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For a multigraph $G$, $\chi'(G)$ denotes the chromatic index of $G$, $\Delta(G)$ the maximum degree of $G$, and $\Gamma(G) = \max\left\{\left\lceil \frac{2|E(H)|}{|V(H)|-1} \right\rceil: H \subseteq G \text{ and } |V(H)| \text{ odd}\right\}$. As a generalization of Vizing's classical coloring result for simple graphs, the Goldberg-Seymour conjecture, posed in the 1970s, states that $\chi'(G)=\max\{\Delta(G), \Gamma(G)\}$ or $\chi'(G)=\max\{\Delta(G) + 1, \Gamma(G)\}$. Hochbaum, Nishizeki, and Shmoys further conjectured in 1986 that such a coloring can be found in polynomial time. A long proof of the Goldberg-Seymour conjecture was announced in 2019 by Chen, Jing, and Zang, and one case in that proof was eliminated recently by Jing (but the proof is still long); and neither proof has been verified. In this paper, we give a proof of the Goldberg-Seymour conjecture that is significantly shorter and confirm the Hochbaum-Nishizeki-Shmoys conjecture by providing an $O(|V|^5|E|^3)$ time algorithm for finding a $\max\{\Delta(G) + 1, \Gamma(G)\}$-edge-coloring of $G$.

The $\textit{planar Tur\'an number}$ $\textrm{ex}_{\mathcal P}(n,H)$ of a graph $H$ is the maximum number of edges in an $n$-vertex planar graph without $H$ as a subgraph. Let $C_k$ denote the cycle of length $k$. The planar Tur\'an number $\textrm{ex}_{\mathcal P}(n,C_k)$ is known for $k\le 7$. We show that dense planar graphs with a certain connectivity property (known as circuit graphs) contain large near triangulations, and we use this result to obtain consequences for planar Tur\'an numbers. In particular, we prove that there is a constant $D$ so that $\textrm{ex}_{\mathcal P}(n,C_k) \le 3n - 6 - Dn/k^{\log_2^3}$ for all $k, n\ge 4$. When $k \ge 11$ this bound is tight up to the constant $D$ and proves a conjecture of Cranston, Lidick\'y, Liu, and Shantanam.

Stanley introduced the concept of chromatic symmetric functions of graphs which extends and refines the notion of chromatic polynomials of graphs, and asked whether trees are determined up to isomorphism by their chromatic symmetric functions. Using the technique of differentiation with respect to power-sum symmetric functions, we give a positive answer to Stanley's question for the class of trees with exactly two vertices of degree at least 3. In addition, we prove that for any tree $T$, the generalized degree sequence for subtrees of $T$ is determined by the chromatic symmetric function of $T$, providing evidence to a conjecture of Crew.

The $\textit{planar Tur\'an number}$ $\textrm{ex}_{\mathcal P}(n,H)$ of a graph $H$ is the maximum number of edges in an $n$-vertex planar graph without $H$ as a subgraph. Let $C_{\ell}$ denote the cycle of length $\ell$. The planar Tur\'an number $\textrm{ex}_{\mathcal P}(n,C_{\ell})$ behaves differently for $\ell\le 10$ and for $\ell\ge 11$, and it is known when $\ell \in \{3,4,5,6\}$. We prove that $\textrm{ex}_{\mathcal P}(n,C_7) \le \frac{18n}{7} - \frac{48}{7}$ for all $n > 38$, and show that equality holds for infinitely many integers $n$.

We say that a graph $G$ is $(2,m)$-linked if, for any distinct vertices $a_1,\ldots, a_m, b_1,b_2$ in $G$, there exist vertex disjoint connected subgraphs $A,B$ of $G$ such that $\{a_1, \ldots, a_m\}$ is contained in $A$ and $\{b_1,b_2\}$ is contained in $B$. A fundamental result in structural graph theory is the characterization of $(2,2)$-linked graphs, with different versions obtained independently by Robertson and Chakravarty, Seymour, and Thomassen. It appears to be very difficult to characterize $(2,m)$-linked graphs for $m\ge 3$. In this paper, we provide a partial characterization of $(2,m)$-linked graphs by adding an average degree condition. This implies that $(2m+2)$-connected graphs are $(2,m)$-linked. Moreover, if $G$ is a $(2m+2)$-connected graph and $a_1, \ldots, a_m, b_1,b_2$ are distinct vertices of $G$, then there is a path $P$ in $G$ between $b_1$ and $b_2$ and avoiding $\{a_1, \ldots, a_m\}$ such that $G-P$ is connected, improving a previous connectivity bound of $10m$., Comment: 17 pages

We show that for any integer $k\ge 1$ there exists an integer $t_0(k)$ such that for integers $t, k_1, \ldots, k_{t+1}, n$ with $t>t_0(k)$, $\max\{k_1, \ldots, k_{t+1}\}\le k$, and $n > 2k(t+1)$, the following holds: If $F_i \subseteq {[n]\choose k_i}$ and $|F_i|> {n\choose k_i}-{n-t\choose k_i} - {n-t-k \choose k_i-1} + 1$ for all $i \in [t+1]$, then either $\{F_1,\ldots, F_{t+1}\}$ admits a rainbow matching of size $t+1$ or there exists $W\in {[n]\choose t}$ such that $W$ is a vertex cover of $F_i$ for all $i\in [t+1]$. This may be viewed as a rainbow non-uniform extension of the classical Hilton-Milner theorem. We also show that the same holds for every $t$ and $n > 2k^3t$, generalizing a recent stability result of Frankl and Kupavskii on matchings to rainbow matchings., Comment: arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2004.12561

We prove that every simple 2-connected subcubic graph on $n$ vertices with $n_2$ vertices of degree 2 has a TSP walk of length at most $\frac{5n+n_2}{4}-1$, confirming a conjecture of Dvo\v{r}\'ak, Kr\'al', and Mohar. This bound is best possible; there are infinitely many subcubic and cubic graphs whose minimum TSP walks have lengths $\frac{5n+n_2}{4}-1$ and $\frac{5n}{4} - 2$ respectively. We characterize the extremal subcubic examples meeting this bound. We also give a quadratic-time combinatorial algorithm for finding such a TSP walk. In particular, we obtain a $\frac{5}{4}$-approximation algorithm for the graphic TSP on simple cubic graphs, improving on the previously best known approximation ratio of $\frac{9}{7}$., Comment: 30 pages

A graph $G$ is said to satisfy the Vizing bound if $\chi(G)\leq \omega(G)+1$, where $\chi(G)$ and $\omega(G)$ denote the chromatic number and clique number of $G$, respectively. It was conjectured by Randerath in 1998 that if $G$ is a triangle-free and fork-free graph, where the fork (also known as trident) is obtained from $K_{1,4}$ by subdividing two edges, then $G$ satisfies the Vizing bound. In this paper, we confirm this conjecture., Comment: 24 pages, 1 figure

Let $k$ and $n$ be two integers, with $k\geq 3$, $n\equiv 0\pmod k$, and $n$ sufficiently large. We determine the $(k-1)$-degree threshold for the existence of a rainbow perfect matchings in $n$-vertex $k$-uniform hypergraph. This implies the result of R\"odl, Ruci\'nski, and Szemer\'edi on the $(k-1)$-degree threshold for the existence of perfect matchings in $n$-vertex $k$-uniform hypergraphs. In our proof, we identify the extremal configurations of closeness, and consider whether or not the hypergraph is close to the extremal configuration. In addition, we also develop a novel absorbing device and generalize the absorbing lemma of R\"odl, Ruci\'nski, and Szemer\'edi.

A cycle $C$ in a graph $G$ is called a Tutte cycle if, after deleting $C$ from $G$, each component has at most three neighbors on $C$. Tutte cycles play an important role in the study of Hamiltonicity of planar graphs. Thomas and Yu and independently Sanders proved the existence of Tutte cycles containining three specified edges of a facial cycle in a 2-connected plane graph. We prove a quantitative version of this result, bounding the number of components of the graph obtained by deleting a Tutte cycle. As a corollary, we can find long cycles in essentially 4-connected plane graphs that also contain three prescribed edges of a facial cycle., Comment: 14 pages, 1 figure

For any positive integer $t$, a \emph{$t$-broom} is a graph obtained from $K_{1,t+1}$ by subdividing an edge once. In this paper, we show that, for graphs $G$ without induced $t$-brooms, we have $\chi(G) = o(\omega(G)^{t+1})$, where $\chi(G)$ and $\omega(G)$ are the chromatic number and clique number of $G$, respectively. When $t=2$, this answers a question of Schiermeyer and Randerath. Moreover, for $t=2$, we strengthen the bound on $\chi(G)$ to $7\omega(G)^2$, confirming a conjecture of Sivaraman. For $t\geq 3$ and \{$t$-broom, $K_{t,t}$\}-free graphs, we improve the bound to $o(\omega^{t})$., Comment: 14 pages, 1 figure

Let $n$ be a sufficiently large integer with $n\equiv 0\pmod 4$ and let $F_i \subseteq{[n]\choose 4}$ where $i\in [n/4]$. We show that if each vertex of $F_i$ is contained in more than ${n-1\choose 3}-{3n/4\choose 3}$ edges, then $\{F_1, \ldots ,F_{n/4}\}$ admits a rainbow matching, i.e., a set of $n/4$ edges consisting of one edge from each $F_i$. This generalizes a deep result of Khan on perfect matchings in 4-uniform hypergraphs., Comment: arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2004.12561

Hakimi, Schmeichel, and Thomassen in 1979 conjectured that every $4$-connected planar triangulation $G$ on $n$ vertices has at least $2(n-2)(n-4)$ Hamiltonian cycles, with equality if and only if $G$ is a double wheel. In this paper, we show that every $4$-connected planar triangulation on $n$ vertices has $\Omega(n^2)$ Hamiltonian cycles. Moreover, we show that if $G$ is a $4$-connected planar triangulation on $n$ vertices and the distance between any two vertices of degree $4$ in $G$ is at least $3$, then $G$ has $2^{\Omega(n^{1/4})}$ Hamiltonian cycles., Comment: arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2104.04898

Whitney proved in 1931 that 4-connected planar triangulations are Hamiltonian. Hakimi, Schmeichel, and Thomassen conjectured in 1979 that if $G$ is a 4-connected planar triangulation with $n$ vertices then $G$ contains at least $2(n-2)(n-4)$ Hamiltonian cycles, with equality if and only if $G$ is a double wheel. On the other hand, a recent result of Alahmadi, Aldred, and Thomassen states that there are exponentially many Hamiltonian cycles in 5-connected planar triangulations. In this paper, we consider 4-connected planar $n$-vertex triangulations $G$ that do not have too many separating 4-cycles or have minimum degree 5. We show that if $G$ has $O(n/{\log}_2 n)$ separating 4-cycles then $G$ has $\Omega(n^2)$ Hamiltonian cycles, and if $\delta(G)\ge 5$ then $G$ has $2^{\Omega(n^{1/4})}$ Hamiltonian cycles. Both results improve previous work. Moreover, the proofs involve a "double wheel" structure, providing further evidence to the above conjecture., Comment: 20 pages, 2 figures

R\"odl, Ruci\'nski, and Szemer\'edi determined the minimum $(k-1)$-degree threshold for the existence of fractional perfect matchings in $k$-uniform hypergrahs, and K\"uhn, Osthus, and Townsend extended this result by asymptotically determining the $d$-degree threshold for the range $k-1>d\ge k/2$. In this note, we prove the following exact degree threshold: Let $k,d$ be positive integers with $k\ge 4$ and $k-1>d\geq k/2$, and let $n$ be any integer with $n\ge k^2$. Then any $n$-vertex $k$-uniform hypergraph with minimum $d$-degree $\delta_d(H)>{n-d\choose k-d} -{n-d-(\lceil n/k\rceil-1)\choose k-d}$ contains a fractional perfect matching. This lower bound on the minimum $d$-degree is best possible. We also determine optimal minimum $d$-degree conditions which guarantees the existence of fractional matchings of size $s$, where $0

Aharoni and Howard, and, independently, Huang, Loh, and Sudakov proposed the following rainbow version of Erd\H{o}s matching conjecture: For positive integers $n,k,m$ with $n\ge km$, if each of the families $F_1,\ldots, F_m\subseteq {[n]\choose k}$ has size more than $\max\{\binom{n}{k} - \binom{n-m+1}{k}, \binom{km-1}{k}\}$, then there exist pairwise disjoint subsets $e_1,\dots, e_m$ such that $e_i\in F_i$ for all $i\in [m]$. We prove that there exists an absolute constant $n_0$ such that this rainbow version holds for $k=3$ and $n\geq n_0$. We convert this rainbow matching problem to a matching problem on a special hypergraph $H$. We then combine several existing techniques on matchings in uniform hypergraphs: find an absorbing matching $M$ in $H$; use a randomization process of Alon et al. to find an almost regular subgraph of $H-V(M)$; and find an almost perfect matching in $H-V(M)$. To complete the process, we also need to prove a new result on matchings in 3-uniform hypergraphs, which can be viewed as a stability version of a result of {\L}uczak and Mieczkowska and might be of independent interest., Comment: added two references [2,7], accepted for publication in SCIENCE CHINA Mathematics

Scott asked the question of determining $c_d$ such that if $D$ is a digraph with $m$ arcs and minimum outdegree $d\ge 2$ then $V(D)$ has a partition $V_1, V_2$ such that $\min\left\{e(V_1,V_2),e(V_2, V_1)\right\}\geq c_dm$, where $e(V_1,V_2)$ (respectively, $e(V_2,V_1)$) is the number of arcs from $V_1$ to $V_2$ (respectively, from $V_2$ to $V_1$). Lee, Loh, and Sudakov showed that $c_2=1/6+o(1)$ and $c_3=1/5+o(1)$, and conjectured that $c_d= \frac{d-1}{2(2d-1)}+o(1)$ for $d\ge 4$. In this paper, we show $c_4=3/14+o(1)$ and prove some partial results for $d\ge 5$., Comment: 18 pages

Aharoni and Howard conjectured that, for positive integers $n,k,t$ with $n\ge k$ and $n\ge t$, if $F_1,\ldots, F_t\subseteq {[n]\choose k}$ such that $|F_i|>{n\choose k}-{n-t+1\choose k}$ for $i\in [t]$ then there exist $e_i\in F_i$ for $i\in [t]$ such that $e_1,\ldots,e_t$ are pairwise disjoint. Huang, Loh, and Sudakov proved this conjecture for $t

K\"{u}hn, Osthus, and Treglown and, independently, Khan proved that if $H$ is a $3$-uniform hypergraph with $n$ vertices such that $n\in 3\mathbb{Z}$ and large, and $\delta_1(H)>{n-1\choose 2}-{2n/3\choose 2}$, then $H$ contains a perfect matching. In this paper, we show that for $n\in 3\mathbb{Z}$ sufficiently large, if $F_1, \ldots, F_{n/3}$ are 3-uniform hypergrapghs with a common vertex set and $\delta_1(F_i)>{n-1\choose 2}-{2n/3\choose 2}$ for $i\in [n/3]$, then $\{F_1,\dots, F_{n/3}\}$ admits a rainbow matching, i.e., a matching consisting of one edge from each $F_i$. This is done by converting the rainbow matching problem to a perfect matching problem in a special class of uniform hypergraphs.

As a natural extension of the Four Color Theorem, Haj\'{o}s conjectured that graphs containing no $K_5$-subdivision are 4-colorable. Any possible counterexample to this conjecture with minimum number of vertices is called a {\it Haj\'{o}s graph}. Previous results show that Haj\'{o}s graphs are 4-connected but not 5-connected. A $k$-separation in a graph $G$ is a pair $(G_1,G_2)$ of edge-disjoint subgraphs of $G$ such that $|V(G_1\cap G_2)|=k$, $G=G_1\cup G_2$, and $G_i\not\subseteq G_{3-i}$ for $i=1,2$. In this paper, we show that Haj\'{o}s graphs do not admit a 4-separation $(G_1,G_2)$ such that $|V(G_1)|\ge 6$ and $G_1$ can be drawn in the plane with no edge crossings and all vertices in $V(G_1\cap G_2)$ incident with a common face. This is a step in our attempt to reduce Haj\'{o}s' conjecture to the Four Color Theorem., Comment: 25 pages, 1 figure

Tutte proved that every 4-connected planar graph contains a Hamilton cycle, but there are 3-connected $n$-vertex planar graphs whose longest cycles have length $\Theta(n^{\log_32})$. On the other hand, Jackson and Wormald in 1992 proved that an essentially 4-connected $n$-vertex planar graph contains a cycle of length at least $(2n+4)/5$, which was recently improved to $5(n+2)/8$ by Fabrici {\it et al}. In this paper, we improve this bound to $\lceil (2n+6)/3\rceil$ for $n\ge 6$, which is best possible, by proving a quantitative version of a result of Thomassen on Tutte paths., Comment: 17 pages, 4 figures

For integers $n\ge 0$, an iterated triangulation $Tr(n)$ is defined recursively as follows: $Tr(0)$ is the plane triangulation on three vertices and, for $n\ge 1$, $Tr(n)$ is the plane triangulation obtained from the plane triangulation $Tr(n-1)$ by, for each inner face $F$ of $Tr(n-1)$, adding inside $F$ a new vertex and three edges joining this new vertex to the three vertices incident with $F$. In this paper, we show that there exists a 2-edge-coloring of $Tr(n)$ such that $Tr(n)$ contains no monochromatic copy of the cycle $C_k$ for any $k\ge 5$. As a consequence, the answer to one of two questions asked by Axenovich, Schade, Thomassen and Ueckerdt is negative. We also determine the radius two graphs $H$ for which there exists $n$ such that every 2-edge-coloring of $Tr(n)$ contains a monochromatic copy of $H$, extending a result of the above authors for radius two trees.

It was conjectured by Haj\'{o}s that graphs containing no $K_5$-subdivision are 4-colorable. Previous results show that any possible minimum counterexample to Haj\'{o}s' conjecture, called Haj\'{o}s graph, is 4-connected but not 5-connected. In this paper, we show that if a Haj\'{o}s graph admits a 4-cut or 5-cut with a planar side then the planar side must be small or contains a special wheel. This is a step in our effort to reduce Haj\'{o}s' conjecture to the Four Color Theorem.

In this paper, we study degree conditions for the existence of large matchings in uniform hypergraphs. We prove that for integers $k,l,n$ with $k\ge 3$, $k/2{n-l\choose k-l}-{(n-l)-(\lceil n/k \rceil-2)\choose 2}$, then $H$ has a matching covering all but a constant number of vertices. When $l=k-2$ and $k\ge 5$, such a matching is near perfect and our bound on $\delta_l(H)$ is best possible. When $k=3$, with the help of an absorbing lemma of H\'{a}n, Person, and Schacht, our proof also implies that $H$ has a perfect matching, a result proved by K\" uhn, Osthus, and Treglown and, independently, of Kahn.

A graph $G$ is $k$-ordered if for any distinct vertices $v_1, v_2, \ldots, v_k \in V(G)$, it has a cycle through $v_1, v_2, \ldots, v_k$ in order. Let $f(k)$ denote the minimum integer so that every $f(k)$-connected graph is $k$-ordered. The first non-trivial case of determining $f(k)$ is when $k=4$, where the previously best known bounds are $7 \leq f(4) \leq 40$. We prove that in fact $f(4)=7$., Comment: 21 pages, 1 figure. Revised version