The problem of lifting graph automorphisms along covering projections and the analysis of lifted groups is considered in a purely combinatorial setting. The main tools employed are: (1) a systematic use of the fundamental groupoid; (2) unification of ordinary, relative and permutation voltage constructions into the concept of a voltage space; (3) various kinds of invariance of voltage spaces relative to automorphism groups; and (4) investigation of geometry of the lifted actions by means of transversals over a localization set. Some applications of these results to regular maps on surfaces are given. Because of certain natural applications and greater generality, graphs are allowed to have semiedges. This requires careful re-examination of the whole subject and at the same time leads to simplification and generalization of several known results.

In 1982, Zaslavsky introduced the concept of a proper vertex colouring of a signed graph G as a mapping φ : V (G) → Z such that for any two adjacent vertices u and v the colour φ(u) is different from the colour σ(uv)φ(v), where is σ(uv) is the sign of the edge uv. The substantial part of Zaslavsky's research concentrated on polynomial invariants related to signed graph colourings rather than on the behaviour of colourings of individual signed graphs. We continue the study of signed graph colourings by proposing the definition of a chromatic number for signed graphs which provides a natural extension of the chromatic number of an unsigned graph. We establish the basic properties of this invariant, provide bounds in terms of the chromatic number of the underlying unsigned graph, investigate the chromatic number of signed planar graphs, and prove an extension of the celebrated Brooks theorem to signed graphs.

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We estimate the minimum number of vertices of a cubic graph with given oddness and cyclic connectivity. We prove that a bridgeless cubic graph G with oddness ω(G) other than the Petersen graph has at least 5.41 · ω(G) vertices, and for each integer k with 2 ≤ k ≤ 6 we construct an infinite family of cubic graphs with cyclic connectivity k and small oddness ratio |V (G)|/ω(G). In particular, for cyclic connectivity 2, 4, 5, and 6 we improve the upper bounds on the oddness ratio of snarks to 7.5, 13, 25, and 99 from the known values 9, 15, 76, and 118, respectively. In addition, we construct a cyclically 4-connected snark of girth 5 with oddness 4 on 44 vertices, improving the best previous value of 46.

We show that the complete bipartite graph K n,n has a unique regular embedding in an orientable surface if and only if n is coprime to φ(n). The method, involving groups which factorise as a product of two cyclic groups, is also used to classify such embeddings when n is the square of a prime.

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The generalized Petersen graph GP(n, k), n 2 3, 1 I k < n/2 is a cubic graph with vertex-set { u , ; i E Z,,} U { u J ;

Abstract. Although the phenomenon of chirality appears in many investigations of maps and hypermaps no detailed study of chirality seems to have been carried out. Chirality of maps and hypermaps is not merely a binary invariant but can be quantified by two new invariants -the chirality group and the chirality index, the latter being the size of the chirality group. A detailed investigation of the chirality groups of maps and hypermaps will be the main objective of this paper. The most extreme type of chirality arises when the chirality group coincides with the monodromy group. Such hypermaps are called totally chiral. Examples of them are constructed by considering appropriate "asymmetric" pairs of generators for some non-abelian simple groups. We also show that every finite abelian group is the chirality group of some hypermap, whereas many non-abelian groups, including symmetric and dihedral groups, cannot arise as chirality groups.