Gromov Hyperbolicity in Strong Product Graphs

Abstract

If X is a geodesic metric space and $x_1,x_2,x_3\in X$, a geodesic triangle $T=\{x_1,x_2,x_3\}$ is the union of the three geodesics $[x_1x_2]$, $[x_2x_3]$ and $[x_3x_1]$ in $X$. The space $X$ is $\delta$-hyperbolic $($in the Gromov sense$)$ if any side of $T$ is contained in a $\delta$-neighborhood of the union of the two other sides, for every geodesic triangle $T$ in $X$. If $X$ is hyperbolic, we denote by $\delta (X)$ the sharp hyperbolicity constant of $X$, i.e., $\delta (X)=\inf\{\delta\geq 0: \, X \, \text{ is $\delta$-hyperbolic}\,\}\,.$ In this paper we characterize the strong product of two graphs $G_1\boxtimes G_2$ which are hyperbolic, in terms of $G_1$ and $G_2$: the strong product graph $G_1\boxtimes G_2$ is hyperbolic if and only if one of the factors is hyperbolic and the other one is bounded. We also prove some sharp relations between $\delta (G_1\boxtimes G_2)$, $\delta (G_1)$, $\delta (G_2)$ and the diameters of $G_1$ and $G_2$ (and we find families of graphs for which the inequalities are attained). Furthermore, we obtain the exact values of the hyperbolicity constant for many strong product graphs.