Abstract
A k-plex is a hypergraph with the property that each subset of a hyperedge is also a hyperedge and each hyperedge contains at most \(k+1\) vertices. We introduce a new concept called the k-Wiener index of a k-plex as the summation of k-distances between every two hyperedges of cardinality k of the k-plex. The concept is different from the Wiener index of a hypergraph which is the sum of distances between every two vertices of the hypergraph. We provide basic properties for the k-Wiener index of a k-plex. Similarly to the fact that trees are the fundamental 1-dimensional graphs, k-trees form an important class of k-plexes and have many properties parallel to those of trees. We provide a recursive formula for the k-Wiener index of a k-tree using its property of a perfect elimination ordering. We show that the k-Wiener index of a k-tree of order n is bounded below by \(2 {1+(n-k)k \atopwithdelims ()2} - (n-k) {k+1 \atopwithdelims ()2} \) and above by \(k^2 {n-k+2 \atopwithdelims ()3} - (n-k){k \atopwithdelims ()2}\). The bounds are attained only when the k-tree is a k-star and a k-th power of path, respectively. Our results generalize the well-known results that the Wiener index of a tree of order n is bounded between \((n-1)^2\) and \({n+1 \atopwithdelims ()3}\), and the lower bound (resp., the upper bound) is attained only when the tree is a star (resp., a path) from 1-dimensional trees to k-dimensional trees.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data Availibility
Data sharing not applicable to this article as no datasets were generated or analyzed during the current study.
References
Bickle A, Che Z (2021) Wiener indices of maximal \(k\)-degenerate graphs. Graphs Combin. 37:581–589
Beineke LW, Pippert RE (1971) Properties and characterizations of \(k\)-trees. Mathematika 18:141–151
Che Z, Collins KL (2019) An upper bound on Wiener indices of maximal planar graphs. Discrete Appl Math 258:76–86
Dobrynin A, Entringer R, Gutman I (2001) Wiener index of trees: theory and application. Acta Appl Math 66:211–249
Entringer RC, Jackson DE, Snyder DA (1976) Distance in graphs. Czechoslovak Math J 26:283–296
Gross JL, Yellen J (2006) Graph theory and its applications. Second edition. Discrete Mathematics and its Applications (Boca Raton). Chapman & Hall/CRC, Boca Raton, FL
Guo H, Zhou B, Lin H (2017) The Wiener index of uniform hypergraphs. MATCH Commun Math Comput Chem 78:133–152
Harary F, Palmer EM (1968) On acyclic simplicial complexes. Mathematika 15:115–122
Hilton PJ, Wylie S (1960) Homology theory: An introduction to algebraic topology. Cambridge Univ. Press, New York
Li Y, Deng B (2020) A new method to find the Wiener index of hypergraphs. Discrete Dyn Nat Soc Art. ID 8138942, 6 pp
Liu X, Wang L, Li X (2020) The Wiener index of hypergraphs. J Comb Optim 39:351–364
Patil HP (1986) On the structure of \(k\)-trees. J Combin Inform System Sci 11:57–64
Rose DJ (1974) On simple characterizations of \(k\)-trees. Discrete Math. 7:317–322
Rodríguez JA (2005) On the Wiener index and the eccentric distance sum of hypergraphs. MATCH Commun Math Comput Chem 54:209–220
Sun L, Wu J, Cai H, Luo Z (2017) The Wiener index of \(r\)-uniform hypergraphs. Bull Malays Math Sci Soc 40:1093–1113
Wiener H (1947) Structural determination of paraffin boiling points. J Am Chem Soc 69:17–20
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank referees for their careful reading and helpful suggestions.
Funding
The research work is supported by the Research Development Grant (RDG) from Penn State University, Beaver Campus.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflicts of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Che, Z. k-Wiener index of a k-plex. J Comb Optim 43, 65–78 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10878-021-00750-0
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10878-021-00750-0