2-distance \((\varDelta +2)\)-coloring of planar graphs with girth six and \(\varDelta \geq 18\) (Q1045187)

A 2-distance coloring of a graph is a vertex coloring such that any two vertices a distance either one or two from each other are assigned different colors. \textit{Z. Dvořák}, \textit{D. Král}, \textit{P. Nejedlý} and \textit{R. Škrekovski} [Eur. J. Comb. 29, No. 4, 838--849 (2008; Zbl 1143.05027)] showed that every planar graph with girth \(g\geq 6\) and maximum degree \(\Delta\geq 8821\) is 2-distance \((\Delta+ 2)\)-colorable. The present authors strengthen this result by lowering the bound on \(\Delta\) to 18.