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Main Authors: Distel, Marc, Hickingbotham, Robert, Seweryn, Michał T., Wood, David R.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2023
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2308.06995
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author Distel, Marc
Hickingbotham, Robert
Seweryn, Michał T.
Wood, David R.
author_facet Distel, Marc
Hickingbotham, Robert
Seweryn, Michał T.
Wood, David R.
contents We prove that the $k$-power of any planar graph $G$ is contained in $H\boxtimes P\boxtimes K_{f(Δ(G),k)}$ for some graph $H$ with bounded treewidth, some path $P$, and some function $f$. This resolves an open problem of Ossona de Mendez. In fact, we prove a more general result in terms of shallow minors that implies similar results for many `beyond planar' graph classes, without dependence on $Δ(G)$. For example, we prove that every $k$-planar graph is contained in $H\boxtimes P\boxtimes K_{f(k)}$ for some graph $H$ with bounded treewidth and some path $P$, and some function $f$. This resolves an open problem of Dujmović, Morin and Wood. We generalise all these results for graphs of bounded Euler genus, still with an absolute bound on the treewidth. At the heart of our proof is the following new concept of independent interest. An $\ell$-blocking partition of a graph $G$ is a partition of $V(G)$ into connected sets such that every path of length greater than $\ell$ in $G$ contains at least two vertices in one part. We prove that for some constant $\ell \ge 1$ every graph of Euler genus $g$ has an $\ell$-blocking partition with parts of size bounded by a function of $Δ(G)$ and $g$. Motivated by this result, we study blocking partitions in their own right. We show that every graph $G$ has a $2$-blocking partition with parts of size bounded by a function of $Δ(G)$ and $\textrm{tw}(G)$. On the other hand, we show that 4-regular graphs do not have $\ell$-blocking partitions with bounded size parts.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2308_06995
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Powers of planar graphs, product structure, and blocking partitions
Distel, Marc
Hickingbotham, Robert
Seweryn, Michał T.
Wood, David R.
Combinatorics
We prove that the $k$-power of any planar graph $G$ is contained in $H\boxtimes P\boxtimes K_{f(Δ(G),k)}$ for some graph $H$ with bounded treewidth, some path $P$, and some function $f$. This resolves an open problem of Ossona de Mendez. In fact, we prove a more general result in terms of shallow minors that implies similar results for many `beyond planar' graph classes, without dependence on $Δ(G)$. For example, we prove that every $k$-planar graph is contained in $H\boxtimes P\boxtimes K_{f(k)}$ for some graph $H$ with bounded treewidth and some path $P$, and some function $f$. This resolves an open problem of Dujmović, Morin and Wood. We generalise all these results for graphs of bounded Euler genus, still with an absolute bound on the treewidth. At the heart of our proof is the following new concept of independent interest. An $\ell$-blocking partition of a graph $G$ is a partition of $V(G)$ into connected sets such that every path of length greater than $\ell$ in $G$ contains at least two vertices in one part. We prove that for some constant $\ell \ge 1$ every graph of Euler genus $g$ has an $\ell$-blocking partition with parts of size bounded by a function of $Δ(G)$ and $g$. Motivated by this result, we study blocking partitions in their own right. We show that every graph $G$ has a $2$-blocking partition with parts of size bounded by a function of $Δ(G)$ and $\textrm{tw}(G)$. On the other hand, we show that 4-regular graphs do not have $\ell$-blocking partitions with bounded size parts.
title Powers of planar graphs, product structure, and blocking partitions
topic Combinatorics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2308.06995