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Grinberg's Theorem is formulated like the following:

Let $G$ be a finite planar graph with a Hamiltonian cycle $C$, with a fixed planar embedding. Denote by $ƒ_k$ and $g_k$ the number of $k$-gonal faces of the embedding that are inside and outside of $C$, respectively. Then $$\sum _{{k\geq 3}}(k-2)(f_{k}-g_{k})=0.$$

The proof is an easy consequence of Euler's formula.

How does Grinberg's Theorem look like if we look at surfaces with higher genus

$$ {\displaystyle 2-2g =V-E+F}$$

Since in the planar case, the boundary edges of the faces inside and outside $C$ have to match, I don't expect Grinberg's Theorem to change.

But is that right?

Update I found Grinberg’s Criterion by Gunnar BRINKMANN and Carol T. ZAMFIRESCU, which "generalize(s) Grinberg’s hamiltonicity criterion for planar graphs.", but I get lost by "the many parameters just defined" before the main theorem.

Can anybody help me to understand it?

If it helps, I'm specially interested in the case of strongly embedded bicubic graphs on a double torus made up of hexagons and octagons only...

draks ...
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1 Answers1

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Let's first look at the proof of ordinary Grinberg's theorem.

Suppose that $G$ has $n$ vertices. Let $G_1$ be the subgraph of $G$ formed by deleting all edges outside $C$. Then $G_1$ also has $n$ vertices. The sum $\sum k f_k$ counts every edge of $G_1$ twice, except that it counts the $n$ edges of $C$ only once, so $G_1$ has $\frac12(n + \sum k f_k)$ edges. The sum $\sum f_k$ counts every face of $G_1$ except the external face, so $G$ has $1 + \sum f_k$ faces. Therefore Euler's formula says $$ n - \frac12\left(n + \sum_{k\ge 3} k f_k\right) + 1 + \sum_{k \ge 3} f_k = \color{red}{2} $$ and by rearranging, we get $$ \sum_{k \ge 3} \left(k-2\right)f_k = n + 2 - 2\cdot\color{red}{2}. $$ Let $G_2$ be the subgraph of $G$ formed by deleting all edges of $G$ inside $C$, and we get the same expression for the sum with $g_k$. Taking the difference gives us Grinberg's theorem.

In the case of a higher-genus embedding, the first complication we encounter is that Euler's formula will replace $\color{red}{2}$ in the argument above by $\color{red}{2 - 2g(G_1)}$, where $g(G_1)$ is the genus of $G_1$. Specifically, this is the genus of the particular embedding of $G_1$ we're looking at above, assuming that all faces are actually, topologically, disks. This may not be the same as $g(G)$.

Another way to think of $g(G_1)$ is that we take our embedding of $G$ in a surface, cut along $C$ and take the piece we called the "inside", and glue a disk along the boundary. Then $g(G_1)$ is the genus of the resulting surface. Similarly, $g(G_2)$ is the genus of the surface we get in this way, but starting from the piece we called the "outside".

Anyway, once we've figured out what $g(G_1)$ is, then we have $$ \sum_{k\ge 3}(k-2)f_k = n - 2 + 4 g(G_1) $$ and therefore $$ \sum_{k\ge 3}(k-2)(f_k - g_k) = 4 g(G_1) - 4g(G_2). $$ Grinberg's theorem still holds, but with an error term when one piece of the surface has a different genus from the other.

There's another complication, which is that it's possible for none of this to make any sense. In higher-genus surfaces, it's possible that cutting along $C$ does not divide the surface into two pieces. In this case, there's no interesting statement to be made, because there's no way to divide faces of $G$ into "inside" and "outside" faces.


In the specific case of the double torus, there's three cases, illustrated in the gluing diagram below:

enter image description here

If $C$ follows the orange loop, then cutting along $C$ and gluing disks gives us a sphere and a double torus, so the embeddings of $G_1$ and $G_2$ have genus $0$ and $2$ (in some order). Grinberg's theorem will hold with an error term of $8$.

If $C$ follows the purple loop, then cutting along $C$ and gluing disks divides the double torus into two single tori, so the embeddings of $G_1$ and $G_2$ both have genus $1$. Grinberg's theorem will hold with no error term.

If $C$ follows the blue loop, then cutting along $C$ doesn't leave two pieces: instead, we get a single manifold whose boundary is two circles. So we can't divide the faces of $G$ into two types, and Grinberg's theorem has nothing meaningful to say.

Misha Lavrov
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  • Thanks... This looks rather simple. What about all the things defined in Carol's paper? Concerning you're last complication: In the plane this would be 1-connected graphs. What is it on higher genus surfaces? Again in the paper it doesn't look like they exclude these cases... – draks ... Aug 29 '19 at 05:15
  • In the paper, they consider more general subgraphs than Hamiltonian cycles, which introduces a lot of complexity. This cannot happen in the plane: all Hamiltonian graphs are 2-connected. But in higher-genus surfaces, imagine if C makes a loop in the torus that cuts it into a cylinder. – Misha Lavrov Aug 29 '19 at 14:03
  • I've included a diagram of the three cases that can happen with a double torus, which should also help describe the general case... – Misha Lavrov Aug 29 '19 at 18:33
  • Thanks a lot... – draks ... Aug 30 '19 at 06:38
  • Hi, was there reason why you have chosen this fundamental polygon (and not one of the other three)? – draks ... Jan 08 '22 at 11:05
  • I don't think there was a particular reason. – Misha Lavrov Jan 08 '22 at 14:37
  • @MishaLavrov Can you explain why: The sum $\sum k f_k$ counts every edge of $G_1$ twice, except that it counts the $n$ edges of $C$ only once, so $G_1$ has $\frac12(n + \sum k f_k)$ edges. – Pipnap Nov 19 '23 at 22:44
  • @Pipnap The sum $\sum k f_k$ is the sum of lengths of all faces internal to $C$. If an edge of $G_1$ lies on $C$, then it lies on one face internal to $C$ (and one external to $C$) contributing $+1$ to the sum. All other edges have a face internal to $C$ on both sides, so they contribute $+2$ to the sum. – Misha Lavrov Nov 20 '23 at 04:00