SIGNED STAR (k, k)-DOMATIC NUMBER OF A GRAPH

Let G be a simple graph without isolated vertices with vertex set V (G) and edge set E(G) and let k be a positive integer. A function f : E(G) −→ {−1, 1} is said to be a signed star k-dominating function on G if ∑ e∈E(v) f(e) ≥ k for every vertex v of G, where E(v) = {uv ∈ E(G) | u ∈ N(v)}. A set {f1, f2, . . . , fd} of signed star k-dominating functions on G with the property that ∑d i=1 fi(e) ≤ k for each e ∈ E(G), is called a signed star (k, k)-dominating family (of functions) on G. The maximum number of functions in a signed star (k, k)-dominating family on G is the signed star (k, k)-domatic number of G, denoted by d SS (G). In this paper we study properties of the signed star (k, k)-domatic number d SS (G). In particular, we present bounds on d (k,k) SS (G), and we determine the signed (k, k)-domatic number of some regular graphs. Some of our results extend these given by Atapour, Sheikholeslami, Ghameslou and Volkmann [Signed star domatic number of a graph, Discrete Appl. Math. 158 (2010), 213–218] for the signed star domatic number.