Edge-Connectivity and Edges of Even Factors of Graphs

An even factor of a graph is a spanning subgraph in which each vertex has a positive even degree. Jackson and Yoshimoto showed that if G is a 3-edge-connected graph with |G| ≥ 5 and v is a vertex with degree 3, then G has an even factor F containing two given edges incident with v in which each component has order at least 5. We prove that this theorem is satisfied for each pair of adjacent edges. Also, we show that each 3-edge-connected graph has an even factor F containing two given edges e and f such that every component containing neither e nor f has order at least 5. But we construct infinitely many 3-edge-connected graphs that do not have an even factor F containing two arbitrary prescribed edges in which each component has order at least 5.