A special \(k\)-coloring for a connected \(k\)-chromatic graph (Q1363668)

For \(k\) a positive integer, \(f(k)\) denotes the smallest positive integer such that each connected graph of chromatic number \(k\) can be properly vertex colored with \(k\) colors so that for each pair of vertices \(x_0\) and \(x_p\) in each color class there are vertices \(x_1,x_2, \dots, x_{p-1}\) of the same class with \(d(x_i, x_{i+1}) \leq f(k)\) for each \(i\), \(0\leq i\leq p-1\). The authors show that if the order of the graph is \(n\geq k(k-2)+1\), then \(f(k)< 12k\).