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.

Amalorpava Jerline J1, Benedict Michaelraj L2, Dhanalakshmi K1, Syamala P2
1Department of Mathematics, Holy Cross College, Trichy 620 002, India
2Department of Mathematics, St. Joseph’s College, Trichy 620 002, India
Abstract:

The harmonic index \(H(G)\) of a graph \(G\) is defined as the sum of the weights of all edges \(uv\) of \(G\), where the weight of \(uv\) is \(\frac{2}{d(u) + d(v)}\), with \(d(u)\) denoting the degree of the vertex \(u\) in \(G\). In this work, we compute the harmonic index of a graph with a cut-vertex and with more than one cut-vertex. As an application, this topological index is computed for Bethe trees and dendrimer trees. Also, the harmonic indices of Fasciagraph and a special type of trees, namely, polytree, are computed.

Zhongmei Qin1, Jianfeng Wang1,2, Kang Yang1
1Center for Combinatorics and LPMC-TJKLC, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China
2Department of Mathematics, Qinghai Normal University, Xining, Qinghai 810008, China
Abstract:

Let \(G^{\sigma}\) be an oriented graph obtained by assigning an orientation \(\sigma\) to the edge set of a simple undirected graph \(G\). Let \(S(G^{\sigma})\) be the skew adjacency matrix of \(G^{\sigma}\). The skew energy of \(G^{\sigma}\) is defined as the sum of the absolute values of all eigenvalues of \(S(G^{\sigma})\). In this paper, we give the skew energy order of a family of digraphs and determine the oriented bicyclic graphs of order \(n \geq 13\) with the first five largest skew energies, which extends the results of the paper [X. Shen, Y. Hou, C. Zhang, Bicyclic digraphs with extremal skew energy, Electron. J. Linear Algebra 23 (2012) 340-355].

Maorong Sun1, Lily J. Jin2
1Department of Mathematics, Jiangsu University, Jiangsu Zhenjiang 212013, P. R. China
2School of Mathematics, Nanjing Normal University, Taizhou College, Jiangsu, Taizhou 225300, P. R. China
Abstract:

Let \(P_n\) denote the \(n\)-th Catalan-Larcombe-French number. Recently, the \(2\)-log-convexity of the Catalan-Larcombe-French sequence was proved by Sun and Wu. Moreover, they also conjectured that the quotient sequence \(\{\frac{P_{n}}{P_{n-1}}\}_{n= 0}^\infty\) of the Catalan-Larcombe-French sequence is log-concave. In this paper, this conjecture is confirmed by utilizing the upper and lower bounds for \(\frac{P_{n}}{P_{n-1}}\) and finding a middle function \(f(n)\).

Mobeen Munir1, Abdul Rauf Nizami2, Zaffar Iqbal3, Huma Saeed4
1Division of Science and Technology, University of Education, Lahore-Pakistan
2Division of Science and Technology, University of Education, Lahore-Pakistan
3Department of Mathematics. University of Gujrat, Gujrat-Pakistan
4Division of Science and ‘Technology, University of Education, Lahore-Pakistan
Abstract:

It is claimed in [13] that the metric dimension of the Möbius ladder \(M_n\) is \(3\) when \(n \not\equiv 2 \pmod{8}\), but it is wrong; we give a counterexample when \(n \equiv 6 \pmod{8}\). In this paper, we not only give the correct metric dimension in this case but also solve the open problem regarding the metric dimension of \(M_n\) when \(n \equiv 2 \pmod{8}\). Moreover, we conclude that \(M_n\) has two subfamilies with constant metric dimensions.

Guoliang Hao1
1College of Science, East China University of Technology, Nanchang, Jiangxi 330013, P.R.China
Abstract:

An edge-colored graph \(G\) is (strong) rainbow connected if any two vertices are connected by a (geodesic) path whose edges have distinct colors. The (strong) rainbow connection number of a connected graph \(G\), denoted by \(\mathrm{src}(G)\) (resp. \(\mathrm{rc}(G)\)), is the smallest number of colors that are needed in order to make \(G\) (strong) rainbow connected. The join \(P_m \vee P_n\) of \(P_m\) and \(P_n\) is the graph consisting of \(P_m\cup P_n\), and all edges between every vertex of \(P_m\) and every vertex of \(P_n\), where \(P_m\) (resp. \(P_n\)) is a path of \(m\) (resp. \(n\)) vertices. In this paper, the precise values of \(\mathrm{rc}(P_m \vee P_n)\) and \(\mathrm{src}(P_m \vee P_n)\) are given for any positive integers \(m\) and \(n\).

Mohammadreza Rostami1, Modjtaba Ghorbani2
1Faculty of Science, Mahallat institute of Higher Education, Mahatiat,I. R. Iran
2Department of Mathematies, Faculty of Science, Shahid Rajaee Teacher Training University, Tehran, 16785 — 136, 1 R. iran
Abstract:

Let \(MG(i,n)\) be a connected molecular graph without multiple edges on \(n\)vertices whose minimum degree of vertices is \(i\), where \(i \leq i \leq 4\). One of the newest topological indices is the first Geometric-Arithmetic index. In this paper, we determine the graph with the minimum and the maximum value of the first Geometric-Arithmetic index in the family of graphs \(M{G}(i,n)\),\(l\leq i \leq 3\).

Helin Gong1,2, Metrose Metsidik 3
1 Department of Fundamental Courses, Zhejiang Industry Polytechnic College Shaoxing, Zhejiang 312000, China
2Guangxi Colleges and Universities Key Laboratory of Mathematical and Statistical Model, Guangxi Normal University, Guangxi 541004, China
3School of Mathematical Science, Xiamen University Xiamen, Fujian 361005, China
Abstract:

Two graphs are said to be Tutte-equivalent if their Tutte polynomials are equal. In this paper, we provide several different constructions for Tutte-equivalent graphs, including some that are not self-complementary but Tutte-equivalent to their complements (the Akiyama-Harary problem) and some “large” Tutte-equivalent graphs obtained from “small” Tutte-equivalent graphs by \(2\)-sum operations.

Quan-Hui Yang1
1School of Mathematics and Statistics, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing 210044, P. R. China
Abstract:

Let \(s(n, k) = \binom{6k}{3k} \binom{3k}{k} (\binom{3(n-k)}{n-k} / (2n-1) \binom{3n}{n})\). Recently, Guo confirmed a conjecture of \(Z.-W\). Sun by showing that \(s(n, k)\) is an integer for \(k = 0, 1, \ldots, n\). Let \(d = (3n + 2) / \gcd(3n + 2, 2n – 1)\). In this paper, we prove that \(s(n, k)\) is a multiple of the odd part of \(d\) for \(k = 0, 1, \ldots, n\). Furthermore, if \(\gcd(k, n) = 1\), then \(s(n, k)\) is also a multiple of \(n\). We also show that the \(2\)-adic order of \(s(n, k)\) is at least the sum of the digits in the binary expansion of \(3n\).

V.L.Stella Arputha Mary1, S. Navaneethakrishnan2, A. Nagarajan2
1 Department of Mathematics, St.Mary’s College, Tuticorin – 628 001.
2Department of Mathematics, V.O.C College, Tuticorin – 628 001. Tamil Nadu, India.
Abstract:

For any non-trivial abelian group \(A\) under addition, a graph \(G\) is said to be strong \(A\)-magic if there exists a labeling \(f\) of the edges of \(G\) with non-zero elements of \(A\) such that the vertex labeling \(f^+\) defined as \(f^+(v) = \sum f(uv)\) taken over all edges \(uv\) incident at \(v\) is a constant, and the constant is same for all possible values of \(|V(G)|\). A graph is said to be strong \(A\)-magic if it admits strong \(A\)-magic labeling. In this paper, we consider \((\mathbb{Z}_4, +)\) as an abelian group and we prove strong \(\mathbb{Z}_4\)-magic labeling for various graphs and generalize strong \(\mathbb{Z}_{4p}\)-magic labeling for those graphs. The graphs which admit strong \(\mathbb{Z}_{4p}\)-magic labeling are called as strong \(\mathbb{Z}_{4p}\)-magic graphs.

Bo Ning1
1Department of Applied Mathematics, School of Science, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xian, Shaanxi 710072, P.R. China
Abstract:

The well-known Mantel’s Theorem states that a graph on \(n\) vertices and \(m\) edges contains a triangle if \(m > \frac{n^2}{4}\). Nosal proved that every graph on \(m\) edges contains a triangle if the spectral radius \(\lambda_1 > \sqrt{m}\), which is a spectral analog of Mantel’s Theorem. Furthermore, by using Motzkin-Straus Inequality, Nikiforov sharpened Nosal’s result and characterized the extremal graphs when the equality holds. Our first contribution in this note is to give two new proofs of the spectral concise Mantel’s Theorem due to Nikiforov (without help of Motzkin-Straus Inequality). Nikiforov also obtained some results concerning the existence of consecutive cycles and spectral radius. Second, we prove a theorem concerning the existence of consecutive even cycles and spectral radius, which slightly improves a result of Nikiforov. At last, we focus on spectral radius inequalities. Hong proved his famous bound for spectral radius. Later, Hong, Shu, and Fang generalized Hong’s bound to connected graphs with given minimum degree. By using quite different techniques, Nikiforov proved Hong et al.’s bound for general graphs independently. In this note, we prove a new spectral inequality by applying the technique of Nikiforov. Our result extends Stanley’s spectral inequality.