Backbone coloring for graphs with degree 4

TL;DR

This paper studies a specialized graph coloring problem called backbone coloring for graphs with maximum degree 4, providing a near-complete classification for certain backbone classes and coloring constraints.

Contribution

It offers an almost complete classification of backbone coloring problems for degree-4 graphs with specific backbone classes, advancing understanding of coloring constraints.

Findings

Classification of backbone coloring problems for degree-4 graphs

Results for backbones: paths, trees, matchings, galaxies

Bounds on coloring differences: at most λ + k

Abstract

The $\lambda$-backbone coloring of the graph $G$ with backbone $H$ is a graph-coloring problem in which we are given a graph $G$ and a subgraph $H$, and we want to assign colors to vertices in such a way that the endpoints of every edge from $G$ have different colors, and the endpoints of every edge from $H$ are assigned colors which differ by at least $\lambda$. In this paper we pursue research on backbone coloring of bounded-degree graphs with well-known classes of backbones. Our result is an almost complete classification of problems in the form $BBC_{\lambda}(G, H) \le \lambda + k$ for graphs with maximum degree $4$ and backbones from the following classes: paths, trees, matchings, and galaxies.