A graph $G$ is called $H$-saturated if $G$ contains no copy of $H$, but $G+e$ contains a copy of $H$ for any edge $e\in E(\overline{ G})$. The saturation number of $H$ is the minimum number of edges in an $H$-saturated graph of order $n$, denoted by $sat(n,H)$. In this paper, we investigate $sat(n,K_{ 2}\vee P_{ k})$, where $k\geq 3$. Let $a_k$ be an integer, defined as follows: $a_k=k$ for $3\leq k\leq 5$; $a_k=3\cdot 2^{ t-1}-2$ for $k=2t\geq 6$; and $a_k=2^{ t+1}-2$ for $k=2t+1\geq 7$. We show that $sat(n, K_{ 2}\vee P_{ k})=2n-3+sat(n-2,P_{ k})$ for $n\geq a_k+2$ and $k\geq 3$, characterize the $K_{ 2}\vee P_{ k}$-saturated graphs with $sat(n,K_{ 2}\vee P_{ k})$ edges, the $K_{ 1}\vee P_{ k}$-saturated graphs with $sat(n,K_{ 1}\vee P_{ k})$ edges for $3\leq k\leq5$ and the $P_{ k}$-saturated graphs with $sat(n, P_{ k})$ edges for $3\leq k\leq4$. Furthermore, we propose some questions for further research.
Categories: math.CO