Permutation Graphs and Petersen Graph

John L. Goldwasser1, Cun-Quan Zhang1
1Department of Mathematics West Virginia University Morgantown, West Virginia 26506-6310

Abstract

It was proved by Ellingham \((1984)\) that every permutation graph either contains a subdivision of the Petersen graph or is edge-\(3\)-colorable. This theorem is an important partial result of Tutte’s Edge-\(3\)-Coloring Conjecture and is also very useful in the study of the Cycle Double Cover Conjecture. The main result in this paper is that every permutation graph contains either a subdivision of the Petersen graph or two \(4\)-circuits and therefore provides an alternative proof of the theorem of Ellingham. A corollary of the main result in this paper is that every uniquely edge-\(3\)-colorable permutation graph of order at least eight must contain a subdivision of the Petersen graph.