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On the Structure of Dense Triangle-Free Graphs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 1999

STEPHAN BRANDT
Affiliation:
FB Mathematik & Informatik, WE 2, Freie Universität Berlin, Arnimallee 3, 14195 Berlin, Germany (e-mail: brandt@math.fu-berlin.de)

Abstract

As a consequence of an early result of Pach we show that every maximal triangle-free graph is either homomorphic with a member of a specific infinite sequence of graphs or contains the Petersen graph minus one vertex as a subgraph. From this result and further structural observations we derive that, if a (not necessarily maximal) triangle-free graph of order n has minimum degree δ[ges ]n/3, then the graph is either homomorphic with a member of the indicated family or contains the Petersen graph with one edge contracted. As a corollary we get a recent result due to Chen, Jin and Koh. Finally, we show that every triangle-free graph with δ>n/3 is either homomorphic with C5 or contains the Möbius ladder. A major tool is the observation that every triangle-free graph with δ[ges ]n/3 has a unique maximal triangle-free supergraph.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
1999 Cambridge University Press

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