Fall-colorings and b-colorings of graph products

Abstract

Given a proper coloring $f$ of a graph $G$, a b-vertex in $f$ is a vertex that is adjacent to every color class but its own. It is a b-coloring if every color class contains at least one b-vertex, and it is a fall-coloring if every vertex is a b-vertex. The b-chromatic number of $G$ is the maximum integer $b(G)$ for which $G$ has a b-coloring with $b(G)$ colors, while the fall-chromatic number and the fall-acromatic number of $G$ are, respectively, the minimum and maximum integers $f_1(G),f_2(G)$ for which $G$ has a fall-coloring. In this article, we explore the concepts of b-homomorphisms and Type II homomorphisms, which generalize the concepts of b-colorings and fall-colorings, and present some meta-theorems concerning products of graphs. As a result, we derive some previously known facts about these metrics on graph products. We also give a negative answer to a question posed by Kaul and Mitillos about fall-colorings of perfect graphs.