Component factors in $K_{1,r}$-free graphs

Abstract

A graph is said to be $K_{1,r}$-free if it does not contain an induced subgraph isomorphic to $K_{1,r}$. An $\mathcal{F}$-factor is a spanning subgraph $H$ such that each connected component of $H$ is isomorphic to some graph in $\mathcal{F}$. In particular, $H$ is called an $\{P_2,P_3\}$-factor of $G$ if $\mathcal{F}=\{P_2,P_3\}$; $H$ is called an ${\mathcal{S}}_n$-factor of $G$ if $\mathcal{F}=\{K_{1,1},K_{1,2},K_{1,3},...,K_{1,n}\}$, where $n\ge 2$. A spanning subgraph of a graph $G$ is called a ${\mathcal{P}}_{\ge k}$-factor of $G$ if its each component is isomorphic to a path of order at least $k$, where $k\ge 2$. A graph $G$ is called a $\mathcal{F}$-factor covered graph if there is a $\mathcal{F}$-factor of $G$ including $e$ for any $e\in E(G)$. In this paper, we give a minimum degree condition for a $K_{1,r}$-free graph to have an ${\mathcal{S}}_n$-factor and a ${\mathcal{P}}_{\ge 3}$-factor, respectively. Further, we obtain sufficient conditions for $K_{1,r}$-free graphs to be ${\mathcal{P}}_{\ge 2}$-factor, ${\mathcal{P}}_{\ge 3}$-factor or $\{P_2,P_3\}$-factor covered graphs. In addition, examples show that our results are sharp.

13 pages