Spanning trails with maximum degree at most 4 in \(2K_2\)-free graphs (Q1684926)

Let \(G\) be a graph and \(c(G)\) the number of components of \(G\). A set \(S\subset V(G)\) is called a cut set if \(c(G) < c(G-S)\). A graph \(G\) is \(t\)-tough if \(|S|\geq tc(G-S)\) for every cut set \(S\) of \(G\). A \(k\)-trail is a closed walk with no repetition of edges on which every vertex is repeated at most \(k\) times. This paper is a single result work and authors proved that if \(G\) is a \(\frac{3}{2}\)-tough \(2K_2\)-free graph on at least three vertices, then \(G\) has a spanning 2-trail. In addition, an example of a \(2K_2\)-free graph without a spanning 2-trail is constructed depending on an integer \(n\), where toughness tends to \(\frac{5}{4}\) when \(n\) grows to infinity. This is a corner stone for a conjecture which would improve their result from \(\frac{3}{2}\)-toughness to \(\frac{5}{4}\)-toughness.