(4, 2)-Choosability of Planar Graphs with Forbidden Structures

All planar graphs are 4-colorable and 5-choosable, while some planar graphs are not 4-choosable. Determining which properties guarantee that a planar graph can be colored using lists of size four has received significant attention. In terms of constraining the structure of the graph, for any l∈{3,4,5,6,7}" role="presentation" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline; line-height: normal; letter-spacing: normal; word-spacing: normal; word-wrap: normal; white-space: nowrap; float: none; direction: ltr; max-width: none; max-height: none; min-width: 0px; min-height: 0px; border: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; position: relative;">l∈{3,4,5,6,7}l∈{3,4,5,6,7}, a planar graph is 4-choosable if it is l" role="presentation" style="boxsizing: border-box; display: inline; line-height: normal; letter-spacing: normal; word-spacing: normal; wordwrap: normal; white-space: nowrap; float: none; direction: ltr; max-width: none; max-height: none; minwidth: 0px; min-height: 0px; border: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; position: relative;">ll-cycle-free. In terms of constraining the list assignment, one refinement of k-choosability is choosability with separation. A graph is (k, s)-choosable if the graph is colorable from lists of size k where adjacent vertices have at most s common colors in their lists. Every planar graph is (4, 1)-choosable, but there exist planar graphs that are not (4, 3)-choosable. It is an open question whether planar graphs are always (4, 2)-choosable. A chordedl" role="presentation" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline; line-height: normal; letter-spacing: normal; word-spacing: normal; word-wrap: normal; white-space: nowrap; float: none; direction: ltr; max-width: none; max-height: none; min-width: 0px; min-height: 0px; border: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; position: relative;">ll-cycle is an l" role="presentation" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline; line-height: normal; letter-spacing: normal; word-spacing: normal; word-wrap: normal; white-space: nowrap; float: none; direction: ltr; max-width: none; max-height: none; min-width: 0px; min-height: 0px; border: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; position: relative;">ll-cycle with one additional edge. We demonstrate for each l∈{5,6,7}" role="presentation" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline; line-height: normal; letter-spacing: normal; word-spacing: normal; word-wrap: normal; white-space: nowrap; float: none; direction: ltr; max-width: none; max-height: none; min-width: 0px; min-height: 0px; border: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; position: relative;">l∈{5,6,7}l∈{5,6,7} that a planar graph is (4, 2)-choosable if it does not contain chorded l" role="presentation" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: inline; line-height: normal; letter-spacing: normal; word-spacing: normal; word-wrap: normal; white-space: nowrap; float: none; direction: ltr; max-width: none; max-height: none; min-width: 0px; min-height: 0px; border: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; position: relative;">ll-cycles.