Discrete Mathematics & Theoretical Computer Science |
A graph G is arbitrarily partitionable (AP for short) if for every partition (n_1, n_2, ..., n_p) of |V(G)| there exists a partition (V_1, V_2, ..., V_p) of V(G) such that each V_i induces a connected subgraph of G with order n_i. If, additionally, k of these subgraphs (k <= p) each contains an arbitrary vertex of G prescribed beforehand, then G is arbitrarily partitionable under k prescriptions (AP+k for short). Every AP+k graph on n vertices is (k+1)-connected, and thus has at least ceil(n(k+1)/2) edges. We show that there exist AP+k graphs on n vertices and ceil(n(k+1)/2) edges for every k >= 1 and n >= k.