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.
- Research article
- Full Text
- Ars Combinatoria
- Volume 080
- Pages: 147-152
- Published: 31/07/2006
We call a cycle whose length is at most \(5\) a short cycle. In this paper, we consider the packing of short cycles in a graph with specified edges. A minimum degree condition is obtained, which is slightly weaker than that of the result in \([1]\).
- Research article
- Full Text
- Ars Combinatoria
- Volume 080
- Pages: 141-146
- Published: 31/07/2006
Let \(G\) be a graph with vertex set \(V(G)\) and let \(f\) be a nonnegative integer-valued function defined on \(V(G)\). A spanning subgraph \(F\) of \(G\) is called a fractional \(f\)-factor if \(d_G^{h}(x) = f(x)\) for every \(x \in V(F)\). In this paper, we prove that if \(\delta(G) \geq b\) and \(\alpha(G) \leq \frac{4a(\delta-b)}{(b+1)^2}\), then \(G\) has a fractional \(f\)-factor. Where \(a\) and \(b\) are integers such that \(0 \leq a \leq f(x) \leq b\) for every \(x \in V(G)\). Therefore, we prove that the fractional analogue of Conjecture in \([2]\) is true.
- Research article
- Full Text
- Ars Combinatoria
- Volume 080
- Pages: 129-139
- Published: 31/07/2006
Let \(D\) be a connected symmetric digraph, \(A\) a finite abelian group, \(g \in A\) and \(\Gamma\) a group of automorphisms of \(D\). We consider the number of \(T\)-isomorphism classes of connected \(g\)-cyclic \(A\)-covers of \(D\) for an element \(g\) of odd order. Specifically, we enumerate the number of \(I\)-isomorphism classes of connected \(g\)-cyclic \(A\)-covers of \(D\) for an element \(g\) of odd order and the trivial automorphism group \(\Gamma\) of \(D\), when \(A\) is the cyclic group \({Z}_{p^n}\) and the direct sum of \(m\) copies of \({Z}_p\) for any prime number \(p (> 2)\).
- Research article
- Full Text
- Ars Combinatoria
- Volume 080
- Pages: 113-127
- Published: 31/07/2006
The Grundy number of an impartial game \(G\) is the size of the unique Nim heap equal to \(G\). We introduce a new variant of Nim, Restricted Nim, which restricts the number of stones a player may remove from a heap in terms of the size of the heap. Certain classes of Restricted Nim are found to produce sequences of Grundy numbers with a self-similar fractal structure. Extending work of C. Kimberling, we obtain new characterizations of these “fractal sequences” and give a bijection between these sequences and certain upper-triangular arrays. As a special case, we obtain the game of Serial Nim, in which the Nim heaps are ordered from left to right, and players can move only in the leftmost nonempty heap.
- Research article
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- Ars Combinatoria
- Volume 080
- Pages: 97-112
- Published: 31/07/2006
A graph \(G\) is clique-perfect if the cardinality of a maximum clique-independent set of \(H\) is equal to the cardinality of a minimum clique-transversal of \(H\), for every induced subgraph \(H\) of \(G\). When equality holds for every clique subgraph of \(G\), the graph is \(c\)-clique-perfect. A graph \(G\) is \(K\)-perfect when its clique graph \(K(G)\) is perfect. In this work, relations are described among the classes of perfect, \(K\)-perfect, clique-perfect and \(c\)-clique-perfect graphs. Besides, partial characterizations of \(K\)-perfect graphs using polyhedral theory and clique subgraphs are formulated.
- Research article
- Full Text
- Ars Combinatoria
- Volume 080
- Pages: 87-96
- Published: 31/07/2006
In this note, we investigate arithmetic properties of the Motzkin numbers. We prove that for large \(n\), the product of the first \(n\) Motzkin numbers is divisible by a large prime. The proofs use the Deep Subspace Theorem.
- Research article
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- Ars Combinatoria
- Volume 080
- Pages: 75-85
- Published: 31/07/2006
The point-distinguishing chromatic index of a graph \(G\), denoted by \(\chi_o(G)\), is the smallest number of colours in a (not necessarily proper) edge colouring of \(G\) such that any two distinct vertices of \(G\) are distinguished by sets of colours of their adjacent edges. The exact value of \(\chi_o(K_{m,n})\) is found if either \(m \leq 10\) or \(n \geq 8m^2 – 2m + 1\).
- Research article
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- Ars Combinatoria
- Volume 080
- Pages: 65-73
- Published: 31/07/2006
Star graphs were introduced by \([1]\) as a competitive model to the \(n\)-cubes. Then hyper-stars were introduced in \([9]\) to be a competitive model to both \(n\)-cubes and star graphs. In this paper, we discuss strong connectivity properties and orientability of the hyper-stars.
- Research article
- Full Text
- Ars Combinatoria
- Volume 080
- Pages: 53-63
- Published: 31/07/2006
In this paper, three methods for constructing larger harmonious graphs from one or a set of harmonious graphs are provided.
- Research article
- Full Text
- Ars Combinatoria
- Volume 080
- Pages: 45-51
- Published: 31/07/2006
The complexity of determining if a Steiner triple system on \(v = 6n + 3\) points contains a parallel class is currently unknown. In this paper, we show that the problem of determining if a partial Steiner triple system on \(v = 6n + 3\) points contains a parallel class is NP-complete. We also consider the problem of determining the chromatic index of a partial Steiner triple system and show that this problem is NP-hard.
Call for papers
- Proceedings of International Conference on Discrete Mathematics (ICDM 2025) – Submissions are closed
- Proceedings of International Conference on Graph Theory and its Applications (ICGTA 2026)
- Special Issue of Ars Combinatoria on Graph Theory and its Applications (ICGTA 2025)
- MWTA 2025 – Proceedings in Ars Combinatoria




