On independent $[1,2]$-sets in trees

An independent $[1,k]$-set $S$ in a graph $G$ is a dominating set which is independent and such that every vertex not in $S$ has at most $k$ neighbors in it. The existence of such sets is not guaranteed in every graph and trees having an independent $[1,k]$-set have been characterized. In this paper we solve some problems previously posed by other authors about independent $[1,2]$-sets. We provide a necessary condition for a graph to have an independent $[1,2]$-set, in terms of spanning trees and we prove that this condition is also sufficient for cactus graphs. We follow the concept of excellent tree and characterize the family of trees such that any vertex belong to some independent $[1,2]$-set. Finally we describe a linear algorithm to decide whether a tree has an independent $[1,2]$-set. Such algorithm can be easily modified to obtain the cardinality of the smallest independent $[1,2]$-set of a tree.