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This book is concerned with the use of algebraic techniques in the study of graphs. The aim is to translate properties of graphs into algebraic properties and then, using the results and methods of algebra, to deduce theorems about graphs.
It is fortunate that the basic terminology of graph theory has now become part of the vocabulary of most people who have a serious interest in studying mathematics at this level. A few basic definitions are gathered together at the end of this chapter for the sake of convenience and standardization. Brief explanations of other graph-theoretical terms are included as they are needed. A small number of concepts from matrix theory, permutation-group theory, and other areas of mathematics, are used, and these are also accompanied by a brief explanation.
The literature of algebraic graph theory itself has grown enormously since 1974, when the original version of this book was published. Literally thousands of research papers have appeared, and the most relevant ones are cited here, both in the main text and in the Additional Results at the end of each chapter. But no attempt has been made to provide a complete bibliography, partly because there are now several books dealing with aspects of this subject. In particular there are two books which contain massive quantities of information, and on which it is convenient to rely for ‘amplification and exemplification’ of the main results discussed here.
The condition of vertex-transitivity is not a very powerful one, as is demonstrated by the fact that we can construct at least one vertex-transitive graph from each finite group, by means of the Cayley graph construction. A vertex-transitive graph is symmetric if and only if each vertex-stabilizer Gv acts transitively on the set of vertices adjacent to v. For example, there are just two distinct 3-regular graphs with 6 vertices; one is K3,3 and the other is the ladder L3. Both these graphs are vertex-transitive, and K3,3 is symmetric, but L3 is not because there are two ‘kinds’ of edges at each vertex.
Although the property of being symmetric is apparently only slightly stronger than vertex-transitivity, symmetric graphs do have distinctive properties which are not shared by all vertex-transitive graphs. This was first demonstrated by Tutte (1947a) in the case of 3-regular graphs. More recently his results have been extended to graphs of higher degree, and it has become apparent that the results are closely related to fundamental classification theorems in group theory. (See 17a, 17f, 17g.)
We begin by defining a t-arc [α] in a graph Г to be a sequence (α0, α1,…, αt) of t + 1 vertices of Г, with the properties that {αi−1, αi} is in EГ for 1 ≤ i ≤ t, and αi−1 ≠ αi+1 for 1 ≤ i ≤ t − 1. A t-arc is not quite the same thing as the sequence of vertices underlying a path of length t, because it is convenient to allow repeated vertices.
In this chapter we investigate the relationship between primitivity and distance-transitivity. We shall prove that the automorphism group of a distance-transitive graph can act imprimitively in only two ways, both of which have simple characterizations in terms of the structure of the graph.
We begin by summarizing some terminology. If G is a group of permutations of a set X, a block B is a subset of X such that B and g(B) are either disjoint or identical, for each g in G. If G is transitive on X, then we say that the permutation group (X, G) is primitive if the only blocks are the trivial blocks, that is, those with cardinality 0, 1 or |X|. If B is a non-trivial block and G is transitive on X, then each g(B) is a block, and the distinct blocks g(B) form a partition of X which we refer to as a block system. Further, G acts transitively on these blocks.
A graph Г is said to be primitive or imprimitive according as the group G = Aut(Г) acting on VГ has the corresponding property. For example, the ladder graph L3 is imprimitive: there is a block system with two blocks, the vertices of the triangles in L3.
Proposition 22.1Let Г be a connected graph for which the group of automorphisms acts imprimitively and symmetrically (in the sense of Definition 15.5). Then a block system for the action of Aut(Г) on VГ must be a colour-partition of Г.
In this paper we show that, for the Apollonian or osculatory packing C0 of a curvilinear triangle T, the dimension d(C0, T) of the residual set is equal to the exponent of the packing e(Co, T) = S. Since we have [5, 6] exhibited constructible sequences λ(K) and μ(K) such that λ(K) < S < μ(K), and μ(K)–λ(K) → 0 as κ → 0, we have thus effectively determined d(C0, T). In practical terms it is thus now known that 1·300197 < d(C0, T) < 1·314534.
Using toroidal coordinates, an exact solution is derived for the velocity field induced in two immiscible semi-infinite fluids possessing a plane interface, by the slow rotation of an axially symmetric body partly immersed in each fluid. The surface of the body is assumed to be formed from two intersecting spheres, or a sphere and a circular disc, with the circle of intersection of the composite surfaces lying in th interface.
It is shown that when the rotating body possesses reflection symmetry about the plane of the interface of the fluids, the velocity field in either fluid is independent of the viscosities of the fluids. The torque exerted on the body is then proportional to the sum of the viscosities. Analytic closed-form expressions are derived for the torque when the body is either a sphere, a circular disc, or a tangent-sphere dumbbell, and for a hemisphere rotating in an infinite homogeneous fluid. Closed-form results are also given for an immersed sphere, tangent to a free surface. For other geometrical configurations, numerical values of the torque are provided for a variety of body shapes and two-fluid systems of various viscosity ratios.
Our result complements an interesting result of Roy O. Davies [1]; we assume familiarity with his paper. We use the details of the construction that he uses to prove his Theorem II.
One of the substantial differences between real and complex analysis is the behaviour of pointwise sequential limits of functions. It is well known that, if f(z) is a bounded analytic function in D = {z∈ C: |z| < 1}, then there exists a sequence {pn(z): n = 1,2,…} of polynomials such that
Our investigation starts from the question: is the even dimensional cohomology of the non-abelian group of order p3 and exponent p generated by Chern classes? From the computation of the complete cohomology ring in [8] one quickly sees that the essential problem is to express elements of the form cor (γk), γ ∈ H2 (k, ℤ), K a subgroup of index p, in terms of Chern classes. For a more general pair of groups (K ≤ G) it is known, see [7] that the best for which one can hope is a description of some multiple of cor (γk) in this way. Our first theorem shows that, under suitable hypotheses (satisfied in particular by the example of order p3) the numerical factor may be removed. Thus
In [2], Sawyer considers a closed, central, convex region K which is such that, however it is displaced in the plane, a point of the integral lattice is covered. He shows that the area A(K) of K satisfies . We prove here a result in the opposite direction.
Let Ω be an algebraic number field, and let NΩ ⊂ ℚ be the group of norms of fractional ideals of Ω. Then NΩ is a subgroup of the positive rationals; the latter is the direct sum of a denumerable infinity of infinite cyclic groups, and so it is free abelian; thus NΩ is free abelian, and, since it is not finitely generated, we must have qua abstract groups. The purpose of this paper is, in the first place, to find a “metrical ” way of distinguishing these isomorphic groups, and, to this end, we introduce the notion of Farey density, defined as follows; let X be a positive integer, and consider the Farey section ℱ(X) of order X, thus the set of all reduced positive fractions with denominator < X; then the quotient
measures the proportion of elements of ℱ(X) which are in NΩ, and, as X → ∞, it gives a measure of the “density ” of fractional ideal norms in the rational interval (0, 1).