Negative (and Positive) Circles in Signed Graphs: A Problem Collection

Abstract

A signed graph is a graph whose edges are labelled positive or negative. The sign of a circle (cycle, circuit) is the product of the signs of its edges. Most of the essential properties of a signed graph depend on the signs of its circles. Here I describe several questions regarding negative circles and their cousins the positive circles. Topics include incidence between signed circles and edges or vertices, characterizing signed graphs with special circle properties, counting negative circles, signed-circle packing and covering, signed circles and eigenvalues, and directed cycles in signed digraphs. A few of the questions come with answers.