Two sufficient conditions for dominating cycles

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Two Sufficient Conditions for Dominating Cycles Mei Lu, 1 Huiqing Liu, 2 and Feng Tian 2 1 DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES TSINGHUA UNIVERSITY BEIJING 100084, CHINA E-mail: [email protected] 2 INSTITUTE OF SYSTEMS SCIENCE ACADEMY OF MATHEMATICS AND SYSTEMS SCIENCE CHINESE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES BEIJING 100080, CHINA E-mail: [email protected] and [email protected] Received April 8, 2002; Revised August 31, 2004 Published online in Wiley InterScience(www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/jgt.20070 Abstract: A cycle C of a graph G is dominating if each component of G n C is edgeless. In the paper, we will give two sufficient conditions for each longest cycle of a 3-connected graph to be a dominating cycle. ß 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 49: 135–150, 2005 Keywords: dominating cycle; connectivity; insertible vertex 1. INTRODUCTION We use Bondy and Murty [4] for terminology and notation not defined here and consider simple undirected graphs only. Let G be a graph. If S V ðGÞ, then N ðSÞ denotes the neighbors of S. For a subgraph H of G and S V ðGÞ, let —————————————————— Contract grant sponsor: NNSFC (to M.L.); Contract grant number: 60172005; Contract grant sponsor: NNSFC. ß 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. 135

Transcript of Two sufficient conditions for dominating cycles

Two Sufficient Conditionsfor Dominating Cycles

Mei Lu,1 Huiqing Liu,2 and Feng Tian2

1DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES

TSINGHUA UNIVERSITY

BEIJING 100084, CHINA

E-mail: [email protected]

2INSTITUTE OF SYSTEMS SCIENCE

ACADEMY OF MATHEMATICS AND SYSTEMS SCIENCE

CHINESE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

BEIJING 100080, CHINA

E-mail: [email protected] and [email protected]

Received April 8, 2002; Revised August 31, 2004

Published online in Wiley InterScience(www.interscience.wiley.com).

DOI 10.1002/jgt.20070

Abstract: A cycle C of a graph G is dominating if each component of GnCis edgeless. In the paper, we will give two sufficient conditions for eachlongest cycle of a 3-connected graph to be a dominating cycle.� 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 49: 135–150, 2005

Keywords: dominating cycle; connectivity; insertible vertex

1. INTRODUCTION

We use Bondy and Murty [4] for terminology and notation not defined here and

consider simple undirected graphs only. Let G be a graph. If S � VðGÞ, then

NðSÞ denotes the neighbors of S. For a subgraph H of G and S � VðGÞ, let

——————————————————

Contract grant sponsor: NNSFC (to M.L.); Contract grant number: 60172005;Contract grant sponsor: NNSFC.

� 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

135

NHðSÞ ¼ NðSÞ \ VðHÞ. When H ¼ G, we write NðSÞ instead of NGðSÞ. If

S ¼ fs1; s2; . . . ; slg, then NHðSÞ is written as NHðs1; s2; . . . ; slÞ. For a graph G,

we denote by �ðGÞ and �ðGÞ the independence number and the connectivity of G,

respectively. We define �kðGÞ by the minimum value of the degree sum of any k

independent vertices of G if k � �ðGÞ; if k > �ðGÞ, we set �kðGÞ ¼ þ1.

A cycle C of G is said to be a D�-cycle, if jHj < � for any component H of

GnC. Obviously, a D1-cycle is a hamiltonian cycle and a D2-cycle is a dominating

cycle. For a graph G, we denote by pðGÞ and cðGÞ the order of a longest path and

the order of a longest cycle in G, respectively. Let diffðGÞ ¼ pðGÞ � cðGÞ. Then a

connected graph G is hamiltonian if and only if diffðGÞ ¼ 0 and if diffðGÞ � 1,

then each longest cycle of G is a dominating cycle.

Bondy [3] gives the following sufficient condition for each longest cycle of a

2-connected graph G to be a dominating cycle.

Theorem 1 [3]. Let G be a 2-connected graph of order n � 3 with �3ðGÞ �nþ 2. Then each longest cycle of G is a dominating cycle.

A much stronger result is given in [6].

Theorem 2 [6]. A 2-connected graph G of order n with �3ðGÞ � nþ 2 satisfies

diffðGÞ � 1.

When involved in connectivity, we have the following theorem.

Theorem 3 [2]. Let G be a 2-connected graph on n vertices with �3ðGÞ �nþ �. Then G is hamiltonian.

A short proof of Theorem 3 was given in [10]. In [8], a problem proposed by

Tian in [9] is solved and a related conjecture is proposed.

Theorem 4 [8]. Let G be a 3-connected graph of order n � 3 with

�4ðGÞ � nþ 2�. Then G contains a longest cycle which is a dominating cycle.

Conjecture A. Let G be a k-connected graph of order n with �kþ1ðGÞ �nþ ðk � 1Þ�. Then each longest cycle of G is a Dk�1-cycle.

In the paper, we show that under the condition of Theorem 4, each longest

cycle is a dominating cycle.

Theorem 5. Let G be a 3-connected graph of order n � 3 with �4ðGÞ � nþ 2�.Then each longest cycle of G is a dominating cycle.

Theorems 3 and 5 show that Conjecture A holds when k ¼ 2 and 3.

Li et al. proposed a conjecture about the difference diffðGÞ as follows.

Conjecture B [7]. Let G be a 3-connected graph of order n. If �4ðGÞ � 43nþ 5

3,

then diffðGÞ � 1.

And we will propose a problem also about the difference diffðGÞ and is

supported by Theorem 5.

136 JOURNAL OF GRAPH THEORY

Problem C. Let G be a 3-connected graph of order n � 3 with

�4ðGÞ � nþ 2�. Is it true that diffðGÞ � 1?

The following class of graphs shows the sharpness of Conjecture B. Let

G ¼ kK1 þ ðk þ 1ÞK2, (k � 3). Then jGj ¼ n ¼ 3k þ 2 and �4ðGÞ ¼ 4ðk þ 1Þ ¼43nþ 4

3, but diffðGÞ ¼ 2.

In the paper, we obtain the following result which supports Conjecture B.

Theorem 6. Let G be a 3-connected graph of order n � 13. If �4ðGÞ � 43nþ 5

3,

then each longest cycle of G is a dominating cycle.

The class of graphs described above also shows that Theorem 6 is best

possible.

Next, we will use two examples to show that the conditions of Theorems 5 and

6 are independent.

Example 1. Let G ¼ kK1 þ ðkK2 [ K1Þ with k � 3. Then n ¼ 3k þ 1, �ðGÞ ¼ k

and �4ðGÞ ¼ 43nþ 5

3. Hence by Theorem 6 each longest cycle of G is a

dominating cycle. But nþ 2� ¼ 5n�23

, that is, the conditions of Theorem 5 are not

satisfied.

Example 2. Let F ¼ ðG1 þ G2Þ þ Kc2r with G1 ¼ G2 ¼ Kr; where r � 3. The

graph G is defined as: VðGÞ ¼ VðFÞ [ VðK2rÞ and EðGÞ ¼ EðFÞ [ EðK2rÞ [fuv : u 2 VðK2rÞ; v 2 VðG1Þg. It is easy to check that n ¼ 6r, �ðGÞ ¼ r and

�4ðGÞ ¼ 8r. Obviously, �4ðGÞ ¼ nþ 2�. Hence by Theorem 5 each longest cycle

of G is a dominating cycle. But �4ðGÞ ¼ 4n3< 4nþ5

3. That is, the conditions of

Theorem 6 are not satisfied.

Let C ¼ v1v2 � � � vtv1 be a cycle of G with a given orientation. For vi 2 VðCÞ,we use vþi ; v

�i to denote the successor and predecessor of vi on C, respectively.

The i-th successor and i-th predecessor of a vertex v on C are denoted by vþi and

v�i, respectively. If A � VðCÞ, then A� and Aþ are the sets fv� : v 2 Ag and

fvþ : v 2 Ag, respectively. If u; v 2 VðCÞ, we denote by uCv the subpath

uuþ � � � v�v of C. The same subpath, in reverse order, is denoted by vCu. We will

consider uCv and vCu both as paths and as vertex sets. We also use analogous

notations for a path P in G.

2. LEMMAS

In this section, we give some lemmas which will be used in Sections 3 and 4.

Lemma 1 [11]. Let G be a 3-connected graph of order n � 3 with �4 � nþ 6

and C be a longest cycle of G. Then C is a D3-cycle.

Next, we assume that G is a 3-connected nonhamiltonian graph. Let C be a

longest cycle of G with a given orientation and H a component of GnC. Assume

that VðHÞ ¼ fu; vg. Suppose that NCðHÞ ¼ fx1; x2; . . . ; xtg, and the occurrence

CONDITIONS FOR DOMINATING CYCLES 137

of the vertices on C agrees with the given orientation of C. A vertex u 2 xþi Cx�iþ1

is insertible if there exist vertices v; vþ 2 xiþ1Cxi such that uv; uvþ 2 EðGÞ;then vvþ 2 EðGÞ is an insertion edge of u. We denote the set of insertion

edges of u by IðuÞ, and denote the first noninsertible vertex occurring on xþi Cx�iþ1

by ui. Let Ui ¼ xþi Cui, T ¼ fu1; u2; . . . ; utg, Tu ¼ fui : xi 2 NCðuÞg and Tv ¼fuj : xj 2 NCðvÞg. Then we have the following lemmas.

Lemma 2 [1][5]. (1) ui exists.

(2) ui 62 NðuÞ [ NðvÞ for any ui 2 T.

(3) There is no path whose internal vertices (if any) in GnC joining a vertex

of Ui and a vertex of Uj, and IðxÞ \ IðyÞ ¼ ; for all x 2 xþi Cu�i and

y 2 xþj Cu�j . In particular, GnT is connected.

(4) For any ui; uj 2 T ; ujw 62 EðGÞ whenever uiw� 2 EðGÞ and w 2 uþj Cxi.

By using the proof of Lemma 2 ([1]), we can show the following lemma

similarly.

Lemma 3. Let ui 2 Tu and uj 2 Tv. Then ð1Þ uiuþj 62 EðGÞ and uþi uj 62 EðGÞ;

ð2Þ ujw 62 EðGÞ for w 2 uþj Cxi and uiw�2 2 EðGÞ; ð3Þ uiw 62 EðGÞ for w 2 uþi Cxj

and ujw�2 2 EðGÞ.

Proof. We only give the proof of (2), and parts (1) and (3) can be proved in a

similar way.

(2) Assume ujw 2 EðGÞ for some w 2 uþj Cxi and uiw�2 2 EðGÞ. By Lemma 2,

ww�;w�w�2 62 IðuÞ for each u 2 ðxþi Cu�i Þ [ ðxþj Cu�j Þ. Then we can insert the

vertices of ðxþi Cu�i Þ [ ðxþj Cu�j Þ in the cycle xiCwujCw�2uiCxjvuxi to derive a

contradiction with the choice of C. &

Lemma 4. If ui 2 Tu ðui 2 Tv , resp.Þ and uj; uk 2 Tv ðuj; uk 2 Tu, resp.Þ, then

dðuiÞ þ dðujÞ þ dðukÞ � n� jW j þ 1;

where W � ðNðuÞ \ NðvÞÞnNðui; uj; ukÞ.

Proof. Set C1 ¼ uiCu�j , C2 ¼ ujCu

�k , C3 ¼ ukCu

�i , and Wh ¼ W \ Ch,

1 � h � 3. Since W�ðNðuÞ\ NðvÞÞnNðui; uj; ukÞ, fw;wþ;wþ2g\ Nðui; uj; ukÞ ¼; for each w 2 W by Lemmas 2 and 3.

(1) N�2C1ðuiÞ [ NC1

ðujÞ [ N�C1ðukÞ � ðC1nW1Þ [ fu�i g, and N�2

C1ðuiÞ, NC1

ðujÞ and

N�C1ðukÞ are pairwise disjoint by Lemmas 2 and 3. Hence

dC1ðuiÞ þ dC1

ðujÞ þ dC1ðukÞ � jC1j � jW1j þ 1: ð2:1Þ

(2) NC3ðuiÞ [ N�

C3ðujÞ [ N�2

C3ðukÞ � ðC3nW3Þ [ fu�k g, and NC3

ðuiÞ, N�C3ðujÞ and

N�2C3ðukÞ are pairwise disjoint by Lemmas 2 and 3. Hence

dC3ðuiÞ þ dC3

ðujÞ þ dC3ðukÞ � jC3j � jW3j þ 1: ð2:2Þ

138 JOURNAL OF GRAPH THEORY

(3) Now we want to show that

dC2ðuiÞ þ dC2

ðujÞ þ dC2ðukÞ � jC2j � jW2j þ 1: ð2:3Þ

First we note that if uk 2 Tv \ Tu, then N�C2ðuiÞ [ N�2

C2ðujÞ [ NC2

ðukÞ �ðC2nW2Þ [ fu�j g, and N�2

C2ðujÞ, N�

C2ðuiÞ, and NC2

ðukÞ are pairwise disjoint by

Lemmas 2 and 3, and hence ð2:3Þ holds. So in the following proof, we assume

that uk 2 TvnTu.

Claim 2.1. xk =2 W2:

Proof. Since uk 2 TvnTu, we have xk 2 NðvÞnNðuÞ. Thus xk =2 W2: &

Set P ¼ uþj Cxk ¼ blbl�1 � � � b1. For each r, 1 � r � l, define AðrÞ ¼fb1; b2; . . . ; brg and W2ðrÞ ¼ W2 \ AðrÞ. Let U0

k ¼ ðUknfukgÞ [ fujg. Then

W2 ¼ W2ðlÞ and C2 ¼ AðlÞ [ U0k. By Lemma 2, NðuiÞ \ U0

k ¼ ; and

NðujÞ \ U0k ¼ ;. For each r, 1 � r � l, if

dAðrÞðuiÞ þ dAðrÞðujÞ þ dAðrÞðukÞ � jAðrÞj � jW2ðrÞj þ 2; ð2:4Þthen

dC2ðuiÞ þ dC2

ðujÞ þ dC2ðukÞ ¼ dAðlÞðuiÞ þ dAðlÞðujÞ þ dAðlÞðukÞ þ dU0

kðukÞ

� jAðlÞj � jW2ðlÞj þ 2 þ jU0kj � 1 ¼ jC2j � jW2j þ 1:

Hence, we just need to show that ð2:4Þ holds for each r, 1 � r � l.

Before giving the proof of (2.4), we point out the following facts.

Since b1 ¼ xk 2 NðvÞ, we get b2; b3 =2 NðuÞ, and hence we get

Fact 1. b2; b3 =2 W2, and hence if bt 2 W2, then t � 4.

By the definition of W and C being the longest cycle, we have

Fact 2. If bt 2 W2, then bt 62 Nðui; uj; ukÞ; btþ1; btþ2 =2 W2; and bt�2; bt�1 =2W2 [ Nðui; uj; ukÞ:

It is easy to check that (2.4) holds for r � 3; (in this case, jW2ðrÞj ¼ 0 by

Fact 1). Next we assume that ð2:4Þ is true for AðsÞ, where 3 � s � r < l. We will

prove that ð2:4Þ is true for Aðr þ 1Þ. Let J ¼ fui; uj; ukg.

Claim 2.2. fbrþ1; brg \W2 ¼ ;:Proof. (i) If brþ1 2 W2, (in this case, r � 3 by Fact 1), then jW2ðrÞj ¼

jW2ðr þ 1Þj � 1 and dJðbrþ1Þ ¼ 0. By induction,

dAðrþ1ÞðuiÞ þ dAðrþ1ÞðujÞ þ dAðrþ1ÞðukÞ¼ dAðrÞðuiÞ þ dAðrÞðujÞ þ dAðrÞðukÞ þ dJðbrþ1Þ� jAðrÞj � jW2ðrÞj þ 2 ¼ jAðr þ 1Þj � jW2ðr þ 1Þj þ 2;

and hence (2.4) holds for Aðr þ 1Þ.

CONDITIONS FOR DOMINATING CYCLES 139

(ii) If br 2 W2, (in this case, r � 4), then brþ1 =2 W2 and br�2; br�1 =2W2 [ Nðui; uj; ukÞ by Fact 2. Thus jW2ðr � 3Þj ¼ jW2ðr þ 1Þj � 1 andPrþ1

t¼r�2 dJðbtÞ ¼ dJðbrþ1Þ � 3: By induction,

dAðrþ1ÞðuiÞ þ dAðrþ1ÞðujÞ þ dAðrþ1ÞðukÞ¼ dAðr�3ÞðuiÞ þ dAðr�3ÞðujÞ þ dAðr�3ÞðukÞ þ dJðbrþ1Þ� jAðr � 3Þj � jW2ðr � 3Þj þ 5 ¼ jAðr þ 1Þj � jW2ðr þ 1Þj þ 2;

and hence (2.4) holds for Aðr þ 1Þ. &

Claim 2.3. dJðbrþ1Þ � 2.

Proof. Suppose dJðbrþ1Þ � 1. Then by Claim 2.2, jW2ðrÞj ¼ jW2ðr þ 1Þj. By

induction,

dAðrþ1ÞðuiÞ þ dAðrþ1ÞðujÞ þ dAðrþ1ÞðukÞ¼ dAðrÞðuiÞ þ dAðrÞðujÞ þ dAðrÞðukÞ þ dJðbrþ1Þ� jAðrÞj � jW2ðrÞj þ 3 ¼ jAðr þ 1Þj � jW2ðr þ 1Þj þ 2;

and hence (2.4) holds for Aðr þ 1Þ. &

Claim 2.4. br�1 =2 W2.

Proof. Suppose that br�1 2 W2, (in this case, r � 5). Noting that

jW2ðr � 3Þj ¼ jW2ðr þ 1Þj � 1 by Claim 2.2 andPrþ1

t¼r�2 dJðbtÞ ¼ dJðbrÞþdJðbrþ1Þ � 3 by the definition of uk; ui and C being the longest cycle, we get

that (2.4) holds for Aðr þ 1Þ by a similar argument as Claim 2.2. &

Now by Claim 2.3, we finish the proof by considering the following two cases.

Case 1. dJðbrþ1Þ ¼ 2.

In this case, we first have that brþ1uk =2 EðGÞ. Otherwise, by Lemma 2 and the

definition of uk, br 62 Nðui; uj; ukÞ. Thus jW2ðr � 1Þj ¼ jW2ðr þ 1Þj by Claim 2.2,

and hence ð2:4Þ holds by induction. Hence, we assume that brþ1 2 NðuiÞ \ NðujÞand then br 62 Nðui; ujÞ. Note that if br 2 NðukÞ, then br�1 =2 Nðui; uj; ukÞ. Thus

jW2ðr � tÞj ¼ jW2ðr þ 1Þj by Claims 2.2 and 2.4, where t ¼ 1 if br =2 NðukÞ, and

t ¼ 2 if br 2 NðukÞ, and ð2:4Þ holds for Aðr þ 1Þ by induction.

Case 2. dJðbrþ1Þ ¼ 3.

In this case, br =2 Nðui; uj; ukÞ and br�1 =2 Nðui; ujÞ by Lemma 3. If

br�1 =2 NðukÞ, then jW2ðr � 2Þj ¼ jW2ðr þ 1Þj by Claims 2.2 and 2.4, and hence

ð2:4Þ holds. On the other hand, if br�1 2 NðukÞ, then br�2 =2 Nðui; uj; ukÞ, and

hencePrþ1

t¼r�2 dJðbtÞ ¼ 4. We may assume that r � 4. Note that jW2ðr � tÞj ¼jW2ðr þ 1Þj � ðt � 3Þ, where t ¼ 3 if br�2 =2 W2 and t ¼ 4 if br�2 2 W2, (in this

case, r � 6). Thus ð2:4Þ holds for Aðr þ 1Þ by induction.

140 JOURNAL OF GRAPH THEORY

By (2.1), (2.2), (2.3) and noting dRðuiÞ þ dRðujÞ þ dRðukÞ � n� jCj � 2, we

have dðuiÞ þ dðujÞ þ dðukÞ � n� jW j þ 1: &

The proof of the following lemma is very trivial, so we will omit it here.

Lemma 5. Let P be a path and vi; vj 62 VðPÞ. If NPðviÞ \ N�P ðvjÞ ¼ ;, then

dPðviÞ þ dPðvjÞ � jPj þ 1.

3. PROOF OF THEOREM 6

Suppose Theorem 6 fails to hold, then there exists a longest cycle C in G which is

not a dominating cycle. Since n � 13, �4ðGÞ � 43nþ 5

3� nþ 6. By Lemma 1,

each component of GnC has at most two vertices. Let R ¼ GnC. Then we can

choose a component H of R with H ¼ fu; vg. Give the cycle C an orientation.

Suppose that NCðu; vÞ ¼ fx1; x2; . . . ; xtg, and the occurrence of the vertices on C

agrees with the given orientation of C. Denote the first noninsertible vertex

occurring on xþi Cx�iþ1 by ui. The other notations such as Ui; T ;Tu, and Tv are the

same as those in Section 2. By Lemma 2, we know that T [ fug and T [ fvg are

both independent sets of G. Since G is 3-connected, jTuj � 2, jTvj � 2 and

jTu [ Tvj � 3. Choose ui; uj; uk 2 T with ui 2 Tu and uj; uk 2 Tv. By Lemma 4

and letting W ¼ ;, we have the following claim.

Claim 3.1. dðuiÞ þ dðujÞ þ dðukÞ � nþ 1.

Now we have another claim as follows.

Claim 3.2. dðujÞ þ dðukÞ þ dðuÞ � nþ 1.

Proof. Let P1 ¼ uþj Cxk and P2 ¼ uþk Cxj. By Lemmas 2 and 3, we have

N�P1ðujÞ \ NP1

ðukÞ ¼ ; and uh =2 N�P1ðujÞ [ NP1

ðukÞ for uh 2 Tu \ P1. Similarly,

N�P2ðukÞ \ NP2

ðujÞ ¼ ; and uh =2 N�P2ðukÞ [ NP2

ðujÞ for uh 2 Tu \ P2. Hence, by

Lemmas 2 and 5,

dCðujÞ þ dCðukÞ ¼X2

l¼1

ðdPlðujÞ þ dPl

ðukÞÞ þ dUjðujÞ þ dUk

ðukÞ � dCðuÞ þ 2

� ðjP1j þ 1Þ þ ðjP2j þ 1Þ þ ðjUjj � 1Þ þ ðjUkj � 1Þ � dCðuÞ þ 2

¼ jCj � dCðuÞ þ 2:

Since dRðujÞ þ dRðukÞ þ dRðuÞ � n� jCj � 1, Claim 3.2 holds. &

Claim 3.3. dðuiÞ þ dðujÞ þ dðuÞ � nþ 1.

Proof. Let P1 ¼ uþi Cxj and P2 ¼ uþj Cxi. By Lemma 2, we have

N�P1ðuiÞ \ NP1

ðujÞ ¼ ;. If uþh 2 NðuiÞ for some uh 2 Tu \ P1, then uþ2h =2 NðuiÞ

by the definition of ui. By Lemma 3, uþh =2 NðujÞ. Hence, we have that

CONDITIONS FOR DOMINATING CYCLES 141

uh 62 N�P1ðuiÞ [ NP1

ðujÞ when uþh =2 NðuiÞ and uþh 62 N�P1ðuiÞ [ NP1

ðujÞ when

uþh 2 NðuiÞ. On the other hand, by Lemmas 2 and 3, N�P2ðujÞ \ NP2

ðuiÞ ¼ ; and

uh 62 N�P2ðujÞ [ NP2

ðuiÞ for uh 2 Tu \ P2. Hence, by Lemmas 2 and 5, we have that

dCðuiÞ þ dCðujÞ ¼X2

l¼1

ðdPlðuiÞ þ dPl

ðujÞÞ þ dUiðuiÞ þ dUj

ðujÞ � dCðuÞ þ 2

� ðjP1j þ 1Þ þ ðjP2j þ 1Þ þ ðjUij � 1Þ þ ðjUjj � 1Þ � dCðuÞ þ 2

¼ jCj � dCðuÞ þ 2:

Since dRðuiÞ þ dRðujÞ þ dRðuÞ � n� jCj � 1, Claim 3.3 holds. &

By a similar argument as Claim 3.3, we obtain

Claim 3.4. dðuiÞ þ dðukÞ þ dðuÞ � nþ 1.

Since fu; ui; uj; ukg is an independent set and by Claims 3.1–3.4, we have

dðuiÞ þ dðujÞ þ dðukÞ þ dðuÞ � 4

3nþ 4

3;

a contradiction. &

4. PROOF OF THEOREM 5

The main ideas of the proof of Theorem 5 come from [10] and [8].

Let G be a graph of order n with connectivity � � 3 satisfying �4ðGÞ �nþ 2�, and G has a longest cycle C which is not a dominating cycle.

We denote GnC by R. Since � � 3 and by Lemma 1, each component of GnChas at most two vertices. Let H be chosen as in Section 2. Suppose that

NCðu; vÞ ¼ fx1; x2; . . . ; xtg, and the occurrence of the vertices on C agrees with

the given orientation of C. Denote the first noninsertible vertex occurring on

xþi Cx�iþ1 by ui. The other notations such as T , Tu, and Tv are the same as those in

Section 2. By Lemma 2, T [ fug and T [ fvg are both independent sets of G. Let

S be any vertex cut set with jSj ¼ �, and B1;B2; . . . ;Bp; p � 2 the components of

GnS, where p is the number of components of GnS. By Lemma 2(3), GnT is

connected.

Obviously, we have the following claim, which will be used in the next often.

Claim 4.0. Let vs 2 Bi and vt =2 Bi for some i; 1 � i � p. If there exists a path

Pðvs; vtÞ in G joining vs and vt, then S \ Pðvs; vtÞ 6¼ ;.

Claim 4.1. minfdðuÞ; dðvÞg � �þ 2.

Proof. Suppose that dðuÞ � �þ 1. Since G is 3-connected, jTj � 3 and

minfdðuÞ; dðvÞg � 3. So such three vertices as those of Lemma 4 exist. Assume,

without loss of generality, that ui 2 Tu and uj; uk 2 Tv, then fu; ui; uj; ukg is an

142 JOURNAL OF GRAPH THEORY

independent set. By Lemma 4 and letting W ¼ ;, we have dðuÞ þ dðuiÞ þ dðujÞþdðukÞ � nþ 1 þ dðuÞ � nþ �þ 2; a contradiction. Therefore, dðuÞ � �þ 2.

Similarly, dðvÞ � �þ 2. &

The proofs of Claims 6 and 5 in [8] can be used to prove the following

Claims 4.2 and 4.3, respectively. For the sake of completeness, we still provide

the proofs of them below.

Claim 4.2. If Bi \ T ¼ ;, then Bi \ fu; vg ¼ ;, where 1 � i � p.

Proof. Otherwise, without loss of generality, let u 2 Bi. By Claim 4.1, we

may assume that dðuÞ ¼ d þ 1, where d � �þ 1. Suppose that NCðuÞ ¼fx1; x2; . . . ; xdg. Thus we have d paths: uxjCuj; 1 � j � d, which are from u to

vertices of T , and pairwise disjoint except for u. Since Bi \ T ¼ ;, each of these d

paths contains at least one vertex of S by Claim 4.0. So jSj � d � �þ 1, a

contradiction. &

Claim 4.3. jfBi : Bi \ T 6¼ ;; 1 � i � pgj � 2:

Proof. Otherwise, without loss of generality, suppose that Bi \ T 6¼ ;; i ¼ 1;2; 3: Clearly,

dðyiÞ � jBij þ jSj � jðBi [ SÞ \ ðT [ fu; vgÞj;

where yi 2 Bi \ T; i ¼ 1; 2; 3. So we have

dðy1Þ þ dðy2Þ þ dðy3Þ �X3

i¼1

jBij þ 3jSj �X3

i¼1

jðBi [ SÞ \ ðT [ fu; vgÞj

� nþ 2jSj �Xp

i¼4

jBij � j[3

i¼1

ðBi [ SÞ \ ðT [ fu; vgÞj

� nþ 2jSj � ðjTj þ 2Þ � nþ 2�� dðuÞ � 1:

That is, dðy1Þ þ dðy2Þ þ dðy3Þ þ dðuÞ � nþ 2�� 1; a contradiction. &

By Claim 4.3 we may assume, without loss of generality, that jBi \ T j ¼ 0 for

i � 3. Then by Claim 4.2, we get T [ fu; vg � B1 [ B2 [ S. Since GnT is

connected, we have S 6� T , and hence jS \ Tj � �� 1.

Claim 4.4. If jS \ T j ¼ �� 1 and u; v 2 Br, then jBs \ Tj ¼ 0, where

fr; sg ¼ f1; 2g.

Proof. Assume, without loss of generality, that u; v 2 B1. Suppose that

jB2 \ T j � 1 and let ui 2 B2 \ T . Since u; v 2 B1 and ui 2 B2, S \ ðxiCu�i Þ 6¼ ;and S \ ðuþi Cxiþ1Þ 6¼ ;. Thus jSnTj � 2. Since jS \ T j ¼ �� 1, we have that

jSj � �þ 1, a contradiction. &

CONDITIONS FOR DOMINATING CYCLES 143

Claim 4.5. If jBr \ Tj � 2 for some r 2 f1; 2g, then there exists some s,

1 � s � 2, such that jBs \ Tuj � 2 or jBs \ Tvj � 2.

Proof. Assume, without loss of generality, that jB1 \ T j � 2. Suppose, to the

contrary, that jBi \ Tuj � 1 and jBi \ Tvj � 1 for i ¼ 1; 2. Then jB1 \ T j ¼ 2, and

we can assume that jB1 \ ðTunTvÞj ¼ jB1 \ ðTvnTuÞj ¼ 1. Obviously, jB2 \ T j �jB2 \ Tuj þ jB2 \ Tvj � 2. Moreover, when jB2 \ Tj ¼ 2, we can assume that

jB2 \ ðTunTvÞj ¼ jB2 \ ðTvnTuÞj ¼ 1.

(a) jS \ T j ¼ �� 1, and hence jSnT j ¼ 1.

Note that T � S [ B1 [ B2. Since jT j � dCðuÞ þ jB1 \ ðTvnTuÞj þ jB2 \ðTvnTuÞj � �þ 2 þ jB2 \ ðTvnTuÞj; we get that jS \ Tj ¼ jT j � jB1 \ T j �jB2 \ T j � �þ jB2 \ ðTvnTuÞj � jB2 \ Tj � �� 1. Therefore, jS \ T j ¼ �� 1.

(b) u; v 2 B1.

By (a), we may assume, without loss of generality, that u =2 S. If u 2 B2, then

v =2 B1. Let ui 2 B1 \ ðTunTvÞ and uj 2 B1 \ ðTvnTuÞ. Thus S \ ðuxiCu�i Þ 6¼ ;and S \ ðvxjCu�j Þ 6¼ ;, which contradict jSnTj ¼ 1. Thus u 2 B1 and hence

v 2 B1 [ S. If v 2 S, then SnT ¼ fvg. Thus we get jB2 \ Tuj ¼ 0, and hence

jTuj ¼ jS \ Tuj þ jB1 \ Tuj þ jB2 \ Tuj � ð�� 1Þ þ 1 ¼ �; which contradicts

Claim 4.1. Thus v 2 B1.

By (a), (b), and Claim 4.4, we have jB2 \ T j ¼ 0: But in this case,

jTj � dCðuÞ þ jfujgj � �þ 2 and then jS \ T j � ð�þ 2Þ � 2 ¼ �. This contra-

dicts that jS \ T j � �� 1: &

Claim 4.6. If ui; uj 2 B1 \ Tu, (ui; uj 2 B1 \ Tv , resp.), then

dCðuiÞ þ dCðujÞ � jCj � jB2 \ Cj þ jB2 \ Tj � dðvÞ þ �þ 1;

ðdCðuiÞ þ dCðujÞ � jCj � jB2 \ Cj þ jB2 \ Tj � dðuÞ þ �þ 1; resp:Þ:

Symmetrical statements of Claim 4.6 hold when exchanging B1 and B2.

Proof. Set P1 ¼ uiCu�j , P2 ¼ ujCu

�i , Th

v ¼ Tv \ Ph and Bh2 ¼ B2 \ Ph,

ðh ¼ 1; 2Þ.By Lemma 2, we have N�

P1ðuiÞ \ NP1

ðujÞ ¼ ;. By Lemma 3, we have

N�P1ðuiÞ [ NP1

ðujÞ � ðP1nðB12 [ ðT1

v nfuigÞÞÞ [ P�1ðuiÞ; ð4:1Þ

where P�1ðuiÞ ¼ fw 2 B1

2 : wþ 2 NP1ðuiÞg.

Similarly, we have

N�P2ðujÞ [ NP2

ðuiÞ � ðP2nðB22 [ ðT2

v nfujgÞÞÞ [ P�2ðujÞ; ð4:2Þ

144 JOURNAL OF GRAPH THEORY

where P�2ðujÞ ¼ fw 2 B2

2 : wþ 2 NP2ðujÞg.

Set y1 ¼ ui and y2 ¼ uj. Thus by (4.1) and (4.2), we have

dCðuiÞ þ dCðujÞ

�X2

h¼1

ðjPhj � jBh2j � jTh

v nfyhgj þ jBh2 \ ðTh

v nfyhgÞj þ jP�hðyhÞjÞ

� jCj � jB2 \ Cj þ jB2 \ Tvj � jTvnfui; ujgj þ jP�1ðuiÞj þ jP�

2ðujÞj: ð4:3Þ

For convenience, we set P�1 ¼ P�

1ðuiÞ and P�2 ¼ P�

2ðujÞ. Now, we will prove the

following facts.

Fact 1. jP�1j þ jP�

2j � jS \ Cj � 1. Moreover, jP�1j þ jP�

2j � jS \ Cj � 2 if P�h 6¼

; for h ¼ 1; 2.

Proof of Fact 1. (a) By the definition of P�1 and ui 2 B1, we get that ðP�

1Þþ �

S \ P1, and hence jP�1j ¼ jðP�

1Þþj � jS \ P1j. Similarly, we have jP�

2j � jS \ P2j.(b) Suppose that P�

1 6¼ ;. Thus B2 \ P1 6¼ ;. We denote by w the first vertex of

P1 occurring in B2. From Claim 4.0 we obtain that w� 2 SnðP�1Þ

þ, and hence

jðS \ P1ÞnðP�1Þ

þj � 1: Thus jP�1j � jS \ P1j � 1. Similarly, if P�

2 6¼ ; then jP�2j �

jS \ P2j � 1.

Note that since �ðGÞ � 3, we have jS \ Cj � 1 by Lemma 1. Thus, Fact 1

follows from (a) and (b) immediately. &

Note that jTvj ¼ dðvÞ � 1, jB2 \ Tvj � jB2 \ Tj. Thus by Fact 1 and (4.3) we

may assume, without loss of generality, that

(a) jS \ Cj ¼ �; and hence S � C:(b) jP�

1j ¼ jS \ Cj � 1¼�� 1 and jP�2j ¼ 0:

(c) ui; uj 2 Tv; (otherwise, assume, without loss of generality, that ui =2 Tv,

then Tvnfui; ujg ¼ Tvnfujg. Thus the claim holds by (4.3) and Fact 1.)

Since jTvj ¼ dðvÞ � 1, by (4.3) and (a)–(c), we have

dCðuiÞ þ dCðujÞ � jCj � jB2 \ Cj þ jB2 \ Tvj � dðvÞ þ �þ 2: ð4:4Þ

We set P�1 ¼ fw1;w2; . . . ;w��1g and their occurrence on C agrees with the

given orientation of C. Since ðP�1Þ

þ � S, we get that jSnðP�1Þ

þj ¼ 1 by (b). Since

ui 2 B1 and w1 2 B2, there exists one and only one vertex, denoted by w0, in

uþi Cw�1 such that w0 2 SnðP�

1Þþ

. Thus we get that

(d) S ¼ fw0;wþ1 ;w

þ2 ; . . . ;w

þ��1g � uþi Cxj:

Noting that ui; uj 2 B1 and w1;w2; . . . ;w��1 2 B2, by (d) and Claim 4.0, we

have the following fact.

CONDITIONS FOR DOMINATING CYCLES 145

Fact 2. ðwþ0 Cw1Þ [ ð[��2

t¼1 ðwþ2t Cwtþ1ÞÞ � B2 and wþ2

��1Cw�0 � B1, and hence

C ¼ ðB1 \ CÞ [ ðB2 \ CÞ [ S.

Fact 3. B1 \ Tu � B1 \ Tv .

Proof of Fact 3. Otherwise, suppose that there exists a vertex uk 2 B1 \ðTunTvÞ. Then uk 6¼ ui; uj by (c). By Lemmas 2 and 3, uk 62 N�

P1ðuiÞ [ NP1

ðujÞ (or

uk 62 N�P2ðujÞ [ NP2

ðuiÞ, resp.). Hence, we can replace (4.1) (or (4.2), resp.) by

N�P1ðuiÞ [ NP1

ðujÞ � ðP1nðB12 [ ðT1

v nfuigÞ [ fukgÞÞ [ P�1ðuiÞ; ð4:10Þ

(or

N�P2ðujÞ [ NP2

ðuiÞ � ðP2nðB22 [ ðT2

v nfujgÞ [ fukgÞÞ [ P�2ðujÞ; ð4:20Þ

resp.).

Thus applying a similar argument to (4.10) and (4.2), (or (4.1) and (4.20), resp.),

we have

dCðuiÞ þ dCðujÞ � jCj � jB2 \ Cj þ jB2 \ Tvj � dðvÞ þ �þ 2 � jfukgj;

and hence the claim holds. &

Fact 4. jB2 \ Tvj � 1.

Proof of Fact 4. Otherwise, suppose that jB2 \ Tvj � 2. Let ue; uf 2 B2 \ Tv.

Now as the beginning of the proof, we define Ph; Thu ;B

h1; ðh ¼ 1; 2Þ and

P�1ðueÞ;P�

2ðuf Þ for ue; uf . By a similar argument, we have the following inequality

similar to (4.3):

dCðueÞ þ dCðuf Þ � jCj � jB1 \ Cj þ jB1 \ Tuj � jTunfue; ufgjþ jP�

1ðueÞj þ jP�2ðuf Þj:

Similar to Fact 1, we also have jP�1ðueÞj þ jP�

2ðuf Þj � jS \ Cj � 1. Thus, we get

the following inequality similar to (4.4):

dCðueÞ þ dCðuf Þ � jCj � jB1 \ Cj þ jB1 \ Tuj � dðuÞ þ �þ 2:

Therefore,

dCðuiÞ þ dCðujÞ þ dCðueÞ þ dCðuf Þ � 2jCj � jB1 \ Cj � jB2 \ Cj þ jB1 \ Tujþ jB2 \ Tvj � dðvÞ � dðuÞ þ 2�þ 4:

146 JOURNAL OF GRAPH THEORY

On the other hand, we have

dRðuiÞ þ dRðujÞ þ dRðueÞ þ dRðuf Þ � n� jCj � 2:

By Fact 2 and Fact 3, we have

dðuiÞ þ dðujÞ þ dðueÞ þ dðuf Þ � nþ jCj � jB1 \ Cj � jB2 \ Cj þ jB1 \ Tujþ jB2 \ Tvj � dðvÞ � dðuÞ þ 2�þ 2

� nþ ðjCj � jB1 \ Cj � jB2 \ CjÞ þ ðjB1 \ Tvjþ jB2 \ TvjÞ � dðvÞ � dðuÞ þ 2�þ 2

� nþ jS \ Cj þ jTvj � dðvÞ � dðuÞ þ 2�þ 2

¼ nþ 3�� dðuÞ þ 1:

Thus, by Claim 4.1, we have that dðuiÞ þ dðujÞ þ dðueÞ þ dðuf Þ � nþ 2�� 1; a

contradiction. &

Fact 5. ujwþ1 =2 EðGÞ.

Proof of Fact 5. Otherwise, suppose ujwþ1 2 EðGÞ: In this case, we first show

that w1w2 =2 EðGÞ. By Fact 2, we have w1;w2 2 B2 and ðxþi Cu�i Þ [ ðxþj Cu�j Þ �B1. Thus IðaÞ 6¼ fwi;w

þi g for all a 2 ðxþi Cu�i Þ [ ðxþj Cu�j Þ, where i ¼ 1; 2.

If w1w2 2 EðGÞ, then, by inserting the vertices ðxþi Cu�i Þ [ ðxþj Cu�j Þ into the

cycle xiCujwþ1 Cw2w1Cuiw

þ2 Cxjuvxi, we can have a cycle longer than C, a con-

tradiction. Thus w1w2 =2 EðGÞ, and hence we have

dCðw1Þ � jB2 \ Cj þ jSj � 2: ð4:5Þ

By (d) and Fact 2, xi 2 B1 and hence v 2 B1. Since w1 2 B2 \ C, the set fui; uj;v;w1g is independent. By Fact 4, (4.4) and (4.5), we have dCðuiÞ þ dCðujÞþdCðw1Þ þ dðvÞ � jCj þ 2�þ 1: Noting that S � C, we get dRðuiÞ þ dRðujÞþdRðw1Þ � n� jCj � 2: Therefore, we obtain that dðuiÞ þ dðujÞ þ dðw1Þ þ dðvÞ �nþ 2�� 1; a contradiction. &

Now, we complete the proof of Claim 4.6. By Fact 2, we have that wþ21 2 B2,

and hence uiwþ21 =2 EðGÞ; and by Fact 5, we get wþ

1 =2 NP1ðujÞ. Thus wþ

1 =2N�P1ðuiÞ [ NP1

ðujÞ. On the other hand, since wþ1 2 S and uiw

þ1 2 EðGÞ,

wþ1 =2 B1

2 [ Tv. Thus, we can replace (4.1) by

N�P1ðuiÞ [ NP1

ðujÞ � ðP1nðB12 [ ðT1

vnfuigÞ [ fwþ1 gÞÞ [ P�

1ðuiÞ: ð4:100Þ

Applying a similar argument to (4.100) and (4.2), we have

dCðuiÞ þ dCðujÞ � jCj � jB2 \ Cj þ jB2 \ Tvj þ ðjP�1j þ jP�

2jÞ � jTvj þ 2 � jfwþ1 gj

� jCj � jB2 \ Cj þ jB2 \ T j þ ð�� 1Þ � dðvÞ þ 2

¼ jCj � jB2 \ Cj þ jB2 \ T j � dðvÞ þ �þ 1;

which is just that we want to prove. &

CONDITIONS FOR DOMINATING CYCLES 147

Claim 4.7. jTnSj � 2. Moreover, if jTnSj ¼ 2, then jS \ Tj ¼ �� 1 and

jBr \ Tj ¼ 0 for some r 2 f1; 2g.

Proof. If NCðuÞ 6¼ NCðvÞ, then jT j � jTvj þ jTunTvj � �þ 2 by Claim 4.1.

Note that jS \ T j � �� 1 and hence jTnSj � 3.

If NCðuÞ ¼ NCðvÞ, then jT jð¼ jTuj ¼ jTvjÞ � �þ 1, and hence jTnSj � 2.

When jTnSj ¼ 2, we have jTj ¼ �þ 1 and jS \ Tj ¼ �� 1. Assume, without

loss of generality, that jB1 \ T j 6¼ 0. Let ui 2 B1 \ T . We will show that u; v 2 B1.

Since NCðuÞ ¼ NCðvÞ and jS \ T j ¼ �� 1, u; v 62 S. If u 2 B2, then

S \ ðxiCu�i Þ 6¼ ; and S \ ðuþi Cxiþ1Þ 6¼ ; which contradicts to jSj ¼ �. Hence

u 2 B1 and similarly, v 2 B1. By Claim 4.4, we have jB2 \ T j ¼ 0. &

Claim 4.8. jBr \ Tj ¼ 0 for some r 2 f1; 2g.

Proof. If jTnSj ¼ 2, then jBr \ Tj ¼ 2 for some r 2 f1; 2g by Claim 4.7 and

thus Claim 4.8 holds. So we suppose that jTnSj � 3. Thus for some r 2 f1; 2g;jBr \ Tj � 2. By Claim 4.5, we have that, for some s 2 f1; 2g; jBs \ Tuj � 2

or jBs \ Tvj � 2. Assume, without loss of generality, that jB1 \ Tuj � 2. Let

ui; uj 2 B1 \ Tu. We will show that jB2 \ T j ¼ 0: Otherwise, let uk 2 B2 \ T .

Clearly dCðukÞ � jB2 \ Cj þ jS \ Cj � jB2 \ Tj; and by Claim 4.6 and jS \ Cj ��, dCðuiÞ þ dCðujÞ þ dCðukÞ � jCj þ 2�� dðvÞ þ 1: Note that dRðuiÞ þ dRðujÞþdRðukÞ � n� 2 � jCj: Therefore, dðuiÞþ dðujÞ þ dðukÞ� n� 2 þ 2�� dðvÞ þ 1.

Hence, dðuiÞ þ dðujÞ þ dðukÞ þ dðvÞ � nþ 2�� 1; a contradiction. Thus jB2 \T j ¼ 0. &

Noting that for each k � 3, jBk \ Tj ¼ 0, by Claims 4.8 and 4.2, we have

fu; vg [ T � B1 [ S or fu; vg [ T � B2 [ S.

Claim 4.9. If jBr \ Tj ¼ 0, then BrnðNðuÞ \ NðvÞÞ 6¼ ;, where r 2 f1; 2g.

Proof. Assume, without loss of generality, that jB2 \ Tj ¼ 0. Thus, we have

fu; vg [ T � B1 [ S. We want to show that B2nðNðuÞ \ NðvÞÞ 6¼ ;. Otherwise,

assume that B2 � NðuÞ \ NðvÞ. Then u; v 2 S and thus jS \ Tj � �� 2. Since

jTuj � �þ 1, jTvj � �þ 1 and T � S [ B1, jB1 \ Tuj � 3 and jB1 \ Tvj � 3.

Hence, we can assume that ui 2 B1 \ Tu and uj; uk 2 B1 \ Tv . Noting that

B2 � ðNðuÞ \ NðvÞÞnNðui; uj; ukÞ, we get dðuiÞ þ dðujÞ þ dðukÞ � nþ 1 � jB2jby letting W ¼ B2 in Lemma 4. Let x 2 B2, then fx; ui; uj; ukg is an independent

set and dðxÞ � jB2j � 1 þ �; hence dðuiÞ þ dðujÞ þ dðukÞ þ dðxÞ � nþ �; a

contradiction. &

We assume, without loss of generality, that B2 \ T ¼ ; by Claim 4.8, and

hence u; v 2 S [ B1 by Claim 4.2, and B2nðNðuÞ \ NðvÞÞ 6¼ ; by Claim 4.9.

Now we complete the proof of Theorem 5 by considering two cases.

Case 1. B2nC 6¼ ;.

Let x 2 B2nC. Since B2 \ fu; vg ¼ ;, x =2 fu; vg. Since dRðxÞ � 1 by Lemma 1,

dðxÞ � jB2 \ Cj þ jS \ Cj þ 1. By Claim 4.7, jT \ B1j � 2 and then we have that

148 JOURNAL OF GRAPH THEORY

jB1 \ Tuj � 2 or jB1 \ Tuj � 2 by Claim 4.5. Note that for any ui; uj 2 B1 \ Tu or

ui; uj 2 B1 \ Tv, dRðuiÞ þ dRðujÞ � n� 3 � jCj; since x 2 B2nC.

If jB1 \ Tuj � 2, then we have dCðuiÞ þ dCðujÞ � jCj � jB2 \ Cj þ �� dðvÞþ1 by Claim 4.6. Thus dðuiÞ þ dðujÞ � n� jB2 \ Cj þ �� dðvÞ � 2: Therefore,

we have dðuiÞ þ dðujÞ þ dðxÞ � nþ 2�� dðvÞ � 1: That is, dðuiÞ þ dðujÞþdðxÞ þ dðvÞ � nþ 2�� 1, a contradiction to the fact that fui; uj; x; vg is an

independent set.

If jB1 \ Tvj � 2, then we have dCðuiÞ þ dCðujÞ � jCj � jB2 \ Cj þ �� dðuÞþ1 by Claim 4.6. Thus dðuiÞ þ dðujÞ � n� jB2 \ Cj þ �� dðuÞ � 2: Therefore,

we have dðuiÞ þ dðujÞ þ dðxÞ � nþ 2�� dðuÞ � 1: That is, dðuiÞ þ dðujÞþdðxÞ þ dðuÞ � nþ 2�� 1, a contradiction to the fact that fui; uj; x; ug is an

independent set.

Case 2. B2nC ¼ ;.

Let x 2 B2nðNðuÞ \ NðvÞÞ. Assume, without loss of generality, that x =2 NðuÞ.Clearly dðxÞ � jB2j þ jSj � 1 ¼ jB2 \ Cj þ jSj � 1:

Since jS \ Tj � �� 1, jTvj � �þ 1 and Tv � S [ B1, we have jB1 \ Tvj � 2.

Assume ui; uj 2 B1 \ Tv, then fui; uj; x; ug is an independent set. Note that for

ui; uj 2 B1 \ Tv, dRðuiÞ þ dRðujÞ � n� 2 � jCj: By Claim 4.6, we have dCðuiÞþdCðujÞ � jCj � jB2 \ Cj þ �� dðuÞ þ 1: Thus dðuiÞ þ dðujÞ � n� jB2 \ Cj þ�� dðuÞ � 1: Hence dðuiÞ þ dðujÞ þ dðxÞ � nþ 2�� dðuÞ � 2. That is,

dðuiÞ þ dðujÞ þ dðxÞ þ dðuÞ � nþ 2�� 2, our final contradiction. &

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Many thanks to the anonymous referees for their many helpful comments and

suggestions, which have considerably improved the presentation of the paper.

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