Metric Dimension of Amalgamation of Graphs

Abstract

A set of vertices $S$ resolves a graph $G$ if every vertex is uniquely determined by its vector of distances to the vertices in $S$. The metric dimension of $G$ is the minimum cardinality of a resolving set of $G$. Let $\{G_1, G_2, \ldots, G_n\}$ be a finite collection of graphs and each $G_i$ has a fixed vertex $v_{0_i}$ or a fixed edge $e_{0_i}$ called a terminal vertex or edge, respectively. The \emph{vertex-amalgamation} of $G_1, G_2, \ldots, G_n$, denoted by $Vertex-Amal\{G_i;v_{0_i}\}$, is formed by taking all the $G_i$'s and identifying their terminal vertices. Similarly, the \emph{edge-amalgamation} of $G_1, G_2, \ldots, G_n$, denoted by $Edge-Amal\{G_i;e_{0_i}\}$, is formed by taking all the $G_i$'s and identifying their terminal edges. Here we study the metric dimensions of vertex-amalgamation and edge-amalgamation for finite collection of arbitrary graphs. We give lower and upper bounds for the dimensions, show that the bounds are tight, and construct infinitely many graphs for each possible value between the bounds.