On nowhere dense graphs

Abstract

In this paper, we define and analyze the nowhere dense classes of graphs. This notion is a common generalization of proper minor closed classes, classes of graphs with bounded degree, locally planar graphs, classes with bounded expansion, to name just a few classes which are studied extensively in combinatorial and computer science contexts. In this paper, we show that this concept leads to a classification of general classes of graphs and to the dichotomy between nowhere dense and somewhere dense classes. This classification is surprisingly stable as it can be expressed in terms of the most commonly used basic combinatorial parameters, such as the independence number α , the clique number ω , and the chromatic number χ . The remarkable stability of this notion and its robustness has a number of applications to mathematical logic, complexity of algorithms, and combinatorics. We also express the nowhere dense versus somewhere dense dichotomy in terms of edge densities as a trichotomy theorem.