The regularity of edge ideals of graphs (Q1940204)

The authors describe a way of modifying a graph that preserves the Castelnuovo-Mumford regularity. For a graph \(G\), write \(I(G)\) for its edge ideal and \(\bar{G}\) for its complement. Theorem 2.3. \(\mathrm{reg}(I(\bar{G})) = \max\{\mathrm{reg}{I(\bar{G_1})}, \mathrm{reg}{I(\bar{G_1})}\}\), where \(G_1\) and \(G_2\) are suitably chosen subgraphs. Theorem 2.5. Suppose that \(v_0\) is a vertex of \(G\) with exactly two neighbours \(v_1\) and \(v_2\). Suppose that smallest cycle containing \(v_0\) has at least five edges, i.e., \(v_1v_2\) is not an edge and there does not exist a vertex \(w\) such that \(v_1w\) and \(v_2w\) are edges. Then \(\mathrm{reg}(I(\bar{G})) = \mathrm{reg}(I(\bar{G'}))\) where \(G'\) is the graph obtained from \(G\) by deleting \(v_0\) and replacing the edges \(v_0v_1\) and \(v_0v_2\) by a new edge \(v_1v_2\). As a corollary, they recover the result of \textit{R. Fröberg} [Banach Cent. Publ. 26, 57--70 (1990; Zbl 0741.13006)] that a graph \(G\) is chordal if and only if \(I(\bar{G})\) has a linear resolution.