Graph‐theoretic parameters concerning domination, independence, and irredundance

A vertex x in a subset X of vertices of an undericted graph is redundant if its closed neighbourhood is contained in the union of closed neighborhoods of vertices of X – {x}. In the context of a communications network, this means that any vertex that may receive communications from X may also be informed from X – {x}. The irredundance number ir (G) is the minimum cardinality taken over all maximal sets of vertices having no redundancies. The domination number γ(G) is the minimum cardinality taken over all dominating sets of G, and the independent domination number i(G) is the minimum cardinality taken over all maximal independent sets of vertices of G. The paper contians results that relate these parameters. For example, we prove that for any graph G, ir (G) > γ(G)/2 and for any grpah Gwith p vertices and no isolated vertices, i(G) ≤ p‐γ(G) + 1 ‐ ⌈(p ‐ γ(G))/γ(G)⌉. Copyright © 1979 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., A Wiley Company