Windmill graph

In the mathematical field of graph theory, the windmill graph Wd(k,n) is an undirected graph constructed for k ≥ 2 and n ≥ 2 by joining Template:Mvar copies of the complete graph Template:Mvar at a shared universal vertex. That is, it is a 1-clique-sum of these complete graphs.

Properties

It has n(k − 1) + 1 vertices and nk(k − 1)/2 edges, girth 3 (if k > 2), radius 1 and diameter 2. It has vertex connectivity 1 because its central vertex is an articulation point; however, like the complete graphs from which it is formed, it is (k − 1)-edge-connected. It is trivially perfect and a block graph.

Special cases

By construction, the windmill graph Wd(3,n) is the friendship graph Template:Mvar, the windmill graph Wd(2,n) is the star graph Template:Mvar and the windmill graph Wd(3,2) is the butterfly graph.

Labeling and colouring

The windmill graph has chromatic number Template:Mvar and chromatic index n(k − 1). Its chromatic polynomial can be deduced from the chromatic polynomial of the complete graph and is equal to

$x\prod _{i=1}^{k-1}(x-i{)}^n.$

The windmill graph Wd(k,n) is proved not graceful if k > 5. In 1979, Bermond has conjectured that Wd(4,n) is graceful for all n ≥ 4. Through an equivalence with perfect difference families, this has been proved for n ≤ 1000. Bermond, Kotzig, and Turgeon proved that Wd(k,n) is not graceful when k = 4 and n = 2 or n = 3, and when k = 5 and n = 2. The windmill Wd(3,n) is graceful if and only if n ≡ 0 (mod 4) or n ≡ 1 (mod 4).

Gallery

File:Windmill graphs.svg

Small windmill graphs.