On the Equitable Vertex Arboricity of Graphs

TL;DR

This paper investigates the equitable vertex arboricity in various graph classes, providing bounds, characterizations, and Nordhaus-Gaddum results for the strong equitable vertex k-arboricity.

Contribution

It introduces new bounds and characterizations for the strong equitable vertex k-arboricity in bipartite, tripartite graphs, and forests, extending previous work and providing comprehensive results.

Findings

Sharp upper bound for complete bipartite graphs $K_{n,n+ ext{l}}$

Necessary and sufficient conditions for equitable $(q, ext{infty})$-tree coloring

Characterizations of graphs with specific strong equitable vertex k-arboricity values

Abstract

The equitable coloring problem, introduced by Meyer in 1973, has received considerable attention and research. Recently, Wu, Zhang and Li introduced the concept of equitable $(t,k)$-tree-coloring, which can be regarded as a generalization of proper equitable $t$-coloring. The \emph{strong equitable vertex $k$-arboricity} of $G$, denoted by ${va_k}^\equiv(G)$, is the smallest integer $t$ such that $G$ has an equitable $(t', k)$-tree-coloring for every $t'\geq t$. The exact value of strong equitable vertex $k$-arboricity of complete equipartition bipartite graph $K_{n,n}$ was studied by Wu, Zhang and Li. In this paper, we first get a sharp upper bound of strong equitable vertex arboricity of complete bipartite graph$K_{n,n+\ell} \ (1\leq \ell\leq n)$, that is, ${va_2}^\equiv(K_{n,n+\ell})\leq2\left\lfloor{\frac{n+\ell+1}{3}}\right\rfloor$. Next, we obtain a sufficient and necessary condition on an equitable $(q,\infty)$-tree coloring of a complete equipartition tripartite graph, and study the strong equitable vertex arboricity of forests. For a simple graph $G$ of order $n$, we show that $1\leq {va_k}^\equiv(G)\leq \lceil n/2 \rceil$. Furthermore, graphs with ${va_k}^\equiv(G)=1,\lceil\frac{n}{2}\rceil,\lceil\frac{n}{2}\rceil-1$ are characterized, respectively. In the end, we obtain the Nordhaus-Gaddum type results of strong equitable vertex $k$-arboricity for general $k$.