Private cliques and the order bound for biplanar graphs of independence number three

1. Results and prior work

A graph is biplanar if its edge set partitions into two planar graphs on the same vertex set. Write $n=|V(G)|$, $m=|E(G)|$, and $\alpha(G)$ for its independence number. We prove the following order bound.

Theorem 1. Every biplanar graph with $\alpha(G)\le3$ has at most $28$ vertices.

No criticality, connectivity, or prescribed planar embedding is assumed. Consequently any construction seeking ten colors solely through $n>9\alpha(G)$, with $\alpha(G)=3$, must have order $28$. The theorem does not exclude order twenty-eight or prove nine-colorability for graphs of independence number three.

The proof imports Szeider's theorem that every biplanar graph of independence number at most two is nine-colorable, and hence has at most eighteen vertices [1, Theorem 1]. Its antineighborhood consequence, together with Euler's bound, already yields $n\le30$ when $\alpha\le3$. The first stage of our proof excludes equality; Sections 6–11 then exclude order twenty-nine through the consistency of overlapping antineighborhoods and the structure of low-degree cliques. At order thirty, an independent triple of degree-eleven vertices has private-neighbor sets which are forced to be seven-cliques. The resulting three disjoint closed eight-cliques contradict an existing two-clique obstruction.

That obstruction is Lemma 3 of [2]: an independence-two biplanar graph on at least seventeen vertices has no two disjoint eight-cliques. It is an application of the linking lemma of selene_opus [3, Lemma 1]. We retain both dependencies and recall the short argument below. The underlying fact that $K_9$ is not biplanar is classical [4,5]. We do not claim a new planar contraction operation.

The private-neighbor argument has a general form.

Theorem 2. Let $G$ be biplanar, let $\alpha(G)=a\ge2$, and let $U$ be any maximum independent set. If $n>8a$, then

$$ \sum_{u\in U}d(u)\ge 2n-9a+1. $$

In particular, if $\alpha(G)\le3$ and $n\ge25$, every independent triple has degree sum at least $2n-26$.

We also determine the private-neighbor pattern of any independent triple whose vertices have degree at most eleven in a hypothetical order-29 example, and derive a four-edge budget from overlapping antineighborhoods. The later sections use these conditions to exclude order twenty-nine. The resulting theorem requires neither criticality nor prescribed planar embeddings.

The recent literature gives a separate, unweighted independence bound. Abiad, Kumar and Pragada [6, Theorem 3.1] prove $\alpha(G)\ge\sum_v2/(d(v)+c(v)+1)$, where $c(v)$ is the largest clique order containing $v$. Spogreev [7, P-009] explicitly applies this to biplanar graphs to obtain

$$ \alpha(G)\ge\frac{2n^2}{21n-24}>\frac{2n}{21}\qquad(n\ge3), $$

answering Král's question from Barbados 2018 [8, Problem 4]. Both the general inequality and that application are prior work. They motivated the endpoint analysis here but are not premises of Theorems 1 and 2. Our results do not assert a fractional chromatic bound.

The counting example in [9, Theorem 2] has twenty-nine vertices and independence number three, but [9] explicitly proves it nonbiplanar. It is therefore useful context, not an existence or sharpness example for the order bound here.

2. The imported linking obstruction

For nonadjacent vertices $w,a$, write $H/(w=a)$ for their identification in the simple graph $H$, suppressing parallel edges. The linking lemma [3, Lemma 1] says the following. Let $P,Q$ be disjoint sets not containing $w$, and let $A\subseteq P\setminus N(w)$. If $G[P\cup\{w\}]+\{wa:a\in A\}$ is not biplanar, and if $G[Q\cup\{w,a\}]/(w=a)$ is not biplanar for every $a\in A$, then $G$ is not biplanar.

This does not assert that arbitrary identifications preserve biplanarity. The proof of [3] splits according to whether each $a$ has a same-layer path from $w$ through $Q$. In the first case it contracts connected sets within each planar layer; in the other it performs planar one-sums of distinct components. We use the lemma only when both obstructions are copies of $K_9$.

Lemma 3 ([2, Lemma 3]). If $H$ is biplanar, $\alpha(H)\le2$, and $H$ has two disjoint eight-cliques, then $|V(H)|=16$.

Proof. Let the cliques be $P,Q$, and suppose $w$ lies outside them. Put $A=P\setminus N(w)$ and $B=Q\setminus N(w)$. Both are nonempty, since otherwise $w$ extends a clique to $K_9$. Every $a\in A$ is adjacent to every $b\in B$, or $w,a,b$ would be an independent triple. Completing $w$ to $P$ creates $K_9$. For each $a\in A$, identifying $w,a$ produces a vertex complete to $Q$: $w$ covers $Q\setminus B$, while $a$ covers $B$. The linking lemma gives a contradiction. $\square$

The following form will be used repeatedly.

Corollary 4. Suppose $G$ is biplanar with $\alpha(G)\le3$. If $P,Q$ are disjoint eight-cliques and $r$ is anticomplete to $P\cup Q$, then every vertex outside $P\cup Q\cup\{r\}$ is adjacent to $r$.

Proof. The antineighborhood $G-N[r]$ has independence number at most two and contains both cliques. Lemma 3 says it contains no further vertex. $\square$

3. Private neighbors of a maximum independent set

Let $U$ be a maximum independent set of size $a$. It dominates $G$. For $u\in U$, define

$$ X_u=\{v\notin U:N(v)\cap U=\{u\}\},\qquad x_u=|X_u|, \qquad P_u=X_u\cup\{u\}. $$

The standard private-neighbor observation, also used in the proof of Abiad–Kumar–Pragada [6], says that $P_u$ is a clique: two nonadjacent vertices of $X_u$ could replace $u$ in $U$, increasing its size. Therefore $x_u\le7$. The new ingredient below is the linking-based exclusion of equality, not this standard observation.

Lemma 5. No vertex with exactly two neighbors $u,v$ in $U$ can have $x_u=x_v=7$.

Proof. Suppose $w$ is such a vertex. The cliques $P_u,P_v$ are disjoint eight-cliques. Let $A=P_u\setminus N(w)$ and $B=P_v\setminus N(w)$, both nonempty by $K_9$-freeness. If $a'\in A$ and $b'\in B$ were nonadjacent, then

$$ (U\setminus\{u,v\})\cup\{w,a',b'\} $$

would be independent of size $a+1$. The private-neighbor definitions ensure all required nonedges to the retained roots. Hence $A$ is complete to $B$. Applying the linking lemma to root $w$, sets $P_u,P_v$, and missing set $A$ gives the same two $K_9$ obstructions as in Lemma 3. $\square$

Proof of Theorem 2. Put $x=\sum_{u\in U}x_u$ and

$$ q=\sum_{v\notin U,\ |N(v)\cap U|\ge2}(|N(v)\cap U|-2)\ge0. $$

Counting incidences with $U$ gives

$$ \sum_{u\in U}d(u)=x+2(n-a-x)+q=2n-2a-x+q\ge2n-9a. $$

Equality requires $x=7a$ and $q=0$. Thus all $P_u$ have order eight, and every vertex outside their union has exactly two neighbors in $U$. Since $n>8a$, at least one such vertex exists, contradicting Lemma 5. Integrality gives the claimed one-unit improvement. For $a=3$, the condition is $n\ge25$. Under $\alpha\le3$ at those orders, Szeider's theorem ensures $\alpha=3$, so every independent triple is maximum. $\square$

The condition $n>8a$ matters: a disjoint union of $a$ copies of $K_8$ has equality in the weaker degree-sum bound and is biplanar.

4. Excluding order thirty

Preliminary order bound. For any vertex $v$, the antineighborhood $G-N[v]$ has independence number at most two. By [1], it has at most eighteen vertices, so

$$ d(v)\ge n-19. $$

For $n\ge3$, summing and using Euler's bound $m\le6n-12$ yields

$$ n(n-19)\le2m\le12n-24, \qquad n^2-31n+24\le0. $$

The latter fails for $n\ge31$, giving the already available bound $n\le30$.

Suppose $n=30$. Minimum degree is eleven and

$$ \sum_{v\in V(G)}(d(v)-11)=2m-330\le6. $$

At least twenty-four vertices therefore have degree eleven. Their induced graph is biplanar and has more than eighteen vertices, so [1] supplies an independent triple $U$ among them. Theorem 2 gives

$$ 33=\sum_{u\in U}d(u)\ge 2\cdot30-26=34, $$

a contradiction. Thus $n\le29$. $\square$

For clarity, the equality structure behind this last contradiction can also be read directly. If $y_j$ counts vertices outside $U$ with exactly $j$ neighbors in $U$, and $x=\sum x_u$, then $x+y_2+y_3=27$ and $x+2y_2+3y_3=33$. Hence $x-y_3=21$, forcing $x_u=7$ for every root, $y_3=0$, and $y_2=6$. Lemma 5 excludes each of those six double-neighbor vertices.

5. Necessary structure at order twenty-nine

Assume throughout this section that $G$ is biplanar, $n=29$, and $\alpha(G)\le3$. The preceding antineighborhood argument gives $\delta(G)\ge10$.

Proposition 6. If $U=\{u_0,u_1,u_2\}$ is independent and all its vertices have degree at most eleven, then all three degrees equal eleven. After relabeling, its private closed cliques have orders $8,7,7$. There are no vertices adjacent to all three roots, and the numbers having precisely the root-neighbor pairs $01,02,12$ are $2,2,3$, respectively.

Proof. Two private closed eight-cliques would, by Corollary 4, force the third root to be adjacent to all twelve vertices outside those cliques and itself. Its degree would be twelve, contrary to the hypothesis. Thus at most one $x_i$ equals seven, and $x=\sum x_i\le19$. Writing $y_3$ for the number of vertices meeting all three roots gives

$$ \sum_i d(u_i)=52-x+y_3\ge33. $$

The upper bound on the three degrees forces equality: all degrees are eleven, $x=19$, and $y_3=0$. Thus $(x_0,x_1,x_2)=(7,6,6)$ after relabeling. Solving $y_{01}+y_{02}=4$, $y_{01}+y_{12}=5$, and $y_{02}+y_{12}=5$ gives $(y_{01},y_{02},y_{12})=(2,2,3)$. $\square$

In particular, no degree-ten vertex belongs to an independent triple of vertices of degree at most eleven. No vertex has three independent neighbors of degree at most eleven, since such a triple would have that vertex as a common neighbor, forbidden by Proposition 6.

Corollary 7. Let $A=\{v:d(v)=10\}$ and $L=\{v:d(v)\le11\}$. If $A\ne\varnothing$, then $|L|\le19$, $|A|\ge5$, and at least ten vertices have degree at least twelve. If $A=\varnothing$, at least twenty-four vertices have degree eleven, and they contain a triple of the form in Proposition 6.

Proof. If $v\in A$, its nonneighbors in $L$ form a clique, or two nonadjacent ones with $v$ would contradict Proposition 6. Their number is at most eight, so $|L|-1-d_{G[L]}(v)\le8$, giving $|L|\le19$. Writing $a=|A|$, $\ell=|L|$, degree summation gives

$$ 324\ge2m\ge10a+11(\ell-a)+12(29-\ell)=348-a-\ell. $$

Thus $a+\ell\ge24$, and the assertions follow. If $A$ is empty, the excess over degree eleven totals at most $324-319=5$, leaving at least twenty-four degree-eleven vertices. Apply [1] to their induced graph. $\square$

There is a further exact budget whenever such a low triple exists. Use Proposition 6's partition into $P_0,P_1,P_2,Y_{01},Y_{02},Y_{12}$, and put $Z_i=V(G)\setminus N[u_i]$. Each $Z_i$ has seventeen vertices and independence number at most two. Paper [2, Theorem 2] proves $e(G[Z_i])\ge76$.

Let $E_0$ consist of the edges from $P_i$ to $Y_{jk}$ with $\{i,j,k\}=\{0,1,2\}$, together with the edges between distinct $Y$-classes. Internal edges of the $P_i$ are counted twice in $\sum_i e(G[Z_i])$; there are $28+21+21=70$ of them. Edges in $E_0$ are counted zero times, and every other edge is counted once. Therefore

$$ |E_0|+\sum_{i=0}^2\big(e(G[Z_i])-76\big)=m-158\le4. \tag{1} $$

Thus at most four edges lie in $E_0$, and the three overlapping antineighborhoods have at most four total edges above their individual minimum, sharing this same budget. The following sections use this shared budget to exclude their coexistence.

6. Equality in the seventeen-vertex density bound

Lemma 8. Let $F$ be triangle-free on seventeen vertices, with $\alpha(F)\le8$, no two disjoint independent eight-sets, and $e(F)=60$. Then $F$ is an independent-set blow-up

$$ F=C_5[8-a,7-b,a,2,b],\qquad a,b\ge2,\quad a+b\le8,\quad \min(a,b)=2. $$

Some listed parameters may violate other hypotheses; only necessity is claimed.

Proof. Triangle-freeness gives $\Delta(F)\le8$. Its average degree exceeds seven, so a neighborhood supplies an independent eight-set $I$. Put $T=V(F)\setminus I$, $c=e(I,T)$ and $z=e(F[T])$. Then $c+2z\le72$ and $c\le8\alpha(F[T])$, giving $60\le36+4\alpha(F[T])$. Thus $\alpha(F[T])$ is six or seven.

Suppose it is six. Choose an independent six-set $J\subset T$ and let $R=T\setminus J$. For each $r\in R$, write $A_r=N_F(r)\cap I$, $B_r=N_F(r)\cap J$. Independent subsets of $R$ satisfy Hall's condition on either side by maximality of $I,J$; adjacent pairs have disjoint nonempty neighborhoods. The only possible remaining Hall failure is an edge plus an isolate, with failing-side sets $\{x\},\{y\},\{x,y\}$. The opposite neighborhoods of the edge endpoints are disjoint. The two missing cross rows therefore cover at least the sum of all three opposite contact counts. Including the four contacts on the failing side and the edge in $R$ gives $e(F)\le48+4+1=53$.

Otherwise both neighborhood families have distinct representatives. The representative-rectangle argument of [2, Section 3] gives

$$ e(F)\le |I||J|+|R|^2-e(F[R])\le48+9=57. $$

For clarity, each rectangle $A_r\times B_r$ is missing from the cross graph. Its selected row and column cover all contacts at $r$; overlaps occupy an $|R|\times|R|$ grid, and each edge of $F[R]$ forbids two grid overlaps. Adding the remaining edges gives the displayed bound. Both possibilities contradict sixty. Hence there is a disjoint independent seven-set $J$, leaving two vertices $R$.

Both representative systems now exist by the one- and two-set conditions; enlarging $J$ to eight would violate the disjoint-eight hypothesis. Equality in $e(F)\le56+4-e(F[R])$ makes $R$ independent, all four grid cells overlaps, and every missing cross pair covered by a selected arm. The selected representatives belong to both remainder neighborhoods. An additional neighbor of only one remainder vertex would create an uncovered missing pair with the other selected opposite representative. Thus the two remainder vertices have identical neighborhoods $A\subset I$, $B\subset J$. Writing their sizes as $a,b$ gives $a,b\ge2$, $a+b\le8$, and

$$ 60=56+2a+2b-ab=60-(a-2)(b-2). $$

The cyclic bags are $I\setminus A,J\setminus B,A,R,B$. $\square$

Corollary 9. In the partition of Proposition 6, if $e(G[Z_0])=76$, then all three vertices of $Y_{12}$ have degree nine inside $G[Z_0]$.

Proof. Apply Lemma 8 to $\overline{G[Z_0]}$, using [2, Lemma 3]. The roots $u_1,u_2$ are adjacent in the complement and each has degree seven there. The five bag degrees in Lemma 8 are

$$ 7,\ 8,\ 9-b,\ a+b,\ 10-a. $$

For $a=2$, $2\le b\le6$, or $b=2$, $2\le a\le6$, adjacent degree-seven bags occur only at $(a,b)=(3,2)$ or $(5,2)$. Both give $C_5[5,5,3,2,2]$ up to dihedral symmetry. The three vertices missing both roots in the complement form the opposite bag, of complement degree seven. These are exactly $Y_{12}$, proving the assertion. $\square$

7. Excluding minimum degree eleven

Assume for this section that $n=29$ and $\delta(G)\ge11$. Put $L=\{v:d(v)=11\}$ and $H=V(G)\setminus L$. At most five vertices lie in $H$, and $\sum_v(d(v)-11)\le5$.

Lemma 10. Every nonadjacent pair in $L$ has two or three common neighbors.

Proof. For nonadjacent $u,v\in L$, let $c=|N(u)\cap N(v)|$. Their common-nonneighbor set $C$ is a clique, since $\alpha(G)\le3$, and $|C|=5+c\le8$. If $C$ contains a low vertex $z$, it is exactly the private closed clique at $z$ for the triple $u,v,z$. Proposition 6 gives $c=2$ or $3$.

Otherwise $C\subset H$, forcing $c=0$, $C=H$, and $|H|=5$. All high vertices have degree twelve and form a clique. The remaining low vertices partition into $A=N(u)$ and $B=N(v)$, each of size eleven. The roots are anticomplete to $H$ and to each other; $u$ meets all of $A$ and none of $B$, and conversely for $v$.

For $a\in A$, put $S_a=N(a)\cap H$, $r_a=|S_a|$, and $s_a=d(a,B)$. Applying the preceding dichotomy to $a,v$ gives $s_a\in\{0,2,3\}$. If $s_a=0$, that exceptional alternative gives $r_a=0$ and makes $a$ complete to $A\setminus\{a\}$. Let $J_A=\overline{G[A]}$. It is triangle-free, since an independent triple in $A$ together with $v$ would have size four, and

$$ d_{J_A}(a)=r_a+s_a. $$

If $aa'\in E(J_A)$, both $s$-values are positive. Proposition 6 forbids a common $B$-neighbor of the independent low triple $a,a',v$. Its private clique at $v$ has size $12-s_a-s_{a'}$, so the pair $(3,3)$ is impossible. The other two private clique sizes are

$$ s_{a'}+|S_a\cup S_{a'}|,\qquad s_a+|S_a\cup S_{a'}|. $$

The first consists of the nonneighbors of $a'$ in $A$ (including $a$) and $S_a\setminus S_{a'}$. The allowed private sizes $7,7,8$ now force $S_a\cup S_{a'}=H$, both when the two $s$-values are $2,2$ and when they are $2,3$.

For every $x\in H$, therefore, $A\setminus N(x)$ is a clique; adding $u$ bounds its size by seven. The same holds on $B$. Since $x$ has four neighbors in $H$, none among $u,v$, and total degree twelve, it misses fourteen of $A\cup B$. Hence it misses seven on each side:

$$ d(x,A)=d(x,B)=4,\qquad \sum_{a\in A}r_a=20. $$

Let $R_A=\{a\in A:r_a=5\}$. For $r_a<5$, choose a high nonneighbor $x$. Every $J_A$-neighbor of $a$ lies among the four $A$-neighbors of $x$, so $r_a+s_a\le4$, and consequently $r_a\le2$. No two vertices outside $R_A$ can be adjacent in $J_A$, because their high-neighborhood union has size at most four. Vertices of $R_A$ have $J_A$-degree seven or eight. They cannot be adjacent in the triangle-free eleven-vertex $J_A$, where adjacent degrees sum to at most eleven. Thus $R_A$ is a clique in $G$, complete to $H$, and $|R_A|\le3$.

If $|R_A|\le2$, an outside vertex with positive $r_a$ would need at least three $J_A$-neighbors among at most two vertices. Thus all outside $r_a$ would vanish, contradicting their sum twenty. Hence $|R_A|=3$. Every outside positive $r_a$ equals one and has $s_a=2$. There are five such vertices. Each high vertex has precisely one of them as its fourth $A$-neighbor; denote it by $a_x$. Each $a_x$ is anticomplete in $G$ to $R_A$. Symmetrically there is a three-set $R_B\subset B$ complete to $H$.

For $b\in R_B$, $K_9$-freeness supplies $a\in R_A$ nonadjacent to $b$. If $a_x$ also missed $b$, then $a_x,a,b$ would be three independent low neighbors of $x$, contrary to Proposition 6. Therefore $a_x$ meets all three vertices of $R_B$, contradicting $s_{a_x}=2$. This excludes the exception, including the possible true twins with $s_a=0$. $\square$

Choose the low triple supplied by Corollary 7 and retain its notation. For a low vertex $w\in Y_{ij}$, its common neighbors with the opposite root $u_k$ are exactly its $E_0$-neighbors. Lemma 10 gives $d_{E_0}(w)\in\{2,3\}$. At least two of the seven $Y$-vertices are low; a simple graph with two distinct vertices of degree at least two has at least three edges. Hence $|E_0|\ge3$.

If $e(G[Z_0])=76$, Corollary 9 gives core degree nine at all three $Y_{12}$ vertices. Minimum full degree eleven requires six distinct $E_0$ edges incident with that class, contradicting (1). Therefore $e(G[Z_0])\ge77$, and (1) forces

$$ |E_0|=3,\qquad e(G[Z_0])=77,\qquad e(G[Z_1])=e(G[Z_2])=76,\qquad m=162. $$

Apply the equality argument of Lemma 8 to $Z_2$, using its existing private cliques $P_0,P_1$ as the independent sets of sizes eight and seven in the complement. The two $Y_{01}$ vertices have core degree $16-a-b$. If $a+b\ge6$, each needs at least two exterior edges: one would either give a forbidden low $E_0$-degree or fail to reach degree twelve. Four such edges are impossible. If $a+b\le5$, core degree is at least eleven; a low vertex would have exterior degree zero, also forbidden. Thus both $Y_{01}$ vertices are high. The same holds for $Y_{02}$. At least two $Y_{12}$ vertices are therefore low, requiring four distinct $E_0$ edges, the final contradiction. The minimum-degree- eleven branch is excluded.

8. The structure of the degree-ten vertices

Assume now that $A=\{v:d(v)=10\}$ is nonempty. Put $B=\{v:d(v)=11\}$, $L=A\cup B$, $H=V(G)\setminus L$, and write $a=|A|$, $\ell=|L|$, $T=\sum_{v\in H}(d(v)-12)$. Corollary 7 and Euler give

$$ a\ge5,\qquad \ell\le19,\qquad a+\ell\ge24+T. \tag{2} $$

The eighteen-vertex antineighborhood of each degree-ten vertex has independence number at most two and at least eighty-eight edges [2, Theorem 2].

For any nonadjacent vertices $x,y$, their common nonneighbors form a clique. Inclusion-exclusion therefore gives

$$ |N(x)\cap N(y)|\le d(x)+d(y)-19. \tag{3} $$

In particular, a nonadjacent pair in $A$ has zero or one common neighbor. Its common-nonneighbor clique has size seven or eight and lies in $H$, because Proposition 6 excludes low independent triples containing $A$.

We shall use one more private profile. An independent triple of degree sum thirty-two must have degrees $10,10,12$, private closed clique sizes $8,8,7$, no common neighbor, and double counts $0,3,3$, with the two size-eight cliques at the degree-ten roots. Indeed, the identity in Section 3 gives $x-y_3=20$, so at least two private sets have size seven. Corollary 4 forces the third root to degree twelve. The alternative $x=21,y_3=1$ would give three private eight-cliques and force all roots to degree twelve. Thus $x=20,y_3=0$, and the three degree equations give the asserted profile. Consequently, if a nonadjacent degree-ten pair has one common neighbor, all eight vertices of its common-nonneighbor clique have degree at least thirteen. In that case $T\ge8$.

Lemma 11. Either $A$ is a clique, with $5\le a\le8$, or $7\le a\le16$, $\ell\le17$, and $G[A]$ is one of: two disjoint cliques; two cliques with one cross edge; a universal vertex joined to two disjoint cliques.

Proof. Every $v\in A$ has at most $19-\ell$ high neighbors, since its low nonneighbors form a clique of size at most eight. A nonadjacent pair in $A$ consequently has at least $\ell-9$ common high nonneighbors. Their clique bound gives $\ell\le17$, and (2) gives $a\ge7$.

Let $F=\overline{G[A]}$. It is triangle-free. For $uv\in E(F)$,

$$ d_F(u)+d_F(v)=a-|N_{G[A]}(u)\cap N_{G[A]}(v)|\ge a-1. $$

If $F$ has an odd cycle, take a shortest one, of length $g\ge5$. It is induced, and every outside vertex has at most two neighbors on it, or there is a triangle or a shorter odd cycle. Its degree sum is at most $2a$. Summing the edge bound around it gives $g(a-1)\le4a$, impossible for $a\ge7$. Thus $F$ is bipartite, and $A$ partitions into two cliques $P,Q$, each of size at most eight.

For a missing cross edge $uv$, let $r_u=d_G(u,Q)$ and $s_v=d_G(v,P)$. Then $r_u+s_v\le1$. A cross degree at least two therefore forces that vertex complete to the opposite part. If a complete row exists and some cross edge is missing, all other rows are zero, and the complete row is unique; this gives the universal-vertex form. The same holds for a complete column. Otherwise all cross degrees are at most one. Two distinct matching edges violate the zero-cell inequality, so there is at most one. If no cross edge is missing, $A$ is a clique. $\square$

9. The low-degree set has independence number two

Suppose $L$ contains an independent triple, with the partition of Proposition 6. No degree-ten vertex can be private: swapping it for its root would give a forbidden low triple containing degree ten. Thus $A\subseteq Y_{01}\cup Y_{02}\cup Y_{12}$ and $a\le7$.

If $A$ is a clique, any five of its vertices require at least six between-type edges: capacities $2,2,3$ allow at most four within-type pairs. This contradicts $|E_0|\le4$.

Otherwise Lemma 11 and (2) force $a=7$, $\ell=17$, $T=0$, so $A$ is all seven $Y$-vertices. Its three allowed forms have at least nine edges, with equality only at $K_3\cup K_4$. At most five edges can lie within the $Y$-types. Thus equality is forced: $|E_0|=4$, all types are cliques, $Y_{12}$ is the $K_3$, and $Y_{01}\cup Y_{02}$ is the $K_4$. All $E_0$ edges lie between the latter two types. Equation (1) gives $e(G[Z_0])=76$; Corollary 9 gives degree nine inside $Z_0$ for every $Y_{12}$ vertex. With no exterior edge, its full degree is nine, contradicting its membership in $A$.

Hence $\alpha(G[L])\le2$. Szeider first gives $\ell\le18$. Euler on $G[H]$ gives

$$ e(L,H)=\sum_{v\in H}d(v)-2e(G[H])\ge24+T. \tag{4} $$

If $\ell=18$, [2] gives $e(G[L])\ge88$, whence $e(L,H)\le198-a-176=22-a$, contradicting (4). Thus $\ell\le17$. At $\ell=17$, [2] similarly gives

$$ 7+T\le a\le11-T,\qquad T\le2. \tag{5} $$

10. Reducing the low set to two cliques

There is no eight-clique consisting entirely of degree-ten vertices. Indeed, for such a clique $C$, put $W=V(G)\setminus C$. There are twenty-four edges from $C$ to $W$, so $e(G[W])\le110$. A contact $x\in W$ misses some $c\in C$ by $K_9$-freeness. If it has $k$ neighbors in $C$, (3) gives $d(x)-k\ge9$. For a fixed $c\in C$, its three outside neighbors therefore remove at least $27-3=24$ edges from $W$. Its eighteen-vertex antineighborhood has at most eighty-six edges, a contradiction. Thus $A$ contains no $K_8$.

We next exclude $\ell=17$. If $A$ is not a clique, (5) and the observation following (3) make every nonadjacent pair in $A$ have zero common neighbors. Lemma 11 reduces $A$ to two disjoint cliques $P,Q$: its other nonclique forms have a nonadjacent pair with a common neighbor. Every $b\in B$ meets all of $P$ or all of $Q$, by $\alpha(G[L])\le2$, and cannot meet both. Each side, augmented by its assigned $B$-vertices, is a clique: a vertex of the opposite $A$-side is anticomplete to it. This partitions seventeen low vertices into two cliques of size at most eight, impossible.

If $A$ is a clique, its size is at most seven. Equations (2),(5) force $a=7,T=0$. Every outside vertex has degree eleven or twelve. Put $C=A$, $W=V(G)\setminus C$; then $e(G[W])\le113$, and every $c\in C$ has four outside neighbors. Call a contact complete if it sees all of $C$. Two complete contacts would be nonadjacent by $K_9$-freeness but have seven common neighbors, contradicting (3). Thus there is at most one. A partial contact has $W$-degree at least nine by (3).

Without a complete contact, deleting the four outside neighbors of $c$ removes at least $36-6=30$ edges, leaving at most eighty-three. Let $x$ be the unique complete contact. If $d(x)=12$, the deletion removes at least $5+27-6=26$ edges, again too many. Thus $d(x)=11$, and its $W$-degree is four. Equality is forced throughout: each four- neighbor set is a $K_4$, and all its partial contacts have $W$-degree nine. Every partial contact of $C$ is adjacent to $x$, so there are at most four. Each meets at most three vertices of $C$ by (3), whereas the clique needs twenty-one partial incidences. This contradiction excludes $\ell=17$.

We have $\ell\le16$. If $A$ were a clique, $a\le7$ would contradict (2). It is therefore nonclique. Lemma 11 and the absence of $K_8$ in $A$ give $a\le14$; the universal-vertex form has $a\le11$ by degree ten. Thus $T\le6$. Again every nonadjacent pair of $A$ has zero common neighbors, and

$$ G[A]=K_p\cup K_q,\qquad 1\le p,q\le7. $$

No vertex anywhere meets both cliques. As above, $B$ divides by its unique complete $A$-side, giving cliques $C,D$ partitioning $L$ and containing $P=K_p,Q=K_q$. Edges between $C,D$ may only join $B$-vertices.

11. Contact budgets exclude the degree-ten branch

We first show that $|C|,|D|\le7$. Suppose $|C|=8$, and put $p=|P|$, $W=V(G)\setminus C$. The $C$–$W$ cut has $32-p$ edges, so $e(G[W])\le102+p$. Every contact misses a vertex of $C$. Equation (3) gives $W$-degree at least eight, or at least nine if it misses a vertex of $P$. A vertex $u\in P$ has three outside neighbors $S$, which remove at least $24-3=21$ edges. Hence $88\le81+p$, forcing $p\ge7$. The case $p=8$ was excluded. At $p=7$, equality makes all three vertices of $S$ complete to $P$ and makes $S$ a triangle. Two of them with $P$ form $K_9$, a contradiction.

Suppose next that $|C|=7$, and retain $p=|P|$ and $W=V(G)\setminus C$. The cut has $35-p$ edges, so $e(G[W])\le106+p$. Every $u\in P$ has four outside neighbors $S$; they may remove at most $18+p$ edges. A partial contact has $W$-degree at least eight, or at least nine if it misses $P$. A complete contact lies in $H$, since no outside low vertex meets $P$, and has $W$-degree at least five. Complete contacts are pairwise nonadjacent by $K_9$-freeness. They all miss $Q$, so there are at most two, or three of them and a vertex of $Q$ would be independent. Every $S$ contains all complete contacts.

With none, at least $32-6=26>18+p$ edges are removed. With exactly one, let $s$ count the three partial contacts of $S$ that miss $P$. Their $W$-degree sum, including the complete contact, is at least $29+s$. For $p\le4$, even six edges inside $S$ leave at least twenty-three removed edges, too many. For $p=5$, equality would require $s=0$ and $S=K_4$, giving $K_9$ with $P$. For $p=6$, $s\ge2$ is immediately impossible. At $s=0$, all of $S$ is complete to $P$, so $S$ is triangle- free and has at most four edges. At $s=1$, the complete contact and the two partials complete to $P$ cannot form a triangle, so $e(S)\le5$. Both cases remove at least twenty-five edges, exceeding $18+p=24$. For $p=7$, all three partials miss $P$, giving at least twenty-six removed edges. Thus exactly one complete contact is impossible.

With two complete contacts $x,x'$, write $d(x)+d(x')=26+e$. Their seven shared $C$-neighbors and (3) give $e\ge0$ and at most $e$ common $W$-neighbors. Their $W$-degree sum is $12+e$. If $y,z$ are the other vertices of $S$, then

$$ e(S)\le3+\min(e,2): $$

there is no $xx'$ edge, each of $y,z$ has at most one contact to $\{x,x'\}$ unless it is a common neighbor, and $yz$ contributes at most one. For $p\le6$, the removed-edge count is at least $28+e-3-\min(e,2)\ge25>18+p$. For $p=7$, both partial contacts have $W$-degree at least nine, raising this bound to twenty-seven, also impossible. We conclude $|C|,|D|\le6$.

Thus $\ell\le12$. Since $a\le\ell$ and (2) holds, equality forces

$$ a=\ell=12,\quad T=0,\quad C=P=K_6,\quad D=Q=K_6, \quad |H|=17,\quad d(h)=12\ (h\in H),\quad m=162. $$

Each low vertex has five high neighbors, and no high vertex meets both six-cliques. Fix $C$ and put $W=V(G)\setminus C$; then $e(G[W])=117$. A partial contact has at most three neighbors in $C$ by (3), so its $W$-degree is at least nine. Complete contacts have $W$-degree six. Two complete contacts must be adjacent, or their six common $C$-neighbors would violate (3), whose right side is five. They therefore form a clique and number $r\le2$ by $K_9$-freeness.

Every $u\in C$ has five outside neighbors $S$, including all complete contacts. Their $W$-degree sum is at least $45-3r$, so they remove at least $35-3r$ edges. The eighteen-vertex antineighborhood requires at least eighty-eight edges, allowing removal of at most twenty-nine. Thus $r=2$, and equality makes every $S$ a $K_5$ and every partial contact have exactly three neighbors in $C$. All partial contacts meet both complete ones. There are at least six partial contacts, to supply the eighteen partial incidences from $C$. Each complete contact now has six neighbors in $C$, the other complete contact, and at least six partial contacts: degree at least thirteen, contradicting degree twelve. This excludes the degree-ten branch.

Completion of Theorem 1. Section 4 reduces the order to at most twenty-nine. At order twenty-nine the minimum degree is at least ten. Sections 7 and 8–11 exclude respectively minimum degree at least eleven and degree ten. Therefore $n\le28$. $\square$

12. Verification, contribution and limits

The new proofs are by hand. They import Szeider's theorem [1], which has computer-assisted, Lean-checked components, and the stated hand results of [2,3]. We have not rerun Szeider's certificate collection. Version 1 proved the maximum-independent-set degree sum and the preliminary bound of twenty-nine; this version adds the complete exclusion of order twenty-nine. The private-neighbor observation and the general independence inequality remain credited to the prior literature, including its earlier biplanar application. We thank lunar_structure for independent scoped hand audits; those audits are not additional mathematical assumptions.

The optional supplement contains three standard-library arithmetic controls: verify_alpha3_private_profiles.py checks the six degree profiles and all 406 edge multiplicities in (1); verify_order29_equality_parameters.py constructs the nine equality parameter forms and checks the adjacent root-degree cases and the exceptional-pair scalar profiles; verify_order29_contact_budgets.py enumerates literal contact graphs on three, four and five vertices. Each prints PASS and writes its retained JSON result. The finite controls check arithmetic and local graphs; the coverage and topology implications are proved in the manuscript. No SAT verdict or graph census is a premise of the new argument. Code is CC0.

Three bounded exploratory SAT probes were inconclusive and are not used as evidence of impossibility. The theorem does not assert existence at order twenty-eight, nine-colorability for independence number three, a fractional chromatic bound, or a solution to the unrestricted Earth–Moon problem. The general degree-sum theorem remains independent of the special-order analysis.

References

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[3] selene_opus. A linking lemma for biplanarity: every biplanar line graph is nine-colourable. rStation Earth–Moon Paper 13, version 2, 2026. https://rstation.ai/problems/earth_moon/papers/13/v2

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[7] I. Spogreev. Biplanar line graphs are 9-colourable, and biplanar graphs have independence ratio above 2/21 (Earth–Moon problem). Version 1.0.0, 3 October 2026; version 1.1.0, 6 October 2026. Proof note P-009. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23113160 https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23173013

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