Characterizations of 2-Colorable (Bipartite) and 3-Colorable Graphs

Abstract

A \emph{directional labeling} of an edge $\emph{uv}$ in a graph $G=(V,E)$ by an ordered pair $ab$ is a labeling of the edge $uv$ such that the label on $uv$ in the direction from $u$ to $v$ is $\ell(uv)=ab$, and $\ell(vu)=ba$. New characterizations of 2-colorable (bipartite) and 3-colorable graphs are obtained in terms of directional labeling of edges of a graph by ordered pairs $ab$ and $ba$. In addition we obtain characterizations of 2-colorable and 3-colorable graphs in terms of matrices called directional adjacency matrices.