Generalizations and strengthenings of Ryser's conjecture (Q2121724)

Summary: Ryser's conjecture says that for every \(r\)-partite hypergraph \(H\) with matching number \(\nu(H)\), the vertex cover number is at most \((r-1)\nu(H)\). This far-reaching generalization of König's theorem is only known to be true for \(r\leqslant 3\), or when \(\nu(H)=1\) and \(r\leqslant 5\). An equivalent formulation of Ryser's conjecture is that in every \(r\)-edge coloring of a graph \(G\) with independence number \(\alpha(G)\), there exists at most \((r-1)\alpha(G)\) monochromatic connected subgraphs which cover the vertex set of \(G\). We make the case that this latter formulation of Ryser's conjecture naturally leads to a variety of stronger conjectures and generalizations to hypergraphs and multipartite graphs. Regarding these generalizations and strengthenings, we survey the known results, improving upon some, and we introduce a collection of new problems and results.