Disjoint paths, planarizing cycles, and spanning walks

Abstract

We study the existence of certain disjoint paths in planar graphs and generalize a theorem of Thomassen on planarizing cycles in surfaces. Results are used to prove that every 5-connected triangulation of a surface with sufficiently large representativity is hamiltonian, thus verifying a conjecture of Thomassen. We also obtain results about spanning walks in graphs embedded in a surface with large representativity.