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.

Kevin J Asciak1, Josef Lauri1
1Department of Mathematics University of Malta Malta
Abstract:

The reconstruction number \(rn(G)\) of graph \(G\) is the minimum number of vertex-deleted subgraphs of \(G\) required in order to identify \(G\) up to isomorphism. Myrvold and Molina have shown that if \(G\) is disconnected and not all components are isomorphic then \(rn(G) = 3\), whereas, if all components are isomorphic and have \(c\) vertices each, then \(rn(G)\) can be as large as \(c + 2\). In this paper we propose and initiate the study of the gap between \(rn(G) = 3\) and \(rn(G) = c + 2\). Myrvold showed that if \(G\) consists of \(p\) copies of \(K_c\), then\(rn(G) = c + 2\). We show that, in fact, this is the only class of disconnected graphs with this value of \(rn(G)\). We also show that if \(rn(G) \geq c + 1\) (where \(c\) is still the number of vertices in any component), then, again, \(G\) can only be copies of \(K_c\). It then follows that there exist no disconnected graphs \(G\) with \(c\) vertices in each component and \(rn(G) = c + 1\). This poses the problem of obtaining for a given \(c\), the largest value of \(t = t(c)\) such that there exists a disconnected graph with all components of order \(c\), isomorphic and not equal to \(K_c\), and is such that \(rn(G) = t\).

Dave Cowan1, Jiping Liu1
1Department of Mathematics and Computer Science University of Lethbridge Lethbridge, AB., Canada T1K 3M4
Abstract:

We take a special \(1\)-factorization of \(K_{n,n}\), and investigate the subgraphs suborthogonal to the \(1\)-factorization. Some interesting results are obtained, including an identity involving \(n^n\) and \(n!\) and a property of permutations.

Kuo-Bing Huang1, Wen-Chung Huang1, Chia-Chin Hung1, Guei-Hua Wang1
1Department of Mathematics Soochow University Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China.
Abstract:

An extended Mendelsohn triple system of order \(v\) (EMTS(\(v\))) is a collection of cyclically ordered triples of the type \([x,y,z], [x,x,y]\), or \([x,x,x]\) chosen from a \(v\)-set, such that each ordered pair (not necessarily distinct) belongs to exactly one triple. If such a design with parameters \(v\) and \(a\) exist, then they will have \(b_{v,a}\) blocks, where \(b_{v,a} = (v^2 + 2a)/3\). In this paper, we show that there are two (not necessarily distinct) EMTS(\(v\))’s with common triples in the following sets:

\(\{0,1,2,\ldots,b_v-4,b_v-2,b_v\}\), if \(v \neq 6\); and

\(\{0,1,2,\ldots,b_v-4,b_v-2\}\), if \(v = 6\),

where \(b_v\) is \(b_{v,v-1}\) if \(v \equiv 2 \pmod{3}\); \(b_{v,v}\) if \(v \not\equiv 2 \pmod{3}\).

Midori Kobayashi1, Jin Akiyama2, Gisaku Nakamura3
1School of Administration and Informatics University of Shizuoka Shizuoka. 422-8526 Japan
2Tokai University Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, 151-0063 Japan
3Tokai University Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, 151-0063 Japan
Abstract:

Dudeney’s round table problem was proposed about one hundred years ago. It is already solved when the number of people is even, but it is still unsettled except for only a few cases when the number of people is odd.

In this paper, a solution of Dudeney’s round table problem is given when \(n = p+2\), where \(p\) is an odd prime number such that \(2\) is the square of a primitive root of \(\mathrm{GF}(p)\), and \(p \equiv 3 \pmod{4}\).

R.G. Stanton1
1Department of Computer Science University of Manitoba Winnipeg, Canada R3T 2N2
Abstract:

The number \(g^{(4)}_{2}\) is the minimal number of blocks that contain all pairs from a set of \(8\) elements exactly twice under the restriction that the longest block has size \(4\) (this longest block need not be unique). Thus the blocks have lengths \(2, 3\), and \(4\). We show that there are three solutions to this problem.

Zhou Bo1
1Department of Mathematics South China Normal University Guangzhou 510631 P.R. China
Abstract:

The \(n \times n\) primitive nearly reducible Boolean matrices whose \(k\)-exponents (\(1 \leq k \leq n\)) achieve the maximum value are characterized.

Kiyoshi Ando1, Atsuhiro Nakamoto2
1Department of Computer Science and Information Mathematics, The University of Electro-Communications, 1-5-1 Chofugaoka, Chofu, Tokyo 182-8585, Japan
2Department of Mathematics, Osaka Kyoiku University, 4-698-1 Asahigaoka, Kashi- wara, Osaka 852-8582, Japan
Abstract:

A graph is said to be \(k\)-covered if for each edge \(xy\), \(deg(x) = k\) or \(deg(y) = k\). In this paper, we characterize the \(3\)-covered quadrangulations of closed surfaces.

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

A graceful graph with \(n\) edges and \(n+1\) vertices is called a vertex-saturated graph. Each graceful graph corresponds to a vertex-saturated graph. Four classes of graceful graphs associated with vertex-saturated graphs are presented. Three of which generalize the results of [1], [2] and [5].

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

We correct an earlier theorem and reprove its consequences regarding \(c\)-BRDs with \(v \equiv 5, 8 \pmod{12}\). The original conclusions remain valid.

Yen-Chi Chen1, Hung-Lin Fu1, I-Fan Sun1
1Department of Applied Mathematics National Chiao Tung University Hsin Chu, Taiwan, R.0.C.
Abstract:

The type of a vertex \(v\) in a \(p\)-page book-embedding is the \(p \times 2\) matrix of nonnegative integers

\[{r}(v) =
\left(
\begin{array}{ccccc}
l_{v,1} & r_{v,1} \\
. & . \\
. & . \\
. & . \\
l_{v,p} & r_{v,p} \\
\end{array}
\right),\]

where \(l_{v,i}\) (respectively, \(r_{v,i}\)) is the number of edges incident to \(v\) that connect on page \(i\) to vertices lying to the left (respectively, to the right) of \(v\). The type number of a graph \(G\), \(T(G)\), is the minimum number of different types among all the book-embeddings of \(G\). In this paper, we disprove the conjecture by J. Buss et al. which says for \(n \geq 4\), \(T(L_n)\) is not less than \(5\) and prove that \(T(L_n) = 4\) for \(n \geq 3\).

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