ArticleOriginal scientific text

Title

Complete minors, independent sets, and chordal graphs

Authors 1, 2, 1, 1

Affiliations

  1. Department of Mathematics, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
  2. Department of Mathematics, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA

Abstract

The Hadwiger number h(G) of a graph G is the maximum size of a complete minor of G. Hadwiger's Conjecture states that h(G) ≥ χ(G). Since χ(G) α(G) ≥ |V(G)|, Hadwiger's Conjecture implies that α(G) h(G) ≥ |V(G)|. We show that (2α(G) - ⌈log_{τ}(τα(G)/2)⌉) h(G) ≥ |V(G)| where τ ≍ 6.83. For graphs with α(G) ≥ 14, this improves on a recent result of Kawarabayashi and Song who showed (2α(G) - 2) h(G) ≥ |V(G) | when α(G) ≥ 3.

Keywords

clique minor, independence number, Hadwiger conjecture, chordal graphs

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Pages:
639-674
Main language of publication
English
Received
2009-09-14
Accepted
2010-09-15
Published
2011
Exact and natural sciences