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Assume $k$ is a positive integer, $\lambda=\{k_1, k_2, \ldots, k_q\}$ is a partition of $k$ and $G$ is a graph. A $\lambda$-list assignment of $G$ is a $k$-list assignment $L$ of $G$ such that the colour set $\cup_{v\in V(G)}L(v)$ can be partitioned into $q$ subsets $C_1 \cup C_2 \ldots \cup C_q$ and for each vertex $v$ of $G$, $|L(v) \cap C_i| \ge k_i$. We say $G$ is $\lambda$-choosable if for each $\lambda$-list assignment $L$ of $G$, $G$ is $L$-colourable. It follows from the definition that if $\lambda =\{k\}$, then $\lambda$-choosable is the same as $k$-choosable, if $\lambda =\{1,1,\ldots, 1\}$, then $\lambda$-choosable is equivalent to $k$-colourable. For the other partitions of $k$ sandwiched between $\{k\}$ and $\{1,1,\ldots, 1\}$ in terms of refinements, $\lambda$-choosability reveals a complex hierarchy of colourability of graphs. We prove that for two partitions $\lambda, \lambda'$ of $k$, every $\lambda$-choosable graph is $\lambda'$-choosable if and only if $\lambda'$ is a refinement of $\lambda$. Then we concentrate on $\lambda$-choosability of planar graphs for partitions $\lambda$ of $4$. Several conjectures concerning colouring of generalized signed planar graphs are proposed and relations between these conjectures and list colouring conjectures for planar graphs are explored. In particular, it is proved that a conjecture of K\"{u}ndgen and Ramamurthi on list colouring of planar graphs is implied by the conjecture that every planar graph is $\{2,2\}$-choosable, and also implied by the conjecture of M\'{a}\v{c}ajov\'{a}, Raspaud and \v{S}koviera which asserts that every planar graph is signed MRS-$4$-colourable, and that a conjecture of Kang and Steffen asserting that every planar graph is signed KS-$4$-colourable implies that every planar graph is $\{1,1,2\}$-choosable., Comment: 10 pages, 1 figure

This paper proves that for each positive integer $m$, there is a triangle-free planar graph $G$ which is not $(3m+ \lceil \frac m{17} \rceil-1, m)$-choosable., Comment: 6 pages, 1 figure

DP-coloring (also known as correspondence coloring) is a generalization of list coloring developed recently by Dvo\v{r}\'{a}k and Postle. In this paper we introduce and study the fractional DP-chromatic number $\chi_{DP}^\ast(G)$. We characterize all connected graphs $G$ such that $\chi_{DP}^\ast(G) \leqslant 2$: they are precisely the graphs with no odd cycles and at most one even cycle. By a theorem of Alon, Tuza, and Voigt, the fractional list-chromatic number $\chi_\ell^\ast(G)$ of any graph $G$ equals its fractional chromatic number $\chi^\ast(G)$. This equality does not extend to fractional DP-colorings. Moreover, we show that the difference $\chi^\ast_{DP}(G) - \chi^\ast(G)$ can be arbitrarily large, and, furthermore, $\chi^\ast_{DP}(G) \geq d/(2 \ln d)$ for every graph $G$ of maximum average degree $d \geq 4$. On the other hand, we show that this asymptotic lower bound is tight for a large class of graphs that includes all bipartite graphs as well as many graphs of high girth and high chromatic number., Comment: 13 pages, 1 figure

The \emph{slow-coloring game} is played by Lister and Painter on a graph $G$. Initially, all vertices of $G$ are uncolored. In each round, Lister marks a nonempty set $M$ of uncolored vertices, and Painter colors a subset of $M$ that is independent in $G$. The game ends when all vertices are colored. The score of the game is the sum of the sizes of all sets marked by Lister. The goal of Painter is to minimize the score, while Lister tries to maximize it. We provide strategies for Painter on various classes of graphs whose vertices can be partitioned into a bounded number of sets inducing forests, including $k$-degenerate, acyclically $k$-colorable, planar, and outerplanar graphs. For example, we show that on an $n$-vertex graph $G$, Painter can keep the score to at most $\frac{3k+4}4n$ when $G$ is $k$-degenerate, $3.9857n$ when $G$ is acyclically $5$-colorable, $3n$ when $G$ is planar with a Hamiltonian dual, $\frac{8n+3m}5$ when $G$ is $4$-colorable with $m$ edges (hence $3.4n$ when $G$ is planar), and $\frac73n$ when $G$ is outerplanar., Comment: 15 pages, 3 figures

This paper proves that the Alon-Tarsi number of any planar graph is at most $5$, which gives an alternate proof of the $5$-choosability as well as the $5$-paintability of planar graphs., Comment: 0 figures, 7 pages

The Catalan numbers occur in various counting problems in combinatorics. This paper reveals a connection between the Catalan numbers and list colouring of graphs. Assume $G$ is a graph and $f:V(G) \to N$ is a mapping. For a nonnegative integer $m$, let $f^{(m)}$ be the extension of $f$ to the graph $ G \diamondplus \overline{K_m}$ for which $f^{(m)}(v)=|V(G)|$ for each vertex $v$ of $\overline{K_m}$. Let $m_c(G,f)$ be the minimum $m$ such that $ G \diamondplus \overline{K_m}$ is not $f^{(m)}$-choosable and $m_p(G,f)$ be the minimum $m$ such that $ G \diamondplus \overline{K_m}$ is not $f^{(m)}$-paintable. We study the parameter $m_c(K_n, f)$ and $m_p(K_n,f)$ for arbitrary mappings $f$. For $\vec{x}=(x_1,x_2,\ldots,x_n)$, an $\vec{x}$-dominated path ending at $(a, b)$ is a monotonic path $P$ of the $a \times b$ grid from $(0,0)$ to $(a,b)$ such that each vertex $(i,j)$ on $P$ satisfies $i \le x_{j+1}$. Let $\psi(\vec{x})$ be the number of $\vec{x}$-dominated paths ending at $(x_n,n)$. By this definition, the Catalan number $C_n$ equals $ \psi((0,1, \ldots, n-1)) $. This paper proves that if $G=K_n$ has vertices $v_1, v_2, \ldots, v_n$ and $f(v_1) \le f(v_2) \le \ldots \le f(v_n)$, then $m_c(G,f)=m_p(G,f)=\psi(\vec{x}(f))$, where $\vec{x}(f)=(x_1, x_2, \ldots, x_n)$ and $x_i=f(v_i)-i$ for $i=1, 2,\ldots, n$. Therefore, if $f(v_i)=n$, then $m_c(K_n, f)=m_p(K_n, f)$ equals the Catalan number $C_n$., Comment: 16 pages, 3 figures

There are two conjectures concerning planar graph colourings that are strengthenings of the four colour theorem. One concerns signed graph colouring and is proposed by M\'{a}\v{c}ajov\'{a}, Raspaud and \v{S}koviera. It asserts that every signed planar graph is $4$-colourable. Another concerns list colouring and is proposed by K\"{u}ndgen and Ramamurthi which asserts that if $L$ is a $2$-list assignment of a planar graph $G$, then there is an $L$-colouring of $G$ such that each colour class induces a bipartite graph. In this note we prove that the first conjecture implies the second one.

Let $\mathcal{F}$ be a family of graphs. A graph $G$ is $\mathcal{F}$-saturated if $G$ contains no member of $\mathcal{F}$ as a subgraph but $G+e$ contains some member of $\mathcal{F}$ whenever $e\in E(\overline{G})$. The saturation number and extremal number of $\mathcal{F}$, denoted $sat(n,\mathcal{F})$ and $ex(n,\mathcal{F})$ respectively, are the minimum and maximum numbers of edges among $n$-vertex $\mathcal{F}$-saturated graphs. For $k\in\mathbb{N}$, let $\mathcal{F}_k$ and $\mathcal{F}'_k$ be the families of $k$-connected and $k$-edge-connected graphs, respectively. Wenger proved $sat(n,\mathcal{F}_k)=(k-1)n-{k\choose2}$, we prove $sat(n,\mathcal{F}'_k)=(k-1)(n-1)-\lfloor{\frac {n}{k+1}}\rfloor{k-1 \choose 2}$. We also prove $ex(n,\mathcal{F}'_k)=(k-1)n-{k\choose2}$ and characterize when equality holds. Finally, we give a lower bound on the spectral radius for $\mathcal{F}_k$-saturated and $\mathcal{F}'_k$-saturated graphs., Comment: 9 pages, we welcome any comments and suggestions

A $d$-defective $k$-painting game on a graph $G$ is played by two players: Lister and Painter. Initially, each vertex is uncolored and has $k$ tokens. In each round, Lister marks a chosen set $M$ of uncolored vertices and removes one token from each marked vertex. In response, Painter colors vertices in a subset $X$ of $M$ which induce a subgraph $G[X]$ of maximum degree at most $d$. Lister wins the game if at the end of some round there is an uncolored vertex that has no more tokens left. Otherwise, all vertices eventually get colored and Painter wins the game. We say that $G$ is $d$-defective $k$-paintable if Painter has a winning strategy in this game. In this paper we show that every planar graph is 3-defective 3-paintable and give a construction of a planar graph that is not 2-defective 3-paintable., Comment: 21 pages, 11 figures

A proper total weighting of a graph $G$ is a mapping $\phi$ which assigns to each vertex and each edge of $G$ a real number as its weight so that for any edge $uv$ of $G$, $\sum_{e \in E(v)}\phi(e)+\phi(v) \ne \sum_{e \in E(u)}\phi(e)+\phi(u)$. A $(k,k')$-list assignment of $G$ is a mapping $L$ which assigns to each vertex $v$ a set $L(v)$ of $k$ permissible weights and to each edge $e$ a set $L(e)$ of $k'$ permissible weights. An $L$-total weighting is a total weighting $\phi$ with $\phi(z) \in L(z)$ for each $z \in V(G) \cup E(G)$. A graph $G$ is called $(k,k')$-choosable if for every $(k,k')$-list assignment $L$ of $G$, there exists a proper $L$-total weighting. As a strenghtening of the well-known 1-2-3 conjecture, it was conjectured in [ Wong and Zhu, Total weight choosability of graphs, J. Graph Theory 66 (2011), 198-212] that every graph without isolated edge is $(1,3)$-choosable. It is easy to verified this conjecture for trees, however, to prove it for wheels seemed to be quite non-trivial. In this paper, we develop some tools and techniques which enable us to prove this conjecture for generalized Halin graphs.

DP-coloring is a generalization of list coloring introduced recently by Dvo\v{r}\'ak and Postle. We prove that for every $n$-vertex graph $G$ whose chromatic number $\chi(G)$ is "close" to $n$, the DP-chromatic number of $G$ equals $\chi(G)$. "Close" here means $\chi(G)\geq n-O(\sqrt{n})$, and we also show that this lower bound is best possible (up to the constant factor in front of $\sqrt{n}$), in contrast to the case of list coloring., Comment: 9 pages; v2: incorporated referees' comments

This paper proves that for each positive integer $m$, there is a planar graph $G$ which is not $(4m+\lfloor \frac{2m-1}{9}\rfloor,m)$-choosable. Then we pose some conjectures concerning multiple list colouring of planar graphs., Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure

Assume $L$ is a $k$-list assignment of a graph $G$. A $d$-defective $m$-fold $L$-colouring $\phi$ of $G$ assigns to each vertex $v$ a set $\phi(v)$ of $m$ colours, so that $\phi(v) \subseteq L(v)$ for each vertex $v$, and for each colour $i$, the set $\{v: i \in \phi(v)\}$ induces a subgraph of maximum degree at most $d$. In this paper, we consider on-line list $d$-defective $m$-fold colouring of graphs, where the list assignment $L$ is given on-line, and the colouring is constructed on-line. To be precise, the $d$-defective $(k,m)$-painting game on a graph $G$ is played by two players: Lister and Painter. Initially, each vertex has $k$ tokens and is uncoloured. In each round, Lister chooses a set $M$ of vertices and removes one token from each chosen vertex. Painter colours a subset $X$ of $M$ which induces a subgraph $G[X]$ of maximum degree at most $d$. A vertex $v$ is fully coloured if $v$ has received $m$ colours. Lister wins if at the end of some round, there is a vertex with no more tokens left and is not fully coloured. Otherwise, at some round, all vertices are fully coloured and Painter wins. We say $G$ is $d$-defective $(k,m)$-paintable if Painter has a winning strategy in this game. This paper proves that every planar graph is $1$-defective $(9,2)$-paintable., Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures

A graph $G$ is $(k,k')$-choosable if the following holds: For any list assignment $L$ which assigns to each vertex $v$ a set $L(v)$ of $k$ real numbers, and assigns to each edge $e$ a set $L(e)$ of $k'$ real numbers, there is a total weighting $\phi: V(G) \cup E(G) \to R$ such that $\phi(z) \in L(z)$ for $z \in V \cup E$, and $\sum_{e \in E(u)}\phi(e)+\phi(u) \ne \sum_{e \in E(v)}\phi(e)+\phi(v)$ for every edge $uv$. This paper proves the following results: (1) If $G$ is a connected $d$-degenerate graph, and $k>d$ is a prime number, and $G$ is either non-bipartite or has two non-adjacent vertices $u,v$ with $d(u)+d(v) < k$, then $G$ is $(1,k)$-choosable. As a consequence, every planar graph with no isolated edges is $(1,7)$-choosable, and every connected $2$-degenerate non-bipartite graph other than $K_2$ is $(1,3)$-choosable. (2) If $d+1$ is a prime number, $v_1, v_2, \ldots, v_n$ is an ordering of the vertices of $G$ such that each vertex $v_i$ has back degree $d^-(v_i) \le d$, then there is a graph $G'$ obtained from $G$ by adding at most $d-d^-(v_i)$ leaf neighbours to $v_i$ (for each $i$) and $G'$ is $(1,2)$-choosable. (3) If $G$ is $d$-degenerate and $d+1$ a prime, then $G$ is $(d,2)$-choosable. In particular, $2$-degenerate graphs are $(2,2)$-choosable. (4) Every graph is $(\lceil\frac{{\rm mad}(G)}{2}\rceil+1, 2)$ -choosable. In particular, planar graphs are $(4,2)$-choosable, planar bipartite graphs are $(3,2)$-choosable., Comment: 16 pages, 1 figures

A total weighting of a graph $G$ is a mapping $f$ which assigns to each element $z \in V(G) \cup E(G)$ a real number $f(z)$ as its weight. The vertex sum of $v$ with respect to $f$ is $\phi_f(v)=\sum_{e \in E(v)}f(e)+f(v)$. A total weighting is proper if $\phi_f(u) \ne \phi_f(v)$ for any edge $uv$ of $G$. A $(k,k')$-list assignment is a mapping $L$ which assigns to each vertex $v$ a set $L(v)$ of $k$ permissible weights, and assigns to each edge $e$ a set $L(e)$ of $k'$ permissible weights. We say $G$ is $(k,k')$-choosable if for any $(k,k')$-list assignment $L$, there is a proper total weighting $f$ of $G$ with $f(z) \in L(z)$ for each $z \in V(G) \cup E(G)$. It was conjectured in [T. Wong and X. Zhu, Total weight choosability of graphs, J. Graph Theory 66 (2011), 198-212] that every graph is $(2,2)$-choosable and every graph with no isolated edge is $(1,3)$-choosable. A promising tool in the study of these conjectures is Combinatorial Nullstellensatz. This approach leads to conjectures on the permanent indices of matrices $A_G$ and $B_G$ associated to a graph $G$. In this paper, we establish a method that reduces the study of permanent of matrices associated to a graph $G$ to the study of permanent of matrices associated to induced subgraphs of $G$. Using this reduction method, we show that if $G$ is a subcubic graph, or a $2$-tree, or a Halin graph, or a grid, then $A_G$ has permanent index $1$. As a consequence, these graphs are $(2,2)$-choosable. \end{abstract} {\small \noindent{{\bf Key words: } Permanent index, matrix, total weighting}, Comment: 12 pages

This paper introduces a new variant of hypercubes, which we call Z-cubes. The n-dimensional Z-cube $H_n$ is obtained from two copies of the (n-1)-dimensional Z-cube $H_{n-1}$ by adding a special perfect matching between the vertices of these two copies of $H_{n-1}$. We prove that the n-dimensional Z-cubes $H_n$ has diameter $(1+o(1))n/\log_2 n$. This greatly improves on the previous known variants of hypercube of dimension n, whose diameters are all larger than n/3. Moreover, any hypercube variant of dimension $n$ is an n-regular graph on $2^n$ vertices, and hence has diameter greater than $n/\log_2 n$. So the Z-cubes are optimal with respect to diameters, up to an error of order $o(n/\log_2n)$. Another type of Z-cubes $Z_{n,k}$ which have similar structure and properties as $H_n$ are also discussed in the last section., Comment: 9 pages, 1 figure

We initiate a general study of what we call orientation completion problems. For a fixed class C of oriented graphs, the orientation completion problem asks whether a given partially oriented graph P can be completed to an oriented graph in C by orienting the (non-oriented) edges in P. Orien- tation completion problems commonly generalize several existing problems including recognition of certain classes of graphs and digraphs as well as extending representations of certain geometrically representable graphs. We study orientation completion problems for various classes of oriented graphs, including k-arc- strong oriented graphs, k-strong oriented graphs, quasi-transitive oriented graphs, local tournament, acyclic local tournaments, locally transitive tournaments, locally transitive local tournaments, in- tournaments, and oriented graphs which have directed cycle factors. We show that the orientation completion problem for each of these classes is either polynomial time solvable or NP-complete. We also show that some of the NP-complete problems become polynomial time solvable when the input oriented graphs satisfy certain extra conditions. Our results imply that the representation extension problems for proper interval graphs and for proper circular arc graphs are polynomial time solvable, which generalize a previous result., Comment: 17 pages, 3 figures

A graph $G=(V,E)$ is antimagic if there is a one-to-one correspondence $f: E \to \{1,2,\ldots, |E|\}$ such that for any two vertices $u,v$, $\sum_{e \in E(u)}f(e) \ne \sum_{e\in E(v)}f(e)$. It is known that bipartite regular graphs are antimagic and non-bipartite regular graphs of odd degree at least three are antimagic. Whether all non-bipartite regular graphs of even degree are antimagic remained an open problem. In this paper, we solve this problem and prove that all even degree regular graphs are antimagic. The paper was submitted to December 2014 by Journal of Graph Theory., Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures

For a loopless multigraph $G$, the fractional arboricity $Arb(G)$ is the maximum of $\frac{|E(H)|}{|V(H)|-1}$ over all subgraphs $H$ with at least two vertices. Generalizing the Nash-Williams Arboricity Theorem, the Nine Dragon Tree Conjecture asserts that if $Arb(G)\le k+\frac{d}{k+d+1}$, then $G$ decomposes into $k+1$ forests with one having maximum degree at most $d$. The conjecture was previously proved for $d=k+1$ and for $k=1$ when $d \le 6$. We prove it for all $d$ when $k \le 2$, except for $(k,d)=(2,1)$., Comment: 15 pages

This paper studies the choice number and paint number of the lexicographic product of graphs. We prove that if $G$ has maximum degree $\Delta$, then for any graph $H$ on $n$ vertices $ch(G[H]) \le (4\Delta+2)(ch(H) +\log_2 n)$ and $\chi_P(G[H]) \le (4\Delta+2) (\chi_P(H)+ \log_2 n)$.

An $r$-augmented tree is a rooted tree plus $r$ edges added from each leaf to ancestors. For $d,g,r\in\mathbb{N}$, we construct a bipartite $r$-augmented complete $d$-ary tree having girth at least $g$. The height of such trees must grow extremely rapidly in terms of the girth. Using the resulting graphs, we construct sparse non-$k$-choosable bipartite graphs, showing that maximum average degree at most $2(k-1)$ is a sharp sufficient condition for $k$-choosability in bipartite graphs, even when requiring large girth. We also give a new simple construction of non-$k$-colorable graphs and hypergraphs with any girth $g$., Comment: Slight adjustments, including simplifying the proofs of Lemmas 2.2 and 2.3 and the arguments for large girth

We propose two strategies for Presenter in on-line graph coloring games. The first one constructs bipartite graphs and forces any on-line coloring algorithm to use $2\log_2 n - 10$ colors, where $n$ is the number of vertices in the constructed graph. This is best possible up to an additive constant. The second strategy constructs graphs that contain neither $C_3$ nor $C_5$ as a subgraph and forces $\Omega(\frac{n}{\log n}^\frac{1}{3})$ colors. The best known on-line coloring algorithm for these graphs uses $O(n^{\frac{1}{2}})$ colors.

A graph $G$ is called $(a,b)$-choosable if for any list assignment $L$ which assigns to each vertex $v$ a set $L(v)$ of $a$ permissible colours, there is a $b$-tuple $L$-colouring of $G$. An $(a,1)$-choosable graph is also called $a$-choosable. In the pioneering paper on list colouring of graphs by Erd\H{o}s, Rubin and Taylor, $2$-choosable graphs are characterized. Confirming a special case of a conjecture of Erd\H{o}s--Rubin--Taylor, Tuza and Voigt proved that $2$-choosable graphs are $(2m,m)$-choosable for any positive integer $m$. On the other hand, Voigt proved that if $m$ is an odd integer, then these are the only $(2m,m)$-choosable graphs; however, when $m$ is even, there are $(2m,m)$-choosable graphs that are not $2$-choosable. A graph is called $3$-choosable-critical if it is not $2$-choosable, but all its proper subgraphs are $2$-choosable. Voigt conjectured that for every positive integer $m$, all bipartite $3$-choosable-critical graphs are $(4m,2m)$-choosable. In this paper, we determine which $3$-choosable-critical graphs are $(4,2)$-choosable, refuting Voigt's conjecture in the process. Nevertheless, a weaker version of the conjecture is true: we prove that there is an even integer $k$ such that for any positive integer $m$, every bipartite $3$-choosable-critical graph is $(2km,km)$-choosable. Moving beyond $3$-choosable-critical graphs, we present an infinite family of non-$3$-choosable-critical graphs which have been shown by computer analysis to be $(4,2)$-choosable. This shows that the family of all $(4,2)$-choosable graphs has rich structure., Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures. Now includes source code in ancillary files

Let $\text{ch}(G)$ denote the choice number of a graph $G$ (also called "list chromatic number" or "choosability" of $G$). Noel, Reed, and Wu proved the conjecture of Ohba that $\text{ch}(G)=\chi(G)$ when $|V(G)|\le 2\chi(G)+1$. We extend this to a general upper bound: $\text{ch}(G)\le \max\{\chi(G),\lceil({|V(G)|+\chi(G)-1})/{3}\rceil\}$. Our result is sharp for $|V(G)|\le 3\chi(G)$ using Ohba's examples, and it improves the best-known upper bound for $\text{ch}(K_{4,\dots,4})$., Comment: 14 pages

A graph $G$ is $k$-degenerate if it can be transformed into an empty graph by subsequent removals of vertices of degree $k$ or less. We prove that every connected planar graph with average degree $d \ge 2$ has a 4-degenerate induced subgraph containing at least $(38-d)/36$ of its vertices. This shows that every planar graph of order $n$ has a 4-degenerate induced subgraph of order more than $8/9 \cdot n$. We also consider a local variation of this problem and show that in every planar graph with at least 7 vertices, deleting a suitable vertex allows us to subsequently remove at least 6 more vertices of degree four or less.

This paper proves that for any positive integer $k$, every essentially $(2k+1)$-unbalanced $(12k-1)$-edge connected signed graph has circular flow number at most $2+\frac 1k$., Comment: 11 pages