting or hard constraint problem in which the range or color graph carries a free and vertex transitive Abelian group…

Combinatorics · Mathematics 2012-04-06 Eric Babson , Matthias Beck

This is the second paper in a series of two. The goal of the series 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…

Combinatorics · Mathematics 2018-02-09 Maria Chudnovsky , Sophie Spirkl , Mingxian Zhong

The well-known Steinberg's conjecture asserts that any planar graph without 4- and 5-cycles is 3 colorable. In this note we have given a short algorithmic proof of this conjecture based on the spiral chains of planar graphs proposed in the…

Combinatorics · Mathematics 2007-05-23 I. Cahit

Proper graph coloring assigns different colors to adjacent vertices of the graph. Usually, the number of colors is fixed or as small as possible. Consider applications (e.g. variants of scheduling) where colors represent limited resources…

Combinatorics · Mathematics 2019-09-10 Tomáš Masařík

A recent lower bound on the number of edges in a k-critical n-vertex graph by Kostochka and Yancey yields a half-page proof of the celebrated Gr\"otzsch Theorem that every planar triangle-free graph is 3-colorable. In this paper we use the…

Combinatorics · Mathematics 2016-12-16 Oleg V. Borodin , Alexandr V. Kostochka , Bernard Lidický , Matthew Yancey

This is the last part of three episodes to demonstrate a renewal approach for proving the Four Color Theorem without checking by a computer. The first and the second episodes have subtitles: ``RGB-tilings on maximal planar graphs'' and…

Combinatorics · Mathematics 2023-09-22 Shu-Chung Liu

No proof of the 4-color conjecture reveals why it is true; the goal has not been to go beyond proving the conjecture. The standard approach involves constructing an unavoidable finite set of reducible configurations to demonstrate that a…

General Mathematics · Mathematics 2016-09-06 James A. Tilley

We study an anti-Ramsey extension of the classical Corr\'{a}di--Hajnal Theorem: how many colors are needed to color the complete graph on $n$ vertices in order to guarantee a rainbow copy of $t K_{3}$, that is, $t$ vertex-disjoint…

Combinatorics · Mathematics 2025-10-07 Deng Jinghua , Hou Jianfeng , Hu caiyun , Liu xizhi

In the first partial result toward Steinberg's now-disproved three coloring conjecture, Abbott and Zhou used a counting argument to show that every planar graph without cycles of lengths 4 through 11 is 3-colorable. Implicit in their proof…

Combinatorics · Mathematics 2022-09-13 Zachary Hamaker , Vincent Vatter

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…

Combinatorics · Mathematics 2018-07-16 Maria Chudnovsky , Sophie Spirkl , Mingxian Zhong

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…

Combinatorics · Mathematics 2026-03-09 Xingchao Deng , Beiyan Zou , Hong Zhai

In RSST, they "replace the mammoth hand-checking of unavoidability that A&H required, by another mammoth hand-checkable proof " (page 18). Here, the proof of unavoidability is accomplished in a lengthy structured hand-checkable proof whose…

Combinatorics · Mathematics 2022-09-20 Frank Allaire

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…

Discrete Mathematics · Computer Science 2024-03-05 Manouchehr Zaker

We conjecture that every graph of minimum degree five with no separating triangles and drawn in the plane with one crossing is 4-colorable. In this paper, we use computer enumeration to show that this conjecture holds for all graphs with at…

Combinatorics · Mathematics 2025-04-15 Zdeněk Dvořák , Bernard Lidický , Bojan Mohar

Consider a graph whose vertices are colored in one of two colors, say black or white. A white vertex is called integrated if it has at least as many black neighbors as white neighbors, and similarly for a black vertex. The coloring as a…

Combinatorics · Mathematics 2025-06-10 Charles Burnette , Broden Caton , Olivia Coward , Julian Davis , Austin Teter

Many variations of the classical graph coloring model have been intensively studied due to their multiple applications; scheduling problems and aircraft assignments, for instance, motivate the robust coloring problem. This model gets to…

Discrete Mathematics · Computer Science 2023-05-17 Delia Garijo , Alberto Márquez , Rafael Robles