| Abstract: | The search for edge-disjoint Hamilton cycles in star graphs is important for the design of interconnection network topologies. We define automorphisms for star graphs St n of degree n?1, for every positive odd integer n, which yield permutations of labels for the edges of St n taken from the set of integers between 1 and ? n/2 ?. By decomposing these permutations into permutation cycles, we are able to identify edge-disjoint Hamilton cycles that are automorphic images of a known Hamilton cycle in St n . Our method produces a better than two-fold improvement from ? ? (n)/10 ? to ? 2? (n)/9 ?, where ? is the Euler function, for the known number of edge-disjoint Hamilton cycles in St n for all odd integers n. For prime n, the improvement is from ? n/8 ? to ? n/5 ?, and we can extend this result to the case when n is the power of a prime greater than 7. |
