Suppose Gamma is a group acting on a set X. An r-labeling phi: X to {1, 2, ..., r} of X is distinguishing (with respect to the action of Gamma) if for any sigma in Gamma, sigma not equal id_X, there exists an element x in X such that phi(x) not equal phi(sigma(x)). The distinguishing number, D_{Gamma}(X), of the action of Gamma on X is the minimum r for which there is an r-labeling which is distinguishing. Given a graph G, the distinguishing number of G, D(G),is defined as D(G) = D_{Aut(G)}(V(G)). This thesis determines the distinguishing numbers of all actions of S_5. As a consequence, we determine all the possible values of the distinguishing numbers of graphs G with Aut(G)=S_5, confirming a conjecture of Albertson and Collins.

A distinguishing colouring of a graph G is a labelling of the vertices of G with colours such that no non-trivial automorphism of G preserves all colours. The distinguishing number of G is the minimum number of colours in a distinguishing colouring. This thesis presents a survey of the history of distinguishing colouring problems and proves new bounds and computational results about distinguishability. An algorithm to generate all labellings of a graph up to isomorphism is presented and compared to a previously published algorithm. The new algorithm is shown to have performance competitive with the existing algorithm, as well as being able to process automorphism groups far larger than the previous limit. A specialization of the algorithm is used to generate all minimal distinguishing colourings of a set of graphs with large automorphism groups and compute their distinguishing numbers. / Graduate / 0984 / 0405 / bbird@uvic.ca

Dans cette thèse nous étudions trois jeux à objectif compétitif sur les graphes. Les jeux à objectif compétitif proposent une approche dynamique des problèmes d'optimisation discrètes. L'idée générale consiste à associer à un problème d'optimisation (coloration, domination, etc.) un jeu combinatoire partisan de la façon suivante. Deux joueurs construisent tour à tour la structure reliée au problème d'optimisation. L'un d'eux cherche à ce que cette structure soit le plus optimale possible, tandis que l'autre essaye de l'en empêcher. Sous l'hypothèse que les deux joueurs jouent optimalement, la taille de la structure obtenue définit un invariant ludique.Nous commençons par étudier une variante 1-impropre du jeu de coloration, qui est le premier et le plus étudié des jeux à objectif compétitif. Dans ce jeu, les joueurs colorient les sommets d'un graphe de sorte que deux sommets adjacents ne partagent jamais la même couleur. Dans la version 1-impropre, un sommet peut avoir au plus un voisin ayant la même couleur que lui. Nous considérons ensuite le jeu de domination, dans lequel les deux joueurs doivent construire un ensemble dominant, c'est-à-dire un ensemble de sommets du graphe tel que tout autre sommet est adjacent à l'un des membres de cet ensemble. Finalement, nous définissons un nouveau jeu à objectif compétitif, relié au problème de coloration distinguante. Dans ce jeu, il s'agit de construire une coloration qui n'est invariante par aucun des automorphismes du graphe. Nous soulevons plusieurs interrogations stimulantes concernant ce nouveau jeu, notamment sur la caractérisation des graphes ayant un invariant ludique infini, par l'existence d'automorphismes d'ordre deux. / In this thesis, we study three competitive optimization graph games. These games allow a dynamic approach to discrete optimization problems, which is an advantageous alternative way to consider these questions. The global idea consists in defining a combinatorial partisan game, associated to the original optimization problem, like coloring, domination, etc. Two players alternatively build the structure related to the optimization problem. One of them tries to obtain a structure as optimal as possible, whereas his opponent wants to prevent him from doing it. Under the hypothesis that both players play optimally, the size of the obtained structure defines a game invariant of the graph.We start by studying a 1-improper variation of the coloring game, which is the first and the most studied competitive optimization graph game. In this game, the players colors the vertices of a graph, such that two adjacent vertices do not share the same color. In the 1-improper version, we allow a vertex to have at most one neighbor with the same color as it. Then, we study the domination game, in which the players have to build a domination set, that is a sub-set of vertices such that any other vertex is adjacent to one of the vertex in this set. Finally, we define a new game, related to the distinguishing coloring problem. This game is about building a vertex-coloring which is preserved by none of the graph automorphisms. We raise some challenging open questions about this new game, especially concerning the characterization of graphs with infinite game invariant, by the existence of order two automorphisms.