From Connectivity to Coloring

Gary Chartrand1, Teresa W. Haynes2, Stephen T. Hedetniemi3, Ping Zhang4
1Department of Mathematics Western Michigan University Kalamazoo, MI 49008-5248, USA
2Department of Mathematics and Statistics East Tennessee State University Johnson City, TN 37614-0002 USA
3Department of Mathematics University of Johannesburg Auckland Park, 2006 South Africa
4 Department of Mathematics Western Michigan University Kalamazoo, MI 49008-5248, USA

Abstract

A vertex set \(U \subset V\) in a connected graph \(G = (V, E)\) is a cutset if \(G – U\) is disconnected. If no proper subset of \(U\) is also a cutset of \(G\), then \(U\) is a minimal cutset. An \(\mathcal{MVC}\)-partition \(\pi = \{V_1, V_2, \dots, V_k\}\) of the vertex set \(V(G)\) of a connected graph \(G\) is a partition of \(V(G)\).