An Algorithm for the Numbers of Homomorphisms from Paths to Rectangular Grid Graphs

Abstract

Let G and H be graphs. A mapping f from the vertices of G to the vertices of H is known as a homomorphism from G to H if, for every pair of adjacent vertices x and y in G, the vertices f(x) and f(y) are adjacent in H. A rectangular grid graph is the Cartesian product of two path graphs. In this paper, we provide a formula to determine the number of homomorphisms from paths to rectangular grid graphs. This formula gives the solution to the problem concerning the number of walks in the rectangular grid graphs.

Keywords

• homomorphisms
• graph homomorphisms
• path graphs
• rectangular grid graphs
• grid graphs