7,888 research outputs found
Convexity in partial cubes: the hull number
We prove that the combinatorial optimization problem of determining the hull
number of a partial cube is NP-complete. This makes partial cubes the minimal
graph class for which NP-completeness of this problem is known and improves
some earlier results in the literature.
On the other hand we provide a polynomial-time algorithm to determine the
hull number of planar partial cube quadrangulations.
Instances of the hull number problem for partial cubes described include
poset dimension and hitting sets for interiors of curves in the plane.
To obtain the above results, we investigate convexity in partial cubes and
characterize these graphs in terms of their lattice of convex subgraphs,
improving a theorem of Handa. Furthermore we provide a topological
representation theorem for planar partial cubes, generalizing a result of
Fukuda and Handa about rank three oriented matroids.Comment: 19 pages, 4 figure
Rectangular Layouts and Contact Graphs
Contact graphs of isothetic rectangles unify many concepts from applications
including VLSI and architectural design, computational geometry, and GIS.
Minimizing the area of their corresponding {\em rectangular layouts} is a key
problem. We study the area-optimization problem and show that it is NP-hard to
find a minimum-area rectangular layout of a given contact graph. We present
O(n)-time algorithms that construct -area rectangular layouts for
general contact graphs and -area rectangular layouts for trees.
(For trees, this is an -approximation algorithm.) We also present an
infinite family of graphs (rsp., trees) that require (rsp.,
) area.
We derive these results by presenting a new characterization of graphs that
admit rectangular layouts using the related concept of {\em rectangular duals}.
A corollary to our results relates the class of graphs that admit rectangular
layouts to {\em rectangle of influence drawings}.Comment: 28 pages, 13 figures, 55 references, 1 appendi
Distributed delays stabilize negative feedback loops
Linear scalar differential equations with distributed delays appear in the
study of the local stability of nonlinear differential equations with feedback,
which are common in biology and physics. Negative feedback loops tend to
promote oscillation around steady states, and their stability depends on the
particular shape of the delay distribution. Since in applications the mean
delay is often the only reliable information available about the distribution,
it is desirable to find conditions for stability that are independent from the
shape of the distribution. We show here that the linear equation with
distributed delays is asymptotically stable if the associated differential
equation with a discrete delay of the same mean is asymptotically stable.
Therefore, distributed delays stabilize negative feedback loops
The -genus of Kuratowski minors
A drawing of a graph on a surface is independently even if every pair of
nonadjacent edges in the drawing crosses an even number of times. The
-genus of a graph is the minimum such that has an
independently even drawing on the orientable surface of genus . An
unpublished result by Robertson and Seymour implies that for every , every
graph of sufficiently large genus contains as a minor a projective
grid or one of the following so-called -Kuratowski graphs: , or
copies of or sharing at most common vertices. We show that
the -genus of graphs in these families is unbounded in ; in
fact, equal to their genus. Together, this implies that the genus of a graph is
bounded from above by a function of its -genus, solving a problem
posed by Schaefer and \v{S}tefankovi\v{c}, and giving an approximate version of
the Hanani-Tutte theorem on orientable surfaces. We also obtain an analogous
result for Euler genus and Euler -genus of graphs.Comment: 23 pages, 7 figures; a few references added and correcte
Viewing the efficiency of chaos control
This paper aims to cast some new light on controlling chaos using the OGY-
and the Zero-Spectral-Radius methods. In deriving those methods we use a
generalized procedure differing from the usual ones. This procedure allows us
to conveniently treat maps to be controlled bringing the orbit to both various
saddles and to sources with both real and complex eigenvalues. We demonstrate
the procedure and the subsequent control on a variety of maps. We evaluate the
control by examining the basins of attraction of the relevant controlled
systems graphically and in some cases analytically
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