Hamilton‐connected {claw, net}‐free graphs, I

Abstract

This is the first one in a series of two papers, in which we complete the characterization of forbidden generalized nets implying Hamilton‐connectedness of a 3‐connected claw‐free graph. In this paper, we first develop the necessary techniques that allow one to handle the problem, and, by a combination of these techniques, as an application, we prove that every 3‐connected {K(1,3), N(1,3,3)}‐free graph is Hamilton‐connected. The paper is followed by its second part in which we show that every 3‐connected {K(1,3), X}‐free graph, where X ∈ {N(1,1,5), N(2,2,3)}, is Hamilton‐connected. All the results on Hamilton‐connectedness are sharp.