Ars Combinatoria

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

Ars Combinatoria is the oldest Canadian Journal of Combinatorics, established in 1976. The journal is dedicated to advancing the field of combinatorial mathematics through the publication of high-quality research papers. From 2024 onward, it publishes four volumes per year in March, June, September and December. Ars Combinatoria has gained recognition and visibility in the academic community and is indexed in renowned databases such as MathSciNet, Zentralblatt, and Scopus. The Scope of the journal includes Graph theory, Design theory, Extremal combinatorics, Enumeration, Algebraic combinatorics, Combinatorial optimization, Ramsey theory, Automorphism groups, Coding theory, Finite geometries, Chemical graph theory but not limited.

H.W. Gould1
1Department of Mathematics West Virginia University, PO Box 6310 Morgantown, WV 26506-6310
Xia Zhang1, Jihui Wang 2, Guizhen Liu 2
1School of Mathematics and System Science Shandong University Jinan, Shandong 250100, P.R.China
2 School of Mathematics and System Science Shandong University Jinan, Shandong 250100, P.R.China
Abstract:

An \(f\)-coloring of a graph \(G\) is a coloring of edges of \(E(G)\) such that each color appears at each vertex \(v \in V(G)\) at most \(f(v)\) times. The minimum number of colors needed to \(f\)-color \(G\) is called the \(f\)-chromatic index of \(G\) and denoted by \(\chi’_f(G)\). Any simple graph \(G\) has the \(f\)-chromatic index equal to \(\Delta_f(G)\) or \(\Delta_f(G) + 1\), where \(\Delta_f(G) = \max_{v \in V}\{\lceil \frac{d(v)} {f(v)}\rceil\}\). If \(\chi’_f(G) = \Delta_f(G)\), then \(G\) is of \(C_f\) \(1\); otherwise \(G\) is of \(C_f\) \(2\). In this paper, two sufficient conditions for a regular graph to be of \(C_f\) \(1\) or \(C_f\) \(2\) are obtained and two necessary and sufficient conditions for a regular graph to be of \(C_f\) \(1\) are also presented.

Sin-Min Lee1, Ho Kuen Ng2
1Department of Computer Science San Jose State University San Jose, CA 95192, USA
2Department of Mathematics San Jose State University San Jose, CA 95192, USA
Abstract:

Let \(G\) be a graph with vertex set \(V(G)\) and edge set \(E(G)\), and let \(A\) be an abelian group. A labeling \(f: V(G) \to A\) induces an edge labeling \(f^*: E(G) \to A\) defined by \(f^*(xy) = f(x) + f(y)\), for each edge \(xy \in E(G)\). For \(i \in A\), let \(v_f(i) = \text{card}\{v \in V(G): f(v) = i\}\) and \(e_f(i) = \text{card}\{e \in E(G): f^*(e) = i\}\). Let \(c(f) = \{|e_f(i) – e_f(j)|: (i,j) \in A \times A\}\). A labeling \(f\) of a graph \(G\) is said to be \(A-friendly\) if \(|v_f(i) – v_f(j)| \leq 1\) for all \((i,j) \in A \times A\). If \(c(f)\) is a \((0,1)\)-matrix for an \(A\)-friendly labeling \(f\), then \(f\) is said to be \(A\)-cordial. When \(A = \mathbb{Z}_2\), the \({friendly index set}\) of the graph \(G\), \(FI(G)\), is defined as \(\{|e_f(0) – e_f(1)|: \text{the vertex labeling } f \text{ is } \mathbb{Z}_2\text{-friendly}\}\). In this paper, we determine the friendly index set of cycles, complete graphs, and some bipartite graphs.

Takaaki Hishida1, Masakazu Jimbo2, Miwako Mishima3, Yukiyasu Mutoh2, Kazuhiro Ozawa4
1Department of Information Network Engineering Aichi Institute of Technology Toyota 470-0392, Japan
2Graduate School of Information Science Nagoya University Nagoya 464-8601, Japan
3Information and Multimedia Center Gifu University Gifu 501-1193, Japan
4Gifu College of Nursing Hashima 501-6295, Japan
Abstract:

In this paper, several constructions are presented for balanced incomplete block designs with nested rows and columns. Some of them refine theorems due to Hishida and Jimbo \([6]\) and Uddin and Morgan \([17]\), and some of them give parameters which have not been available before.

Zhong-fu Zhang1,2, Mu-chun Li1, Bing Yao3, Bo-gen Xu4, Zhi-wen Wang5, Jing-wen Li1
1Institute of Applied Mathematics, Lanzhou Jiaotong University, Lanzhou 730070 P.R. China
2College of Mathematics and Information Science, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou 730070, P.R. Chinazhagn_zhong-fu@yahoo.com.cn
3College of Mathematics and Information Science, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou 730070, P.R. China
4Department of Mathematics, Huadong jiaotong University, Nanchang 330013, P.R. China
5Department of Mathematics of Yeungnam university, Daedong, Kyongsan, Kyongbuk 712-749, Korea
Abstract:

A vertex-distinguishing edge-coloring (VDEC) of a simple graph \(G\) which contains no more than one isolated vertex and no isolated edge is equitable (VDEEC) if the absolute value of the difference between the number of edges colored by color \(i\) and the number of edges colored by color \(j\) is at most one. The minimal number of colors needed such that \(G\) has a VDEEC is called the vertex-distinguishing equitable chromatic index of \(G\). In this paper, we propose two conjectures after investigating VDEECs on some special families of graphs, such as the stars, fans, wheels, complete graphs, complete bipartite graphs, etc.

Joan Gimbert1, Nacho Lopez2
1 Departament de Matematica Universitat de Lleida, 25001 Lleida, Spain
2Departament de Matematica Universitat de Lleida, 25001 Lleida, Spain
Abstract:

The eccentricity \(e(v)\) of a vertex \(v\) in a strongly connected digraph \(G\) is the maximum distance from \(v\). The eccentricity sequence of a digraph is the list of eccentricities of its vertices given in non-decreasing order. A sequence of positive integers is a digraphical eccentric sequence if it is the eccentricity sequence of some digraph. A set of positive integers \(S\) is a digraphical eccentric set if there is a digraph \(G\) such that \(S = \{e(v), v \in V(G)\}\). In this paper, we present some necessary and sufficient conditions for a sequence \(S\) to be a digraphical eccentric sequence. In some particular cases, where either the minimum or the maximum value of \(S\) is fixed, a characterization is derived. We also characterize digraphical eccentric sets.

Shung-Liang Wu1, Hui-Chuan Lu1
1National United University Miaoli, Taiwan, R.O.C.
Abstract:

Let \(C_m\) be a cycle on \(m (\geq 3)\) vertices and let \(\ominus_{n-m}C_m\) denote the class of graphs obtained from \(C_m\) by adding \(n-m (\geq 1)\) distinct pendent edges to the vertices of \(C_m\). In this paper, it is proved that for every \(T\) in \(\ominus_{n-m}C_m\), the complete graph \(K_{2n+1}\) can be cyclically decomposed into the isomorphic copies of \(T\). Moreover, if \(m\) is even, then for every positive integer \(p\), the complete graph \(K_{2pn+1}\) can also be cyclically decomposed into the isomorphic copies of \(T\).

Sang-Mok Kim1
1DIVISION OF GENERAL EDUCATION – MATHEMATICS KWANGWOON UNIVERSITY SEOUL 139-701, KOREA
Abstract:

An aperiodic perfect map (APM) is an array with the property that each possible array of a given size, called a window, arises exactly once as a contiguous subarray in the array. In this paper, we give a construction method of an APM being a proper concatenation of some fragments of a given de Bruijn sequence. Firstly, we give a criterion to determine whether a designed sequence \(T\) with entries from the index set of a de Bruijn sequence can generate an APM. This implies a sufficient condition for being an APM. Secondly, two infinite families of APMs are given by constructions of corresponding sequences \(T\), respectively, satisfying the criterion.

Yusuf Civan1
1DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS, SULEYMAN DEMIREL UNIVERSITY, ISPARTA, 32260, TURKEY.
Abstract:

We introduce a combinatorial shifting operation on multicomplexes that carries similar properties required for the ordinary shifting operation on simplicial complexes. A linearly colored simplicial complex is called shifted if its associated multicomplex is stable under defined operation. We show that the underlying simplicial subcomplex of a linearly shifted simplicial complex is shifted in the ordinary sense, while the ordinary and linear shiftings are not interrelated in general. Separately, we also prove that any linearly shifted complex must be shellable with respect to the order of its facets induced by the linear coloring. As an application, we provide a characterization of simple graphs whose independence complexes are linearly shifted. The class of graphs obtained constitutes a superclass of threshold graphs.

H.W. Gould1
1Department of Mathematics West Virginia University, PO Box 6310 Morgantown, WV 26506-6310

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