Partitioning a graph into highly connected subgraphs

Abstract

Given $k\ge 1$, a $k$-proper partition of a graph $G$ is a partition ${\mathcal P}$ of $V(G)$ such that each part $P$ of ${\mathcal P}$ induces a $k$-connected subgraph of $G$. We prove that if $G$ is a graph of order $n$ such that $\delta(G)\ge \sqrt{n}$, then $G$ has a $2$-proper partition with at most $n/\delta(G)$ parts. The bounds on the number of parts and the minimum degree are both best possible. We then prove that If $G$ is a graph of order $n$ with minimum degree $\delta(G)\ge\sqrt{c(k-1)n}$, where $c=\frac{2123}{180}$, then $G$ has a $k$-proper partition into at most $\frac{cn}{\delta(G)}$ parts. This improves a result of Ferrara, Magnant and Wenger [Conditions for Families of Disjoint $k$-connected Subgraphs in a Graph, Discrete Math. 313 (2013), 760--764] and both the degree condition and the number of parts are best possible up to the constant $c$.