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An $r$-regular graph is an $r$-graph, if every odd set of vertices is connected to its complement by at least $r$ edges. Seymour [On multicolourings of cubic graphs, and conjectures of Fulkerson and Tutte.~\emph{Proc.~London Math.~Soc.}~(3), 38(3): 423-460, 1979] conjectured (1) that every planar $r$-graph is $r$-edge colorable and (2) that every $r$-graph has $2r$ perfect matchings such that every edge is contained in precisely two of them. We study several variants of these conjectures. A $(t,r)$-PM is a multiset of $t \cdot r$ perfect matchings of an $r$-graph $G$ such that every edge is in precisely $t$ of them. We show that the following statements are equivalent for every $t, r \geq 1$: 1. Every planar $r$-graph has a $(t,r)$-PM. 2. Every $K_5$-minor-free $r$-graph has a $(t,r)$-PM. 3. Every $K_{3,3}$-minor-free $r$-graph has a $(t,r)$-PM. 4. Every $r$-graph whose underlying simple graph has crossing number at most $1$ has a $(t,r)$-PM., Comment: 11 pages, 1 figure

We introduce a model of information dissemination in signed networks. It is a discrete-time process in which uninformed actors incrementally receive information from their informed neighbors or from the outside. Our goal is to minimize the number of confused actors - that is, the number of actors who receive contradictory information. We prove upper bounds for the number of confused actors in signed networks and in equivalence classes of signed networks. In particular, we show that there are signed networks where, for any information placement strategy, almost 60\% of the actors are confused. Furthermore, this is also the case when considering the minimum number of confused actors within an equivalence class of signed graphs.

An $r$-regular graph is an $r$-graph, if every odd set of vertices is connected to its complement by at least $r$ edges. Let $G$ and $H$ be $r$-graphs. An $H$-coloring of $G$ is a mapping $f\colon E(G) \to E(H)$ such that each $r$ adjacent edges of $G$ are mapped to $r$ adjacent edges of $H$. For every $r\geq 3$, let $\mathcal{H}_r$ be an inclusion-wise minimal set of connected $r$-graphs, such that for every connected $r$-graph $G$ there is an $H \in \mathcal{H}_r$ which colors $G$. We show that $\mathcal{H}_r$ is unique and characterize $\mathcal{H}_r$ by showing that $G \in \mathcal{H}_r$ if and only if the only connected $r$-graph coloring $G$ is $G$ itself. The Petersen Coloring Conjecture states that the Petersen graph $P$ colors every bridgeless cubic graph. We show that if true, this is a very exclusive situation. Indeed, either $\mathcal{H}_3 = \{P\}$ or $\mathcal{H}_3$ is an infinite set and if $r \geq 4$, then $\mathcal{H}_r$ is an infinite set. Similar results hold for the restriction on simple $r$-graphs. By definition, $r$-graphs of class $1$ (i.e. those having edge-chromatic number equal to $r$) can be colored with any $r$-graph. Hence, our study will focus on those $r$-graphs whose edge-chromatic number is bigger than $r$, also called $r$-graphs of class $2$. We determine the set of smallest $r$-graphs of class 2 and show that it is a subset of $\mathcal{H}_r$., Comment: 25 pages, 7 figures

We study rotation $r$-graphs and show that for every $r$-graph $G$ of odd regularity there is a simple rotation $r$-graph $G'$ such that $G$ can be obtained form $G'$ by a finite number of $2$-cut reductions. As a consequence, some hard conjectures as the (generalized) Berge-Fulkerson Conjecture and Tutte's 3- and 5-flow conjecture can be reduced to rotation $r$-graphs., Comment: 9 pages

Extending the notion of maxcut, the study of the frustration index of signed graphs is one of the basic questions in the theory of signed graphs. Recently two of the authors initiated the study of critically frustrated signed graphs. That is a signed graph whose frustration index decreases with the removal of any edge. The main focus of this study is on critical signed graphs which are not edge-disjoint unions of critically frustrated signed graphs (namely non-decomposable signed graphs) and which are not built from other critically frustrated signed graphs by subdivision. We conjecture that for any given $k$ there are only finitely many critically $k$-frustrated signed graphs of this kind. Providing support for this conjecture we show that there are only two of such critically $3$-frustrated signed graphs where there is no pair of edge-disjoint negative cycles. Similarly, we show that there are exactly ten critically $3$-frustrated signed planar graphs that are neither decomposable nor subdivisions of other critically frustrated signed graphs. We present a method for building non-decomposable critically frustrated signed graphs based on two given such signed graphs. We also show that the condition of being non-decomposable is necessary for our conjecture.

The paper studies edge-coloring of signed multigraphs and extends classical Theorems of Shannon and K\"onig to signed multigraphs. We prove that the chromatic index of a signed multigraph $(G,\sigma_G)$ is at most $\lfloor \frac{3}{2} \Delta(G) \rfloor$. Furthermore, the chromatic index of a balanced signed multigraph $(H,\sigma_H)$ is at most $\Delta(H) + 1$ and the balanced signed multigraphs with chromatic index $\Delta(H)$ are characterized., Comment: 8 pages

Thomassen [Problem 1 in Factorizing regular graphs, J. Combin. Theory Ser. B, 141 (2020), 343-351] asked whether every $r$-edge-connected $r$-regular graph of even order has $r-2$ pairwise disjoint perfect matchings. We show that this is not the case if $r \equiv 2 \text{ mod } 4$. Together with a recent result of Mattiolo and Steffen [Highly edge-connected regular graphs without large factorizable subgraphs, J. Graph Theory, 99 (2022), 107-116] this solves Thomassen's problem for all even $r$. It turns out that our methods are limited to the even case of Thomassen's problem. We then prove some equivalences of statements on pairwise disjoint perfect matchings in highly edge-connected regular graphs, where the perfect matchings contain or avoid fixed sets of edges. Based on these results we relate statements on pairwise disjoint perfect matchings of 5-edge-connected 5-regular graphs to well-known conjectures for cubic graphs, such as the Fan-Raspaud Conjecture, the Berge-Fulkerson Conjecture and the $5$-Cycle Double Cover Conjecture., Comment: 24 pages

A signed graph $(G,\Sigma)$ is a graph $G$ together with a set $\Sigma \subseteq E(G)$ of negative edges. A circuit is positive if the product of the signs of its edges is positive. A signed graph $(G,\Sigma)$ is balanced if all its circuits are positive. The frustration index $l(G,\Sigma)$ is the minimum cardinality of a set $E \subseteq E(G)$ such that $(G-E,\Sigma-E)$ is balanced, and $(G,\Sigma)$ is $k$-critical if $l(G,\Sigma) = k$ and $l(G-e, \Sigma - e)

A finite simple connected graph $G$ with maximum degree $k$ is $k$-critical if it has chromatic index $\chi'(G)=k+1$ and $\chi'(G-e)=k$ for every edge $e\in E(G)$. Bej and the first author raised the question whether every $k$-critical graph has an even factor. We prove that every $k$-critical graph with at most $2k-6$ vertices of degree 2 has an even factor., Comment: 11 pages

There are many concepts of signed graph coloring which are defined by assigning colors to the vertices of the graphs. These concepts usually differ in the number of self-inverse colors used. We introduce a unifying concept for this kind of coloring by assigning elements from symmetric sets to the vertices of the signed graphs. In the first part of the paper, we study colorings with elements from symmetric sets where the number of self-inverse elements is fixed. We prove a Brooks'-type theorem and upper bounds for the corresponding chromatic numbers in terms of the chromatic number of the underlying graph. These results are used in the second part where we introduce the symset-chromatic number $\chi_{sym}(G,\sigma)$ of a signed graph $(G,\sigma)$. We show that the symset-chromatic number gives the minimum partition of a signed graph into independent sets and non-bipartite antibalanced subgraphs. In particular, $\chi_{sym}(G,\sigma) \leq \chi(G)$. In the final section we show that these colorings can also be formalized as $DP$-colorings.

Let $\phi_c(G)$ be the circular flow number of a bridgeless graph $G$. In [Edge-colorings and circular flow numbers of regular graphs, J. Graph Theory 79 (2015) 1-7] it was proved that, for every $t \geq 1$, $G$ is a bridgeless $(2t+1)$-regular graph with $\phi_c(G) \in \{2+\frac{1}{t}, 2 + \frac{2}{2t-1}\}$ if and only if $G$ has a perfect matching $M$ such that $G-M$ is bipartite. This implies that $G$ is a class 1 graph. For $t=1$, all graphs with circular flow number bigger than 4 are class 2 graphs. We show for all $t \geq 1$, that $2 + \frac{2}{2t-1} = \inf \{ \phi_c(G)\colon G \text{ is a } (2t+1) \text{-regular class } 2 \text{ graph}\}$. This was conjectured to be true in [Edge-colorings and circular flow numbers of regular graphs, J. Graph Theory 79 (2015) 1-7]. Moreover we prove that $\inf\{ \phi_c(G)\colon G $ is a $ (2t+1)$-regular class $1$ graph with no perfect matching whose removal leaves a bipartite graph$ \} = 2 + \frac{2}{2t-1}$. We further disprove the conjecture that every $(2t+1)$-regular class $1$ graph has circular flow number at most $2+\frac{2}{t}$., Comment: 17 pages; submitted for publication

We construct highly edge-connected $r$-regular graph which do not contain $r-2$ pairwise disjoint perfect matchings. The results partially answer a question stated by Thomassen [Factorizing regular graphs, J. Comb. Theory Ser. B (2019), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jctb.2019.05.002 (article in press)]., Comment: 10 pages; submitted for publication

This paper surveys recent development of concepts related to coloring of signed graphs. Various approaches are presented and discussed., Comment: final version, 28 pages

Many basic properties in Tutte's flow theory for unsigned graphs do not have their counterparts for signed graphs. However, signed graphs without long barbells in many ways behave like unsigned graphs from the point view of flows. In this paper, we study whether some basic properties in Tutte's flow theory remain valid for this family of signed graphs. Specifically let $(G,\sigma)$ be a flow-admissible signed graph without long barbells. We show that it admits a nowhere-zero $6$-flow and that it admits a nowhere-zero modulo $k$-flow if and only if it admits a nowhere-zero integer $k$-flow for each integer $k\geq 3$ and $k \not = 4$. We also show that each nowhere-zero positive integer $k$-flow of $(G,\sigma)$ can be expressed as the sum of some $2$-flows. For general graphs, we show that every nowhere-zero $\frac{p}{q}$-flow can be normalized in such a way, that each flow value is a multiple of $\frac{1}{2q}$. As a consequence we prove the equality of the integer flow number and the ceiling of the circular flow number for flow-admissible signed graphs without long barbells.

The first part of the paper studies star-cycle factors of graphs. It characterizes star-cycle factors of a graph $G$ and proves upper bounds for the minimum number of $K_{1,2}$-components in a $\{K_{1,1}, K_{1,2}, C_n\colon n\ge 3\}$-factor of a graph $G$. Furthermore, it shows where these components are located with respect to the Gallai-Edmonds decomposition of $G$ and it characterizes the edges which are not contained in any $\{K_{1,1}, K_{1,2}, C_n\colon n\ge 3\}$-factor of $G$. The second part of the paper proves that every edge-chromatic critical graph $G$ has a $\{K_{1,1}, K_{1,2}, C_n\colon n\ge 3\}$-factor, and the number of $K_{1,2}$-components is bounded in terms of its fractional matching number. Furthermore, it shows that for every edge $e$ of $G$, there is a $\{K_{1,1}, K_{1,2}, C_n\colon n\ge 3\}$-factor $F$ with $e \in E(F)$. Consequences of these results for Vizing's critical graph conjectures are discussed., Comment: final version, 23 pages

The only open case of Vizing's conjecture that every planar graph with $\Delta\geq 6$ is a class 1 graph is $\Delta = 6$. We give a short proof of the following statement: there is no 6-critical plane graph $G$, such that every vertex of $G$ is incident to at most three 3-faces. A stronger statement without restriction to critical graphs is stated in \cite{Wang_Xu_2013}. However, the proof given there works only for critical graphs. Furthermore, we show that every 5-critical plane graph has a 3-face which is adjacent to a $k$-face $(k\in \{3,4\})$. For $\Delta = 5$ our result gives insights into the structure of planar $5$-critical graphs, and the result for $\Delta=6$ gives support for the truth of Vizing's planar graph conjecture., Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure

In 1965, Vizing conjectured that the independence ratio of edge-chromatic critical graphs is at most $\frac{1}{2}$. We prove that for every $\epsilon > 0$ this conjecture is equivalent to its restriction on a specific set of edge-chromatic critical graphs with independence ratio smaller than $\frac{1}{2} + \epsilon$., Comment: Revised version: The title is changed

The presented paper studies the flow number $F(G,\sigma)$ of flow-admissible signed graphs $(G,\sigma)$ with two negative edges. We restrict our study to cubic graphs, because for each non-cubic signed graph $(G,\sigma)$ there is a set ${\cal G}(G,\sigma)$ of cubic graphs such that $F(G, \sigma) \leq \min \{F(H,\sigma_H) : (H,\sigma_H) \in {\cal G}(G)\}$. We prove that $F(G,\sigma) \leq 6$ if $(G,\sigma)$ contains a bridge and $F(G,\sigma) \leq 7$ in general. We prove better bounds, if there is an element $(H,\sigma_H)$ of ${\cal G}(G,\sigma)$ which satisfies some additional conditions. In particular, if $H$ is bipartite, then $F(G,\sigma) \leq 4$ and the bound is tight. If $H$ is 3-edge-colorable or critical or if it has a sufficient cyclic edge-connectivity, then $F(G,\sigma) \leq 6$. Furthermore, if Tutte's 5-Flow Conjecture is true, then $(G,\sigma)$ admits a nowhere-zero 6-flow endowed with some strong properties.

The Fan-Raspaud Conjecture states that every bridgeless cubic graph has three 1-factors with empty intersection. A weaker one than this conjecture is that every bridgeless cubic graph has two 1-factors and one join with empty intersection. Both of these two conjectures can be related to conjectures on Fano-flows. In this paper, we show that these two conjectures are equivalent to some statements on cores and weak cores of a bridgeless cubic graph. In particular, we prove that the Fan-Raspaud Conjecture is equivalent to a conjecture proposed in [E. Steffen, 1-factor and cycle covers of cubic graphs, J. Graph Theory 78 (2015) 195-206]. Furthermore, we disprove a conjecture proposed in [G. Mazzuoccolo, New conjectures on perfect matchings in cubic graphs, Electron. Notes Discrete Math. 40 (2013) 235-238] and we propose a new version of it under a stronger connectivity assumption. The weak oddness of a cubic graph $G$ is the minimum number of odd components in the complement of a join of $G$. We obtain an upper bound of weak oddness in terms of weak cores, and thus an upper bound of oddness in terms of cores as a by-product., Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures

The chromatic number $\chi((G,\sigma))$ of a signed graph $(G,\sigma)$ is the smallest number $k$ for which there is a function $c : V(G) \rightarrow \mathbb{Z}_k$ such that $c(v) \not= \sigma(e) c(w)$ for every edge $e = vw$. Let $\Sigma(G)$ be the set of all signatures of $G$. We study the chromatic spectrum $\Sigma_{\chi}(G) = \{\chi((G,\sigma))\colon\ \sigma \in \Sigma(G)\}$ of $(G,\sigma)$. Let $M_{\chi}(G) = \max\{\chi((G,\sigma))\colon\ \sigma \in \Sigma(G)\}$, and $m_{\chi}(G) = \min\{\chi((G,\sigma))\colon\ \sigma \in \Sigma(G)\}$. We show that $\Sigma_{\chi}(G) = \{k : m_{\chi}(G) \leq k \leq M_{\chi}(G)\}$. We also prove some basic facts for critical graphs. Analogous results are obtained for a notion of vertex-coloring of signed graphs which was introduced by M\'{a}\v{c}ajov\'{a}, Raspaud, and \v{S}koviera., Comment: 6 pages

Let $k, d$ ($2d \leq k)$ be two positive integers. We generalize the well studied notions of $(k,d)$-colorings and of the circular chromatic number $\chi_c$ to signed graphs. This implies a new notion of colorings of signed graphs, and the corresponding chromatic number $\chi$. Some basic facts on circular colorings of signed graphs and on the circular chromatic number are proved, and differences to the results on unsigned graphs are analyzed. In particular, we show that the difference between the circular chromatic number and the chromatic number of a signed graph is at most 1. Indeed, there are signed graphs where the difference is 1. On the other hand, for a signed graph on $n$ vertices, if the difference is smaller than 1, then there exists $\epsilon_n>0$, such that the difference is at most $1 - \epsilon_n$. We also show that notion of $(k,d)$-colorings is equivalent to $r$-colorings (see (X. Zhu, Recent developments in circular coloring of graphs, in Topics in Discrete Mathematics Algorithms and Combinatorics Volume 26, Springer Berlin Heidelberg (2006) 497-550))., Comment: 16 pages, 2 figures

We prove lower bounds for the fraction of edges of an $r$-graph which can be covered by the union of $k$ 1-factors. The special case $r=3$ yields some known results for cubic graphs. Furthermore, we introduce the concept of $k$-overfull-free $r$-graphs and achieve better bounds for these graphs., Comment: 14 pages, no figure, 1 table. To be published in Journal of Combinatorics. Difference from the previous version: We add the results on overfull graphs, stated in Chapter 4; Moreover, Corollary 3.2 is new

This paper studies the choosability of signed planar graphs. We prove that every signed planar graph is 5-choosable and that there is a signed planar graph which is not 4-choosable while the unsigned graph is 4-choosable. For each $k \in \{3,4,5,6\}$, every signed planar graph without circuits of length $k$ is 4-choosable. Furthermore, every signed planar graph without circuits of length 3 and of length 4 is 3-choosable. We construct a signed planar graph with girth 4 which is not 3-choosable but the unsigned graph is 3-choosable., Comment: We updated the reference list

The only remaining case of a well known conjecture of Vizing states that there is no planar graph with maximum degree 6 and edge chromatic number 7. We introduce parameters for planar graphs, based on the degrees of the faces, and study the question whether there are upper bounds for these parameters for planar edge-chromatic critical graphs. Our results provide upper bounds on these parameters for smallest counterexamples to Vizing's conjecture, thus providing a partial characterization of such graphs, if they exist. For $k \leq 5$ the results give insights into the structure of planar edge-chromatic critical graphs., Comment: This is new version with updated title and abstract. Furthermore, in Lemma 10, the proof of the families of graphs $G_n, H_n, T_n$ to be critical is added. The published version of the article can be found in "The electronic journal of combinatorics"

Let $G$ be a bridgeless cubic graph. Consider a list of $k$ 1-factors of $G$. Let $E_i$ be the set of edges contained in precisely $i$ members of the $k$ 1-factors. Let $\mu_k(G)$ be the smallest $|E_0|$ over all lists of $k$ 1-factors of $G$. If $G$ is not 3-edge-colorable, then $\mu_3(G) \geq 3$. In [E. Steffen, 1-factor and cycle covers of cubic graphs, J. Graph Theory 78(3) (2015) 195-206] it is shown that if $\mu_3(G) \not = 0$, then $2 \mu_3(G)$ is an upper bound for the girth of $G$. We show that $\mu_3(G)$ bounds the oddness $\omega(G)$ of $G$ as well. We prove that $\omega(G)\leq \frac{2}{3}\mu_3(G)$. If $\mu_3(G) = \frac{2}{3} \mu_3(G)$, then every $\mu_3(G)$-core has a very specific structure. We call these cores Petersen cores. We show that for any given oddness there is a cyclically 4-edge-connected cubic graph $G$ with $\omega(G) = \frac{2}{3}\mu_3(G)$. On the other hand, the difference between $\omega(G)$ and $\frac{2}{3}\mu_3(G)$ can be arbitrarily big. This is true even if we additionally fix the oddness. Furthermore, for every integer $k\geq 3$, there exists a bridgeless cubic graph $G$ such that $\mu_3(G)=k$., Comment: 13 pages, 9 figures

Tutte's 5-Flow Conjecture from 1954 states that every bridgeless graph has a nowhere-zero 5-flow. In 2004, Kochol proved that the conjecture is equivalent to its restriction on cyclically 6-edge connected cubic graphs. We prove that every cyclically 6-edge-connected cubic graph with oddness at most 4 has a nowhere-zero 5-flow., Comment: 10 pages, 1 figure, submitted

The paper characterizes $(2t+1)$-regular graphs with circular flow number $2 + \frac{2}{2t-1}$. For $t=1$ this is Tutte's characterization of cubic graphs with flow number 4. The class of cubic graphs is the only class of odd regular graphs where a flow number separates the class 1 graphs from the class 2 graphs. We finally state some conjectures and relate them to existing flow-conjectures., Comment: 9 pages; 1 figure

We study the flow spectrum ${\cal S}(G)$ and the integer flow spectrum $\overline{{\cal S}}(G)$ of signed $(2t+1)$-regular graphs. We show that if $r \in {\cal S}(G)$, then $r = 2+\frac{1}{t}$ or $r \geq 2 + \frac{2}{2t-1}$. Furthermore, $2 + \frac{1}{t} \in {\cal S}(G)$ if and only if $G$ has a $t$-factor. If $G$ has a 1-factor, then $3 \in \overline{{\cal S}}(G)$, and for every $t \geq 2$, there is a signed $(2t+1)$-regular graph $(H,\sigma)$ with $ 3 \in \overline{{\cal S}}(H)$ and $H$ does not have a 1-factor. If $G$ $(\not = K_2^3)$ is a cubic graph which has a 1-factor, then $\{3,4\} \subseteq {\cal S}(G) \cap \overline{{\cal S}}(G)$. Furthermore, the following four statements are equivalent: (1) $G$ has a 1-factor. (2) $3 \in {\cal S}(G)$. (3) $3 \in \overline{{\cal S}}(G)$. (4) $4 \in \overline{{\cal S}}(G)$. There are cubic graphs whose integer flow spectrum does not contain 5 or 6, and we construct an infinite family of bridgeless cubic graphs with integer flow spectrum $\{3,4,6\}$. We show that there are signed graphs where the difference between the integer flow number and the flow number is greater than or equal to 1, disproving a conjecture of Raspaud and Zhu. The paper concludes with a proof of Bouchet's 6-flow conjecture for Kotzig-graphs., Comment: 24 pages, 4 figures; final version; to appear in European J. Combinatorics

Let $G$ be a bridgeless cubic graph, and $\mu_2(G)$ the minimum number $k$ such that two 1-factors of $G$ intersect in $k$ edges. A cyclically $n$-edge-connected cubic graph $G$ has a nowhere-zero 5-flow if (1) $n \geq 6$ and $\mu_2(G) \leq 2$ or (2) if $n \geq 5 \mu_2(G)-3$, Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure

Let $G$ be a bridgeless cubic graph. Consider a list of $k$ 1-factors of $G$. Let $E_i$ be the set of edges contained in precisely $i$ members of the $k$ 1-factors. Let $\mu_k(G)$ be the smallest $|E_0|$ over all lists of $k$ 1-factors of $G$. Any list of three 1-factors induces a core of a cubic graph. We use results on the structure of cores to prove sufficient conditions for Berge-covers and for the existence of three 1-factors with empty intersection. Furthermore, if $\mu_3(G) \not = 0$, then $2 \mu_3(G)$ is an upper bound for the girth of $G$. We also prove some new upper bounds for the length of shortest cycle covers of bridgeless cubic graphs. Cubic graphs with $\mu_4(G) = 0$ have a 4-cycle cover of length $\frac{4}{3} |E(G)|$ and a 5-cycle double cover. These graphs also satisfy two conjectures of Zhang. We also give a negative answer to a problem of Zhang., Comment: final version

The resistance $r(G)$ of a graph $G$ is the minimum number of edges that have to be removed from $G$ to obtain a graph which is $\Delta(G)$-edge-colorable. The paper relates the resistance to other parameters that measure how far is a graph from being $\Delta$-edge-colorable. The first part considers regular graphs and the relation of the resistance to structural properties in terms of 2-factors. The second part studies general (multi-) graphs $G$. Let $r_v(G)$ be the minimum number of vertices that have to be removed from $G$ to obtain a class 1 graph. We show that $\frac{r(G)}{r_v(G)} \leq \lfloor \frac{\Delta(G)}{2} \rfloor$, and that this bound is best possible., Comment: 9 pages

An $r$-graph is an $r$-regular graph where every odd set of vertices is connected by at least $r$ edges to the rest of the graph. Seymour conjectured that any $r$-graph is $r+1$-edge-colorable, and also that any $r$-graph contains $2r$ perfect matchings such that each edge belongs to two of them. We show that the minimum counter-example to either of these conjectures is a brick. Furthermore we disprove a variant of a conjecture of Fan, Raspaud., Comment: 4 pages

A graph $G$ is class II, if its chromatic index is at least $\Delta+1$. Let $H$ be a maximum $\Delta$-edge-colorable subgraph of $G$. The paper proves best possible lower bounds for $\frac{|E(H)|}{|E(G)|}$, and structural properties of maximum $\Delta$-edge-colorable subgraphs. It is shown that every set of vertex-disjoint cycles of a class II graph with $\Delta\geq3$ can be extended to a maximum $\Delta$-edge-colorable subgraph. Simple graphs have a maximum $\Delta$-edge-colorable subgraph such that the complement is a matching. Furthermore, a maximum $\Delta$-edge-colorable subgraph of a simple graph is always class I., Comment: 13 pages, 2 figures, the proof of the Lemma 1 is corrected

In 1954, Tutte conjectured that every bridgeless graph has a nowhere-zero 5-flow. Let $\omega$ be the minimum number of odd cycles in a 2-factor of a bridgeless cubic graph. Tutte's conjecture is equivalent to its restriction to cubic graphs with $\omega \geq 2$. We show that if a cubic graph $G$ has no edge cut with fewer than $ {5/2} \omega - 1$ edges that separates two odd cycles of a minimum 2-factor of $G$, then $G$ has a nowhere-zero 5-flow. This implies that if a cubic graph $G$ is cyclically $n$-edge connected and $n \geq {5/2} \omega - 1$, then $G$ has a nowhere-zero 5-flow.