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.

Michael S.Jacobson1, André E.Kézdy1, Jené Lehel1
1Department of Mathematics University of Louisville Louisville, KY 40292
Abstract:

A path of a graph is maximal if it is not a proper subpath of any other path of the graph. The path spectrum is the set of lengths of all maximal paths in the graph. A graph is scenic if its path spectrum is a singleton set. In this paper, we give a new proof characterizing all scenic graphs with a Hamiltonian path; this result was first proven by Thomassen in \(1974\). The proof strategy used here is also applied in a companion paper in which we characterize scenic graphs with no Hamiltonian path.

Mark B.BEINTEMA1, JEFFREY T.Bonn1, Roperr W.FirzGERALD1, Joseph L.Yucas1
1 Department of Mathematics . Southern Illinois University Carbondale, IL 62901-4408
M.A. Francel1, D.G. Sarvate2
1 Department of Mathematics and Computer Science The Citadel Charleston, SC, 29409
2 Department of Mathematics University of Charleston Charleston, SC 29424
Abstract:

In this paper, we count \(n\)-block BTD\((V, B, R, 3, 2)\) configurations for \(n = 1\) and \(2\). In particular, we list all configuration types and determine formulae for the number of \(n\)-block subsets of a design of each type. A small number of the formulae are shown to be dependent solely on the design parameters. The remainder are shown to be dependent on the number of occurrences of two particular two-block configurations as well as the design parameters. Three new non-isomorphic BTD\((9; 33; 5, 3, 11; 3; 2)\) are given that illustrate the independence of certain configurations.

Johannes H.Hattingh1, Renu C.Laskar2
1Department of Mathematics, Rand Afrikaans University, Johannesburg, South Africa
2Department of Mathematical Sciences, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, USA
Abstract:

Sampathkumar and Pushpa Latha (see \({[3]}\)) conjectured that the independent domination number, \(i(T)\), of a tree \(T\) is less than or equal to its weak domination number, \(\gamma_w(T)\). We show that this conjecture is true, prove that \(\gamma_w(T) \leq \beta(T)\) for a tree \(T\), exhibit an infinite class of trees in which the differences \( \gamma_w-i \) and \(\beta – \gamma_w\) can be made arbitrarily large, and show that the decision problem corresponding to the computation of \(\gamma(G)\) is \(NP\)-complete, even for bipartite graphs. Lastly, we provide a linear algorithm to compute \(\gamma_w(T)\) for a tree \(T\).

Abdelhafid Berrachedi1, Michel Mollard2
1 Insitut de mathématiques, USTHB BP 32 El Alia 16111 Alger, Algérie
2LSD2(IMAG) BP 53 38041 Grenoble CEDEX 9 France
Abstract:

We give operations on graphs preserving the property of being a \((0,2)\)-graph. In particular, these operations allow the construction of non-vertex-transitive \((0,2)\)-graphs. We also construct a family of regular interval-regular graphs which are not interval monotone, thus disproving a weaker version of a conjecture proposed by H.M. Mulder.

F.J. Faase 1
1Department of Computer Science University of Twente P.O. Box 217 7500 AE Enschede The Netherlands
Abstract:

This paper investigates the number of spanning subgraphs of the product of an arbitrary graph \(G\) with the path graphs \(P_n\) on \(n\) vertices that meet certain properties: connectivity, acyclicity, Hamiltonicity, and restrictions on degree. A general method is presented for constructing a recurrence equation \(R(n)\) for the graphs \(G \times P_n\), giving the number of spanning subgraphs that satisfy a given combination of the properties. The primary result is that all constructed recurrence equations are homogeneous linear recurrence equations with integer coefficients. A second result is that the property “having a spanning tree with degree restricted to \(1\) and \(3\)” is a comparatively strong property, just like the property “having a Hamilton cycle”, which has been studied extensively in literature.

Xueliang Li1,2
1 Department of Applied Mathematics, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xian, Shaanxi 710072, P.R. China.
2Institute of Mathematics and Physics, Xinjiang University, Urumchi, Xinjiang 830046, P.R. China.
Abstract:

Broersma and Hoede studied the \(P_3\)-transformation of graphs and claimed that it is an open problem to characterize all pairs of nonisomorphic connected graphs with isomorphic connected \(P_3\)-graphs. In this paper, we solve the problem to a great extent by proving that the \(P_3\)-transformation is one-to-one on all graphs with minimum degree greater than two. The only cases that remain open are cases where some degree is 1 or 2, and examples indicate that the problem seems to be difficult in these cases. This in some sense can be viewed as a counterpart with respect to \(P_3\)-graphs for Whitney’s result on line graphs.

Lisa Markus1, Douglas Rall1
1Department of Mathematics Furman University Greenville, SC 29613
Abstract:

A graph \(H\) is called a seed graph if there exists a graph \(G\) such that the deletion of any closed neighborhood of \(G\) always results in \(H\). In this paper, we investigate disconnected seed graphs. By degree and order considerations, we show that for certain pairs of connected graphs, \(H_1\) and \(H_2\), \(H_1 \cup H_2\) cannot be a seed graph. Furthermore, for every connected graph \(H\) such that \(K_1 \cup H\) is a seed graph, we show that \(H\) can be obtained by a certain graph product of \(K_2\) and \(H’\), where \(H’\) is itself a seed graph.

Yair Caro1
1Department of Mathematics School of Education University of Haifa – Oranim Tivon, 36006 Israel
Abstract:

The following problem is formulated:

Let \(P(G)\) be a graph parameter and let \(k\) and \(\delta\) be integers such that \(k > \ell \geq 0\). Suppose \(|G| = n\) and for any two \(k\)-subsets \(A, B \subset V(G)\) such that \(|A \cap B| = \ell\) it follows that \(P(\langle A\rangle) = P(\langle B\rangle )\). Characterize \(G\).

We solve this problem for two parameters, the domination number and the number of edges modulo \(m\) (for any \(m \geq \ell\)). These solutions extend and are based on an earlier work that dated back to a 1960 theorem of Kelly and Merriell.

Dan Archdeacon1, Nora Hartsfield2, C.H.C. Little3, Bojan Mohar4
1 Department of Mathematics and Statistics University of Vermont Burlington, VT, USA 05401-1455
2 Department of Mathematics Western Washington University Bellingham, WA, USA 98225
3Department of Mathematics and Statistics Massey University Palmerston North, New Zealand
4 Department of Mathematics University of Ljubljana Slovenia
Abstract:

A graph \(G\) is outer-projective-planar if it can be embedded in the projective plane so that every vertex appears on the boundary of a single face. We exhibit obstruction sets for outer-projective-planar graphs with respect to the subdivision, minor, and \(Y\Delta\) orderings. Equivalently, we find the minimal non-outer-projective-planar graphs under these orderings.