Girth 5 graphs from relative difference sets.


Abstract:

We consider the problem of construction of graphs with
given degree k and girth 5 and as few vertices as possible.
We give a construction of a family girth 5 graphs based on
relative difference sets. This family contains the smallest known
graph of degree 8 and girth 5 which was constructed by G. Royle,
four of the known cages including the Hoffman-Singleton graph,
some graphs constructed by G. Exoo and some new smallest
known graphs.

This paper is published in Discrete Mathematics:
Leif K. Jørgensen, Girth 5 graphs from relative difference sets, Discrete Mathematics 293 (2005) 177-184.

G. Royle has a web site with a table of smallest known graphs with degree k and girth g.

Table below shows the smallest graph constructed in my paper for 7<=k<=16.
The graph with degree 7 is the Hoffman-Singleton graph.
The graph with degree 8 was first constructed by G. Royle.
The graphs with degree 10 and degree 13 were constructed by G. Exoo

Degree
Order of graph
Reference
7
50
Hoffman-Singleton
8
80
Royle
9
96

10
126
Exoo
11
156

12
216

13
240
Exoo
14
288

15
312

16
336

17
480

18
512

19
544

20
576