Strong Embeddings of 3-Connected Cubic Planar Graphs on Surfaces of non-negative Euler Characteristic

Abstract

Whitney proved that 3-connected planar graphs admit a unique embedding on the sphere. In contrast, Enami investigated embeddings of 3-connected cubic planar graphs on non-spherical surfaces with non-negative Euler characteristic. He established that such an embedding exists if and only if the dual graph contains a particular subgraph. Here, strong embeddings are investigated motivated by the cycle double cover conjecture and the relation to triangulated surfaces. We provide a complete characterization of strong embeddings on the projective plane, the torus, and the Klein bottle in terms of a distinguished subset of Enami's subgraphs. This characterization not only deepens the structural understanding of graph embeddings on non-spherical surfaces, but also establishes a robust foundation for computing cycle double covers. As a direct consequence, we derive explicit criteria that determine when a graph does not admit a strong embedding on these surfaces-offering new tools for both theoretical analysis and algorithmic applications.