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.

Ying-Mei Fan1, Jun-Ming Xu2, Min Lu2
1College of Mathematics and Information Science Guangxi University, Nanning, Guangxi, 530004, China
2Department of Mathematics University of Science and Technology of China Hefei, Anhui, 230026, China
Abstract:

A connected graph is said to be super edge-connected if every minimum edge-cut isolates a vertex. The restricted edge-connectivity \(\lambda’\) of a connected graph is the minimum number of edges whose deletion results in a disconnected graph such that each connected component has at least two vertices. A graph \(G\) is called \(\lambda’\)-optimal if \(\lambda'(G) = \min\{d_G(u)+d_G(v)-2: uv \text{ is an edge in } G\}\). This paper proves that for any \(d\) and \(n\) with \(d \geq 2\) and \(n\geq 1\) the Kautz undirected graph \(UK(d, 1)\) is \(\lambda’\)-optimal except \(UK(2,1)\) and \(UK(2,2)\) and, hence, is super edge-connected except \(UK(2, 2)\).

Jiaojiao Wu1, Xuding Zhu1
1Department of Applied Mathematics National Sun Yat-sen University, Taiwan
Abstract:

In a \((k, d)\)-relaxed coloring game, two players, Alice and Bob, take turns coloring the vertices of a graph \(G\) with colors from a set \(C\) of \(k\) colors. A color \(c\) is legal for an uncolored vertex (at a certain step) means that after coloring \(x\) with color \(i\), the subgraph induced by vertices of color \(i\) has maximum degree at most \(d\). Each player can only color a vertex with a legal color. Alice’s goal is to have all the vertices colored, and Bob’s goal is the opposite: to have an uncolored vertex without legal color. The \(d\)-relaxed game chromatic number of a graph \(G\), denoted by \(\chi^{(d)}_g(G)\) is the least number \(k\) so that when playing the \((k,d)\)-relaxed coloring game on \(G\), Alice has a winning strategy. This paper proves that if \(G\) is an outer planar graph, then \(\chi^{(d)}_g(G) \leq 7 – d\) for \(d = 0, 1, 2, 3, 4\).

Michael A.Henning1, J.E. Maritz1
1Department of Mathematics University of KwaZulu-Natal Private Bag X01 Pietermaritzburg, 3209 South Africa
Abstract:

A graph \(G\) is 2-stratified if its vertex set is partitioned into two classes (each of which is a stratum or a color class). We color the vertices in one color class red and the other color class blue. Let \(X\) be a 2-stratified graph with one fixed blue vertex \(v\) specified. We say that \(X\) is rooted at \(v\). The \(X\)-domination number of a graph \(G\) is the minimum number of red vertices of \(G\) in a red-blue coloring of the vertices of \(G\) such that every blue vertex \(uv\) of \(G\) belongs to a copy of \(X\) rooted at \(v\). In this paper we investigate the \(X\)-domination number of prisms when \(X\) is a 2-stratified 4-cycle rooted at a blue vertex.

James G.Lefevre1
1Department of Mathematics, The University of Queensland Qld. 4072, Australia
Abstract:

The maximum possible volume of a simple, non-Steiner \((v, 3, 2)\) trade was determined for all \(v\) by Khosrovshahi and Torabi (Ars Combinatoria \(51 (1999), 211-223)\); except that in the case \(v \equiv 5\) (mod 6), \(v \geq 23\), they were only able to provide an upper bound on the volume. In this paper we construct trades with volume equal to that bound for all \(v \equiv 5\) (mod 6), thus completing the problem.

A.J.W. Hilton1, Matthew Johnson2
1Department of Mathematics University of Reading Whiteknights P.O. Box 220 Reading RG6 6AX U.K.
2Department of Mathematics London School of Economics Houghton Street London WC2A 2AE U.K.
Abstract:

For a positive integer \(n\), let \(G\) be \(K_n\) if \(n\) is odd and \(K_n\) less a one-factor if \(n\) is even. In this paper it is shown that, for non-negative integers \(p\), \(q\) and \(r\), there is a decomposition of \(G\) into \(p\) \(4\)-cycles, \(q\) \(6\)-cycles and \(r\) \(8\)-cycles if \(4p + 6q + 8r = |E(G)|\), \(q = 0\) if \(n < 6\), and \(r = 0\) if \(n < 8\).

Chunlin Liu1
1Department of Mathematics, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha, Hunan 410073 P. R. China
Abstract:

This paper introduces a bijection between RNA secondary structures and bicoloured ordered trees.

Arie Bialostocki 1, Mark J.Nielsen1
1University of Idaho
Abstract:

For a given triangle \(T\), consider the problem of finding a finite set \(S\) in the plane such that every two-coloring of \(S\) results in a monochromatic set congruent to the vertices of \(T\). We show that such a set \(S\) must have at least seven points. Furthermore, we show by an example that the minimum of seven is achieved.

Nancy E.Clarke1, Emma L.Connon2
1Acadia University Wolfville, Nova Scotia
2University of Waterloo Waterloo, Ontario
Abstract:

The two games considered are mixtures of Searching and Cops and Robber. The cops have partial information, provided first via selected vertices of a graph, and then via selected edges. This partial information includes the robber’s position, but not the direction in which he is moving. The robber has perfect information. In both cases, we give bounds on the amount of such information required by a single cop to guarantee the capture of the robber on a cop-win graph.

Nam-Po Chiang1, Chien-Kuo Tzeng1
1Department of Applied Mathematics Tatung University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC.
Zihong Tian1, Yanke Du2, Qingde Kang1
1Institute of Math., Hebei Normal University, Shijiazhuang 050016, P. R. China
2Dept. of Basic Courses, Ordnance Engineering College, Shijiazhuang 050003, P. R. China
Abstract:

Let \(K_v\) be the complete multigraph with \(v\) vertices. Let \(G\) be a finite simple graph. A \(G\)-design of \(K_v\), denoted by \(G\)-GD(\(v\)), is a pair of (\(X\), \(\mathcal{B}\)), where \(X\) is the vertex set of \(K_v\), and \(\mathcal{B}\) is a collection of subgraphs of \(K_v\), called blocks, such that each block is isomorphic to \(G\) and any two distinct vertices in \(K_v\) are joined in exactly one block of \(\mathcal{B}\). In this paper, the discussed graphs are sixteen graphs with six vertices and seven edges. We give a unified method for constructing such \(G\)-designs.