On $t$-Common List-Colorings

Abstract

In this paper, we introduce a new variation of list-colorings. For a graph $G$ and for a given nonnegative integer $t$, a $t$-common list assignment of $G$ is a mapping $L$ which assigns each vertex $v$ a set $L(v)$ of colors such that given set of $t$ colors belong to $L(v)$ for every $v\in V(G)$. The $t$-common list chromatic number of $G$ denoted by $ch_t(G)$ is defined as the minimum positive integer $k$ such that there exists an $L$-coloring of $G$ for every $t$-common list assignment $L$ of $G$, satisfying $|L(v)| \ge k$ for every vertex $v\in V(G)$. We show that for all positive integers $k, \ell$ with $2 \le k \le \ell$ and for any positive integers $i_1 , i_2, \ldots, i_{k-2}$ with $k \le i_{k-2} \le \cdots \le i_1 \le \ell$, there exists a graph $G$ such that $\chi(G)= k$, $ch(G) = \ell$ and $ch_t(G) = i_t$ for every $t=1, \ldots, k-2$. Moreover, we consider the $t$-common list chromatic number of planar graphs. From the four color theorem and the result of Thomassen (1994), for any $t=1$ or $2$, the sharp upper bound of $t$-common list chromatic number of planar graphs is $4$ or $5$. Our first step on $t$-common list chromatic number of planar graphs is to find such a sharp upper bound. By constructing a planar graph $G$ such that $ch_1(G) =5$, we show that the sharp upper bound for $1$-common list chromatic number of planar graphs is $5$. The sharp upper bound of $2$-common list chromatic number of planar graphs is still open. We also suggest several questions related to $t$-common list chromatic number of planar graphs.