Minimal edge colorings of class 2 graphs and double graphs

Abstract

A proper edge coloring of a class 2 graph G is minimal if it contains a color class of cardinality equal to the resistance r(G) of G, which is the minimum number of edges that have to be removed from G to obtain a graph which is Δ(G)-edge colorable, where Δ(G) is the maximum degree of G. In this paper using some properties of minimal edge colorings of a class 2 graph and the notion of reflective edge colorings of the direct product of two graphs, we are able to prove that the double graph of a class 2 graph is of class 1. This result, recently conjectured, is moreover extended to some generalized double graphs.