Strong (t,r)-regularity

 

By Peter D. Johnson Jr.

Auburn University

 

Abstract:

 

A graph is strongly (t,r)-regular if and only if it is of order at least t, and the open neighborhood of any set of t of its vertices has cardinality r.  There are some easy--some would say "trivial"--ways to find strongly (t,r)-regular graphs.  For instances: every matching (graph consisting of a number of independent edges) is strongly (t,t)-regular for t = 1,...,n, where n is the number of vertices of the graph; every graph without isolated vertices, on n vertices, is strongly (t,n)-regular if t = n+1 - (minimum degree of the graph); and every r-regular graph is strongly (1,r)-regular. 

 

The big question is whether or not there exist "non-trivial" strongly (t,r)-regular graphs, and this question is wide open for t > 2.  For t = 2 something is known: the regular strongly (2,r)-regular graphs form a variety of strongly regular graphs, about which a good deal is known.  The big open problem in this case is:  do there exist non-regular strongly (2,r)-regular graphs?  Some results and more problems will be presented.

 

 

 

 

March 29, 2005

At 3:30 in Wallace 430