Induced Matchings in Graphs of Maximum Degree 4

Abstract: For a graph $G$, let $\nu_s(G)$ be the induced matching number of $G$. We prove the sharp bound $\nu_s(G)\geq \frac{n(G)}{9}$ for every graph $G$ of maximum degree at most $4$ and without isolated vertices that does not contain a certain blown up $5$-cycle as a component. This result implies a consequence of the well known conjecture of Erd\H{o}s and Ne\v{s}et\v{r}il, saying that the strong chromatic index $\chi_s'(G)$ of a graph $G$ is at most $\frac{5}{4}\Delta(G)^2$, because $\nu_s(G)\geq \frac{m(G)}{\chi_s'(G)}$ and $n(G)\geq \frac{m(G)\Delta(G)}{2}$. Furthermore, it is shown that there is polynomial-time algorithm that computes induced matchings of size at least $\frac{n(G)}{9}$.