On the complexity of optimal homotopies

In this article, we provide new structural results and algorithms for the Homotopy Height problem. In broad terms, this problem quantifies how much a curve on a surface needs to be stretched to sweep continuously between two positions. More precisely, given two homotopic curves $\gamma_1$ and $\gamma_2$ on a combinatorial (say, triangulated) surface, we investigate the problem of computing a homotopy between $\gamma_1$ and $\gamma_2$ where the length of the longest intermediate curve is minimized. Such optimal homotopies are relevant for a wide range of purposes, from very theoretical questions in quantitative homotopy theory to more practical applications such as similarity measures on meshes and graph searching problems. We prove that Homotopy Height is in the complexity class NP, and the corresponding exponential algorithm is the best one known for this problem. This result builds on a structural theorem on monotonicity of optimal homotopies, which is proved in a companion paper. Then we show that this problem encompasses the Homotopic Fr\'echet distance problem which we therefore also establish to be in NP, answering a question which has previously been considered in several different settings. We also provide an O(log n)-approximation algorithm for Homotopy Height on surfaces by adapting an earlier algorithm of Har-Peled, Nayyeri, Salvatipour and Sidiropoulos in the planar setting

Degree and neighborhood conditions for hamiltonicity of claw-free graphs

For a graph H , let σ t ( H ) = min { Σ i = 1 t d H ( v i ) | { v 1 , v 2 , … , v t } is an independent set in H } and let U t ( H ) = min { | ⋃ i = 1 t N H ( v i ) | | { v 1 , v 2 , ⋯ , v t } is an independent set in H } . We show that for a given number ϵ and given integers p ≥ t \u3e 0 , k ∈ { 2 , 3 } and N = N ( p , ϵ ) , if H is a k -connected claw-free graph of order n \u3e N with δ ( H ) ≥ 3 and its Ryjác̆ek’s closure c l ( H ) = L ( G ) , and if d t ( H ) ≥ t ( n + ϵ ) ∕ p where d t ( H ) ∈ { σ t ( H ) , U t ( H ) } , then either H is Hamiltonian or G , the preimage of L ( G ) , can be contracted to a k -edge-connected K 3 -free graph of order at most max { 4 p − 5 , 2 p + 1 } and without spanning closed trails. As applications, we prove the following for such graphs H of order n with n sufficiently large: (i) If k = 2 , δ ( H ) ≥ 3 , and for a given t ( 1 ≤ t ≤ 4 ), then either H is Hamiltonian or c l ( H ) = L ( G ) where G is a graph obtained from K 2 , 3 by replacing each of the degree 2 vertices by a K 1 , s ( s ≥ 1 ). When t = 4 and d t ( H ) = σ 4 ( H ) , this proves a conjecture in Frydrych (2001). (ii) If k = 3 , δ ( H ) ≥ 24 , and for a given t ( 1 ≤ t ≤ 10 ) d t ( H ) \u3e t ( n + 5 ) 10 , then H is Hamiltonian. These bounds on d t ( H ) in (i) and (ii) are sharp. It unifies and improves several prior results on conditions involved σ t and U t for the hamiltonicity of claw-free graphs. Since the number of graphs of orders at most max { 4 p − 5 , 2 p + 1 } are fixed for given p , improvements to (i) or (ii) by increasing the value of p are possible with the help of a computer

Dynamic Programming for Graphs on Surfaces

We provide a framework for the design and analysis of dynamic programming algorithms for surface-embedded graphs on n vertices and branchwidth at most k. Our technique applies to general families of problems where standard dynamic programming runs in 2^{O(k log k)} n steps. Our approach combines tools from topological graph theory and analytic combinatorics. In particular, we introduce a new type of branch decomposition called "surface cut decomposition", generalizing sphere cut decompositions of planar graphs introduced by Seymour and Thomas, which has nice combinatorial properties. Namely, the number of partial solutions that can be arranged on a surface cut decomposition can be upper-bounded by the number of non-crossing partitions on surfaces with boundary. It follows that partial solutions can be represented by a single-exponential (in the branchwidth k) number of configurations. This proves that, when applied on surface cut decompositions, dynamic programming runs in 2^{O(k)} n steps. That way, we considerably extend the class of problems that can be solved in running times with a single-exponential dependence on branchwidth and unify/improve most previous results in this direction.Comment: 28 pages, 3 figure

Auto-completion of contours in sketches, maps and sparse 2D images based on topological persistence.

We design a new fast algorithm to automatically complete closed contours in a finite point cloud on the plane. The only input can be a scanned map with almost closed curves, a hand-drawn artistic sketch or any sparse dotted image in 2D without any extra parameters. The output is a hierarchy of closed contours that have a long enough life span (persistence) in a sequence of nested neighborhoods of the input points. We prove theoretical guarantees when, for a given noisy sample of a graph in the plane, the output contours geometrically approximate the original contours in the unknown graph

Circumferences of 3-connected claw-free graphs, II

For a graph H , the circumference of H , denoted by c ( H ) , is the length of a longest cycle in H . It is proved in Chen (2016) that if H is a 3-connected claw-free graph of order n with δ ≥ 8 , then c ( H ) ≥ min { 9 δ − 3 , n } . In Li (2006), Li conjectured that every 3-connected k -regular claw-free graph H of order n has c ( H ) ≥ min { 10 k − 4 , n } . Later, Li posed an open problem in Li (2008): how long is the best possible circumference for a 3-connected regular claw-free graph? In this paper, we study the circumference of 3-connected claw-free graphs without the restriction on regularity and provide a solution to the conjecture and the open problem above. We determine five families F i ( 1 ≤ i ≤ 5 ) of 3-connected claw-free graphs which are characterized by graphs contractible to the Petersen graph and show that if H is a 3-connected claw-free graph of order n with δ ≥ 16 , then one of the following holds: (a) either c ( H ) ≥ min { 10 δ − 3 , n } or H ∈ F 1 . (b) either c ( H ) ≥ min { 11 δ − 7 , n } or H ∈ F 1 ∪ F 2 . (c) either c ( H ) ≥ min { 11 δ − 3 , n } or H ∈ F 1 ∪ F 2 ∪ F 3 . (d) either c ( H ) ≥ min { 12 δ − 10 , n } or H ∈ F 1 ∪ F 2 ∪ F 3 ∪ F 4 . (e) if δ ≥ 23 then either c ( H ) ≥ min { 12 δ − 7 , n } or H ∈ F 1 ∪ F 2 ∪ F 3 ∪ F 4 ∪ F 5 . This is also an improvement of the prior results in Chen (2016), Lai et al. (2016), Li et al. (2009) and Mathews and Sumner (1985)

Dynamic programming for graphs on surfaces

We provide a framework for the design and analysis of dynamic programming algorithms for surface-embedded graphs on n vertices and branchwidth at most k. Our technique applies to general families of problems where standard dynamic programming runs in 2O(k·log k). Our approach combines tools from topological graph theory and analytic combinatorics.Postprint (updated version