Pk+1–Decompositions of Eulerian Graphs: Complexity and Some Solvable Cases

Abstract

We consider the problem of PMk+1-decomposition of a simple eulerian graph G, that is, decomposition of G into edge disjoint paths of length k. We show that the problem of deciding whether there exists a Pk+1 - decomposition of an eulerian simple graph is NP-complete, for every k = 3. However we find some new classes of graphs where the problem of P4-decomposition can be solved polynomially. We show that an eulerian simple graph G on 3m = 6 edges admits a P4-decomposition if G has no cut vertex v such that exactly one of the components in the graph G - ? has two vertices. In particular, this implies that a 2-connected eulerian simple graph G on 3m = 6 edges admits a P4 -decomposition. © 2003.