Graphs without proper subgraphs of minimum degree 3 and short cycles

Abstract

We study graphs on $n$ vertices which have $2n-2$ edges and no proper induced subgraphs of minimum degree $3$. Erd\H{o}s, Faudree, Gy\'arf\'as, and Schelp conjectured that such graphs always have cycles of lengths $3,4,5,\dots, C(n)$ for some function $C(n)$ tending to infinity. We disprove this conjecture, resolve a related problem about leaf-to-leaf path lengths in trees, and characterize graphs with $n$ vertices and $2n-2$ edges, containing no proper subgraph of minimum degree $3$.