Growth: A Journal of Mathematics and Mathematics Education
ISSN: xxxx-xxxx
Growth: A Journal of Mathematics and Mathematics Education aims to provide a publication platform for high quality undergraduate research in mathematics and in mathematical pedagogy. The technical scope of the journal is combinatorial mathematics, broadly interpreted—the editorial board will consider all submissions in their areas of interest. All submitted articles must have an undergraduate research component and must be certified by a senior researcher. All submissions will be peer reviewed according to standard practices in academic mathematics. Precise editorial policies are set by the editorial board.
- Research article
- Full Text
- Journal of Combinatorial Mathematics and Combinatorial Computing
- Volume 075
- Pages: 229-231
- Published: 30/11/2010
An injective map from the vertex set of a graph \( G \) to the set of all natural numbers is called an arithmetic/geometric labeling of \( G \) if the set of all numbers, each of which is the sum or product of the integers assigned to the ends of some edge, form an arithmetic/geometric progression. A graph is called arithmetic/geometric if it admits an arithmetic/geometric labeling. In this note, we show that the two notions just mentioned are equivalent—i.e., a graph is arithmetic if and only if it is geometric.
- Research article
- Full Text
- Journal of Combinatorial Mathematics and Combinatorial Computing
- Volume 075
- Pages: 217-228
- Published: 30/11/2010
For given graphs \( G_1 \) and \( G_2 \), the \( 2 \)-color Ramsey number \( R(G_1, G_2) \) is defined to be the least positive integer \( n \) such that every \( 2 \)-coloring of the edges of the complete graph \( K_n \) contains a copy of \( G_1 \) colored with the first color or a copy of \( G_2 \) colored with the second color. In this note, we obtained some new exact values of generalized Ramsey numbers such as cycle versus book, book versus book, and complete bipartite graph versus complete bipartite graph.
- Research article
- Full Text
- Journal of Combinatorial Mathematics and Combinatorial Computing
- Volume 075
- Pages: 209-215
- Published: 30/11/2010
We show that the necessary conditions are sufficient for the existence of group divisible designs (PBIBDs of group divisible type) for block size \( k = 3 \) and with three groups of sizes \( 1 \), \( 1 \), and \( n \).
- Research article
- Full Text
- Journal of Combinatorial Mathematics and Combinatorial Computing
- Volume 075
- Pages: 201-207
- Published: 30/11/2010
Let \( \mathcal{B} \subseteq 2^{[m]} \) be an antichain of size \( |\mathcal{B}| =: n \). \( 2^{[m]} \) is ordered by inclusion. An antichain \( \mathcal{B} \) is called \( k \)-regular (\( k \in \mathbb{N} \)), if for each \( i \in [m] \) there are exactly \( k \) sets \( B_1, B_2, \ldots, B_k \in \mathcal{B} \) containing \( i \). In this case, we say that \( \mathcal{B} \) is a \( (k, m, n) \)-antichain.
Let \( m \geq 2 \) be an arbitrary natural number. In this note, we show that an \( (m-1, m, n) \)-antichain exists if and only if \( n \in [m+2, \binom{m}{2} – 2] \cup \{m, \binom{m}{2}\} \).
- Research article
- Full Text
- Journal of Combinatorial Mathematics and Combinatorial Computing
- Volume 075
- Pages: 187-199
- Published: 30/11/2010
Let \( G = (V, E) \) be a connected graph. A subset \( S \) of \( V \) is called a degree equitable set if the degrees of any two vertices in \( S \) differ by at most one. The minimum order of a partition of \( V \) into independent degree equitable sets is called the \({degree \;equitable\; chromatic \;number}\) of \( G \) and is denoted by \( \chi_{de}(G) \). In this paper, we initiate a study of this new coloring parameter.
- Research article
- Full Text
- Journal of Combinatorial Mathematics and Combinatorial Computing
- Volume 075
- Pages: 175-185
- Published: 30/11/2010
An avoidance problem of configurations in \( 4 \)-cycle systems is investigated by generalizing the notion of sparseness, which is originally from Erdős’ \( r \)-sparse conjecture on Steiner triple systems. A \( 4 \)-cycle system of order \( v \), \( 4CS(v) \), is said to be \( r \)-sparse if for every integer \( j \) satisfying \( 2 \leq j \leq r \) it contains no configurations consisting of \( j \) \( 4 \)-cycles whose union contains precisely \( j + 3 \) vertices. If an \( r \)-sparse \( 4CS(v) \) is also free from copies of a configuration on two \( 4 \)-cycles sharing a diagonal, called the double-diamond, we say it is strictly \( r \)-sparse. In this paper, we show that for every admissible order \( v \) there exists a strictly \( 4 \)-sparse \( 4CS(v) \). We also prove that for any positive integer \( r \geq 2 \) and sufficiently large integer \( v \), there exists a constant number \( c \) such that there exists a strictly \( r \)-sparse \( 4 \)-cycle packing of order \( v \) with \( c \cdot v^2 \) \( 4 \)-cycles.
- Research article
- Full Text
- Journal of Combinatorial Mathematics and Combinatorial Computing
- Volume 075
- Pages: 167-174
- Published: 30/11/2010
A set of Hamilton cycles in the complete graph \( K_n \) is called a Dudeney set if every path of length two lies on exactly one of the cycles. It has been conjectured that there is a Dudeney set for every complete graph. It is known that there exists a Dudeney set for \( K_n \) when \( n \) is even, but the question is still unsettled when \( n \) is odd.
In this paper, we define a black \( 1 \)-factor in \( K_{p+1} \) for an odd prime \( p \), and show that if there exists a black \( 1 \)-factor in \( K_{p+1} \), then we can construct a Dudeney set for \( K_{p+2} \). We also show that if there is a black \( 1 \)-factor in \( K_{p+1} \), then \( 2 \) is a quadratic residue modulo \( p \). Using this result, we obtain some new Dudeney sets for \( K_n \) when \( n \) is odd.
- Research article
- Full Text
- Journal of Combinatorial Mathematics and Combinatorial Computing
- Volume 075
- Pages: 161-165
- Published: 30/11/2010
We prove that the complete graph \( K_v \) can be decomposed into rhombicuboctahedra if and only if \( v \equiv 1 \) or \( 33 \pmod{96} \).
- Research article
- Full Text
- Journal of Combinatorial Mathematics and Combinatorial Computing
- Volume 075
- Pages: 153-159
- Published: 30/11/2010
A starter in an odd order abelian group \( G \) is a set of unordered pairs \( S = \{\{s_i, t_i\} : 1 \leq i \leq \frac{|G| – 1}{2}\} \), for which \( \{s_i\} \cup \{t_i\} = G \setminus \{0\} \) and \( \{\pm(s_i – t_i)\} = G \setminus \{0\} \). If \( s_i + t_i = s_j + t_j \) holds only for \( i = j \), then the starter is called a strong starter. Only cyclic groups are considered in this work, where starters and strong starters up to order \( 35 \) and \( 37 \), respectively, are classified using an exact cover algorithm. The results are validated by double counting.
- Research article
- Full Text
- Journal of Combinatorial Mathematics and Combinatorial Computing
- Volume 075
- Pages: 137-152
- Published: 30/11/2010
This paper settles in the negative the following open question: Are \( V_4 \)-magic graphs necessarily \( \mathbb{Z}_4 \)-magic? For an abelian group \( A \), we examine the properties of \( A \)-magic labelings with constant weight \( 0 \), called \({zero-sum \; A -magic}\), and utilize well-known results on edge-colorings in order to construct (from \( 3 \)-regular graphs) infinite families that are \( V_4 \)-magic but not \( \mathbb{Z}_4 \)-magic. Noting that our arguments lead to connected graphs of order \( 2n \) for all \( n \geq 11 \) that are \( V_4 \)-magic and not \( \mathbb{Z}_4 \)-magic, we conclude the paper by investigating the zero-sum integer-magic spectra of graphs, including Cartesian products, and give a conjecture about the zero-sum integer-magic spectra of \( 3 \)-regular graphs.




