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Main Authors: Ferme, Jasmina, Štesl, Daša Mesarič
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.08691
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author Ferme, Jasmina
Štesl, Daša Mesarič
author_facet Ferme, Jasmina
Štesl, Daša Mesarič
contents In this paper, we introduce a new concept in graph coloring, namely the \textit{packing total coloring}, which extends the idea of packing coloring to both the vertices and the edges of a given graph. More precisely, for a graph $G$, a packing total coloring is a mapping $c: V(G) \cup E(G) \rightarrow \{1, 2, \ldots\}$ with the property that for any integer $i$, any two distinct elements $A, B \in V(G) \cup E(G)$ with $c(A) = c(B) = i$ must be at distance at least $i+1$ from each other. Note that the distance between $A$ and $B$ means: a) the usual shortest-path distance between $A$ and $B$ if $A, B \in V(G)$; b) the $\min \{d(a,d), d(a,c),d(b,c), d(b,d)\}+1$ if $\{A, B\} =\{ab, cd\} \subseteq E(G)$; c) the $ \min \{d(a,X), d(b,X)\}+1$ if $\{A, B\}=\{ab, X\}$, where $ab \in E(G)$ and $X \in V(G)$. The smallest integer $k$ such that $G$ admits a packing total coloring using $k$ colors is called the \textit{packing total chromatic number}, denoted by $χ_ρ^{''}(G)$. In addition to introducing this new concept, we provide lower and upper bounds for the packing total chromatic numbers of graphs. Furthermore, we consider packing total chromatic numbers of graphs from the perspective of their maximum degrees and characterize all graphs $G$ with $χ_ρ^{''}(G) \in \{1, 2, 3, 4, 5\}$.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2508_08691
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle On packing total coloring
Ferme, Jasmina
Štesl, Daša Mesarič
Combinatorics
In this paper, we introduce a new concept in graph coloring, namely the \textit{packing total coloring}, which extends the idea of packing coloring to both the vertices and the edges of a given graph. More precisely, for a graph $G$, a packing total coloring is a mapping $c: V(G) \cup E(G) \rightarrow \{1, 2, \ldots\}$ with the property that for any integer $i$, any two distinct elements $A, B \in V(G) \cup E(G)$ with $c(A) = c(B) = i$ must be at distance at least $i+1$ from each other. Note that the distance between $A$ and $B$ means: a) the usual shortest-path distance between $A$ and $B$ if $A, B \in V(G)$; b) the $\min \{d(a,d), d(a,c),d(b,c), d(b,d)\}+1$ if $\{A, B\} =\{ab, cd\} \subseteq E(G)$; c) the $ \min \{d(a,X), d(b,X)\}+1$ if $\{A, B\}=\{ab, X\}$, where $ab \in E(G)$ and $X \in V(G)$. The smallest integer $k$ such that $G$ admits a packing total coloring using $k$ colors is called the \textit{packing total chromatic number}, denoted by $χ_ρ^{''}(G)$. In addition to introducing this new concept, we provide lower and upper bounds for the packing total chromatic numbers of graphs. Furthermore, we consider packing total chromatic numbers of graphs from the perspective of their maximum degrees and characterize all graphs $G$ with $χ_ρ^{''}(G) \in \{1, 2, 3, 4, 5\}$.
title On packing total coloring
topic Combinatorics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.08691