Coloring squares of graphs via vertex orderings

Abstract

We provide upper bounds on the chromatic number of the square of graphs, which have vertex ordering characterizations. We prove that [Formula: see text] is [Formula: see text]-colorable when [Formula: see text] is a cocomparability graph, [Formula: see text]-colorable when [Formula: see text] is a strongly orderable graph and [Formula: see text]-colorable when [Formula: see text] is a dually chordal graph, where [Formula: see text] is the maximum degree and [Formula: see text] = max[Formula: see text] is the multiplicity of the graph [Formula: see text]. This improves the currently known upper bounds on the chromatic number of squares of graphs from these classes.