Bounds on the strong domination number (Q1974534)

Let \(G=(V(G),E(G))\) be a graph. A set \(D\subseteq V(G)\) is a strong dominating set of \(G\), if for every vertex \(x\in V(G)-D\), there exists a vertex \(y\in D\) such that \(xy\in E(D)\) and \(d(x,G)\leq d(y,G)\). The strong domination number \({\gamma}_{\text{st}}(G)\) is defined as the minimum cardinality of a strong dominating set. The author presents some sharp upper bounds on \({\gamma}_{\text{st}}(G)\) depending on the existence of certain cycles in \(G\). One of his main results generalizes a theorem for trees by \textit{J. H. Hattingh} and \textit{M. A. Henning} [J. Comb. Math. Comb. Comput. 26, 73-82 (1998; Zbl 0894.05024)] to a much larger class of graphs. Surprisingly, the author is able to determine all the graphs which achieve the given bounds.