A defensive alliance in a graph G = (V,E) is a set of vertices S ⊆ V satisfying the condition that for every vertex v ∈ S, the number of neighbors v has in S plus one (counting v) is at least as large as the number of neighbors it has in V − S. Because of such an alliance, the vertices in S, agreeing to mutually support each other, have the strength of numbers to be able to defend themselves fr...

Let Γ = (V,E) be a simple graph of order n and degree sequence δ1 ≥ δ2 ≥ · · · ≥ δn. For a nonempty set X ⊆ V , and a vertex v ∈ V , δX(v) denotes the number of neighbors v has in X. A nonempty set S ⊆ V is a defensive k-alliance in Γ = (V,E) if δS(v) ≥ δS̄(v) + k, ∀v ∈ S. The defensive k-alliance number of Γ, denoted by ak(Γ), is defined as the minimum cardinality of a defensive k-alliance in Γ...

A defensive alliance in a graph G = (V,E) is a set of vertices S ⊆ V where for each v ∈ S, at least half of the vertices in the closed neighborhood of v are in S. A defensive alliance S is called global if every vertex in V (G) \S is adjacent to at least one member of the defensive alliance S. In this paper, we derive an upper bound to the size of the minimum global defensive alliances in star ...

We study a six-species Lotka-Volterra-type system on different two-dimensional lattices when each species has two superior and two inferior partners. The invasion rates from predator sites to a randomly chosen neighboring prey site depend on the predator-prey pair, whereby cyclic symmetries within the two three-species defensive alliances are conserved. Monte Carlo simulations reveal an unexpec...

A nonempty set S ⊆ V is a defensive k-alliance in Γ = (V,E), k ∈ [−Δ,Δ] ∩ Z, if for every v ∈ S, δS(v) ≥ δS̄(v) + k. An defensive kalliance S is called critical if no proper subset of S is an defensive k-alliances in Γ = (V,E). The upper defensive k-alliance number of Γ, denoted by Ak(Γ), is defined as the maximum cardinality of a critical defensive k-alliance in Γ. In this paper we study the ma...

We consider complexity issues and upper bounds for defensive alliances and strong global offensive alliances in graphs. We prove that it is NP-complete to decide for a given 6-regular graph G and a given integer a, whether G contains a defensive alliance of order at most a. Furthermore, we prove that determining the strong global offensive alliance number γô(G) of a graph G is APX-hard for cubi...

Let G = (V, E) be a graph and let W:V→N be a non-negative integer weighting of the vertices in V. A nonempty set of vertices S ⊆ V is called a weighted defensive alliance if ∀v ∈ S ,∑u∈N[v]∩S w(u) ≥ ∑x∈N(v)−S w(x). A non-empty set S ⊆ V is a weighted offensive alliance if ∀v ∈ δS ,∑u∈N(v)∩S w(u) ≥ ∑x∈N[v]−S w(x). A weighted alliance which is both defensive and offensive is called a weighted pow...