On the asymmetric representatives formulation for the vertex coloring problem

We consider the vertex coloring problem, which can be stated as the problem of minimizing the number of labels that can be assigned to the vertices of a graph G such that each vertex receives at least one label and the endpoints of every edge are assigned different labels. In this work, the 0-1 integer programming formulation based on representative vertices is revisited to remove symmetry. The previous polyhedral study related to the original formulation is adapted and generalized. New versions of facets derived from substructures of G are presented, including cliques, odd holes and anti-holes and wheels. In addition, a new class of facets is derived from independent sets of G. Finally, a comparison with the independent sets formulation is provided. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.