On Structural Parameterizations of Hitting Set: Hitting Paths in Graphs Using 2-SAT

Hitting Set is a classic problem in combinatorial optimization. Its input consists of a set system F over a finite universe U and an integer t; the question is whether there is a set of t elements that intersects every set in F. The Hitting Set problem parameterized by the size of the solution is a well-known W[2]-complete problem in parameterized complexity theory. In this paper we investigate the complexity of Hitting Set under various structural parameterizations of the input. Our starting point is the folklore result that Hitting Set is polynomial-time solvable if there is a tree T on vertex set U such that the sets in F induce connected subtrees of T. We consider the case that there is a treelike graph with vertex set U such that the sets in F induce connected subgraphs; the parameter of the problem is a measure of how treelike the graph is. Our main positive result is an algorithm that, given a graph G with cyclomatic number k, a collection P of simple paths in G, and an integer t, determines in time 2^{5k} (|G| +|P|)^O(1) whether there is a vertex set of size t that hits all paths in P. It is based on a connection to the 2-SAT problem in multiple valued logic. For other parameterizations we derive W[1]-hardness and para-NP-completeness results.Comment: Presented at the 41st International Workshop on Graph-Theoretic Concepts in Computer Science, WG 2015. (The statement of Lemma 4 was corrected in this update.

Convex Cycle Bases

Convex cycles play a role e.g. in the context of product graphs. We introduce convex cycle bases and describe a polynomial-time algorithm that recognizes whether a given graph has a convex cycle basis and provides an explicit construction in the positive case. Relations between convex cycles bases and other types of cycles bases are discussed. In particular we show that if G has a unique minimal cycle bases, this basis is convex. Furthermore, we characterize a class of graphs with convex cycles bases that includes partial cubes and hence median graphs. (authors' abstract)Series: Research Report Series / Department of Statistics and Mathematic

The Ratio of the Irredundance Number and the Domination Number for Block-Cactus Graphs

Let γ(G) and ir(G) denote the domination number and the irredundance number of a graph G, respectively. Allan and Laskar [Proc. 9th Southeast Conf. on Combin., Graph Theory & Comp. (1978) 43-56] and Bollobás and Cockayne [J. Graph Theory (1979) 241-249] proved independently that γ(G) < 2ir(G) for any graph G. For a tree T, Damaschke [Discrete Math. (1991) 101-104] obtained the sharper estimation 2γ(T) < 3ir(T). Extending Damaschke's result, Volkmann [Discrete Math. (1998) 221-228] proved that 2γ(G) ≤ 3ir(G) for any block graph G and for any graph G with cyclomatic number μ(G) ≤ 2. Volkmann also conjectured that 5γ(G) < 8ir(G) for any cactus graph. In this article we show that if G is a block-cactus graph having π(G) induced cycles of length 2 (mod 4), then γ(G)(5π(G) + 4) ≤ ir(G)(8π(G) + 6). This result implies the inequality 5γ(G) ≤ 8ir(G) for a block-cactus graph G, thus proving the above conjecture. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc

Rainbow Generalizations of Ramsey Theory - A Dynamic Survey

In this work, we collect Ramsey-type results concerning rainbow edge colorings of graphs