We introduce a closure concept in the class of line graphs and claw-free graphs based on contractibility of certain subgraphs in the line graph preimage. The closure can be considered as a common generalization and strengthening of the reduction techniques of Catlin and Veldman and of the closure concept introduced by the first author. We show that the closure is uniquely determined and the closure operation preserves the circumference of the graph. ß
We show that if G is a 4-connected claw-free graph in which every induced hourglass subgraph S contains two non-adjacent vertices with a common neighbor outside S, then G is hamiltonian. This extends the fact that 4-connected claw-free, hourglass-free graphs are hamiltonian, thus proving a broader special case of a conjecture by Matthews and Sumner. ß 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 48: 267-276, 2005
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