On a cycle partition problem

Let G be any graph and let c(G) denote the circumference of G. We conjecture that for every pair c1, c2 of positive integers satisfying c1 + c2 = c(G), the vertex set of G admits a partition into two sets V1 and V2, such that Vi induces a graph of circumference at most ci , i = 1, 2. We establish various results in support of the conjecture; e.g. it is observed that planar graphs, claw-free graphs, certain important classes of perfect graphs, and graphs without too many intersecting long cycles, satisfy the conjecture. This work is inspired by a well-known, long-standing, analogous conjecture involving paths. c © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.