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Main Authors: Goddard, Wayne, Herrman, Tyler, Hughes, Simon J.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2501.01302
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author Goddard, Wayne
Herrman, Tyler
Hughes, Simon J.
author_facet Goddard, Wayne
Herrman, Tyler
Hughes, Simon J.
contents For a graph with colored vertices, a rainbow subgraph is one where all vertices have different colors. For graph $G$, let $c_k(G)$ denote the maximum number of different colors in a coloring without a rainbow path on $k$ vertices, and $cp_k(G)$ the maximum number of colors if the coloring is required to be proper. The parameter $c_3$ has been studied by multiple authors. We investigate these parameters for trees and $k \ge 4$. We first calculate them when $G$ is a path, and determine when the optimal coloring is unique. Then for trees $T$ of order $n$, we show that the minimum value of $c_4(T)$ and $cp_4(T)$ is $(n+2)/2$, and the trees with the minimum value of $cp_4(T)$ are the coronas. Further, the minimum value of $c_5(T)$ and $cp_5(T)$ is $(n+3)/2$ , and the trees with the minimum value of either parameter are octopuses.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2501_01302
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Bounds on Coloring Trees without Rainbow Paths
Goddard, Wayne
Herrman, Tyler
Hughes, Simon J.
Combinatorics
05C15
For a graph with colored vertices, a rainbow subgraph is one where all vertices have different colors. For graph $G$, let $c_k(G)$ denote the maximum number of different colors in a coloring without a rainbow path on $k$ vertices, and $cp_k(G)$ the maximum number of colors if the coloring is required to be proper. The parameter $c_3$ has been studied by multiple authors. We investigate these parameters for trees and $k \ge 4$. We first calculate them when $G$ is a path, and determine when the optimal coloring is unique. Then for trees $T$ of order $n$, we show that the minimum value of $c_4(T)$ and $cp_4(T)$ is $(n+2)/2$, and the trees with the minimum value of $cp_4(T)$ are the coronas. Further, the minimum value of $c_5(T)$ and $cp_5(T)$ is $(n+3)/2$ , and the trees with the minimum value of either parameter are octopuses.
title Bounds on Coloring Trees without Rainbow Paths
topic Combinatorics
05C15
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2501.01302