Total monochromatic connection of graphs

TL;DR

This paper introduces the total monochromatic connection number for total-colored graphs, explores its properties, and compares it with related concepts, revealing that for most graphs, it equals m-n+2+l(G) and satisfies specific bounds.

Contribution

The paper defines the total monochromatic connection number, establishes its value for many graphs, and compares it with other monochromatic connection parameters, providing new insights into graph coloring.

Findings

Many graphs satisfy tmc(G)=m-n+2+l(G)

For almost all graphs, tmc(G) equals m-n+2+l(G)

tmc(G) is bounded by mc(G)+mvc(G), with equality only for complete graphs

Abstract

A graph is said to be {\it total-colored} if all the edges and the vertices of the graph are colored. A path in a total-colored graph is a {\it total monochromatic path} if all the edges and internal vertices on the path have the same color. A total-coloring of a graph is a {\it total monochromatically-connecting coloring} ({\it TMC-coloring}, for short) if any two vertices of the graph are connected by a total monochromatic path of the graph. For a connected graph $G$, the {\it total monochromatic connection number}, denoted by $tmc(G)$, is defined as the maximum number of colors used in a TMC-coloring of $G$. These concepts are inspired by the concepts of monochromatic connection number $mc(G)$, monochromatic vertex connection number $mvc(G)$ and total rainbow connection number $trc(G)$ of a connected graph $G$. Let $l(T)$ denote the number of leaves of a tree $T$, and let $l(G)=\max\{ l(T) | $ $T$ is a spanning tree of $G$ $\}$ for a connected graph $G$. In this paper, we show that there are many graphs $G$ such that $tmc(G)=m-n+2+l(G)$, and moreover, we prove that for almost all graphs $G$, $tmc(G)=m-n+2+l(G)$ holds. Furthermore, we compare $tmc(G)$ with $mvc(G)$ and $mc(G)$, respectively, and obtain that there exist graphs $G$ such that $tmc(G)$ is not less than $mvc(G)$ and vice versa, and that $tmc(G)=mc(G)+l(G)$ holds for almost all graphs. Finally, we prove that $tmc(G)\leq mc(G)+mvc(G)$, and the equality holds if and only if $G$ is a complete graph.