"Perfect Matching and Circuit Cover of Graphs" by Dong Ye

Semester

Summer

Date of Graduation

2012

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Type

PhD

College

Eberly College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Mathematics

Committee Chair

Cun-Quan Zhang.

Abstract

The research of my dissertation is motivated by the Circuit Double Cover Conjecture due to Szekeres and independently Seymour, that every bridgeless graph G has a family of circuits which covers every edge of G twice. By Fleischner's Splitting Lemma, it suffices to verify the circuit double cover conjecture for bridgeless cubic graphs.;It is well known that every edge-3-colorable cubic graph has a circuit double cover. The structures of edge-3-colorable cubic graphs have strong connections with the circuit double cover conjecture. In chapter two, we consider the structure properties of a special class of edge-3-colorable cubic graphs, which has an edge contained by a unique perfect matching. In chapter three, we prove that if a cubic graph G containing a subdivision of a special class of edge-3-colorable cubic graphs, semi-Kotzig graphs, then G has a circuit double cover.;Circuit extension is an approach posted by Seymour to attack the circuit double cover conjecture. But Fleischer and Kochol found counterexamples to this approach. In chapter four, we post a modified approach, called circuit extension sequence. If a cubic graph G has a circuit extension sequence, then G has a circuit double cover. We verify that all Fleischner's examples and Kochol's examples have a circuit extension sequence, and hence not counterexamples to our approach. Further, we prove that a circuit C of a bridgeless cubic G is extendable if the attachments of all odd Tutte-bridges appear on C consequently.;In the last chapter, we consider the properties of minimum counterexamples to the strong circuit double cover. Applying these properties, we show that if a cubic graph G has a long circuit with at least | V(G)| - 7 vertices, then G has a circuit double cover.

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