Inapproximability of H-Transversal/Packing

Given an undirected graph G=(V,E) and a fixed pattern graph H with k vertices, we consider the H-Transversal and H-Packing problems. The former asks to find the smallest subset S of vertices such that the subgraph induced by V - S does not have H as a subgraph, and the latter asks to find the maximum number of pairwise disjoint k-subsets S1, ..., Sm such that the subgraph induced by each Si has H as a subgraph. We prove that if H is 2-connected, H-Transversal and H-Packing are almost as hard to approximate as general k-Hypergraph Vertex Cover and k-Set Packing, so it is NP-hard to approximate them within a factor of Omega(k) and Omega(k / polylog(k)) respectively. We also show that there is a 1-connected H where H-Transversal admits an O(log k)-approximation algorithm, so that the connectivity requirement cannot be relaxed from 2 to 1. For a special case of H-Transversal where H is a (family of) cycles, we mention the implication of our result to the related Feedback Vertex Set problem, and give a different hardness proof for directed graphs

Structural and Topological Graph Theory and Well-Quasi-Ordering

Στη σειρά εργασιών Ελασσόνων Γραφημάτων, οι Neil Robertson και Paul Seymour μεταξύ άλλων σπουδαίων αποτελεσμάτων, απέδειξαν την εικασία του Wagner που σήμερα είναι γνωστή ως το Θεώρημα των Robertson και Seymour. Σε κάθε τους βήμα προς την συναγωγή της τελικής απόδειξης της εικασίας, κάθε ειδική περίπτωση αυτής που αποδείκνυαν ήταν συνέπεια ενός "δομικού θεωρήματος" το οποίο σε γενικές γραμμές ισχυριζόταν ότι ικανοποιητικά γενικά γραφήματα περιέχουν ως ελάσσονα γραφήματα ή άλλες δομές που είναι χρήσιμα για την απόδειξη, ή ισοδύναμα, ότι η δομή των γραφημάτων τα οποία δεν περιέχουν ένα χρήσιμο για την απόδειξη γράφημα ως έλασσον είναι κατά κάποιο τρόπο περιορισμένη συνάγοντας έτσι και πάλι μια χρήσιμη πληροφορία για την απόδειξη. Στην παρούσα εργασία, παρουσιάζουμε -σχετικά μικρές- αποδείξεις διαφόρων ειδικών περιπτώσεων του Θεωρήματος των Robertson και Seymour, αναδεικνύοντας με αυτό τον τρόπο την αλληλεπίδραση της δομικής θεωρίας γραφημάτων με την θεωρία των καλών-σχεδόν-διατάξεων. Παρουσιάζουμε ακόμα την ίσως πιο ενδιαφέρουσα ειδική περίπτωση του Θεωρήματος των Robertson και Seymour, η οποία ισχυρίζεται ότι η εμβαπτισιμότητα σε κάθε συγκεκριμένη επιφάνεια δύναται να χαρακτηριστεί μέσω της απαγόρευσης πεπερασμένων το πλήθος γραφημάτων ως ελάσσονα. Το τελευταίο αποτέλεσμα συνάγεται ως ένα αποτέλεσμα της θεωρίας των καλών-σχεδόν-διατάξεων αναδεικνύοντας με αυτό τον τρόπο την αλληλεπίδρασή της με την τοπολογική θεωρία γραφημάτων. Τέλος, σταχυολογούμε αποτελέσματα αναφορικά με την καλή-σχεδόν-διάταξη κλάσεων γραφημάτων από άλλες -πέραν της σχέσης έλασσον- σχέσεις γραφημάτων.In their Graph Minors series, Neil Robertson and Paul Seymour among other great results proved Wagner's conjecture which is today known as the Robertson and Seymour's theorem. In every step along their way to the final proof, each special case of the conjecture which they were proving was a consequence of a "structure theorem", that sufficiently general graphs contain minors or other sub-objects that are useful for the proof - or equivalently, that graphs that do not contain a useful minor have a certain restricted structure, deducing that way also a useful information for the proof. The main object of this thesis is the presentation of -relatively short- proofs of several Robertson and Seymour's theorem's special cases, illustrating by this way the interplay between structural graph theory and graphs' well-quasi-ordering. We present also the proof of the perhaps most important special case of the Robertson and Seymour's theorem which states that embeddability in any fixed surface can be characterized by forbidding finitely many minors. The later result is deduced as a well-quasi-ordering result, indicating by this way the interplay among topological graph theory and well-quasi-ordering theory. Finally, we survey results regarding the well-quasi-ordering of graphs by other than the minor graphs' relations

A more accurate view of the Flat Wall Theorem

We introduce a supporting combinatorial framework for the Flat Wall Theorem. In particular, we suggest two variants of the theorem and we introduce a new, more versatile, concept of wall homogeneity as well as the notion of regularity in flat walls. All proposed concepts and results aim at facilitating the use of the irrelevant vertex technique in future algorithmic applications.Comment: arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2004.1269

LIPIcs, Volume 261, ICALP 2023, Complete Volume

LIPIcs, Volume 261, ICALP 2023, Complete Volum

LIPIcs, Volume 244, ESA 2022, Complete Volume

LIPIcs, Volume 244, ESA 2022, Complete Volum

A Unified Erdős–Pósa Theorem for Constrained Cycles

A (Γ 1 ,Γ 2 )-labeled graph is an oriented graph with its edges labeled by elements of the direct sum of two groups Γ 1 ,Γ 2 . A cycle in such a labeled graph is (Γ 1 ,Γ 2 )-non-zero if it is non-zero in both coordinates. Our main result is a generalization of the Flat Wall Theorem of Robertson and Seymour to (Γ 1 ,Γ 2 )-labeled graphs. As an application, we determine all canonical obstructions to the Erdős–Pósa property for (Γ 1 ,Γ 2 )-non-zero cycles in (Γ 1 ,Γ 2 )-labeled graphs. The obstructions imply that the half-integral Erdős–Pósa property always holds for (Γ 1 ,Γ 2 )-non-zero cycles. Moreover, our approach gives a unified framework for proving packing results for constrained cycles in graphs. For example, as immediate corollaries we recover the Erdős–Pósa property for cycles and S-cycles and the half-integral Erdős–Pósa property for odd cycles and odd S-cycles. Furthermore, we recover Reed's Escher-wall Theorem. We also prove many new packing results as immediate corollaries. For example, we show that the half-integral Erdős–Pósa property holds for cycles not homologous to zero, odd cycles not homologous to zero, and S-cycles not homologous to zero. Moreover, the (full) Erdős–Pósa property holds for S 1 -S 2 -cycles and cycles not homologous to zero on an orientable surface. Finally, we also describe the canonical obstructions to the Erdős–Pósa property for cycles not homologous to zero and for odd S-cycles

A Unified Erdős–Pósa Theorem for Constrained Cycles

A (Γ 1 ,Γ 2 )-labeled graph is an oriented graph with its edges labeled by elements of the direct sum of two groups Γ 1 ,Γ 2 .A cycle in such a labeled graph is (Γ 1 ,Γ 2 )-non-zero if it is non-zero in both coordinates. Our main result is a generalization of the Flat Wall Theorem of Robertson and Seymour to (Γ 1 ,Γ 2 )-labeled graphs. As an application, we determine all canonical obstructions to the Erdős–Pósa property for (Γ 1 ,Γ 2 )-non-zero cycles in (Γ 1 ,Γ 2 )-labeled graphs. The obstructions imply that the half-integral Erdős–Pósa property always holds for (Γ 1 ,Γ 2 )-non-zero cycles. Moreover, our approach gives a unified framework for proving packing results for constrained cycles in graphs. For example, as immediate corollaries we recover the Erdős–Pósa property for cycles and S-cycles and the half-integral Erdős–Pósa property for odd cycles and odd S-cycles. Furthermore, we recover Reed's Escher-wall Theorem. We also prove many new packing results as immediate corollaries. For example, we show that the half-integral Erdős–Pósa property holds for cycles not homologous to zero, odd cycles not homologous to zero, and S-cycles not homologous to zero. Moreover, the (full) Erdős–Pósa property holds for S 1 -S 2 -cycles and cycles not homologous to zero on an orientable surface. Finally, we also describe the canonical obstructions to the Erdős–Pósa property for cycles not homologous to zero and for odd S-cycles.SCOPUS: ar.jDecretOANoAutActifinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe