Three classes of 1-planar graphs

Abstract

A graph is called 1-planar if it can be drawn in the plane so that each of its edges is crossed by at most one other edge. In this paper we decompose the set of all 1-planar graphs into three classes $\mathcal C_0, \mathcal C_1$ and $\mathcal C_2$ with respect to the types of crossings and present the decomposition of 1-planar join products. Zhang \cite{z} proved that every $n$-vertex 1-planar graph of class $\mathcal C_1$ has at most $\frac{18}{5}n-\frac{36}{5}$ edges and a $\mathcal C_1$-drawing with at most $\frac 35 n-\frac 65$ crossings. We improve these results. We show that every $\mathcal C_1$-drawing of a 1-planar graph has at most $\frac 35 n-\frac 65$ crossings. Consequently, every $n$-vertex 1-planar graph of class $\mathcal C_1$ has at most $\frac{18}{5}n-\frac{36}{5}$ edges. Moreover, we prove that this bound is sharp.