Homotopy types of Hom complexes of graph homomorphisms whose codomains are square-free

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Fujii, Soichiro, Kimura, Kei, Nozaki, Yuta
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Fujii, Soichiro
Kimura, Kei
Nozaki, Yuta
author_facet Fujii, Soichiro
Kimura, Kei
Nozaki, Yuta
contents Given finite simple graphs $G$ and $H$, the Hom complex $\mathrm{Hom}(G,H)$ is a polyhedral complex having the graph homomorphisms $G\to H$ as the vertices. We determine the homotopy type of each connected component of $\mathrm{Hom}(G,H)$ when $H$ is square-free, meaning that it does not contain the $4$-cycle graph $C_4$ as a subgraph. Specifically, for a connected $G$ and a square-free $H$, we show that each connected component of $\mathrm{Hom}(G,H)$ is homotopy equivalent to a wedge sum of circles. We further show that, given any graph homomorphism $f\colon G\to H$ to a square-free $H$, one can determine the homotopy type of the connected component of $\mathrm{Hom}(G,H)$ containing $f$ algorithmically.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2412_19039
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Homotopy types of Hom complexes of graph homomorphisms whose codomains are square-free
Fujii, Soichiro
Kimura, Kei
Nozaki, Yuta
Combinatorics
Algebraic Topology
55U05, 05C15 (Primary) 55P15, 06A15 (Secondary)
Given finite simple graphs $G$ and $H$, the Hom complex $\mathrm{Hom}(G,H)$ is a polyhedral complex having the graph homomorphisms $G\to H$ as the vertices. We determine the homotopy type of each connected component of $\mathrm{Hom}(G,H)$ when $H$ is square-free, meaning that it does not contain the $4$-cycle graph $C_4$ as a subgraph. Specifically, for a connected $G$ and a square-free $H$, we show that each connected component of $\mathrm{Hom}(G,H)$ is homotopy equivalent to a wedge sum of circles. We further show that, given any graph homomorphism $f\colon G\to H$ to a square-free $H$, one can determine the homotopy type of the connected component of $\mathrm{Hom}(G,H)$ containing $f$ algorithmically.
title Homotopy types of Hom complexes of graph homomorphisms whose codomains are square-free
topic Combinatorics
Algebraic Topology
55U05, 05C15 (Primary) 55P15, 06A15 (Secondary)
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2412.19039