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.

S. Georgiou1, C. Koukouvinos1
1Department of Mathematics National Technical University of Athens Zografou 15773, Athens Greece
Abstract:

The classification of Hadamard matrices of orders \(n \geq 32\) remains an open and difficult problem. The definition of equivalent Hadamard matrices gets increasingly complex as \(n\) grows larger. One efficient criterion (\(K\)-boxes) has been used for the construction of inequivalent Hadamard matrices in order \(28\).

In this paper, we use inequivalent projections of Hadamard matrices and their symmetric Hamming distances to check for inequivalent Hadamard matrices. Using this criterion, we have developed two algorithms. The first one achieves finding all inequivalent projections in \(k\) columns as well as classifying Hadamard matrices, and the second, which is faster than the first, uses the symmetric Hamming distance distribution of projections to classify Hadamard matrices. As an example, we apply the second algorithm to the known inequivalent Hadamard matrices of orders \(n = 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24\), and \(28\).

Phyllis Chinn1, Ralph Grimaldi2, Silvia Heubach3
1Dept. of Mathematics, Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA 95521
2Dept. of Mathematics, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Terre Haute, IN 47803-3999
3Dept. of Mathematics, California State University Los Angeles 5151 State University Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90032-8204
Abstract:

A composition of a positive integer \(n\) consists of an ordered sequence of positive integers whose sum is \(n\). A palindromic composition is one for which the sequence is the same from left to right as from right to left. This paper shows various ways of generating all palindromic compositions, counts the number of times each integer appears as a summand among all the palindromic compositions of \(n\), and describes several patterns among the numbers generated in the process of enumeration.

M. Cera1, A. Dianez2, P. Garcia-Vazquez1, J.C. Valenzuela3
1E.U.LT. Agricola, Universidad de Sevilla, Spain.
2E.T.S. Arquitectura, Universidad de Sevilla, Spain.
3E.P.S. Algeciras, Universidad de Cédiz, Spain.
Abstract:

The study of the maximum size \(ex(n; K_{t,t})\) of a graph of order \(n\) not containing the complete bipartite graph \(K_{t,t}\) as a subgraph is the aim of this paper. We show an upper bound for this extremal function that is optimum for infinitely many values of \(n\) and \(t\). Moreover, we characterize the corresponding family of extremal graphs.

Garth Isaak1, Kathryn L.Nyman2, Ann N.Trenk3
1Department of Mathematics Lehigh University Lehigh, PA 18015
2Department of Mathematics Cornell University Ithaca, NY 14853
3Department of Mathematics Wellesley College Wellesley, MA 02481
Abstract:

In this paper we extend the work of Bogart and Trenk [3] and Fishburn and Trotter [6] in studying different classes of bitolerance orders. We provide a more comprehensive list of classes of bitolerance orders and prove equality between some of these classes in general and other classes in the bipartite domain. We also provide separating examples between unequal classes of bitolerance orders.

Alois Panholzer1
1Institute FOR ALGEBRA AND COMPUTER MATHEMATICS, TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITAT Wien, WiEDNER HAUPTSTRASSE 8-10, A- 1040 WIEN, AUSTRIA.
Abstract:

We consider non-crossing trees and show that the height of node \(\rho n\) with \(0 < p < 1\) in a non-crossing tree of size \(n\) is asymptotically Maxwell-distributed. We also give an asymptotic formula for the expected height of node \(\rho n\).

Shung-Liang Wu1
1National Lien-Ho Institute of Technology Miaoli, Taiwan, R. O. C.
Abstract:

Let \(G = (V(G), E(G))\) be a finite simple graph with \(p\) vertices and \(n\) edges. A labeling of \(G\) is an injection \(f: V(G) \to {Z}_n\). A labeling of \(G\) is called \(2\)-sequential if \(f(V(G)) = \{r, r+1, \ldots, r+p-1\}\) (\(0 \leq r <r+ p-1 \leq n-1\)) and the induced edge labeling \(f^*: E(G) \to \{0, 1, \ldots, n-1\}\) given by \[f^*(u,v) = f(u) + f(v), \quad \text{for every edge } (u,v) \] forms a sequence of distinct consecutive integers \(\{k, k+1, \ldots, n+k-1\}\) for some \(k\) (\(1 \leq k \leq n-2\)). By utilizing the graphs having \(2\)-sequential labeling, several new families of sequential graphs are presented.

Akira Saito1, Tomoki Yamashita2
1Department of Applied Mathematics, Nihon University Sakurajosui 3-25-40 Setagaya-Ku, Tokyo 156-8550 JAPAN
2Department of Mathematics, Kobe University Rokkodai 1~1, Nada-ku, Kobe 657-8501 JAPAN
Abstract:

A cycle \(C\) in a graph \(G\) is said to be a dominating cycle if every vertex of \(G\) has a neighbor on \(C\). Strengthening a result of Bondy and Fan [3] for tough graphs, we prove that a \(k\)-connected graph \(G\) (\(k \geq 2\)) of order \(p\) with \(t(G) > \frac{k}{k+1}\) has a dominating cycle if \(\sum_{x \in S} \geq p – 2k – 2\) for each \(S \subset V(G)\) of order \(k+1\) in which every pair of vertices in \(S\) have distance at least four in \(G\).

Robert C.Brigham1, Julie R.Carrington2, Richard P.Vitray2, Donna J.Williams3, Jay Yellen2
1Department of Mathematics University of Central Florida, Orlando FL 32816
2Department of Mathematical Sciences Rollins College, Winter Park FL 32789
3Department of Mathematics and Computer Science Stetson University, DeLand FL 32724
Abstract:

Let \(G = (V,E)\) be an n-vertex graph and \(f : V \rightarrow \{1,2,\ldots,n\}\) be a bijection. The additive bandwidth of \(G\), denoted \(B^+(G)\), is given by \(B^+(G) = \min_{f} \max_{u,v\in E} |f(u) + f(v) – (n+1)|\), where the minimum ranges over all possible bijections \(f\). The additive bandwidth cannot decrease when an edge is added, but it can increase to a value which is as much as three times the original additive bandwidth. The actual increase depends on \(B^+(G)\) and n and is completely determined.

Spencer P.Hurd1, Dinesh G.Sarvate2
1Dept. of Mathematics and Computer Science, The Citadel, Charleston, SC, 29409,
2Department of Mathematics, University of Charleston, Charleston, SC, 29424,
Abstract:

In Minimal Enclosings of Triple Systems I, we solved the problem of minimal enclosings of \(\text{BIBD}(v, 3, \lambda)\) into \(\text{BIBD}(v+1, 3, \lambda+m)\) for \(1 \leq \lambda \leq 6\) with a minimal \(m \geq 1\). Here we consider a new problem relating to the existence of enclosings for triple systems for any \(v\), with \(1 < 4 < 6\), of \(\text{BIBD}(v, 3, \lambda)\) into \(\text{BIBD}(v+s, 3, \lambda+1)\) for minimal positive \(s\). The non-existence of enclosings for otherwise suitable parameters is proved, and for the first time the difficult cases for even \(\lambda\) are considered. We completely solve the case for \(\lambda \leq 3\) and \(\lambda = 5\), and partially complete the cases \(\lambda = 4\) and \(\lambda = 6\). In some cases a \(1\)-factorization of a complete graph or complete \(n\)-partite graph is used to obtain the minimal enclosing. A list of open cases for \(\lambda = 4\) and \(\lambda = 6\) is attached.

Zhizheng Zhang 1, Hong Feng1
1Department of Applied Mathematics, Dalian University of Technology Dalian 116024, P.R.China