Let $G$ be a finite simple graph and let $S\subseteq V(G)$. We prove that the minimum number of vertices meeting every cycle that intersects $S$ is at most the maximum number of vertices of $S$ covered by a collection of vertex-disjoint cycles. This answers a question posed by Bowler, Ghorbani, Gut, Jacobs, and Reich [\emph{SIAM Journal on Discrete Mathematics} \textbf{40} (2026), 988--999]. An incidence-based reduction to their bidirected packing--covering theorem preserves the packing value and projects transversals without increasing their cardinality.
The P\'{o}sa-Seymour conjecture establishes the minimum degree threshold required to guarantee the presence of the $k$th power of a Hamilton cycle in a graph. Following numerous partial results, Koml\'{o}s, S\'{a}rk\"{o}zy, and Szemer\'{e}di confirmed the conjecture holds for all sufficiently large graphs. Treglown later conjectured the analogous minimum semi-degree threshold for forcing the $k$th power of a Hamilton cycle in a digraph. Subsequently, DeBiasio et al. proposed a conjecture on the minimum total degree threshold for the same problem. In this paper we settle the conjecture of DeBiasio et al. for $k=2$. Specifically, we prove that every sufficiently large $n$-vertex digraph with minimum total degree at least $8n/5-c$ contains the square of a Hamilton cycle, where $c=2$ if $n\equiv2,4\pmod 5$, and $c=1$ otherwise.
For a graph $G$, let $h(G)$ be the minimum cardinality of a vertex set meeting every maximum independent set of $G$. We establish two complementary reduction principles for the Bollob\'as--Erd\H{o}s--Tuza conjecture: the conjecture for arbitrary graphs is equivalent to its restriction to regular graphs of any fixed positive linear degree, and, within every hereditary graph class, a uniform sublinear bound is equivalent to a sublinear bound on graphs of every fixed positive linear vertex connectivity. We prove the sharp general estimate \[ h(G)\le \left\lfloor\frac{|V(G)|}{2\alpha(G)+\delta(G)-|V(G)|}\right\rfloor \] whenever the denominator is positive, with equality for balanced complete multipartite graphs. Consequently, every $3$-colorable graph of order $n$ with $\kappa(G)\ge\rho n$ and $\rho>1/3$ has a hitting set of size at most $\lfloor(\rho-1/3)^{-1}\rfloor$; direct use of a $3$-coloring improves this to $6$ when $\kappa(G)>4n/9$ and to the sharp bound $3$ when $\kappa(G)>n/2$. For dense regular graphs with independence ratio greater than $1/4$, we obtain a logarithmic bound, while constructions with linear degree and linear independence number show that $h(G)=\Omega(\sqrt n)$ can still occur. We also prove a logarithmic bound for near-regular $3$-colorable graphs and exhibit a critical family at connectivity $n/3$ that explains the limitations of the degree-surplus and degree-ratio methods.
Hanzhi Bai, Yu-jeong Chang, Jin Yan· 0 citations
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