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School of Mathematics

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College of Sciences

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Now showing 1 - 10 of 19

On the independent spanning tree conjectures and related problems

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2019-07-17) Hoyer, Alexander

We say that trees with common root are (edge-)independent if, for any vertex in their intersection, the paths to the root induced by each tree are internally (edge-)disjoint. The relationship between graph (edge-)connectivity and the existence of (edge-)independent spanning trees is explored. The (Edge-)Independent Spanning Tree Conjecture states that every k-(edge-)connected graph has k-(edge-)independent spanning trees with arbitrary root. We prove the case k = 4 of the Edge-Independent Spanning Tree Conjecture using a graph decomposition similar to an ear decomposition, and give polynomial-time algorithms to construct the decomposition and the trees. We provide alternate geometric proofs for the cases k = 3 of both the Independent Spanning Tree Conjecture and Edge-Independent Spanning Tree Conjecture by embedding the vertices or edges in a 2-simplex, and conjecture higher-dimension generalizations. We provide a partial result towards a generalization of the Independent Spanning Tree Conjecture, in which local connectivity between the root and a vertex set S implies the existence of trees whose independence properties hold only in S. Finally, we prove and generalize a theorem of Györi and Lovász on partitioning a k-connected graph, and give polynomial-time algorithms for the cases k = 2, 3, 4 using the graph decompositions used to prove the corresponding cases of the Independent Spanning Tree Conjecture.
Minors of graphs of large path-width

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2018-01-22) Dang, Thanh Ngoc

Let P be a graph with a vertex v such that P-v is a forest and let Q be an outerplanar graph. In 1993 Paul Seymour asked if every two-connected graph of sufficiently large path-width contains P or Q as a minor.mDefine g(H) as the minimum number for which there exists a positive integer p(H) such that every g(H)-connected H-minor-free graph has path-width at most p(H). Then g(H) = 0 if and only if H is a forest and there is no graph H with g(H) = 1, because path-width of a graph G is the maximum of the path-widths of its connected components. Let A be the graph that consists of a cycle (a_1,a_2,a_3,a_4,a_5,a_6,a_1) and extra edges a_1a_3, a_3a_5, a_5a_1. Let C_{3,2} be a graph of 2 disjoint triangles. In 2014 Marshall and Wood conjectured that a graph H does not have K_{4}, K_{2,3}, C_{3,2} or A as a minor if and only if g(H) <= 2. In this thesis we answer Paul Seymour's question in the affirmative and prove Marshall and Wood's conjecture, as well as extend the result to three-connected and four-connected graphs of large path-width. We introduce ``cascades", our main tool, and prove that in any tree-decomposition with no duplicate bags of bounded width of a graph of big path-width there is an ``injective" cascade of large height. Then we prove that every 2-connected graph of big path-width and bounded tree-width admits a tree-decomposition of bounded width and a cascade with linkages that are minimal. We analyze those minimal linkages and prove that there are essentially only two types of linkage. Then we convert the two types of linkage into the two families of graphs P and Q. In this process we have to choose the ``right'' tree decomposition to deal with special cases like a long cycle. Similar techniques are used for three-connected and four-connected graphs with high path-width.
Graph structures and well-quasi-ordering

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2014-06-16) Liu, Chun-Hung

Robertson and Seymour proved that graphs are well-quasi-ordered by the minor relation. In other words, given infinitely many graphs, one graph contains another as a minor. An application of this theorem is that every property that is closed under deleting vertices, edges, and contracting edges can be characterized by finitely many graphs, and hence can be decided in polynomial time. In this thesis we are concerned with the topological minor relation. We say that a graph G contains another graph H as a topological minor if H can be obtained from a subgraph of G by repeatedly deleting a vertex of degree two and adding an edge incident with the neighbors of the deleted vertex. Unlike the relation of minor, the topological minor relation does not well-quasi-order graphs in general. However, Robertson conjectured in the late 1980's that for every positive integer k, the topological minor relation well-quasi-orders graphs that do not contain a topological minor isomorphic to the path of length k with each edge duplicated. This thesis consists of two main results. The first one is a structure theorem for excluding a fixed graph as a topological minor, which is analogous to a cornerstone result of Robertson and Seymour, who gave such a structure for graphs that exclude a fixed minor. Results for topological minors were previously obtained by Grohe and Marx and by Dvorak, but we push one of the bounds in their theorems to the optimal value. This improvement is needed for the next theorem. The second main result is a proof of Robertson's conjecture. As a corollary, properties on certain graphs closed under deleting vertices, edges, and "suppressing" vertices of degree two can be characterized by finitely many graphs, and hence can be decided in polynomial time.
Pfaffian orientations, flat embeddings, and Steinberg's conjecture

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2014-04-28) Whalen, Peter

The first result of this thesis is a partial result in the direction of Steinberg's Conjecture. Steinberg's Conjecture states that any planar graph without cycles of length four or five is three colorable. Borodin, Glebov, Montassier, and Raspaud showed that planar graphs without cycles of length four, five, or seven are three colorable and Borodin and Glebov showed that planar graphs without five cycles or triangles at distance at most two apart are three colorable. We prove a statement that implies the first of these theorems and is incomparable with the second: that any planar graph with no cycles of length four through six or cycles of length seven with incident triangles distance exactly two apart are three colorable. The third and fourth chapters of this thesis are concerned with the study of Pfaffian orientations. A theorem proved by William McCuaig and, independently, Neil Robertson, Paul Seymour, and Robin Thomas provides a good characterization for whether or not a bipartite graph has a Pfaffian orientation as well as a polynomial time algorithm for that problem. We reprove this characterization and provide a new algorithm for this problem. In Chapter 3, we generalize a preliminary result needed to reprove this theorem. Specifically, we show that any internally 4-connected, non-planar bipartite graph contains a subdivision of K3,3 in which each path has odd length. In Chapter 4, we make use of this result to provide a much shorter proof using elementary methods of this characterization. In the fourth and fifth chapters we investigate flat embeddings. A piecewise-linear embedding of a graph in 3-space is flat if every cycle of the graph bounds a disk disjoint from the rest of the graph. We provide a structural theorem for flat embeddings that indicates how to build them from small pieces in Chapter 5. In Chapter 6, we present a class of flat graphs that are highly non-planar in the sense that, for any fixed k, there are an infinite number of members of the class such that deleting k vertices leaves the graph non-planar.
Minor-minimal non-projective planar graphs with an internal 3-separation

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2012-11-13) Asadi Shahmirzadi, Arash

The property that a graph has an embedding in the projective plane is closed under taking minors. Thus by the well known Graph Minor theorem of Robertson and Seymour, there exists a finite list of minor-minimal graphs, call it L, such that a given graph G is projective planar if and only if G does not contain any graph isomorphic to a member of L as a minor. Glover, Huneke and Wang found 35 graphs in L, and Archdeacon proved that those are all the members of L, but Archdeacon's proof never appeared in any refereed journal. In this thesis we develop a modern approach and technique for finding the list L, independent of previous work. Our approach is based on conditioning on the connectivity of a member of L. Assume G is a member of L. If G is not 3-connected then the structure of G is well understood. In the case that G is 3-connected, the problem breaks down into two main cases, either G has an internal separation of order three or G is internally 4-connected. In this thesis we find the set of all 3-connected minor minimal non-projective planar graphs with an internal 3-separation. For proving our main result, we use a technique which can be considered as a variation and generalization of the method that Robertson, Seymour and Thomas used for non-planar extension of planar graphs. Using this technique, besides our main result, we also classify the set of minor minimal obstructions for a-, ac-, abc-planarity for rooted graphs. (A rooted graph (G,a,b,c) is a-planar if there exists a split of the vertex a to a' and a' in G such that the new graph G' obtained by the split has an embedding in a disk such that the vertices a', b, a', c are on the boundary of the disk in the order listed. We define b- and c-planarity analogously. We say that the rooted graph (G,a,b,c) is ab-planar if it is a-planar or b-planar, and we define abc-planarity analogously.)
5-list-coloring graphs on surfaces

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2012-08-23) Postle, Luke Jamison

Thomassen proved that there are only finitely many 6-critical graphs embeddable on a fixed surface. He also showed that planar graphs are 5-list-colorable. This thesis develops new techniques to prove general theorems for 5-list-coloring graphs embedded in a fixed surface. Indeed, a general paradigm is established which improves a number of previous results while resolving several open conjectures. In addition, the proofs are almost entirely self-contained. In what follows, let S be a fixed surface, G be a graph embedded in S and L a list assignment such that, for every vertex v of G, L(v) has size at least five. First, the thesis provides an independent proof of a theorem of DeVos, Kawarabayashi and Mohar that says if G has large edge-width, then G is 5-list-colorable. Moreover, the bound on the edge-width is improved from exponential to logarithmic in the Euler genus of S, which is best possible up to a multiplicative constant. Second, the thesis proves that there exist only finitely many 6-list-critical graphs embeddable in S, solving a conjecture of Thomassen from 1994. Indeed, it is shown that the number of vertices in a 6-list-critical graph is at most linear in genus, which is best possible up to a multiplicative constant. As a corollary, there exists a linear-time algorithm for deciding 5-list-colorability of graphs embeddable in S. Furthermore, we prove that the number of L-colorings of an L-colorable graph embedded in S is exponential in the number of vertices of G, with a constant depending only on the Euler genus g of S. This resolves yet another conjecture of Thomassen from 2007. The thesis also proves that if X is a subset of the vertices of G that are pairwise distance Omega(log g) apart and the edge-width of G is Omega(log g), then any L-coloring of X extends to an L-coloring of G. For planar graphs, this was conjectured by Albertson and recently proved by Dvorak, Lidicky, Mohar, and Postle. For regular coloring, this was proved by Albertson and Hutchinson. Other related generalizations are examined.
Color-critical graphs on surfaces

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2010-08-23) Yerger, Carl Roger, Jr.

A graph is (t+1)-critical if it is not t-colorable, but every proper subgraph is. In this thesis, we study the structure of critical graphs on higher surfaces. One major result in this area is Carsten Thomassen's proof that there are finitely many 6-critical graphs on a fixed surface. This proof involves a structural theorem about a precolored cycle C of length q. In general terms, he proves that a coloring, c, of C, can be extended inside the cycle, or there exists a subgraph H with at most a number of vertices exponential in q such that c can not be extended to a 5-coloring of H. In Chapter 2, we proved an alternative proof that reduces the number of vertices in H to be cubic in q. In Chapter 3, we find the nine 6-critical graphs among all graphs embeddable on the Klein bottle. In Chapter 4, we prove a result concerning critical graphs related to an analogue of Steinberg's conjecture for higher surfaces. We show that if G is a 4-critical graph embedded on surface S, with Euler genus g and has no cycles of length four through ten, then G has at most 2442g + 37 vertices.
Tree-based decompositions of graphs on surfaces and applications to the traveling salesman problem

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2007-12-19) Inkmann, Torsten

The tree-width and branch-width of a graph are two well-studied examples of parameters that measure how well a given graph can be decomposed into a tree structure. In this thesis we give several results and applications concerning these concepts, in particular if the graph is embedded on a surface. In the first part of this thesis we develop a geometric description of tangles in graphs embedded on a fixed surface (tangles are the obstructions for low branch-width), generalizing a result of Robertson and Seymour. We use this result to establish a relationship between the branch-width of an embedded graph and the carving-width of an associated graph, generalizing a result for the plane of Seymour and Thomas. We also discuss how these results relate to the polynomial-time algorithm to determine the branch-width of planar graphs of Seymour and Thomas, and explain why their method does not generalize to surfaces other than the sphere. We also prove a result concerning the class C_2k of minor-minimal graphs of branch-width 2k in the plane, for an integer k at least 2. We show that applying a certain construction to a class of graphs in the projective plane yields a subclass of C_2k, but also show that not all members of C_2k arise in this way if k is at least 3. The last part of the thesis is concerned with applications of graphs of bounded tree-width to the Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP). We first show how one can solve the separation problem for comb inequalities (with an arbitrary number of teeth) in linear time if the tree-width is bounded. In the second part, we modify an algorithm of Letchford et al. using tree-decompositions to obtain a practical method for separating a different class of TSP inequalities, called simple DP constraints, and study their effectiveness for solving TSP instances.
New Tools and Results in Graph Structure Theory

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2006-03-30) Hegde, Rajneesh

We first prove a ``non-embeddable extensions' theorem for polyhedral graph embeddings. Let G be a ``weakly 4-connected' planar graph. We describe a set of constructions that produce a finite list of non-planar graphs, each having a minor isomorphic to G, such that every non-planar weakly 4-connected graph H that has a minor isomorphic to G has a minor isomorphic to one of the graphs in the list. The theorem is more general and applies in particular to polyhedral embeddings in any surface. We discuss an approach to proving Jorgensen's conjecture, which states that if G is a 6-connected graph with no K_6 minor, then it is apex, that is, it has a vertex v such that deleting v yields a planar graph. We relax the condition of 6-connectivity, and prove Jorgensen's conjecture for a certain sub-class of these graphs. We prove that every graph embedded in the Klein bottle with representativity at least 4 has a K_6 minor. Also, we prove that every ``locally 5-connected' triangulation of the torus, with one exception, has a K_6 minor. (Local 5-connectivity is a natural notion of local connectivity for a surface embedding.) The above theorem uses a locally 5-connected version of the well-known splitter theorem for triangulations of any surface. We conclude with a theoretically optimal algorithm for the following graph connectivity problem. A shredder in an undirected graph is a set of vertices whose removal results in at least three components. A 3-shredder is a shredder of size three. We present an algorithm that, given a 3-connected graph, finds its 3-shredders in time proportional to the number of vertices and edges, when implemented on a RAM (random access machine).
Extremal Functions for Graph Linkages and Rooted Minors

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2005-11-28) Wollan, Paul

Extremal Functions for Graph Linkages and Rooted Minors Paul Wollan 137 pages Directed by: Robin Thomas A graph G is k-linked if for any 2k distinct vertices s_1,..., s_k,t_1,..., t_k there exist k vertex disjoint paths P_1,...,P_k such that the endpoints of P_i are s_i and t_i. Determining the existence of graph linkages is a classic problem in graph theory with numerous applications. In this thesis, we examine sufficient conditions that guarantee a graph to be k-linked and give the following theorems. (A) Every 2k-connected graph on n vertices with 5kn edges is k-linked. (B) Every 6-connected graph on n vertices with 5n-14 edges is 3-linked. The proof method for Theorem (A) can also be used to give an elementary proof of the weaker bound that 8kn edges suffice. Theorem (A) improves upon the previously best known bound due to Bollobas and Thomason stating that 11kn edges suffice. The edge bound in Theorem (B) is optimal in that there exist 6-connected graphs on n vertices with 5n-15 edges that are not 3-linked. The methods used prove Theorems (A) and (B) extend to a more general structure than graph linkages called rooted minors. We generalize the proof methods for Theorems (A) and (B) to find edge bounds for general rooted minors, as well as finding the optimal edge bound for a specific family of bipartite rooted minors. We conclude with two graph theoretical applications of graph linkages. The first is to the problem of determining when a small number of vertices can be used to cover all the odd cycles in a graph. The second is a simpler proof of a result of Boehme, Maharry and Mohar on complete minors in huge graphs of bounded tree-width.