Eternal m-security in Certain Classes of Graphs

P. Roushini Leely Pushpam1, G. Navamani2
1Department of Mathematics D.B. Jain College, Chennai 600 097, Tamil Nadu, INDIA
2Department of Mathematics Kumararani Meena Muthiah College of Arts and Science Chennai 600 020, Tamil Nadu, INDIA

Abstract

An \emph{eternal 1-secure} set of a graph \(G = (V, E)\) is defined as a set \(S_0 \subseteq V\) that can defend against any sequence of single-vertex attacks by means of single guard shifts along edges of \(G\). That is, for any \(k\) and any sequence \(v_1, v_2, \ldots, v_k\) of vertices, there exists a sequence of guards \(u_1, u_2, \ldots, u_k\) with \(u_i \in S_{i-1}\) and either \(u_i = v_i\) or \(u_iv_i \in E\), such that each set \(S_i = (S_{i-1} -\{u_i\}) \cup \{v_i\}\) is dominating. It follows that each \(S_i\) can be chosen to be an eternal 1-secure set. The \emph{eternal 1-security number}, denoted by \(\sigma_1(G)\), is defined as the minimum cardinality of an eternal 1-secure set. This parameter was introduced by Burger et al. [3] using the notation \(\gamma_\infty\). The \emph{eternal \(m\)-security} number \(\sigma_m(G)\) is defined as the minimum number of guards to handle an arbitrary sequence of single attacks using multiple-guard shifts. A suitable placement of the guards is called an \emph{eternal \(m\)-secure} set. It was observed that \(\gamma(G) \leq \sigma_m(G) \leq \beta(G)\). In this paper, we obtain specific values of \(\sigma_m(G)\) for certain classes of graphs, namely circulant graphs, generalized Petersen graphs, binary trees, and caterpillars.

Keywords: Eternal security, domination number.