Algebraic Graph Theory Seminar- Chris Godsil

Thursday, October 18, 2018 1:30 pm - 1:30 pm EDT (GMT -04:00)

Title: Graphs of Homomorphisms

Speaker: Chris Godsil
Affiliation: University of Waterloo
Room: MC 6486

Abstract: If X and Y are graphs and f is a function on V (X) taking values in V (Y ), then the graph of
f is the subset formed by the pairs (x; f(x)) for x in V (X). (This is a graph as in Calculus. I
am not responsible for the notational clash.)
I will discuss a product of the graphs X and Y (with vertex set V (X)V (Y )) with the property
that there is a homomorphism from X to Y if and only if the graph of the homomorphism is
a coclique in the product. I will show how standard eigenvalue bounds can then be used to
derive constraints on the existence of homomorphisms, and on the maximum size of induced
k-colourable subgraphs. Some of this theory extends to quantum homomorphisms of graphs,
but I will not say much about this.