Let G be a graph. We introduce the acyclic b-chromatic number of G as an analogue to the b-chromatic number of G. An acyclic coloring of a graph G is a map $$c:V(G)\rightarrow \{1,\ldots ,k\}$$
c
:
V
(
G
)
→
{
1
,
…
,
k
}
such that $$c(u)\ne c(v)$$
c
(
u
)
≠
c
(
v
)
for any $$uv\in E(G)$$
u
v
∈
E
(
G
)
and the induced subgraph on vertices of any two colors $$i,j\in \{1,\ldots ,k\}$$
i
,
j
∈
{
1
,
…
,
k
}
induces a forest. On the set of all acyclic colorings of G we define a relation whose transitive closure is a strict partial order. The minimum cardinality of its minimal element is then the acyclic chromatic number A(G) of G and the maximum cardinality of its minimal element is the acyclic b-chromatic number $$A_{\textrm{b}}(G)$$
A
b
(
G
)
of G. We present several properties of $$A_{\textrm{b}}(G).$$
A
b
(
G
)
.
In particular, we derive $$A_{\textrm{b}}(G)$$
A
b
(
G
)
for several known graph families, derive some bounds for $$A_{\textrm{b}}(G),$$
A
b
(
G
)
,
compare $$A_{\textrm{b}}(G)$$
A
b
(
G
)
with some other parameters and generalize some influential tools from b-colorings to acyclic b-colorings.