347 research outputs found
Generating Functions For Kernels of Digraphs (Enumeration & Asymptotics for Nim Games)
In this article, we study directed graphs (digraphs) with a coloring
constraint due to Von Neumann and related to Nim-type games. This is equivalent
to the notion of kernels of digraphs, which appears in numerous fields of
research such as game theory, complexity theory, artificial intelligence
(default logic, argumentation in multi-agent systems), 0-1 laws in monadic
second order logic, combinatorics (perfect graphs)... Kernels of digraphs lead
to numerous difficult questions (in the sense of NP-completeness,
#P-completeness). However, we show here that it is possible to use a generating
function approach to get new informations: we use technique of symbolic and
analytic combinatorics (generating functions and their singularities) in order
to get exact and asymptotic results, e.g. for the existence of a kernel in a
circuit or in a unicircuit digraph. This is a first step toward a
generatingfunctionology treatment of kernels, while using, e.g., an approach "a
la Wright". Our method could be applied to more general "local coloring
constraints" in decomposable combinatorial structures.Comment: Presented (as a poster) to the conference Formal Power Series and
Algebraic Combinatorics (Vancouver, 2004), electronic proceeding
Polynomial Kernels for Deletion to Classes of Acyclic Digraphs
We consider the problem to find a set X of vertices (or arcs) with |X| <= k in a given digraph G such that D = G-X is an acyclic digraph. In its generality, this is DIRECTED FEEDBACK VERTEX SET or DIRECTED FEEDBACK ARC SET respectively. The existence of a polynomial kernel for these problems is a notorious open problem in the field of kernelization, and little progress has been made.
In this paper, we consider both deletion problems with an additional restriction on D, namely that D must be an out-forest, an out-tree, or a (directed) pumpkin. Our main results show that for each of these three restrictions the vertex deletion problem remains NP-hard, but we can obtain a kernel with k^{O(1)} vertices on general digraphs G. We also show that, in contrast to the vertex deletion problem, the arc deletion problem with each of the above restrictions can be solved in polynomial time
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