No label defined (Q4359588)

A graph is \((m,k)\)-colourable if its vertices can be coloured with \(m\) colours so that each vertex is adjacent to at most \(k\) other vertices of the same colour (so an \((m,0)\)-colouring corresponds to the usual proper colouring). The \(k\)-defective chromatic number \(\chi_k\) is the smallest \(m\) so that a graph can be \((m,k)\)-coloured (so \(\chi_0\) is the usual chromatic number). It is interesting to study chromatic properties of triangle-free graphs. To this end the authors study defective-chromatic properties of triangle-free graphs. In particular, they determine that 9 is the smallest order of a triangle-free graph with 1-defective chromatic number equal to 3, and they find the corresponding graphs. They also give upper and lower bounds on the smallest order of a triangle-free graph with 1-defective chromatic number equal to \(m\).