The overfullness of graphs with small minimum degree and large maximum degree

Abstract

Given a simple graph $G$, denote by $\Delta(G)$, $\delta(G)$, and $\chi'(G)$ the maximum degree, the minimum degree, and the chromatic index of $G$, respectively. We say $G$ is \emph{$\Delta$-critical} if $\chi'(G)=\Delta(G)+1$ and $\chi'(H)\le \Delta(G)$ for every proper subgraph $H$ of $G$; and $G$ is \emph{overfull} if $|E(G)|>\Delta \lfloor |V(G)|/2 \rfloor$. Since a maximum matching in $G$ can have size at most $\lfloor |V(G)|/2 \rfloor$, it follows that $\chi'(G) = \Delta(G) +1$ if $G$ is overfull. Conversely, let $G$ be a $\Delta$-critical graph. The well known overfull conjecture of Chetwynd and Hilton asserts that $G$ is overfull provided $\Delta(G) > |V(G)|/3$. In this paper, we show that any $\Delta$-critical graph $G$ is overfull if $\Delta(G) - 7\delta(G)/4\ge(3|V(G)|-17)/4$.