578 research outputs found
A combinatorial approach to knot recognition
This is a report on our ongoing research on a combinatorial approach to knot
recognition, using coloring of knots by certain algebraic objects called
quandles. The aim of the paper is to summarize the mathematical theory of knot
coloring in a compact, accessible manner, and to show how to use it for
computational purposes. In particular, we address how to determine colorability
of a knot, and propose to use SAT solving to search for colorings. The
computational complexity of the problem, both in theory and in our
implementation, is discussed. In the last part, we explain how coloring can be
utilized in knot recognition
Tight Bounds for Counting Colorings and Connected Edge Sets Parameterized by Cutwidth
We study the fine-grained complexity of counting the number of colorings and connected spanning edge sets parameterized by the cutwidth and treewidth of the graph. While decompositions of small treewidth decompose the graph with small vertex separators, decompositions with small cutwidth decompose the graph with small edge separators.
Let p,q ? ? such that p is a prime and q ? 3. We show:
- If p divides q-1, there is a (q-1)^{ctw}n^{O(1)} time algorithm for counting list q-colorings modulo p of n-vertex graphs of cutwidth ctw. Furthermore, there is no ? > 0 for which there is a (q-1-?)^{ctw} n^{O(1)} time algorithm that counts the number of list q-colorings modulo p of n-vertex graphs of cutwidth ctw, assuming the Strong Exponential Time Hypothesis (SETH).
- If p does not divide q-1, there is no ? > 0 for which there exists a (q-?)^{ctw} n^{O(1)} time algorithm that counts the number of list q-colorings modulo p of n-vertex graphs of cutwidth ctw, assuming SETH. The lower bounds are in stark contrast with the existing 2^{ctw}n^{O(1)} time algorithm to compute the chromatic number of a graph by Jansen and Nederlof [Theor. Comput. Sci.\u2718].
Furthermore, by building upon the above lower bounds, we obtain the following lower bound for counting connected spanning edge sets: there is no ? > 0 for which there is an algorithm that, given a graph G and a cutwidth ordering of cutwidth ctw, counts the number of spanning connected edge sets of G modulo p in time (p - ?)^{ctw} n^{O(1)}, assuming SETH. We also give an algorithm with matching running time for this problem.
Before our work, even for the treewidth parameterization, the best conditional lower bound by Dell et al. [ACM Trans. Algorithms\u2714] only excluded 2^{o(tw)}n^{O(1)} time algorithms for this problem.
Both our algorithms and lower bounds employ use of the matrix rank method, by relating the complexity of the problem to the rank of a certain "compatibility matrix" in a non-trivial way
Fine-grained dichotomies for the Tutte plane and Boolean #CSP
Jaeger, Vertigan, and Welsh [15] proved a dichotomy for the complexity of
evaluating the Tutte polynomial at fixed points: The evaluation is #P-hard
almost everywhere, and the remaining points admit polynomial-time algorithms.
Dell, Husfeldt, and Wahl\'en [9] and Husfeldt and Taslaman [12], in combination
with Curticapean [7], extended the #P-hardness results to tight lower bounds
under the counting exponential time hypothesis #ETH, with the exception of the
line , which was left open. We complete the dichotomy theorem for the
Tutte polynomial under #ETH by proving that the number of all acyclic subgraphs
of a given -vertex graph cannot be determined in time unless
#ETH fails.
Another dichotomy theorem we strengthen is the one of Creignou and Hermann
[6] for counting the number of satisfying assignments to a constraint
satisfaction problem instance over the Boolean domain. We prove that all
#P-hard cases are also hard under #ETH. The main ingredient is to prove that
the number of independent sets in bipartite graphs with vertices cannot be
computed in time unless #ETH fails. In order to prove our results,
we use the block interpolation idea by Curticapean [7] and transfer it to
systems of linear equations that might not directly correspond to
interpolation.Comment: 16 pages, 1 figur
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