Zero Forcing sets and Power Dominating sets of cardinality at most 2

Abstract

Let $S$ be a set of vertices of a graph $G$. Let $cl(S)$ be the set of vertices built from $S$, by iteratively applying the following propagation rule: if a vertex and all but exactly one of its neighbors are in $cl(S)$, then the remaining neighbor is also in $cl(S)$. A set $S$ is called a zero forcing set of $G$ if $cl(S)=V(G)$. The zero forcing number $Z(G)$ of $G$ is the minimum cardinality of a zero forcing set. Let $cl(N[S])$ be the set of vertices built from the closed neighborhood $N[S]$ of $S$, by iteratively applying the previous propagation rule. A set $S$ is called a power dominating set of $G$ if $cl(N[S])=V(G)$. The power domination number $\gp(G)$ of $G$ is the minimum cardinality of a power dominating set. In this paper, we characterize the set of all graphs $G$ for which $Z(G)=2$. On the other hand, we present a variety of sufficient and/or necessary conditions for a graph $G$ to satisfy $1 \le \gp(G) \le 2$.

12 pages, 8 figures