Infinite families of planar graphs of a given injective chromatic number

TL;DR

This paper investigates the injective chromatic number of planar graphs, providing computational evidence and constructing infinite families of graphs that challenge existing conjectures for various maximum degrees.

Contribution

It introduces infinite families of planar graphs that attain conjectured bounds on the injective chromatic number, extending previous finite examples and challenging existing conjectures.

Findings

Counterexamples for conjectured bounds on injective chromatic number for various degrees.

Construction of infinite families of 3-connected planar graphs meeting these bounds.

Computational evidence supporting refined conjectures on injective colourings.

Abstract

An injective colouring of a graph is a colouring in which every two vertices sharing a common neighbour receive a different colour. Chen, Hahn, Raspaud and Wang conjectured that every planar graph of maximum degree $\Delta \ge 3$ admits an injective colouring with at most $\lfloor 3\Delta/2\rfloor$ colours. This was later disproved by Lu\v{z}ar and \v{S}krekovski for certain small and even values of $\Delta$ and they proposed a new refined conjecture. Using an algorithm for determining the injective chromatic number of a graph, i.e. the smallest number of colours for which the graph admits an injective colouring, we give computational evidence for Lu\v{z}ar and \v{S}krekovski's conjecture and extend their results by presenting an infinite family of $3$-connected planar graphs for each $\Delta$ (except for $4$) attaining their bound, whereas they only gave a finite amount of examples for each $\Delta$. Hence, together with another infinite family of maximum degree $4$, we provide infinitely many counterexamples to the conjecture by Chen et al. for each $\Delta$ if $4\le \Delta \le 7$ and every even $\Delta \ge 8$. We provide similar evidence for analogous conjectures by La and \v{S}torgel and Lu\v{z}ar, \v{S}krekovski and Tancer when the girth is restricted as well. Also in these cases we provide infinite families of $3$-connected planar graphs attaining the bounds of these conjectures for certain maximum degrees $\Delta\geq 3$.