A min-max theorem on tournaments

We present a structural characterization of all tournaments T = (V, A) such that, for any nonnegative integral weight function defined on V, the maximum size of a feedback vertex set packing is equal to the minimum weight of a triangle in T. We also answer a question of Frank by showing that it is N P-complete to decide whether the vertex set of a given tournament can be partitioned into two feedback vertex sets. In addition, we give exact and approximation algorithms for the feedback vertex set packing problem on tournaments. ©2007 Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics.published_or_final_versio

New Bounds for the Dichromatic Number of a Digraph

The chromatic number of a graph $G$, denoted by $\chi(G)$, is the minimum $k$ such that $G$ admits a $k$-coloring of its vertex set in such a way that each color class is an independent set (a set of pairwise non-adjacent vertices). The dichromatic number of a digraph $D$, denoted by $\chi_A(D)$, is the minimum $k$ such that $D$ admits a $k$-coloring of its vertex set in such a way that each color class is acyclic. In 1976, Bondy proved that the chromatic number of a digraph $D$ is at most its circumference, the length of a longest cycle. Given a digraph $D$, we will construct three different graphs whose chromatic numbers bound $\chi_A(D)$. Moreover, we prove: i) for integers $k\geq 2$, $s\geq 1$ and $r_1, \ldots, r_s$ with $k\geq r_i\geq 0$ and $r_i\neq 1$ for each $i\in[s]$, that if all cycles in $D$ have length $r$ modulo $k$ for some $r\in\{r_1,\ldots,r_s\}$, then $\chi_A(D)\leq 2s+1$; ii) if $D$ has girth $g$ and there are integers $k$ and $p$, with $k\geq g-1\geq p\geq 1$ such that $D$ contains no cycle of length $r$ modulo $\lceil \frac{k}{p} \rceil p$ for each $r\in \{-p+2,\ldots,0,\ldots,p\}$, then $\chi_A (D)\leq \lceil \frac{k}{p} \rceil$; iii) if $D$ has girth $g$, the length of a shortest cycle, and circumference $c$, then $\chi_A(D)\leq \lceil \frac{c-1}{g-1} \rceil +1$, which improves, substantially, the bound proposed by Bondy. Our results show that if we have more information about the lengths of cycles in a digraph, then we can improve the bounds for the dichromatic number known until now.Comment: 14 page

Coloring Tournaments with Few Colors: Algorithms and Complexity

A k-coloring of a tournament is a partition of its vertices into k acyclic sets. Deciding if a tournament is 2-colorable is NP-hard. A natural problem, akin to that of coloring a 3-colorable graph with few colors, is to color a 2-colorable tournament with few colors. This problem does not seem to have been addressed before, although it is a special case of coloring a 2-colorable 3-uniform hypergraph with few colors, which is a well-studied problem with super-constant lower bounds. We present an efficient decomposition lemma for tournaments and show that it can be used to design polynomial-time algorithms to color various classes of tournaments with few colors, including an algorithm to color a 2-colorable tournament with ten colors. For the classes of tournaments considered, we complement our upper bounds with strengthened lower bounds, painting a comprehensive picture of the algorithmic and complexity aspects of coloring tournaments

Digraph Coloring and Distance to Acyclicity

In $k$-Digraph Coloring we are given a digraph and are asked to partition its vertices into at most $k$ sets, so that each set induces a DAG. This well-known problem is NP-hard, as it generalizes (undirected) $k$-Coloring, but becomes trivial if the input digraph is acyclic. This poses the natural parameterized complexity question what happens when the input is "almost" acyclic. In this paper we study this question using parameters that measure the input's distance to acyclicity in either the directed or the undirected sense. It is already known that, for all $k\ge 2$, $k$-Digraph Coloring is NP-hard on digraphs of DFVS at most $k+4$. We strengthen this result to show that, for all $k\ge 2$, $k$-Digraph Coloring is NP-hard for DFVS $k$. Refining our reduction we obtain two further consequences: (i) for all $k\ge 2$, $k$-Digraph Coloring is NP-hard for graphs of feedback arc set (FAS) at most $k^2$; interestingly, this leads to a dichotomy, as we show that the problem is FPT by $k$ if FAS is at most $k^2-1$; (ii) $k$-Digraph Coloring is NP-hard for graphs of DFVS $k$, even if the maximum degree $\Delta$ is at most $4k-1$; we show that this is also almost tight, as the problem becomes FPT for DFVS $k$ and $\Delta\le 4k-3$. We then consider parameters that measure the distance from acyclicity of the underlying graph. We show that $k$-Digraph Coloring admits an FPT algorithm parameterized by treewidth, whose parameter dependence is $(tw!)k^{tw}$. Then, we pose the question of whether the $tw!$ factor can be eliminated. Our main contribution in this part is to settle this question in the negative and show that our algorithm is essentially optimal, even for the much more restricted parameter treedepth and for $k=2$. Specifically, we show that an FPT algorithm solving $2$-Digraph Coloring with dependence $td^{o(td)}$ would contradict the ETH

The 3-dicritical semi-complete digraphs

A digraph is $3$-dicritical if it cannot be vertex-partitioned into two sets inducing acyclic digraphs, but each of its proper subdigraphs can. We give a human-readable proof that the number of 3-dicritical semi-complete digraphs is finite. Further, we give a computer-assisted proof of a full characterization of 3-dicritical semi-complete digraphs. There are eight such digraphs, two of which are tournaments. We finally give a general upper bound on the maximum number of arcs in a $3$-dicritical digraph

Are there any good digraph width measures?

Many width measures for directed graphs have been proposed in the last few years in pursuit of generalizing (the notion of) treewidth to directed graphs. However, none of these measures possesses, at the same time, the major properties of treewidth, namely, 1. being algorithmically useful , that is, admitting polynomial-time algorithms for a large class of problems on digraphs of bounded width (e.g. the problems definable in MSO1MSO1); 2. having nice structural properties such as being (at least nearly) monotone under taking subdigraphs and some form of arc contractions (property closely related to characterizability by particular cops-and-robber games). We investigate the question whether the search for directed treewidth counterparts has been unsuccessful by accident, or whether it has been doomed to fail from the beginning. Our main result states that any reasonable width measure for directed graphs which satisfies the two properties above must necessarily be similar to treewidth of the underlying undirected graph

Finding good 2-partitions of digraphs I. Hereditary properties

International audienceWe study the complexity of deciding whether a given digraph D has a vertex-partition into two disjoint subdigraphs with given structural properties. Let H and E denote following two sets of natural properties of digraphs: H ={acyclic, complete, arcless, oriented (no 2-cycle), semicomplete, symmetric, tournament} and E ={strongly connected, connected, minimum out-degree at least 1, minimum in-degree at least 1, minimum semi-degree at least 1, minimum degree at least 1, having an out-branching, having an in-branching}. In this paper, we determine the complexity of of deciding, for any fixed pair of positive integers k1, k2, whether a given digraph has a vertex partition into two digraphs D1, D2 such that |V (Di)| ≥ ki and Di has property Pi for i = 1, 2 when P1 ∈ H and P2 ∈ H ∪ E. We also classify the complexity of the same problems when restricted to strongly connected digraphs. The complexity of the problems when both P1 and P2 are in E is determined in the companion paper [2]

Trouver de bonnes 2-partitions des digraphes I. Propriétés héréditaires.

We study the complexity of deciding whether a given digraph D has a vertex-partition into two disjoint subdigraphs with given structural properties. Let H and E denote following two sets of natural properties of digraphs: H ={acyclic, complete, arcless, oriented (no 2-cycle), semicomplete, symmetric, tournament} and E ={strongly connected, connected, minimum out- degree at least 1, minimum in-degree at least 1, minimum semi-degree at least 1, minimum degree at least 1, having an out-branching, having an in-branching}. In this paper, we determine the complexity of deciding, for any fixed pair of positive integers k1,k2, whether a given digraph has a vertex partition into two digraphs D1,D2 such that |V(Di)| ≥ ki and Di has property Pi for i = 1, 2 when P1 ∈ H and P2 ∈ H ∪ E. We also classify the complexity of the same problems when restricted to strongly connected digraphs. The complexity of the problems when both P1 and P2 are in E is determined in the companion paper [2].when both $\mathbb{P}_1$ and $\mathbb{P}_2$ are in ${\cal E}$ is determined in the companion paper (INRIA Research report RR-8868).Nous étudions la complexité de décider si un digraphe donné D admet une partition en deux sous-digraphes ayant des propriétés structurelles fixées. Dénotons par H et E les deux ensembles de propriétés de digraphes naturelles : H ={acyclique, complet, sans arcs, orienté, semicomplet, symétrique, tournoi} et E ={fortement connexe, connexe, degré sortant minimum au moins 1, degré entrant minimum au moins 1, semi-degré entrant minimum au moins 1, degré minimum au moins 1, avoir une arborescence sortante couvrante, avoir une arborescence entrante couvrante}. Dans ce rapport, nous déterminons la complexité de décider, pour toute paire d’entiers k1,k2, si un digraphie donné admet une partition en deux digraphes D1,D2 tels que |V(Di)|≥ki et Di a la propriété Pi pour i=1,2lorsque P1 ∈H et P2 ∈H∪E. Nous classifions également la complexité des mêmes problèmes restreints aux digraphies fortement connexes. La complexité des problèmes lorsque P1 et P2 sont toutes deux dans E est déterminée dans le rapport suivant (Rapport de Recherche INRIA RR-8868)

LIPIcs, Volume 274, ESA 2023, Complete Volume

LIPIcs, Volume 274, ESA 2023, Complete Volum