Assume that $n, \delta ,k$ are integers with $0 \leq k < \delta < n$. Given a graph $G=(V,E)$ with $|V|=n$. The symbol $G-F, F \subseteq V$, denotes the graph with $V(G-F)=V-F$, and $E(G-F)$ obtained by $E$ after deleting the edges with at least one endvertex in $F$. $G$ is called <i>$k$-vertex fault traceable</i>, <i>$k$-vertex fault Hamiltonian</i>, or <i>$k$-vertex fault Hamiltonian-connected</i> if $G-F$ remains traceable, Hamiltonian, and Hamiltonian-connected for all $F$ with $0 \leq |F| \leq k$, respectively. The notations $h_1(n, \delta ,k)$, $h_2(n, \delta ,k)$, and $h_3(n, \delta ,k)$ denote the minimum number of edges required to guarantee an $n$-vertex graph with minimum degree $\delta (G) \geq \delta$ to be $k$-vertex fault traceable, $k$-vertex fault Hamiltonian, and $k$-vertex fault Hamiltonian-connected, respectively. In this paper, we establish a theorem which uses the degree sequence of a given graph to characterize the $k$-vertex fault traceability/hamiltonicity/Hamiltonian-connectivity, respectively. Then we use this theorem to obtain the formulas for $h_i(n, \delta ,k)$ for $1 \leq i \leq 3$, which improves and extends the known results for $k=0$.
Discrete Mathematics & Theoretical Computer Science