On saturation problems for matchings with regularity constraints

Abstract

A graph $G$ is $F$-saturated if $G$ is $F$-free but for any edge $e$ in the complement of $G$ the graph $G + e$ contains $F$. Gerbner et al. (Discrete Math., 345 (2022), 112921) initiated the study of $rsat(n,F)$, the minimum number of edges in a regular $n$-vertex $F$-saturated graph, and they posed the problem of for which graphs $rsat(n, F )$ exists. Regarding this problem, we obtain the precise value of $rsat(n,(m+1)K_2)$ for all possible cases, where $(m+1)K_2$ denotes a matching of size $m+1$. As a natural counterpart, we also determine the maximum number of edges in a regular $n$-vertex $(m+1)K_2$-free graph for all $m\ge 1$ and $n\ge 2m+2$.