Nonempty intersection of longest paths in graphs without forbidden pairs (Q2231747)

Let \(P_n\) and \(C_n\) be a path and a cycle of order \(n\), respectively. Let \(N_{k,\ell,m }\) be a graph obtained from \(C_3\) three vertex-disjoint paths \(P_{k+1}\), \(P_{\ell+1}\), \(P_{m+1}\) by identifying each of the vertices of the \(C_3\) with one endvertex of one of the paths. Let \(Z_1=N_{1,0,0}\), \(Z_2 = N_{2,0,0}\), \(Z_3 = N_{3,0,0}\), \(B_{1,1} = N_{1,1,0}\), and \(B_{1,2} = N_{1,2,0}\). For graphs \(R\), \(S\) and \(G\), we say that \(G\) is \((R, S)\)-free if \(G\) contains neither \(R\) nor \(S\) as an induced subgraph. In this paper, the authors prove that, if \(G\) is a connected \((K_{1,3}, S)\)-free graph then there exists a vertex common to all the longest paths in \(G\), where \(S\in \{C_3, P_4, P_5, P_6, Z_1, Z_2, Z_3, B_{1,1}, B_{1,2}\}\).