Multiple 3-Coloring, an Approach to 4-Coloring of Planar Graphs

Abstract

A planar graph can be embedded in a piecewise linear manifold, and the lattice on each linear piece can be colored with 3-coloring. If a planar graph can be colored with multiple 3-coloring, i.e. coloring the graph in pieces with different 3-color subsets of 4 colors, then the graph is 4-colorable. In this paper, multiple 3-coloring was introduced, and then the combination and partition of planar graphs for multiple 3-coloring was studied. The study reveals that planar graphs can generally be decomposed into independent subgraphs, and each subgraph can be triangulated into a symmetric structure for multiple 3-coloring.