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 043
- Pages: 235-245
- Published: 31/08/1996
For a positive integer \(k\), a \(k\)-subdominating function of \(G = (V, E)\) is a function \(f: V \to \{-1, 1\}\) such that the sum of the function values, taken over closed neighborhoods of vertices, is at least one for at least \(k\) vertices of \(G\). The sum of the function values taken over all vertices is called the aggregate of \(f\) and the minimum aggregate amongst all \(k\)-subdominating functions of \(G\) is the \(k\)-subdomination number \(\gamma_{ks}(G)\). In the special cases where \(k = |V|\) and \(k = \lceil|V|/2\rceil\), \(\gamma_{ks}\) is respectively the signed domination number [{4}] and the majority domination number [{2}]. In this paper we characterize minimal \(k\)-subdominating functions. By determining \(\gamma_{ks}\) for paths, we give a sharp lower bound for \(\gamma_{ks}\) for trees. We also determine an upper bound for \(\gamma_{ks}\) for trees which is sharp for \(k \leq |V|/2 \).
- Research article
- Full Text
- Ars Combinatoria
- Volume 043
- Pages: 232-234
- Published: 31/08/1996
- Research article
- Full Text
- Ars Combinatoria
- Volume 043
- Pages: 225-231
- Published: 31/08/1996
Let \(G\) be a connected (multi)graph. We define the leaf-exchange spanning tree graph \( {T_l}\) of \(G\) as the graph with vertex set \(V_l = \{T|T \text{ is a spanning tree of } G\}\) and edge set \(E_l = \{(T, T’)|E(T)\Delta E(T’) = \{e, f\}, e \in E(T), f \in E(T’) \text{ and } e \text{ and } f \text{ are incident with a vertex } v \text{ of degree } 1 \text{ in } T \text{ and } T’\}\). \({T}(G)\) is a spanning subgraph of the so-called spanning tree graph of \(G\), and of the adjacency spanning tree graph of \(G\), which were studied by several authors. A variation on the leaf-exchange spanning tree graph appeared in recent work on basis graphs of branching greedoids. We characterize the graphs which have a connected leaf-exchange spanning tree graph and give a lower bound on the connectivity of \( {T_l}(G)\) for a \(3\)-connected graph \(G\).
- Research article
- Full Text
- Ars Combinatoria
- Volume 043
- Pages: 213-224
- Published: 31/08/1996
The fine structure of a directed triple system of index \(\lambda\) is the vector \((c_1,c_2,\ldots,c_\lambda)\), where \(c_i\) is the number of directed triples appearing precisely \(i\) times in the system. We determine necessary and sufficient conditions for a vector to be the fine structure of a directed triple system of index \(3\) for \(v \equiv 0\) or \(1 \pmod{3}\).
- Research article
- Full Text
- Ars Combinatoria
- Volume 043
- Pages: 203-212
- Published: 31/08/1996
Let \(p\) denote the circumference of a two-connected graph \(G\). We construct a hamiltonian cycle in \(G^2\) which contains more than \(p/2\) edges of \(G\). Using this construction we prove some properties of hamiltonian cycles in the square of \(G\).
- Research article
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- Ars Combinatoria
- Volume 043
- Pages: 193-202
- Published: 31/08/1996
For a connected graph \(G\) that is not a cycle, a path or a claw, let its \(k\)-iterated line graph have the diameter \(diam_k\), and the radius \(r_k\). Then \(diam_{k+1} = diam_k + 1\) for sufficiently large \(k\). Moreover, \(\{r_k\}\) also tends to infinity and the sequence \(\{diam_k – r_k – \sqrt{2\log_2 k}\}\) is bounded.
- Research article
- Full Text
- Ars Combinatoria
- Volume 043
- Pages: 191-192
- Published: 31/08/1996
In \([1]\) it is proved that each \(4\)-critical plane graph contains either a \(4\)- or a \(5\)-cycle or otherwise a face of size between \(6\) and \(11\).
- Research article
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- Ars Combinatoria
- Volume 043
- Pages: 181-190
- Published: 31/08/1996
For nonempty graphs \(G\) and \(H\), \(H\) is said to be \(G\)-decomposable (written \(G|H\)) if \(E(H)\) can be partitioned into sets \(E_1, \ldots, E_n\) such that the subgraph induced by each \(E_i\) is isomorphic to \(G\). If \(H\) is a graph of minimum size such that \(F|H\) and \(G|H\), then \(H\) is called a least common multiple of \(F\) and \(G\). The size of such a least common multiple is denoted by \(\mathrm{lcm}(F,G)\). We show that if \(F\) and \(G\) are bipartite, then \(\mathrm{lcm}(F,G) \leq |V(F)|\cdot|V(G)|\), where equality holds if \((|V(F)|,|V(G)|) = 1\). We also determine \(\mathrm{lcm}(F,G)\) exactly if \(F\) and \(G\) are cycles or if \(F = P_m, G = K_n\), where \(n\) is odd and \((m-1,\frac{1}{2}(n-1)) = 1\), in the latter case extending a result in [{8}].
- Research article
- Full Text
- Ars Combinatoria
- Volume 043
- Pages: 169-180
- Published: 31/08/1996
Let \(G\) be a graph. A vertex subversion strategy of \(G\), \(S\), is a set of vertices in \(G\) whose closed neighborhood is deleted from \(G\). The survival-subgraph is denoted by \(G/S\). The vertex-neighbor-integrity of \(G\), \(\mathrm{VNI}(G)\), is defined to be \(\mathrm{VNI}(G) = \displaystyle\min_{S\subseteq V(G)} \{|S| + w(G/S)\}\), where \(S\) is any vertex subversion strategy of \(G\), and \(w(G/S)\) is the maximum order of the components of \(G/S\). In this paper, we show the minimum and the maximum vertex-neighbor-integrity among all trees with any fixed order, and also show that for any integer \(l\) between the extreme values there is a tree with the vertex-neighbor-integrity \(l\).
- Research article
- Full Text
- Ars Combinatoria
- Volume 043
- Pages: 159-167
- Published: 31/08/1996
Let \(G\) be a graph of size \(\binom{n+1}{2}\) for some integer \(n \geq 2\). Then \(G\) is said to have an ascending star subgraph decomposition if \(G\) can be decomposed into \(n\) subgraphs \(G_1, G_2, \ldots, G_n\) such that each \(G_i\) is a star of size \(i\) with \(1 \leq i \leq n\). We shall prove in this paper that a star forest with size \(\binom{n+1}{2}\) possesses an ascending star subgraph decomposition under some conditions on the number of components or the size of components.
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




