1-subdivisions, the fractional chromatic number and the Hall ratio (Q2663411)

The Hall ratio of a graph \(G\) is given by \(\max \frac{\left\vert V(H)\right\vert}{\alpha (H)},\) where \(\alpha (G)\) is the independence number of \(G,\) and the maximum is taken over all subgraphs \(H\) of \(G.\) It is well known that the \ Hall ratio provides a lower bound for the fractional chromatic number. The question whether a (linear) function of Hall ratio bounds the fractional chromatic number from above was asked independently in several papers.\par In this paper, the question is answered in the negative by producing two suitable classes of graphs.