The Full P-vertex Problem and Perfect Matchings for Bipartite Graphs

Abstract

In a recent work, Sharma and Panda~\cite{sharma} showed that every bipartite graph with a perfect matching has property (P), and proved the converse for trees and unicyclic bipartite graphs (i.e., bipartite graphs with cycle rank $m(G)\le 1$). In this paper, we extend this result to broader classes of bipartite graphs. We first show that every bipartite graph with property (P) is balanced. We prove that the converse holds for all bipartite graphs with cycle rank $m(G)$ at most three, and further establish it for several additional families of bipartite graphs. Finally, we derive algebraic constraints for balanced bipartite graphs without perfect matchings and use them to identify a family of bipartite graphs that does not have property (P).

Version 3: Revised title and expanded results section