Circular chromatic number of planar graphs of large odd girth (Q5936672)

Summary: It was conjectured by Jaeger that \(4k\)-edge connected graphs admit a \((2k+1, k)\)-flow. The restriction of this conjecture to planar graphs is equivalent to the statement that planar graphs of girth at least \(4k\) have circular chromatic number at most \(2+ {{1}\over {k}}\). Even this restricted version of Jaeger's conjecture is largely open. The case \(k=1\) is the well-known Grötzsch 3-colour theorem. This paper proves that for \(k \geq 2\), planar graphs of odd girth at least \(8k-3\) have circular chromatic number at most \(2+{{1}\over {k}}\).