A Lexicographic Product Cancellation Property for Digraphs

Abstract

Abstract : There are four prominent product graphs in graph theory: Cartesian, strong, direct and lexicographic. Of these four product graphs, the lexicographic product graph is the least studied. Lexicographic products are not commutative but still have some interesting properties. This paper begins with basic definitions of graph theory, including the definition of a graph, that are needed to understand theorems and proofs that come later. The paper then discusses the lexicographic product of digraphs, denoted G o H, for some digraphs G and H. The paper concludes by proving a cancellation property for the lexicographic product of digraphs G, H, A, and B: if G o H = A o B and /V(G)/ = /V(A)/, then G = A. It also proves additional cancellation properties for lexicographic product digraphs and the author hopes the final result will provide further insight into tournaments.