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Fractional and Circular Separation Dimension of Graphs

The separation dimension of a graph $G$, written $π(G)$, is the minimum number of linear orderings of $V(G)$ such that every two nonincident edges are "separated" in some ordering, meaning that both endpoints of one edge appear before both endpoints of the other. We introduce the fractional separation dimension $π_f(G)$, which is the minimum of $a/b$ such that some $a$ linear orderings (repetition allowed) separate every two nonincident edges at least $b$ times. In contrast to separation dimension, fractional separation dimension is bounded: always $π_f(G)\le 3$, with equality if and only if $G$ contains $K_4$. There is no stronger bound even for bipartite graphs, since $π_f(K_{m,m})=π_f(K_{m+1,m})=\frac{3m}{m+1}$. We also compute $π_f(G)$ for cycles and some complete tripartite graphs. We show that $π_f(G)<\sqrt 2$ when $G$ is a tree and present a sequence of trees on which the value tends to $4/3$. Finally, we consider analogous problems for circular orderings, where pairs of nonincident edges are separated unless their endpoints alternate. Let $π^\circ(G)$ be the number of circular orderings needed to separate all pairs and $π_f^\circ(G)$ be the fractional version. Among our results: (1) $π^\circ(G)=1$ if and only $G$ is outerplanar. (2) $π^\circ(G)\le2$ when $G$ is bipartite. (3) $π^\circ(K_n)\ge\log_2\log_3(n-1)$. (4) $π_f^\circ(G)\le\frac{3}{2}$, with equality if and only if $K_4\subseteq G$. (5) $π_f^\circ(K_{m,m})=\frac{3m-3}{2m-1}$.