We show that the cop number of every generalized Petersen graph is at most 4. The strategy is to play a modified game of cops and robbers on an infinite cyclic covering space where the objective is to capture the robber or force the robber towards an end of the infinite graph. We prove that finite isometric subtrees are 1-guardable and apply this to determine the exact cop number of some families of generalized Petersen graphs. We also extend these ideas to prove that the cop number of any connected I-graph is at most 5.
A class of simple graphs such as ${cal G}$ is said to be {it odd-girth-closed} if for any positive integer $g$ there exists a graph $G in {cal G}$ such that the odd-girth of $G$ is greater than or equal to $g$. An odd-girth-closed class of graphs ${c
al G}$ is said to be {it odd-pentagonal} if there exists a positive integer $g^*$ depending on ${cal G}$ such that any graph $G in {cal G}$ whose odd-girth is greater than $g^*$ admits a homomorphism to the five cycle (i.e. is $C_{_{5}}$-colorable). In this article, we show that finding the odd girth of generalized Petersen graphs can be transformed to an integer programming problem, and using this we explicitly compute the odd girth of such graphs, showing that the class is odd-girth-closed. Also, motivated by showing that the class of generalized Petersen graphs is odd-pentagonal, we study the circular chromatic number of such graphs.
Motivated by a biological scenario illustrated in the YouTube video url{ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_mXDvZQ6dU} where a neutrophil chases a bacteria cell moving in random directions, we present a variant of the cop and robber game on graphs cal
led the tipsy cop and drunken robber game. In this game, we place a tipsy cop and a drunken robber at different vertices of a finite connected graph $G$. The game consists of independent moves where the robber begins the game by moving to an adjacent vertex from where he began, this is then followed by the cop moving to an adjacent vertex from where she began. Since the robber is inebriated, he takes random walks on the graph, while the cop being tipsy means that her movements are sometimes random and sometimes intentional. Our main results give formulas for the probability that the robber is still free from capture after $m$ moves of this game on highly symmetric graphs, such as the complete graphs, complete bipartite graphs, and cycle graphs. We also give the expected encounter time between the cop and robber for these families of graphs. We end the manuscript by presenting a general method for computing such probabilities and also detail a variety of directions for future research.
Let $D$ be an oriented graph. The inversion of a set $X$ of vertices in $D$ consists in reversing the direction of all arcs with both ends in $X$. The inversion number of $D$, denoted by ${rm inv}(D)$, is the minimum number of
A well-known conjecture by Lovasz and Plummer from the 1970s asserted that a bridgeless cubic graph has exponentially many perfect matchings. It was solved in the affirmative by Esperet et al. (Adv. Math. 2011). On the other hand, Chudnovsky and Seym
our (Combinatorica 2012) proved the conjecture in the special case of cubic planar graphs. In our work we consider random bridgeless cubic planar graphs with the uniform distribution on graphs with $n$ vertices. Under this model we show that the expected number of perfect matchings in labeled bridgeless cubic planar graphs is asymptotically $cgamma^n$, where $c>0$ and $gamma sim 1.14196$ is an explicit algebraic number. We also compute the expected number of perfect matchings in (non necessarily bridgeless) cubic planar graphs and provide lower bounds for unlabeled graphs. Our starting point is a correspondence between counting perfect matchings in rooted cubic planar maps and the partition function of the Ising model in rooted triangulations.