Ars Combinatoria

ISSN 0381-7032 (print), 2817-5204 (online)

Ars Combinatoria is the oldest Canadian journal of combinatorics, established in 1976, dedicated to advancing combinatorial mathematics through the publication of high-quality, peer-reviewed research papers. Over the decades, it has built a strong international reputation and continues to serve as a leading platform for significant contributions to the field.
Open Access:  The journal follows the Diamond Open Access model—completely free for both authors and readers, with no article processing charges (APCs)
Publication Frequency: From 2024 onward, Ars Combinatoria publishes four issues annually—in March, June, September, and December.
Scope: Publishes research in all areas of combinatorics, including graph theory, design theory, enumeration, algebraic combinatorics, combinatorial optimization and related fields.
Indexing & Abstracting:  Indexed in MathSciNet, Zentralblatt MATH, and EBSCO, ensuring wide visibility and scholarly reach.
Rapid Publication: Submissions are processed efficiently, with accepted papers published promptly in the next available issue.
Print & Online Editions: Issues are available in both print and online formats to serve a broad readership.

Fei Deng1, Meilian Liang2, Zehui Shao3, Xiaodong Xu4
1 School of Information Science and Technology, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu, 610059, China
2School of Mathematics and Information Science, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China
3Faculty of Science and Technology, Macau University, Av. Padre Torhas Pereira, Taipa, Macau, China; School of Information Science & Technology, Chengdu University, Chengdu, 610106, China
4Guangxi Academy of Science, Nanning, Guangxi 530007,China
Abstract:

For positive integers \(t\) and \(k\), the \({vertex}\) (resp. edge) Folkman number \(F_v(t,t,t;k)\) (resp. \(F_e(t,t,t;k)\)) is the smallest integer \(n\) such that there is a \(K_k\)-free graph of order \(n\) for which any three coloring of its vertices (resp. edges) yields a monochromatic copy of \(K_t\). In this note, an algorithm for testing \((t,t,\ldots,t;k)\) in cyclic graphs is presented and it is applied to find new upper bounds for some vertex or edge Folkman numbers. By using this method, we obtain \(F_v(3,3,3;4) \leq 66\), \(F_v(3,3,3;5) \leq 24\), which leads to \(F_v(6,6,6;7) \leq 726\), and \(F_v(3,3,3;8) \leq 727\).

Tay-Woei Shyu1, Ying-Ren Chen2, Chiang Lin2, Ming-Hong Zhong3
1Department of Mathematics and Science, National Taiwan Normal University, Linkou, New Taipei City 24449, Taiwan, R.O.C.
2Department of Mathematics National Central University Chung-Li 32001, Taiwan, R.O.C.
3National Lo-Tung Senior High School Luodong, Yilan County 26542, Taiwan, R.O.C.
Abstract:

As usual, \(K_{m,n}\) denotes the complete bipartite graph with parts of sizes \(m\) and \(n\). For positive integers \(k \leq n\), the crown \(C_{n,k}\) is the graph with vertex set \(\{a_0, a_1, \ldots, a_{n-1}, b_0, b_1, \ldots, b_{n-1}\}\) and edge set \(\{a_ib_j: 0 \leq i \leq n-1, j = i,i+1, \ldots, i+k-1 \pmod{n}\}\). A spider is a tree with at most one vertex of degree more than two, called the \({center}\) of the spider. A leg of a spider is a path from the center to a vertex of degree one. Let \(S_l(t)\) denote a spider of \(l\) legs, each of length \(t\). An \(H\)-decomposition of a graph \(G\) is an edge-disjoint decomposition of \(G\) into copies of \(H\). In this paper, we investigate the problems of \(S_l(2)\)-decompositions of complete bipartite graphs and crowns, and prove that: (1) \(K_{n,tl}\) has an \(S_l(2)\)-decomposition if and only if \(nt \equiv 0 \pmod{2}\), \(n \geq 2l\) if \(t = 1\), and \(n \geq 1\) if \(t \geq 2\), (2) for \(t \geq 2\) and \(n \geq tl\), \(C_{n,tl}\) has an \(S_l(2)\)-decomposition if and only if \(nt \equiv 0 \pmod{2}\), and (3) for \(n \geq 3t\), \(C_{n,tl}\) has an \(S_3(2)\)-decomposition if and only if \(nt \equiv 0 \pmod{2}\) and \(n \equiv 0 \pmod{4}\) if \(t = 1\).

Liqun Pu1, Yanling Chai1, Hailin Bu1
1Department of Mathematics, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China
Abstract:

In this paper, we extend the study on packing complete graphs \(K_v\) with \(6\)-cycles. Mainly, we obtain the maximum packing of \(K_v – L\) and a leave, where \(L\) is a vertex-disjoint union of cycles in \(K_v\).

S. Ramachandran1, S. Monikandan2
1Department of Mathematics, Noorul Islam University Kumaracoil- 629 180 Cape Comorin, INDIA
2 Department of Mathematics, Annamalai University, Annamalainagar- 608 002 Tamil Nadu, INDIA
Abstract:

For a vertex \(v\) of a graph \(G\), the unlabeled subgraph \(G-v\) is called a \({card}\) of \(G\). We prove that the connectedness of an \(n\)-vertex graph \(G\) and the presence of isolated vertices in \(G\) can be determined from any collection of \(n-2\) of its cards. It is also proved that if two graphs on \(n \geq 6\) vertices with minimum degree at least two have \(n-2\) cards in common, then the numbers of edges in them differ by at most one.

Dong Ye1
1Department of Mathematical Sciences Middle Tennessee State University Murfreesboro, TN 37132, USA
Abstract:

Let \(G\) be a connected cubic graph embedded on a surface \(\Sigma\) such that every face is bounded by a cycle of length \(6\). By Euler formula, \(\Sigma\) is either the torus or the Klein bottle. The corresponding graphs are called toroidal polyhex graphs and Klein-bottle polyhex graphs, respectively. It was proved that every toroidal polyhex graph is hamiltonian. In this paper, we prove that every Klein-bottle polyhex graph is hamiltonian. Furthermore, lower bounds for the number of Hamilton cycles in Klein-bottle polyhex graphs are obtained.

Aline Ribeiro de Almeida1, Fabio Protti1, Lilian Markenzon2
1Instituto de Computacdo – Universidade Federal Fluminense – Brazil
2NCE – Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro – Brazil
Abstract:

The matching preclusion number of a graph \(G\), denoted by \(mp(G)\), is the minimum number of edges whose deletion leaves a resulting graph that has neither perfect matchings nor almost perfect matchings. Besides its theoretical linkage with conditional connectivity and extremal graph theory, the matching preclusion number serves as a measure of robustness in interconnection networks. In this paper, we develop general properties related to matchings in the Cartesian product of graphs, enabling us to establish the matching preclusion number for various interconnection (product) networks, specifically: hyper Petersen, folded Petersen, folded Petersen cube, hyperstar, star-cube, and hypercube. Furthermore, we show that the Cartesian product of graphs operation inherits the matching preclusion number optimality from factor graphs of even order, reinforcing the Cartesian product as a desirable network-synthesizing operator.

Deborah Chun1
1MATHEMATICS DEPARTMENT, LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY, BATON RouceE, LOUISIANA
Abstract:

This paper proves that the graphic matroids with at least two edges and no isolated vertices coincide with the class of complete \(k\)-partite graphs, where, when \(k \leq 3\), no partition class has size one. It also shows that a simple rank-\(r\) binary matroid \(M\) has every two elements in a \(4\)-circuit if \(|E(M)| \geq 2^{r-1} + 2\).

Xiuli Wang1
1College of Science, Civil Aviation University of China, Tianjin, 300300, P-R.China.
Abstract:

Multi-sender authentication codes allow a group of senders to construct an authenticated message for a receiver such that the receiver can verify authenticity of the received message. In this paper, we constructed one multi-sender authentication codes from pseudo-symplectic geometry over finite fields. The parameters and the probabilities of deceptions of this codes are also computed.

K.M. Koux1, Zeinab Maleki2, Behnaz Omoomi2
1Department of Mathematics National University of Singapore Singapore 117543, Singapore
2Department of Mathematical Sciences Isfahan University of Technology Isfahan, 84156-83111, Iran
Abstract:

Let \(G\) be a graph with vertex set \(V\). A set \(D \subseteq V\) is a total restrained dominating set of \(G\) if every vertex in \(V\) has a neighbor in \(D\) and every vertex in \(V-D\) has a neighbor in \(V-D\). The minimum cardinality of a total restrained dominating set of \(G\) is called the total restrained domination number of \(G\), denoted by \(\gamma_{tr}(G)\). Cyman and Raczek \((2006)\) showed that if \(G\) is a connected graph of order \(n\) and minimum degree \(\delta\) such that \(2 \leq \delta \leq n-2\), then \(\gamma_{tr}(G) \leq n-\delta\). In this paper, we first introduce the concept of max-min total restrained domination number, denoted by \(\gamma_{tr}^M(G)\), of \(G\), and extend the above result by showing that \(\gamma_{tr}^M(G) \leq \gamma_{tr}(G) \leq n-\delta\). We then proceed to establish that \((1)\) \(\gamma_{tr}^M(G) \leq n-2\delta\) if \(n \geq 11\) and \(G\) contains a cut-vertex, and \((2)\) \(\gamma_{tr}(G) \leq n-4\) if \(n \geq 11\) and \(\delta \geq 2\).

Sarika 1, Seema Jaggi1, V.K. Sharma1
1Indian Agricultural Statistics Research Institute Library Avenue, New Delhi-110 012. INDIA
Abstract:

In response surface analysis, it is generally assumed that the observations are independent and there is no effect of neighbouring units. But under the situation when the units are placed linearly with no gaps, the experimental units may experience neighbour or overlap effects from neighbouring units. Hence, for proper specification it is important to include the neighbour effects in the model. First order response surface mode! with neighbour effects from immediate left and right neighbouring units has been considered here and the conditions have been derived for the orthogonal estimation of coefficients of this model. The variance of estimated response has also been obtained and conditions for first order response surface model with neighbour effects to be rotatable have been obtained. A method of obtaining designs satisfying the derived conditions has been proposed. A first order rotatable design with neighbour effects using half replicate of \(2^3\) has also been given.