Extremal Khovanov homology and the girth of a knot

We utilize relations between Khovanov and chromatic graph homology to determine extreme Khovanov groups and corresponding coefficients of the Jones polynomial. The extent to which chromatic homology and chromatic polynomial can be used to compute integral Khovanov homology of a link depends on the maximal girth of its all-positive graphs. In this paper we also define the girth of a link, discuss relations to other knot invariants, and the possible values for girth. Analyzing girth leads to a description of possible all-A state graphs of any given link; e.g., if a link has a diagram such that the girth of the corresponding all-A graph is equal to $\ell>2$, than the girth of the link is equal to $\ell.$