1. Introduction
In this paper, we consider finite undirected simple graphs and follow the notation and terminology of [1].
The line graph
of a graph
is a graph whose vertices correspond to the edges of
, where two vertices in
are adjacent if and only if their corresponding edges in
share a common endpoint. For
, the
-time iterated line graph
is defined recursively as follows:
;
;
for
, with the condition that
(i.e., the edge set of
is non-empty). This definition ensures that the line graph operation can be applied iteratively as long as the previous iteration yields a non-empty graph. In a graph
, the contraction of edge
(denoted by
) with endpoints
and
is the operation that merges
and
into a single new vertex. The incident edges of this new vertex are all edges originally incident to either
or
, except for
itself (and any resulting loops are deleted). For
, the contraction
is obtained from
by contracing each edge of
and deleting the resulting loops. If
, we write
for
.
A trail of a graph
, denoted by
, is a sequence
, whose terms are alternately vertices and edges of
such that
and
are the ends of
and its edge terms are distinct. A spanning trail of a graph
is a trail containing all vertices of
. A spanning closed trial of a graph
is a trail containing all vertices of
, and
. Supereulerian graphs are such graphs which have a spanning closed trial. The Supereulerian index means the minimum integer
of iterated line graph
of a
such that
is Supereulerian, denoted by
. The cycle and complete graph with
vertices are denoted
and
, respectively.
The Petersen Graph is the simple graph whose vertices are the 2-element subsets of a 5-element set and whose edges are the pairs of disjoint 2-element subsets.
The concept of Generalized Petersen graphs was originally introduced by Watkins in 1969 [2]. Since their introduction, these graphs have become a significant subject of research in graph theory. Frucht [3] later investigated a canonical representation specifically for trivalent (3-regular) Hamiltonian Generalized Petersen graphs. Building on this work, Alspach [4] provided a complete classification of Hamiltonian Generalized Petersen graphs, establishing in particular the following key theorem:
The vertex set of the Generalized Petersen graphs
,
is defined as
, and the edge set
, where the indices are taken as modulo
. Especially, Petersen graph is
.
Theorem 1. [4] The Generalized Petersen graph
is Hamiltonian if and only if it is neither
(I)
,
, nor
(II)
,
and
.
The Hamiltonian index was first introduced by Chartrand in 1968 [5], where he established its existence by proving that every connected graph (except paths) admits such an index. Chartrand et al. in [6] proved a result of Hamiltonian index, as follows:
Theorem 2. [6] Let
be a connected graph and the minimum degree of vertices in
is at least 3, then
.
Later, in 1983, Clark and Wormald [7] extended this notion by introducing the Hamiltonian-like index, providing a broader framework for studying Hamiltonian properties. Further developments came in 1990 when Catlin et al. [8] investigated Hamiltonian cycles and supereulerian graphs within iterated line graphs. Building on these foundations, Han, Lai, et al. [9] established a key relationship between a graph’s Hamiltonian index and its Supereulerian index.
Theorem 3. [9] Let
be a connected graph but isn’t a path, then
.
In 2005, Xiong and Yan in [10] proved the supereulerian index of the tree
.
Let
denote the set of branches of
, and let
. Define
and
. Define
if
is 2-connected;
if
is not 2-connected and
; otherwise,
.
Theorem 4. [10] Let
be a tree. Then
.
In 2010, Xiong and Li established that the supereulerian index of a claw-free graph remains stable under contractions and closures, their results are as follows:
Theorem 5. [11] Let
be a graph and
be a collapsible subgraph of
. Then
.
Theorem 6. [11] Let
be a connected claw-free graph with at least three edges other than a path. Then
.
Although Hamiltonian graphs are necessarily supereulerian, the converse fails in general. Therefore, it is meaningful to study the Supereulerian index of a graph
.
2. Our Main Results
Motivated by these researches, we consider Supereulerian indices of some graphs which obtained from Petersen graph and Generalized Petersen graphs, respectively.
Before presenting our main findings, several supplementary essential concepts and theorems are introduced: If
be a path in a graph
. For subgraphs
:
is called an
-path if
and
. The distance between
and
, denoted
, it is the minimum length among all
-paths. For any vertex
:
denotes the degree of a vertex
.
defines the
-degree vertex set (for
). A branch in
is a nontrivial path satisfying: All internal vertices have degree 2, both end vertices have degree other than 2. If a branch has length 1, then it has no internal vertex. For any subgraph
, let
.
Theorem 7. [12] Let
be a connected graph with at least 3 edges. Then
is supereulerian if and only if
. Let
denote the set of all subgraphs
satisfying the following properties:
(I)
;
(II)
;
(III) Every branch
with
satisfies
;
(IV)
for any branch
;
(V)
for every subgraph
of
and
means that
is connected;
Based on above results, we obtain the following results:
Theorem 8. Let
be a Petersen graph, then
.
Theorem 9. Let
be the graphs obtained from the Petersen graph by vertex replacement with cycles
. We have
.
Theorem 10. Let
be the graphs obtained from the Petersen graph by vertex replacement with complete graph
. We have
.
Theorem 11. Let
be the graphs obtained from the Petersen graph by adding
pendant edges to every vertex. We have
.
Theorem 12. Let
be the Generalized Petersen graph satisfying
,
, we have
.
Theorem 13. Let
be the Generalized Petersen graph satisfying
,
and
, we have
.
3. Proof of Main Results
Proof of Theorem 8. We prove this result by Theorem 7, we only prove
. Suppose that
, let
be a subgraph of
formed as
, where each
is the vertices in Petersen graph. Then
satisfies conditions (I)-(V) of
, with the following properties:
(I)
,
;
(II)
;
Now, we demonstrate that (III) is satisfied. Since
, it is obviously for branch
with
,
=
, that is
.
We know there is no
, so it is obviously that
, so
. We can get
which satisfies condition (IV).
Regarding condition (V), we can take every
as
. Subsequently, we have
, that is
. So it follows that
complies with condition (V).
Thus,
, then
is Supereulerian, i.e.,
. We cannot find a spanning closed trail in the Petersen graph, we can be sure that
, so
.
Proof of Theorem 9. By Theorem 7, we only need to prove
. Suppose
that
, let
be a subgraph of
formed as
, where each
is a
-cycle in graph. Then
satisfies conditions (I)-(V) of
, with the following properties:
(I)
,
;
(II)
;
Now, we demonstrate that (III) is satisfied. It is obviously for branch
with
,
, that is
.
We know there is no
, so it is obviously that
, so
. We can get
satisfies condition (IV).
Regarding condition (V), we can take every
as
. Subsequently, we have
, that is
. So it follows that
complies with condition (V).
Thus,
, then
is Supereulerian, i.e.,
. Since the graph
obtained from the Petersen graph by vertex replacement with cycles
, it is clear that there is no way for a spanning closed trail to exist in
, that is
, so
.
Proof of Theorem 10. By Theorem 7, we only need to prove
. Suppose that
, let
be a subgraph of
formed as
, where each
is a
-cycle which induced by every complete graph
in graph. Then
satisfies conditions (I)-(V) of
, with the following properties:
(I)
;
(II)
;
Now, we demonstrate that (III) is satisfied. It is obviously for branch
with
,
, that is
.
We know there is no
, so it is obviously that
, so
. We can get
satisfies condition (IV).
Regarding condition (V), we can take every
as
. Subsequently, we have
, that is
. So it follows that
complies with condition (V).
Thus,
, then
is Supereulerian, i.e.,
. By Theorem 5, we can know that
, every complete graph can be contracted to a vertex, so the Supereulerian index of this graph is equal to Petersen graphs, we can make sure that there exists no spanning closed trail in
, then
, so
.
Proof of Theorem 11. We also prove this result by Theorem 7. Suppose that
, let
be a subgraph of
formed as
, where each
is a vertex in Petersen graph. Then
satisfies conditions (I)-(V) of
, with the following properties:
(I)
;
(II)
;
Now, we demonstrate that (III) is satisfied. Since
, it is obviously for branch
with
,
, that is
.
For the condition (IV), since the graph
contains pendant edges, there must exist
, it is obviously that
for any branch
, where
.
Regarding condition (V), we can take every
as
. Subsequently, we have
, that is
. So it follows that
complies with condition (V).
Thus,
, then
is Supereulerian, i.e.,
. Since the graph
obtained from the Petersen graph by vertex replacement with pendant edges with
. then there exists no spanning closed trail in
,
, so
.
Proof of Theorem 12. Due to the equivalence relation in Theorem 8, we only need to prove the Supereulerian index for one of the cases. Now we prove the result when
,
, let
. For convinience, we denote the vertices of the inner-cycle as
, the vertices of the outer-cycle as
of the Generalized Petersen graph, the vertices of the inner and outer cycles are connected by
, where
, respectively. Next, we use the same method to prove.
(I) When
,
, that is a Petersen graph, according to our result in Theorem 8,
.
(II) when
,
, we prove this result by theorem 7. Suppose that
, let
be a subgraph of
formed as
,
is inner-cycle of the Generalized Petersen graph which has odd order vertices,
is outer-cycle of the Generalized Petersen graph which has odd order vertices. Then
satisfies conditions (I)-(V) of
, with the following properties:
(I)
;
(II)
;
Now, we demonstrate that (iii) is satisfied. It is obviously for branch
with
,
, that is
.
We know there is no
, so it is obviously that
, so
. We can get
which satisfies condition (IV).
Regarding condition (V), we can take every
as
. Subsequently, we have
, that is
. So it follows that
complies with condition (V).
Thus,
, then
. Since these graphs
exists no spanning closed trail in
,
, so
.
(III) When
,
, we prove it by same way, so
.
Therefore,
is Supereulerian, that is,
. So
(where
,
,
or
).
Proof of Theorem 13. When
and
, we prove this result by Theorem 7, Suppose that
, let
be a subgraph of
formed as
, where
is a
formed by the vertices
and
inside the Generalized Petersen graph,
is outer-cycle
of the Generalized Petersen graph which has even order vertices. Then
satisfies conditions (I)-(V) of
, with the following properties:
(I)
;
(II)
;
Now, we demonstrate that (III) is satisfied. It is obviously for branch
with
,
, that is
.
We know there is no
, so it is obviously that
, so
. We can get
satisfies condition (IV).
Regarding condition (V), we can take every
as
. Subsequently, we have
, that is
. So it follows that
complies with condition (V).
Thus,
, then
is Supereulerian, i.e.,
. Since this graph
exists no spanning closed trail in
,
, so
.
Acknowledgements
This research was funded by Qinghai Minzu University Fund grant number 23GH11.