Locating Chromatic Number of Middle Graph of Path, Cycle, Star, Wheel, Gear and Helm Graphs

Abstract

Let \(c\) be a proper \(k\)-coloring of a connected graph \(G\) and \(\pi=\{S_{1},S_{2},\ldots,S_{k}\}\) be an ordered partition of the vertex set \(V(G)\) into the resulting color classes, where \(S_{i}\) is the set of all vertices that receive the color \(i\). For a vertex \(v\) of \(G\), the color code \(c_{\pi}(v)\) of \(v\) with respect to \(\pi\) is the ordered \(k\)-tuple \(c_{\pi}(v)=(d(v,S_{1}),d(v,S_{2}),\ldots,d(v,S_{k}))\), where \(d(v,S_{i})=min\{d(v,u):\textit{ } u\in S_{i}\}\) for \(1\leqslant i \leqslant k\). If all distinct vertices of \(G\) have different color codes, then \(c\) is called a locating coloring of \(G\). The locating chromatic number is the minimum number of colors needed in a locating coloring. In this paper, we determine the locating-chromatic number for the middle graphs of Path, Cycle, Wheel, Star, Gear and Helm graphs.