Flow modules and nowhere-zero flows

Abstract: Let

G a m m a

be a graph,

A

an abelian group,

m a t h c a l D

a given orientation of

G a m m a

and

R

a unital subring of the endomorphism ring of

A

. It is shown that the set of all maps

v a r p h i

from

E (G a m m a)

to

A

such that

(m a t h c a l D, v a r p h i)

is an

A

-flow forms a left

R

-module. Let

G a m m a

be a union of two subgraphs

G a m m a_{1}

and

G a m m a_{2}

, and

p^{n}

a prime power. It is proved that

G a m m a

admits a nowhere-zero

p^{n}

-flow if

G a m m a_{1}

and

G a m m a_{2}

have at most

p^{n} - 2

common edges and both have nowhere-zero

p^{n}

-flows. More important, it is proved that

G a m m a

admits a nowhere-zero

4

-flow if

G a m m a_{1}

and

G a m m a_{2}

both have nowhere-zero

4

-flows and their common edges induce a connected subgraph of

G a m m a

of size at most

3

. This covers a result of Catlin that a graph admits a nowhere-zero

4

-flow if it is a union of a

4

-cycle and a subgraph admiting a nowhere-zero

4

-flow.

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