Total coloring of (sub)cubic Halin graphs

Abstract

Total coloring of a graph is a coloring of its vertices and edges such that adjacent or incident elements receive distinct colors. Total coloring conjecture (stipulating that the total chromatic number of a graph $G$ is at most $\Delta(G)+2$) is known to be true for subcubic graphs -- five colors are always enough. However, deciding whether a total coloring with only four colors exists remains a difficult problem, even in the class of bipartite cubic graphs. We solve the problem completely for cubic and subcubic Halin graphs, proving that there are only finitely many such graphs requiring five colors.