Signed graphs, nonorientable surfaces, and integer flows (Q6946055)

Surfaces -- whether orientable or nonorientable -- are compact two-dimensional manifolds without boundary. Motivated by the face coloring problem, Tutte introduced the concept of integer flows and established a fundamental duality between these two areas. Building on \textit{W. T. Tutte}'s work [Can. J. Math. 6, 80--91 (1954; Zbl 0055.17101)], the authors extend this duality between face coloring and integer flows to all surfaces, including nonorientable ones. They also propose a topological approach to Bouchet's 6-flow conjecture on signed graphs and verify the conjecture for a particular class of graphs embedded on nonorientable surfaces.\N\NTo support further research, the paper provides valuable insight into the topological foundations of signed graphs -- particularly those aspects that are often implicit in topology and topological graph theory. In addition, the authors verify Bouchet's conjecture for a specific family of embedded graphs containing cross-cap contractible circuits.\N\NThis work is both multidisciplinary and significant, offering useful results and perspectives for researchers in signed graph theory and its applications.