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.

Jia Huang1, Jun-Ming Xu1
1Department of Mathematics University of Science and Technology of China Hefei, Anhui, 230026, China
Abstract:

In this paper, we consider the effect of edge contraction on the domination number and total domination number of a graph. We define the (total) domination contraction number of a graph as the minimum number of edges that must be contracted in order to decrease the (total) domination number. We show that both of these two numbers are at most three for any graph. In view of this result, we classify graphs by their (total) domination contraction numbers and characterize these classes of graphs.

G.R. Omidi1,2
1Department of Mathematical Sciences, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, 84156-83111, Iran
2School of Mathematics, Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences (IPM), P.O.Box:19395-5746, Tehran, Iran
Abstract:

In this paper, connected graphs with the largest Laplacian eigenvalue at most \(\frac{5+\sqrt{13}}{2}\) are characterized. Moreover, we prove that these graphs are determined by their Laplacian spectrum.

Wen-Chung Huang1, Yi-Hsin Shih2
1Department of Mathematics Soochow University Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China.
2Kaohsiung Municipal Sanmin Senior High School Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Republic of China.
Abstract:

An extended directed triple system of order \(v\) with an idempotent element (EDTS(\(v, a\))) is a collection of triples of the type \([x, y, z]\), \([x, y, x]\) or \((x, x, x)\) chosen from a \(v\)-set, such that every ordered pair (not necessarily distinct) belongs to only one triple and there are \(a\) triples of the type \((x, x, x)\). If such a design with parameters \(v\) and \(a\) exists, then it will have \(b_{v,a}\) blocks, where \(b_{v,a} = (v^2 + 2a)/3\). A necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of EDTS(\(v, 0\)) and EDTS(\(v, 1\)) are \(v \equiv 0 \pmod{3}\) and \(v \not\equiv 0 \pmod{3}\), respectively. In this paper, we have constructed two EDTS(\(v, a\))’s such that the number of common triples is in the set \(\{0, 1, 2, \ldots, b_{v,a} – 2, b_{v,a}\}\), for \(a = 0, 1\).

Yan-bing Zhao1, Guo-dong Qian2, Yu-lin Zhong3
1Department of Basic Courses, Zhangjiakou Vocational College of Technology, Zhangjiakou, 075051, China
2 Department of Computer Science, Hebei North University, Zhangjiakou, 075051, China
3Department of Basic Courses, Hainan Software Profession Institute, Qionghai, 571000, China
Abstract:

As applications of the Anzahl theorems in finite orthogonal spaces, we study the critical problem of totally isotropic subspaces, and obtain the critical exponent.

G.C. Laus1,2, Y.H. Peng3,2
1Faculty of Computer Science & Mathematics Universiti Teknologi MARA (Segamat Campus) Johor, Malaysia
2Institute for Mathematical Research Universiti Putra Malaysia 43400 UPM Serdang, Malaysia
3Department of Mathematics, Universiti Putra Malaysia 43400 UPM Serdang, Malaysia
Abstract:

Let \(P(G,\lambda)\) be the chromatic polynomial of a graph \(G\). A graph \(G\) is chromatically unique if for any graph \(H\), \(P(H,\lambda) = P(G, \lambda)\) implies H is isomorphic to \(G\). In this paper, we study the chromaticity of Turén graphs with deleted edges that induce a matching or a star. As a by-product, we obtain new families of chromatically unique graphs.

Hong Hu1
1Department of Mathematics, Huaiyin Normal University, Huaian 223300, Jiangsu Province, P.R.China
Abstract:

Let \(\{w_n\}\) be a second-order recurrent sequence. Several identities about the sums of products of second-order recurrent sequences were obtained and the relationship between the second-order recurrent sequences and the recurrence coefficient revealed. Some identities about Lucas sequences, Lucas numbers, and Fibonacci numbers were also obtained.

Salah Al-Addasi1, Omar A. AbuGhneim2, Hasan Al-Ezeh2
1Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Science, Hashemite University, Zarqa 13115, Jordan
2Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Science, Jordan University, Amman 11942, Jordan
Abstract:

In this paper, we prove that for any positive integers \(k,n\) with \(k \geq 2\) , the graph \(P_k^n\) is a divisor graph if and only if \(n \leq 2k + 2\) , where \(P^k_n\) is the \(k\) th power of the path \(P_n\). For powers of cycles we show that \(C^k_n\) is a divisor graph when \(n \leq 2k + 2\), but is not a divisor graph when \(n \geq 2k + 2\),but is not a divisor graph when \(n\geq 2k+\lfloor \frac{k}{2}\rceil,\) where \(C^k_n\) is the \(k\)th power of the cycle \(C_n\). Moreover, for odd \(n\) with \(2k+2 < n < 2k + \lfloor\frac{k}{2}\rfloor + 3\), we show that the graph \(C^k_n\) is not a divisor graph.

Guihai Yu1, Lihua Feng1
1School of Mathematics Shandong Institute of Business and Technology 191 Binhaizhong Road, Yantai, Shandong, P.R. China, 264005.
Abstract:

The Wiener index of a graph \(G\) is defined as \(W(G) = \sum_{u,v \in V(G)} d_G(u,v),\) where \(d_G(u,v)\) is the distance between \(u\) and \(v\) in \(G\) and the sum goes over all pairs of vertices. In this paper, we investigate the Wiener index of unicyclic graphs with given girth and characterize the extremal graphs with the minimal and maximal Wiener index.

Jennie C.Hansen1, Jerzy Jaworski2
1Actuarial Mathematics and Statistics and the Maxwell Institute for Mathemat- ical Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh EH14 4AS, UK.
2Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science, Adam Mickiewicz University, Umul- towska 87, 61-614 Poznati, Poland.
Abstract:

In this paper, we consider a random mapping, \(\hat{T}_n\), of the finite set \(\{1,2,\ldots,n\}\) into itself for which the digraph representation \(\hat{G}_n\) is constructed by:\((1)\) selecting a random number, \(\hat{L}_n\), of cyclic vertices,\((2)\) constructing a uniform random forest of size \(n\) with the selected cyclic vertices as roots, and \((3)\) forming `cycles’ of trees by applying a random permutation to the selected cyclic vertices.We investigate \(\hat{k}_n\), the size of a `typical’ component of \(\hat{G}_n\), and, under the assumption that the random permutation on the cyclical vertices is uniform, we obtain the asymptotic distribution of \(k\), conditioned on \(\hat{L}_n = m(n)\). As an application of our results, we show in Section \(3\) that provided \(\hat{L}_n\) is of order much larger than \(\sqrt{n}\), then the joint distribution of the normalized order statistics of the component sizes of \(\hat{G}_n\) converges to the Poisson-Dirichlet \((1)\) distribution as \(n \to \infty\). Other applications and generalizations are also discussed in Section \(3\).

Yuuki Tanaka1, Yukio Shibata2
1Information Science Center, Kyushu Institute of Technology, 1-1, Sensui-cho, Tobata-ku, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, 804-8550, Japan.
2Department of Computer Science, Graduate School of Engineering, Gunma University, 1-5-1, Tenjin-cho, Kiryu, Gunma, 376-8515, Japan.
Abstract:

De Bruijn digraphs and shuffle-exchange graphs are useful models for interconnection networks. They can be represented as group action graphs of the wrapped butterfly graph and the cube-connected cycles, respectively. The Kautz digraph has similar definitions and properties to de Bruijn digraphs. It is \(d\)-regular and strongly \(d\)-connected, thus it is a group action graph. In this paper, we use another representation of the Kautz digraph and settle the open problem posed by M.-C. Heydemann in \([6]\).