Fast Biclustering by Dual Parameterization

We study two clustering problems, Starforest Editing, the problem of adding and deleting edges to obtain a disjoint union of stars, and the generalization Bicluster Editing. We show that, in addition to being NP-hard, none of the problems can be solved in subexponential time unless the exponential time hypothesis fails. Misra, Panolan, and Saurabh (MFCS 2013) argue that introducing a bound on the number of connected components in the solution should not make the problem easier: In particular, they argue that the subexponential time algorithm for editing to a fixed number of clusters (p-Cluster Editing) by Fomin et al. (J. Comput. Syst. Sci., 80(7) 2014) is an exception rather than the rule. Here, p is a secondary parameter, bounding the number of components in the solution. However, upon bounding the number of stars or bicliques in the solution, we obtain algorithms which run in time $2^{5 \sqrt{pk}} + O(n+m)$ for p-Starforest Editing and $2^{O(p \sqrt{k} \log(pk))} + O(n+m)$ for p-Bicluster Editing. We obtain a similar result for the more general case of t-Partite p-Cluster Editing. This is subexponential in k for fixed number of clusters, since p is then considered a constant. Our results even out the number of multivariate subexponential time algorithms and give reasons to believe that this area warrants further study.Comment: Accepted for presentation at IPEC 201

An improved kernelization algorithm for Trivially Perfect Editing

In the Trivially Perfect Editing problem one is given an undirected graph $G = (V,E)$ and an integer $k$ and seeks to add or delete at most $k$ edges in $G$ to obtain a trivially perfect graph. In a recent work, Dumas, Perez and Todinca [Algorithmica 2023] proved that this problem admits a kernel with $O(k^3)$ vertices. This result heavily relies on the fact that the size of trivially perfect modules can be bounded by $O(k^2)$ as shown by Drange and Pilipczuk [Algorithmica 2018]. To obtain their cubic vertex-kernel, Dumas, Perez and Todinca [Algorithmica 2023] then showed that a more intricate structure, so-called \emph{comb}, can be reduced to $O(k^2)$ vertices. In this work we show that the bound can be improved to $O(k)$ for both aforementioned structures and thus obtain a kernel with $O(k^2)$ vertices. Our approach relies on the straightforward yet powerful observation that any large enough structure contains unaffected vertices whose neighborhood remains unchanged by an editing of size $k$, implying strong structural properties

Exploring Subexponential Parameterized Complexity of Completion Problems

Let ${\cal F}$ be a family of graphs. In the ${\cal F}$-Completion problem, we are given a graph $G$ and an integer $k$ as input, and asked whether at most $k$ edges can be added to $G$ so that the resulting graph does not contain a graph from ${\cal F}$ as an induced subgraph. It appeared recently that special cases of ${\cal F}$-Completion, the problem of completing into a chordal graph known as Minimum Fill-in, corresponding to the case of ${\cal F}=\{C_4,C_5,C_6,\ldots\}$, and the problem of completing into a split graph, i.e., the case of ${\cal F}=\{C_4, 2K_2, C_5\}$, are solvable in parameterized subexponential time $2^{O(\sqrt{k}\log{k})}n^{O(1)}$. The exploration of this phenomenon is the main motivation for our research on ${\cal F}$-Completion. In this paper we prove that completions into several well studied classes of graphs without long induced cycles also admit parameterized subexponential time algorithms by showing that: - The problem Trivially Perfect Completion is solvable in parameterized subexponential time $2^{O(\sqrt{k}\log{k})}n^{O(1)}$, that is ${\cal F}$-Completion for ${\cal F} =\{C_4, P_4\}$, a cycle and a path on four vertices. - The problems known in the literature as Pseudosplit Completion, the case where ${\cal F} = \{2K_2, C_4\}$, and Threshold Completion, where ${\cal F} = \{2K_2, P_4, C_4\}$, are also solvable in time $2^{O(\sqrt{k}\log{k})} n^{O(1)}$. We complement our algorithms for ${\cal F}$-Completion with the following lower bounds: - For ${\cal F} = \{2K_2\}$, ${\cal F} = \{C_4\}$, ${\cal F} = \{P_4\}$, and ${\cal F} = \{2K_2, P_4\}$, ${\cal F}$-Completion cannot be solved in time $2^{o(k)} n^{O(1)}$ unless the Exponential Time Hypothesis (ETH) fails. Our upper and lower bounds provide a complete picture of the subexponential parameterized complexity of ${\cal F}$-Completion problems for ${\cal F}\subseteq\{2K_2, C_4, P_4\}$.Comment: 32 pages, 16 figures, A preliminary version of this paper appeared in the proceedings of STACS'1

A Cubic Vertex-Kernel for Trivially Perfect Editing

International audienc

(Sub)linear Kernels for Edge Modification Problems Towards Structured Graph Classes

In a (parameterized) graph edge modification problem, we are given a graph G, an integer k and a (usually well-structured) class of graphs ?, and ask whether it is possible to transform G into a graph G\u27 ? ? by adding and/or removing at most k edges. Parameterized graph edge modification problems received considerable attention in the last decades. In this paper, we focus on finding small kernels for edge modification problems. One of the most studied problems is the Cluster Editing problem, in which the goal is to partition the vertex set into a disjoint union of cliques. Even if this problem admits a 2k kernel [Cao and Chen, 2012], this kernel does not reduce the size of most instances. Therefore, we explore the question of whether linear kernels are a theoretical limit in edge modification problems, in particular when the target graphs are very structured (such as a partition into cliques for instance). We prove, as far as we know, the first sublinear kernel for an edge modification problem. Namely, we show that Clique + Independent Set Deletion, which is a restriction of Cluster Deletion, admits a kernel of size O(k/log k). We also obtain small kernels for several other edge modification problems. We prove that Split Addition (and the equivalent Split Deletion) admits a linear kernel, improving the existing quadratic kernel of Ghosh et al. [Ghosh et al., 2015]. We complement this result by proving that Trivially Perfect Addition admits a quadratic kernel (improving the cubic kernel of Guo [Guo, 2007]), and finally prove that its triangle-free version (Starforest Deletion) admits a linear kernel, which is optimal under ETH

A survey of parameterized algorithms and the complexity of edge modification

The survey is a comprehensive overview of the developing area of parameterized algorithms for graph modification problems. It describes state of the art in kernelization, subexponential algorithms, and parameterized complexity of graph modification. The main focus is on edge modification problems, where the task is to change some adjacencies in a graph to satisfy some required properties. To facilitate further research, we list many open problems in the area.publishedVersio

Polynomial kernelization for removing induced claws and diamonds

A graph is called (claw,diamond)-free if it contains neither a claw (a $K_{1,3}$) nor a diamond (a $K_4$ with an edge removed) as an induced subgraph. Equivalently, (claw,diamond)-free graphs can be characterized as line graphs of triangle-free graphs, or as linear dominoes, i.e., graphs in which every vertex is in at most two maximal cliques and every edge is in exactly one maximal clique. In this paper we consider the parameterized complexity of the (claw,diamond)-free Edge Deletion problem, where given a graph $G$ and a parameter $k$, the question is whether one can remove at most $k$ edges from $G$ to obtain a (claw,diamond)-free graph. Our main result is that this problem admits a polynomial kernel. We complement this finding by proving that, even on instances with maximum degree $6$, the problem is NP-complete and cannot be solved in time $2^{o(k)}\cdot |V(G)|^{O(1)}$ unless the Exponential Time Hypothesis fai

On the Threshold of Intractability

We study the computational complexity of the graph modification problems Threshold Editing and Chain Editing, adding and deleting as few edges as possible to transform the input into a threshold (or chain) graph. In this article, we show that both problems are NP-complete, resolving a conjecture by Natanzon, Shamir, and Sharan (Discrete Applied Mathematics, 113(1):109--128, 2001). On the positive side, we show the problem admits a quadratic vertex kernel. Furthermore, we give a subexponential time parameterized algorithm solving Threshold Editing in $2^{O(\surd k \log k)} + \text{poly}(n)$ time, making it one of relatively few natural problems in this complexity class on general graphs. These results are of broader interest to the field of social network analysis, where recent work of Brandes (ISAAC, 2014) posits that the minimum edit distance to a threshold graph gives a good measure of consistency for node centralities. Finally, we show that all our positive results extend to the related problem of Chain Editing, as well as the completion and deletion variants of both problems