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.

K.M. Koh1, T.S. Ting1
1Department of Mathematics National University of Singapore 2 Science Drive 2 Singapore 117543
Abstract:

Consider the following problem: Given a transitive tournament \(T\) of order \(n \geq 3\) and an integer \(k\) with \(1 \leq k \leq \binom{n}{2}\), which \(k\) ares in \(T\) should be reversed so that the resulting tournament has the largest number of spanning cycles? In this note, we solve the problem when \(7\) is sufficiently large compared to \(k\).

Yong-Chang Cao1, Jia Huang1, Jun-Ming Xu1
1Department of Mathematics University of Science and Technology of China Hefei, Anhui, 230026, China
Abstract:

The bondage number \(b(G)\) of a graph \(G\) is the smallest number of edges whose removal results in a graph with domination number greater than the domination number of \(G\). Kang and Yuan [Bondage number of planar graphs. Discrete Math. \(222 (2000), 191-198]\) proved \(b(G) \leq \min\{8, \Delta + 2\}\) for every connected planar graph \(G\), where \(\Delta\) is the maximum degree of \(G\). Later Carlson and Develin [On the bondage number of planar and directed graphs. Discrete Math. \(306 (8-9) (2006), 820-826]\) presented a method to give a short proof for this result. This paper applies this technique to generalize the result of Kang and Yuan to any connected graph with crossing number less than four.

Haoli Wang1, Xirong Xu2, Yuansheng Yang2, Chunnian Ji2
1College of Computer and Information Engineering Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, 300387, P. R. China
2Department of Computer Science Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, 116024, P. R. China
Abstract:

A \({Roman \;domination \;function}\) on a graph \(G = (V, E)\) is a function \(f: V(G) \to \{0, 1, 2\}\) satisfying the condition that every vertex \(u\) with \(f(u) = 0\) is adjacent to at least one vertex \(v\) with \(f(v) = 2\). The \({weight}\) of a Roman domination function \(f\) is the value \(f(V(G)) = \sum_{u \in V(G)} f(u)\). The minimum weight of a Roman dominating function on a graph \(G\) is called the \({Roman \;domination \;number}\) of \(G\), denoted by \(\gamma_R(G)\). In this paper, we study the Roman domination number of generalized Petersen graphs \(P(n, 2)\) and prove that \(\gamma_R(P(n, 2)) = \left\lceil \frac{8n}{7} \right\rceil (n\geq5)\).

Xiaoming Pi1,2, Huanping Liu3
1Department of Mathematics, Beijing Institute of Technology Beijing 100081, China
2Department of Mathematics, Harbin Normal University Harbin 150025, China
3Department of Information Science, Harbin Normal University Harbin 150025, China
Abstract:

Let \(G = (V, E)\) be a simple undirected graph. For an edge \(e\) of \(G\), the \({closed\; edge-neighborhood}\) of \(e\) is the set \(N[e] = \{e’ \in E \mid e’ \text{ is adjacent to } e\} \cup \{e\}\). A function \(f: E \to \{1, -1\}\) is called a signed edge domination function (SEDF) of \(G\) if \(\sum_{e’ \in N[e]} f(e’) > 1\) for every edge \(e\) of \(G\). The signed edge domination number of \(G\) is defined as \(\gamma’_s(G) = \min \left\{ \sum_{e \in E} |f(e)| \mid f \text{ is an SEDF of } G \right\}\). In this paper, we determine the signed edge domination numbers of all complete bipartite graphs \(K_{m,n}\), and therefore determine the signed domination numbers of \(K_m \times K_n\).

M.A. Seoud1, A.El Sonbaty1, A.E.A. Mahran1
1Department of Mathematics, Faculty of science, Ain Shams university, Abbassia, Cairo, Egypt.
Abstract:

We discuss the primality of some corona graphs and some families of graphs.

Seog-Jin Kim1, Won-Jin Park2
1Department of Mathematics Education Konkuk University, Seoul, Korea
2Department of Mathematics Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea
Abstract:

An injective coloring of a graph \(G\) is an assignment of colors to the vertices of \(G\) so that any two vertices with a common neighbor receive distinct colors. A graph \(G\) is said to be injectively \(k\)-choosable if any list \(L(v)\) of size at least \(k\) for every vertex \(v\) allows an injective coloring \(\phi(v)\) such that \(\phi(v) \in L(v)\) for every \(v \in V(G)\). The least \(k\) for which \(G\) is injectively \(k\)-choosable is the injective choosability number of \(G\), denoted by \(\chi_i^l(G)\). In this paper, we obtain new sufficient conditions to ensure \(\chi_i^l(G) \leq \Delta(G) + 1\). We prove that if \(mad(G) \leq \frac{12k}{4k+3}\), then \(\chi_i^l(G) = \Delta(G) + 1\) where \(k = \Delta(G)\) and \(k \geq 4\). Typically, proofs using the discharging technique are different depending on maximum average degree \(mad(G)\) or maximum degree \(\Delta(G)\). The main objective of this paper is finding a function \(f(\Delta(G))\) such that \(\chi_i^l(G) \leq \Delta(G) + 1\) if \(mad(G) < f(\Delta(G))\), which can be applied to every \(\Delta(G)\).

Daniel Gross1, L.William Kazmierczak2, John T.Saccoman1, Charles Suffel2, Antonius Suhartomo2
1Seton Hall University
2Stevens Institute of Technology
Abstract:

The traditional parameter used as a measure of vulnerability of a network modeled by a graph with perfect nodes and edges that may fail is edge connectivity \(\lambda\). For the complete bipartite graph \(K_{p,q}\), where \(1 \leq p \leq q\), \(\lambda(K_{p,q}) = p\). In this case, failure of the network means that the surviving subgraph becomes disconnected upon the failure of individual edges. If, instead, failure of the network is defined to mean that the surviving subgraph has no component of order greater than or equal to some preassigned number \(k\), then the associated vulnerability parameter, the component order edge connectivity \(\lambda_c^{(k)}\), is the minimum number of edges required to fail so that the surviving subgraph is in a failure state. We determine the value of \(\lambda_c^{(k)}(K_{p,q})\) for arbitrary \(1 \leq p \leq q\) and \(4 \leq k \leq p+q\). As it happens, the situation is relatively simple when \(p\) is small and more involved when \(p\) is large.

Fei Wen1, Qiongxiang Huang1
1College of Mathematics and Systems Science, Xinjiang University, Urumqi, Xinjiang 820046, P.R.China
Abstract:

A \(T\)-shape tree \(T(l_1, l_2, l_3)\) is obtained from three paths \(P_{l_1+1}\), \(P_{l_2+1}\), and \(P_{l_3+1}\) by identifying one of their pendent vertices. A generalized \(T\)-shape tree \(T_s(l_1, l_2, l_3)\) is obtained from \(T(l_1, l_2, l_3)\) by appending two pendent vertices to exactly \(s\) pendent vertices of \(T(l_1, l_2, l_3)\), where \(1 \leq s \leq 3\) is a positive integer. In this paper, we firstly show that the generalized \(T\)-shape tree \(T_2(l_1, l_2, l_3)\) is determined by its Laplacian spectrum. Applying similar arguments for the trees \(T_1(2l_1, l_2, l_3)\) and \(T_3(l_1, 2l_2, l_3)\), one can obtain that any generalized \(T\)-shape tree on \(n\) vertices is determined by its Laplacian spectrum.

Mingjin Wang1
1DEPARTMENT OF APPLIED MATHEMATICS, CHANGZHOU UNIVERSITY CHANGZHOU, JIANGSU, 213164, P.R CHINA
Abstract:

In this paper, we use the \(q\)-difference operator and the Andrews-Askey integral to give a transformation for the Al-Salam-Carlitz polynomials. As applications, we obtain an expansion of the Carlitz identity and some other identities for Al-Salam-Carlitz
polynomials .

Dorota Brod1, Krzysztof Piejko1, Iwona Wloch1
1Rzeszow University of Technology Faculty of Mathematics and Applied Physics al. Powstancow Warszawy 12, 35-959 Rzeszow, Poland
Abstract:

In this paper we define new generalizations of the Lucas numbers,which also generalize the Perrin numbers. This generalization is based on the concept of \(k\)-distance Fibonacci numbers. We give in-terpretations of these numbers with respect to special decompositions and coverings, also in graphs. Moreover, we show some identities for these numbers, which often generalize known classical relations for the Lucas numbers and the Perrin numbers. We give an application of the distance Fibonacci numbers for building the Pascal’s triangle.