Bounded Clique Number Research Articles

Abstract When H is a forest, the Gyárfás-Sumner conjecture implies that every graph G with no induced subgraph isomorphic to H and with bounded clique number has a stable set of linear size. We cannot prove that, but we prove that every such graph G has a stable set of size $$|G|^{1-o(1)}$$ | G | 1 - o ( 1 ) . If H is not a forest, there need not be such a stable set. Second, we prove that when H is a “multibroom”, there is a stable set of linear size. As a consequence, we deduce that all multibrooms satisfy a “fractional colouring” version of the Gyárfás-Sumner conjecture. Finally, we discuss extensions of our results to the multicolour setting.

Spectral extremal problems for graphs with bounded clique number

In this note we show a polynomial bound on the number of minimal separators and potential maximal cliques in $P_6$-free graphs of bounded clique number.

Abstract The tree‐independence number , first defined and studied by Dallard, Milanič, and Štorgel, is a variant of treewidth tailored to solving the maximum independent set problem. Over a series of papers, Abrishami et al. developed the so‐called central bag method to study induced obstructions to bounded treewidth. Among others, they showed that, in a certain superclass of (even hole, diamond, pyramid)‐free graphs, treewidth is bounded by a function of the clique number. In this paper, we relax the bounded clique number assumption, and show that has bounded . Via existing results, this yields a polynomial‐time algorithm for the Maximum Weight Independent Set problem in this class. Our result also corroborates, for this class of graphs, a conjecture of Dallard, Milanič, and Štorgel that in a hereditary graph class, is bounded if and only if the treewidth is bounded by a function of the clique number.

On a problem of El-Zahar and Erdős

Hitting all maximum stable sets in P5-free graphs

Galactic token sliding

Spectral extrema of graphs with bounded clique number and matching number

In this paper we show that every graph of pathwidth less than $k$ that has a path of order $n$ also has an induced path of order at least $\frac{1}{3} n^{1/k}$. This is an exponential improvement and a generalization of the polylogarithmic bounds obtained by Esperet, Lemoine and Maffray (2016) for interval graphs of bounded clique number. We complement this result with an upper-bound.This result is then used to prove the two following generalizations:
 
 every graph of treewidth less than $k$ that has a path of order $n$ contains an induced path of order at least $\frac{1}{4} (\log n)^{1/k}$;
 for every non-trivial graph class that is closed under topological minors there is a constant $d \in (0,1)$ such that every graph from this class that has a path of order $n$ contains an induced path of order at least $(\log n)^d$.
 
 We also describe consequences of these results beyond graph classes that are closed under topological minors.

For $t \ge 2$, let us call a digraph $D$ t-chordal if all induced directed cycles in $D$ have length equal to $t$. In an earlier paper, we asked for which $t$ it is true that $t$-chordal graphs with bounded clique number have bounded dichromatic number. Recently, Aboulker, Bousquet, and de Verclos answered this in the negative for $t=3$, that is, they gave a construction of $3$-chordal digraphs with clique number at most $3$ and arbitrarily large dichromatic number. In this paper, we extend their result, giving for each $t \ge 3$ a construction of $t$-chordal digraphs with clique number at most $3$ and arbitrarily large dichromatic number, thus answering our question in the negative. On the other hand, we show that a more restricted class, digraphs with no induced directed cycle of length less than $t$, and no induced directed $t$-vertex path, have bounded dichromatic number if their clique number is bounded. We also show the following complexity result: for fixed $t \ge 2$, the problem of determining whether a digraph is $t$-chordal is coNP-complete.

A counterexample to a conjecture about triangle-free induced subgraphs of graphs with large chromatic number

Induced subgraphs of graphs with large chromatic number. V. Chandeliers and strings

A constant amortized time enumeration algorithm for independent sets in graphs with bounded clique number

Abstract We study structural properties of graphs with bounded clique number and high minimum degree. In particular, we show that there exists a function L = L(r,ɛ) such that every Kr-free graph G on n vertices with minimum degree at least ((2r–5)/(2r–3)+ɛ)n is homomorphic to a Kr-free graph on at most L vertices. It is known that the required minimum degree condition is approximately best possible for this result.For r = 3 this result was obtained by Łuczak (2006) and, more recently, Goddard and Lyle (2011) deduced the general case from Łuczak’s result. Łuczak’s proof was based on an application of Szemerédi’s regularity lemma and, as a consequence, it only gave rise to a tower-type bound on L(3, ɛ). The proof presented here replaces the application of the regularity lemma by a probabilistic argument, which yields a bound for L(r, ɛ) that is doubly exponential in poly(ɛ).

Mind the independence gap

Abstract The clique graph K(G) of G is the intersection graph of the family of maximal cliques of G. For a family of graphs, the family of clique‐inverse graphs of , denoted by , is defined as . Let be the family of Kp‐free graphs, that is, graphs with clique number at most p − 1, for an integer constant p ≥ 2. Deciding whether a graph H is a clique‐inverse graph of can be done in polynomial time; in addition, for can be characterized by a finite family of forbidden induced subgraphs. In Protti and Szwarcfiter, the authors propose to extend such characterizations to higher values of p. Then a natural question arises: Is there a characterization of by means of a finite family of forbidden induced subgraphs, for any p ≥ 2? In this note we give a positive answer to this question. We present upper bounds for the order, the clique number, and the stability number of every forbidden induced subgraph for in terms of p.

Induced subgraphs of graphs with large chromatic number. VI. Banana trees

Abstract The Gyárfás‐Sumner conjecture asserts that if is a tree then every graph with bounded clique number and very large chromatic number contains as an induced subgraph. This is still open, although it has been proved for a few simple families of trees, including trees of radius two, some special trees of radius three, and subdivided stars. These trees all have the property that their vertices of degree more than two are clustered quite closely together. In this paper, we prove the conjecture for two families of trees which do not have this restriction. As special cases, these families contain all double‐ended brooms and two‐legged caterpillars.

Induced subgraphs of graphs with large chromatic number. XI. Orientations

The main goal of this paper is to formalize and explore a connection between chromatic properties of graphs with geometric representations and competitive analysis of on-line algorithms, which became apparent after the recent construction of triangle-free geometric intersection graphs with arbitrarily large chromatic number due to Pawlik et al. We show that on-line graph coloring problems give rise to classes of game graphs with a natural geometric interpretation. We use this concept to estimate the chromatic number of graphs with geometric representations by finding, for appropriate simpler graphs, on-line coloring algorithms using few colors or proving that no such algorithms exist. We derive upper and lower bounds on the maximum chromatic number that rectangle overlap graphs, subtree overlap graphs, and interval filament graphs (all of which generalize interval overlap graphs) can have when their clique number is bounded. The bounds are absolute for interval filament graphs and asymptotic of the form $(\log\log n)^{f(\omega)}$ for rectangle and subtree overlap graphs, where $f(\omega)$ is a polynomial function of the clique number and $n$ is the number of vertices. In particular, we provide the first construction of geometric intersection graphs with bounded clique number and with chromatic number asymptotically greater than $\log\log n$. We also introduce a concept of $K_k$-free colorings and show that for some geometric representations, $K_3$-free chromatic number can be bounded in terms of clique number although the ordinary ($K_2$-free) chromatic number cannot. Such a result for segment intersection graphs would imply a well-known conjecture that $k$-quasi-planar geometric graphs have linearly many edges.