Decomposing $K_{u+w}-K_u$ into cycles of various lengths

Abstract

We prove that the complete graph with a hole $K_{u+w}-K_u$ can be decomposed into cycles of arbitrary specified lengths provided that the obvious necessary conditions are satisfied, each cycle has length at most $\min(u,w)$, and the longest cycle is at most three times as long as the second longest. This generalises existing results on decomposing the complete graph with a hole into cycles of uniform length, and complements work on decomposing complete graphs, complete multigraphs, and complete multipartite graphs into cycles of arbitrary specified lengths.