Odd clique minors in graphs with independence number two

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Ji, Yuqing, Song, Zi-Xia, Weiss, Evan, Zhang, Xia
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Ji, Yuqing
Song, Zi-Xia
Weiss, Evan
Zhang, Xia
author_facet Ji, Yuqing
Song, Zi-Xia
Weiss, Evan
Zhang, Xia
contents A $K_t$-expansion consists of $t$ vertex-disjoint trees, every two of which are joined by an edge. We call such an expansion odd if its vertices can be two-colored so that the edges of the trees are bichromatic but the edges between trees are monochromatic. A graph contains an odd $K_t$ minor or an odd clique minor of order $t$ if it contains an odd $K_t$-expansion. Gerards and Seymour from 1995 conjectured that every graph $G$ contains an odd $K_{χ(G)}$ minor, where $χ(G)$ denotes the chromatic number of $G$. This conjecture is referred to as ``Odd Hadwiger's Conjecture". Let $α(G)$ denote the independence number of a graph $G$. In this paper we investigate the Odd Hadwiger's Conjecture for graphs $G$ with $α(G)\le2$. We first observe that a graph $G$ on $n$ vertices with $α(G)\le2$ contains an odd $K_{χ(G)}$ minor if and only if $G$ contains an odd clique minor of order $\lceil n/2\rceil$. We then prove that every graph $G$ on $n$ vertices with $α(G)\le 2$ contains an odd clique minor of order $\lceil n/2\rceil$ if $G$ contains a clique of order $n/4$ when $n$ is even and $(n+3)/4$ when $n$ is odd, or $G$ does not contain $H$ as an induced subgraph, where $α(H)\le 2$ and $H$ is an induced subgraph of $K_1 + P_4$, $K_2+(K_1\cup K_3)$, $K_1+(K_1\cup K_4)$, $K_7^-$, $K_7$, or the kite graph.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2505_07727
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Odd clique minors in graphs with independence number two
Ji, Yuqing
Song, Zi-Xia
Weiss, Evan
Zhang, Xia
Combinatorics
A $K_t$-expansion consists of $t$ vertex-disjoint trees, every two of which are joined by an edge. We call such an expansion odd if its vertices can be two-colored so that the edges of the trees are bichromatic but the edges between trees are monochromatic. A graph contains an odd $K_t$ minor or an odd clique minor of order $t$ if it contains an odd $K_t$-expansion. Gerards and Seymour from 1995 conjectured that every graph $G$ contains an odd $K_{χ(G)}$ minor, where $χ(G)$ denotes the chromatic number of $G$. This conjecture is referred to as ``Odd Hadwiger's Conjecture". Let $α(G)$ denote the independence number of a graph $G$. In this paper we investigate the Odd Hadwiger's Conjecture for graphs $G$ with $α(G)\le2$. We first observe that a graph $G$ on $n$ vertices with $α(G)\le2$ contains an odd $K_{χ(G)}$ minor if and only if $G$ contains an odd clique minor of order $\lceil n/2\rceil$. We then prove that every graph $G$ on $n$ vertices with $α(G)\le 2$ contains an odd clique minor of order $\lceil n/2\rceil$ if $G$ contains a clique of order $n/4$ when $n$ is even and $(n+3)/4$ when $n$ is odd, or $G$ does not contain $H$ as an induced subgraph, where $α(H)\le 2$ and $H$ is an induced subgraph of $K_1 + P_4$, $K_2+(K_1\cup K_3)$, $K_1+(K_1\cup K_4)$, $K_7^-$, $K_7$, or the kite graph.
title Odd clique minors in graphs with independence number two
topic Combinatorics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.07727