Optimal b-Colourings and Fall Colourings in $H$-Free Graphs

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Ahn, Jungho, Eagling-Vose, Tala, Lucke, Felicia, Manlove, David, Mendoza, Fabricio, Paulusma, Daniël
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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_version_ 1866915983148449792
author Ahn, Jungho
Eagling-Vose, Tala
Lucke, Felicia
Manlove, David
Mendoza, Fabricio
Paulusma, Daniël
author_facet Ahn, Jungho
Eagling-Vose, Tala
Lucke, Felicia
Manlove, David
Mendoza, Fabricio
Paulusma, Daniël
contents In a colouring of a graph, a vertex is b-chromatic if it is adjacent to a vertex of every other colour. We consider four well-studied colouring problems: b-Chromatic Number, Tight b-Chromatic Number, Fall Chromatic Number and Fall Achromatic Number, which fit into a framework based on whether every colour class has (i) at least one b-chromatic vertex, (ii) exactly one b-chromatic vertex, or (iii) all of its vertices being b-chromatic. By combining known and new results, we fully classify the computational complexity of b-Chromatic Number, Fall Chromatic Number and Fall Achromatic Number in $H$-free graphs. For Tight b-Chromatic Number in $H$-free graphs, we develop a general technique to determine new graphs $H$, for which the problem is polynomial-time solvable, and we also determine new graphs $H$, for which the problem is still NP-complete. We show, for the first time, the existence of a graph $H$ such that in $H$-free graphs, b-Chromatic Number is NP-hard, while Tight b-Chromatic Number is polynomial-time solvable.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_26214
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Optimal b-Colourings and Fall Colourings in $H$-Free Graphs
Ahn, Jungho
Eagling-Vose, Tala
Lucke, Felicia
Manlove, David
Mendoza, Fabricio
Paulusma, Daniël
Combinatorics
Computational Complexity
Discrete Mathematics
Data Structures and Algorithms
In a colouring of a graph, a vertex is b-chromatic if it is adjacent to a vertex of every other colour. We consider four well-studied colouring problems: b-Chromatic Number, Tight b-Chromatic Number, Fall Chromatic Number and Fall Achromatic Number, which fit into a framework based on whether every colour class has (i) at least one b-chromatic vertex, (ii) exactly one b-chromatic vertex, or (iii) all of its vertices being b-chromatic. By combining known and new results, we fully classify the computational complexity of b-Chromatic Number, Fall Chromatic Number and Fall Achromatic Number in $H$-free graphs. For Tight b-Chromatic Number in $H$-free graphs, we develop a general technique to determine new graphs $H$, for which the problem is polynomial-time solvable, and we also determine new graphs $H$, for which the problem is still NP-complete. We show, for the first time, the existence of a graph $H$ such that in $H$-free graphs, b-Chromatic Number is NP-hard, while Tight b-Chromatic Number is polynomial-time solvable.
title Optimal b-Colourings and Fall Colourings in $H$-Free Graphs
topic Combinatorics
Computational Complexity
Discrete Mathematics
Data Structures and Algorithms
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.26214