The crossing number of the generalized Petersen graph $P(3k,k)$ in the projective plane

TL;DR

This paper determines the crossing number of the generalized Petersen graph P(3k,k) in the projective plane for small k and bounds it for larger k, advancing understanding of graph embeddings in non-orientable surfaces.

Contribution

It provides exact crossing numbers for P(3k,k) in the projective plane for 3 ≤ k ≤ 7 and bounds for larger k, filling gaps in graph embedding knowledge.

Findings

Exact crossing number for 3 ≤ k ≤ 7 is k-2.

For k ≥ 8, crossing number is between k-2 and k-1.

Advances understanding of graph embeddings in the projective plane.

Abstract

The crossing number of a graph $G$ in a surface $\Sigma$, denoted by $cr_{\Sigma}(G)$, is the minimum number of pairwise intersections of edges in a drawing of $G$ in $\Sigma$. Let $k$ be an integer satisfying $k\geq 3$, the generalized Petersen graph $P(3k,k)$ is the graph with vertex set $V(P(3k,k))=\{u_i, v_i| i=1,2,\cdots,3k\}$ and edge set $E(P(3k,k))=\{u_iu_{i+1}, u_iv_i, v_iv_{k+i}| i=1,2,\cdots,3k\},$ the subscripts are read modulo $3k.$ This paper investigates the crossing number of $P(3k,k)$ in the projective plane. We determine the exact value of $cr_{N_1}(P(3k,k))$ is $k-2$ when $3\le k\le 7,$ moreover, for $k\ge 8,$ we get that $k-2\le cr_{N_1}(P(3k,k))\le k-1.$