Flexible list coloring of graphs with maximum average degree less than $3$

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Bi, Richard, Bradshaw, Peter
Format: Preprint
Published: 2023
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author Bi, Richard
Bradshaw, Peter
author_facet Bi, Richard
Bradshaw, Peter
contents In the flexible list coloring problem, we consider a graph $G$ and a color list assignment $L$ on $G$, as well as a subset $U \subseteq V(G)$ for which each $u \in U$ has a preferred color $p(u) \in L(u)$. Our goal is to find a proper $L$-coloring $ϕ$ of $G$ such that $ϕ(u) = p(u)$ for at least $ε|U|$ vertices $u \in U$. We say that $G$ is $ε$-flexibly $k$-choosable if for every $k$-size list assignment $L$ on $G$ and every subset of vertices with coloring preferences, $G$ has a proper $L$-coloring that satisfies an $ε$ proportion of these coloring preferences. Dvořák, Norin, and Postle [Journal of Graph Theory, 2019] asked whether every $d$-degenerate graph is $ε$-flexibly $(d+1)$-choosable for some constant $ε= ε(d) > 0$. In this paper, we prove that there exists a constant $ε> 0$ such that every graph with maximum average degree less than $3$ is $ε$-flexibly $3$-choosable, which gives a large class of $2$-degenerate graphs which are $ε$-flexibly $(d+1)$-choosable. In particular, our results imply a theorem of Dvořák, Masařík, Musílek, and Pangrác [Journal of Graph Theory, 2020] stating that every planar graph of girth $6$ is $ε$-flexibly $3$-choosable for some constant $ε> 0$. To prove our result, we generalize the existing reducible subgraph framework traditionally used for flexible list coloring to allow reducible subgraphs of arbitrarily large order.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2310_02979
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Flexible list coloring of graphs with maximum average degree less than $3$
Bi, Richard
Bradshaw, Peter
Combinatorics
05C15
In the flexible list coloring problem, we consider a graph $G$ and a color list assignment $L$ on $G$, as well as a subset $U \subseteq V(G)$ for which each $u \in U$ has a preferred color $p(u) \in L(u)$. Our goal is to find a proper $L$-coloring $ϕ$ of $G$ such that $ϕ(u) = p(u)$ for at least $ε|U|$ vertices $u \in U$. We say that $G$ is $ε$-flexibly $k$-choosable if for every $k$-size list assignment $L$ on $G$ and every subset of vertices with coloring preferences, $G$ has a proper $L$-coloring that satisfies an $ε$ proportion of these coloring preferences. Dvořák, Norin, and Postle [Journal of Graph Theory, 2019] asked whether every $d$-degenerate graph is $ε$-flexibly $(d+1)$-choosable for some constant $ε= ε(d) > 0$. In this paper, we prove that there exists a constant $ε> 0$ such that every graph with maximum average degree less than $3$ is $ε$-flexibly $3$-choosable, which gives a large class of $2$-degenerate graphs which are $ε$-flexibly $(d+1)$-choosable. In particular, our results imply a theorem of Dvořák, Masařík, Musílek, and Pangrác [Journal of Graph Theory, 2020] stating that every planar graph of girth $6$ is $ε$-flexibly $3$-choosable for some constant $ε> 0$. To prove our result, we generalize the existing reducible subgraph framework traditionally used for flexible list coloring to allow reducible subgraphs of arbitrarily large order.
title Flexible list coloring of graphs with maximum average degree less than $3$
topic Combinatorics
05C15
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2310.02979