Determining the minimum size of maximal 1-plane graphs

Abstract

A 1-plane graph is a graph together with a drawing in the plane in such a way that each edge is crossed at most once. A 1-plane graph is maximal if no edge can be added without violating either 1-planarity or simplicity. Let $m(n)$ denote the minimum size of a maximal $1$-plane graph of order $n$. Brandenburg et al. established that $m(n)\ge 2.1n-\frac{10}{3}$ for all $n\ge 4$, which was improved by Barát and Tóth to $m(n)\ge \frac{20}{9}n-\frac{10}{3}$. In this paper, we confirm that $m(n)=\lceil \frac{7}{3}n\rceil -3$ for all $n\ge 5$.

29 pages, 20 figures