Propagation time for zero forcing on a graph

Abstract

Zero forcing (also called graph infection) on a simple, undirected graph $G$ is based on the color-change rule: If each vertex of $G$ is colored either white or black, and vertex $v$ is a black vertex with only one white neighbor $w$, then change the color of $w$ to black. A minimum zero forcing set is a set of black vertices of minimum cardinality that can color the entire graph black using the color change rule. The propagation time of a zero forcing set $B$ of graph $G$ is the minimum number of steps that it takes to force all the vertices of $G$ black, starting with the vertices in $B$ black and performing independent forces simultaneously. The minimum and maximum propagation times of a graph are taken over all minimum zero forcing sets of the graph. It is shown that a connected graph of order at least two has more than one minimum zero forcing set realizing minimum propagation time. Graphs $G$ having extreme minimum propagation times $|G| - 1$, $|G| - 2$, and $0$ are characterized, and results regarding graphs having minimum propagation time $1$ are established. It is shown that the diameter is an upper bound for maximum propagation time for a tree, but in general propagation time and diameter of a graph are not comparable.