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.

Tao Wang1, Deming Li2, Qing Wang1
1 Depart. of Foundation, North China Institute of Science and Technology 065201, P. R. China
2Depart. of Mathematics, Capital Normal University, 100048, P. R. China
Abstract:

A labeling f of a graph G is a bijection from its edge set \(E(G)\) to the set \(\{1, 2, …, |E(G)|\}\), which is antimagic if for any distinct vertices \(x\) and \(y\), the sum of the labels on edges incident to \(x\) is different from the sum of the labels on edges incident to \(y\). A graph G is antimagic if \(G\) has an f which is antimagic. Hartsfield and Ringel conjectured in \(1990\)
that every connected graph other than Ko is antimagic. In this paper, we show that some graphs with regular subgraphs are antimagic.

Jean-Luc Baril1
1LE21 UMR-CNRS 5158, Université de Bourgogne B.P. 47 870, 21078 DIJON-Cedex France
Abstract:

In \([1]\), the author provided a Gray code for the set of \(n\)-length permutations with a given number of left-to-right minima in in-version array representation. In this paper, we give the first Gray code for the set of \(n\)-length permutations with a given number of left-to-right minima in one-line representation. In this code, each permutation is transformed into its successor by a product with a transposition or a cycle of length three. Also a generating algorithm for this code is given.

Anita Pasotti1
1Dipartimento di Matematica, Facolta di Ingegneria, Universita degli Studi di Brescia, Via Valotti, 9, I-25133 Brescia, Italy.
Abstract:

We introduce a generalization of the well-known concept of graceful labeling. Given a graph \(\Gamma\) with \(e = d.m\) edges, we define a \(d\)-graceful labeling of \(G\) as an injective function \(f: V(G) \rightarrow \{0, 1, 2, \ldots, d(m+1) – 1\}\) such that \(\{|f(x) – f(y)| : \{x, y\} \in E(\Gamma)\}\) = \(\{1, 2, 3, \ldots, d(m+1) – 1\} – \{m+1, 2(m+1), \ldots, (d-1)(m+1)\}.\) In the case of \(d = 1\) and of \(d = e\) we find the classical notion of a graceful labeling and of an odd graceful labeling, respectively.Also, we call \(d\)-graceful \(\alpha\)-labeling of a bipartite graph \(\Gamma\) a \(d\)-graceful labeling of \(\Gamma\) with the property that its maximum value on one of the two bipartite sets does not reach its minimum value on the other
one. We show that these new concepts allow to obtain certain cyclic graph decompositions. We investigate the existence of \(d\)-graceful \(\alpha\)-labelings for several classes of bipartite graphs, completely solving the problem for paths and stars and giving partial results about cycles of even length and ladders.

Meng-Xiao Yin1, Jian-Hua Yin2
1School of Computer, Electronics and Information, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China.
2Department of Mathematics, School of Information Science and Technology, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, China.
Abstract:

Given a graph \(H\), a graphic sequence \(\pi = (d_1, d_2, \ldots, d_n)\) is said to be potentially \(H\)-graphic if there exists a realization of \(\pi\) containing \(H\) as a subgraph.In this paper, we characterize potentially \(K_6 – E(K_3)\)-graphic sequences without zero terms, where \(K_6 – E(K_3)\) denotes the graph obtained from a complete graph on \(6\) vertices by deleting three edges forming a triangle.This characterization implies the value of \(\sigma(K_6 – E(K_3), n)\).

Christian Léwenstein1, Dieter Rautenbach1, Friedrich Regen1
1Institut fiir Mathematik, TU Ilmenau, Postfach 100565, D-98684 Ilmenau, Germany
Abstract:

We propose and study game-theoretic versions of independence
in graphs. The games are played by two players – the aggressor and the
defender – taking alternate moves on a graph G with tokens located on
vertices from an independent set of \(G\). A move of the aggressor is to select
a vertex v of \(G\). A move of the defender is to move tokens located on
vertices in \(N_G(v)\) each along one incident edge. The goal of the defender is
to maintain the set of occupied vertices independent while the goal of the
aggressor is to make this impossible. We consider the maximum number of
tokens for which the aggressor can not win in a strategic and an adaptive
version of the game.

Refik Keskin1, Bahar Demirturk1
1Sakarya University, Faculty of Science and Aris, Department of Mathematics, 54187, Sakarya/ TURKEY
Abstract:

In this study, we investigate Diophantine equations using the generalized Fibonacci and Lucas sequences. We obtain all integer solutions for several Diophantine equations such as \(x^2 -kxy- y^2 = \mp 1,\) \(x^2 -kxy+ y^2 = 1,\) \(x^2 – kxy-y^2 = \mp (k^2+4),\)
\(x^2 – (k^2 + 4)xy + (k^2+4)y^2 =\mp k^2,\) \(x^2 – kxy +y^2 = -(k^2-4)\). and \(x^2-(k^2-4)xy-(k^2-4)y^2=k^2\)
Some of these results are previously known, but we provide new and distinct proofs using generalized Fibonacci and Lucas sequences.

S. Akbaki1, S. Zare2
1School of Mathematics, Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences (IPM) Tehran, Iran
2Department of Mathematical Sciences Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran.
Abstract:

Let \(G = \{g_1, \ldots, g_n\}\) be a finite abelian group. Consider the complete graph \(K_n\) with vertex set \(\{g_1, \ldots, g_n\}\). A \(G\)-coloring of \(K_n\) is a proper edge coloring where the color of edge \(\{g_i, g_j\}\) is \(g_i + g_j\), \(1 \leq i 2\), there exists a proper edge coloring of \(K_p\) which is decomposable into multicolored Hamilton cycles.

Hongxue Song1,2
1College of Science, Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Nanjing 210046, P. R. China
2College of Science, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, P. R. China
Abstract:

It is shown that \(r(K_{1,m,k}, K_n) \leq (k – 1 + o(1)) (\frac{n}{log n})^{m+1}\) for any two fixed integers \(k \geq m \geq 2\) and \(n \to \infty\).
This result is obtained using the analytic method and the function \(f_{m}(x) = \int_0^1 \frac{(1-t)^{\frac{1}{m}}dt}{m+(x-m)^t} , \quad x \geq 0,m \geq 1,\)
building upon the upper bounds for \(r(K_{m,k}, K_n)\) established by Y. Li and W. Zang.Furthermore, \((c – o(1)) (\frac{n}{log n})^{\frac{7}{3}}\leq r(W_{4}, K_n) \leq (1 + o(1)) (\frac{n}{log n})^{3}\) (as \(n \to \infty\)). Moreover, we derive
\(r(K_{1} + K_{m,k}, K_n) \leq (k – 1 + o(1)) (\frac{n}{log n})^{l+m}\) for any two fixed integers \(k \geq m \geq 2\) (as \(n \to \infty\)).

P. Jeyanthi1, P. Selvagopal2
1Department of Mathematics, Govindammal Aditanar College for Women, Tiruchendur 628 215, India
2Department of Mathematics, Lord Jegannath College of Engineering & Technology, PSN Nagar, Ramanathichanputhur, Marungoor 629 402, India.
Abstract:

A simple graph \(G = (V, E)\) admits an \(H\)-covering if every edge in \(E\) belongs to a subgraph of \(G\) isomorphic to \(H\). We say that \(G\) is \(H\)-magic if there exists a total labeling \(f: V \cup E \rightarrow \{1, 2, \ldots, |V| + |E| + 1\}\) such that for each subgraph \(H’ = (V’, E”)\) of \(G\) isomorphic to \(H\),
\(\sum_{v \in V’} f(v) + \sum_{e \in E”} f(e)\)
is constant.

When \(f(V) = \{1, 2, \ldots, |V|\}\), then \(G\) is said to be \(H\)-supermagic.

In this paper, we show that all prism graphs \(C_n \times P_m\), except for \(n = 4\), the ladder graph \(P_3 \times P_n\), and the grid \(P_3 \times P_n\), are \(C_4\)-supermagic.

Yunsheng Zhang1, Yichao Chen2, Yanpei Liu3
1Business SCHOOL, HUNAN UNIVERSITY, 410082 CHANGSHA, CHINA
2COLLEGE OF MATHEMATICS AND ECONOMETRICS, HUNAN UNIVERSITY, 410082 CHANG- SHA, CHINA
3MATHEMATICS DEPARTMENT, BEING JIAOTONG UNIVERSITY, BEING, 100044, CHINA
Abstract:

The average crosscap number of a graph \(G\) is the expected value of the crosscap number random variable, over all labeled \(2\)-cell non-orientable embeddings of \(G\). In this study, some experimental results for average crosscap number are obtained. We calculate all average crosscap numbers of graphs with Betti number less than \(5\). As a special case, the smallest ten values of average crosscap number are determined. The distribution of average crosscap numbers of all graphs in \({R}\) is sparse. Some structure theorems for average crosscap number with a given or bounded value are provided. The exact values of average crosscap numbers of cacti and necklaces are determined. The crosscap number distributions of cacti and necklaces of type \((r,0)\) are proved to be strongly unimodal, and the mode of the embedding distribution sequence is upper-rounding or lower-rounding of its average crosscap number. Some open problems are also proposed.