Exploiting structure to cope with NP-hard graph problems: Polynomial and exponential time exact algorithms

An ideal algorithm for solving a particular problem always finds an optimal solution, finds such a solution for every possible instance, and finds it in polynomial time. When dealing with NP-hard problems, algorithms can only be expected to possess at most two out of these three desirable properties. All algorithms presented in this thesis are exact algorithms, which means that they always find an optimal solution. Demanding the solution to be optimal means that other concessions have to be made when designing an exact algorithm for an NP-hard problem: we either have to impose restrictions on the instances of the problem in order to achieve a polynomial time complexity, or we have to abandon the requirement that the worst-case running time has to be polynomial. In some cases, when the problem under consideration remains NP-hard on restricted input, we are even forced to do both. Most of the problems studied in this thesis deal with partitioning the vertex set of a given graph. In the other problems the task is to find certain types of paths and cycles in graphs. The problems all have in common that they are NP-hard on general graphs. We present several polynomial time algorithms for solving restrictions of these problems to specific graph classes, in particular graphs without long induced paths, chordal graphs and claw-free graphs. For problems that remain NP-hard even on restricted input we present exact exponential time algorithms. In the design of each of our algorithms, structural graph properties have been heavily exploited. Apart from using existing structural results, we prove new structural properties of certain types of graphs in order to obtain our algorithmic results

Local Structure for Vertex-Minors

This thesis is about a conjecture of Geelen on the structure of graphs with a forbidden vertex-minor; the conjecture is like the Graph Minors Structure Theorem of Robertson and Seymour but for vertex-minors instead of minors. We take a step towards proving the conjecture by determining the "local structure''. Our first main theorem is a grid theorem for vertex-minors, and our second main theorem is more like the Flat Wall Theorem of Robertson and Seymour. We believe that the results presented in this thesis provide a path towards proving the full conjecture. To make this area more accessible, we have organized the first chapter as a survey on "structure for vertex-minors''

LIPIcs, Volume 258, SoCG 2023, Complete Volume

LIPIcs, Volume 258, SoCG 2023, Complete Volum

생태계에서의 경쟁 관점으로 그래프와 유향그래프의 구조 연구

학위논문(박사) -- 서울대학교대학원 : 사범대학 수학교육과, 2023. 2. 김서령.In this thesis, we study m-step competition graphs, (1, 2)-step competition graphs, phylogeny graphs, and competition-common enemy graphs (CCE graphs), which are primary variants of competition graphs. Cohen [11] introduced the notion of competition graph while studying predator-prey concepts in ecological food webs.An ecosystem is a biological community of interacting species and their physical environment. For each species in an ecosystem, there can be m conditions of the good environment by regarding lower and upper bounds on numerous dimensions such as soil, climate, temperature, etc, which may be represented by an m-dimensional rectangle, so-called an ecological niche. An elemental ecological truth is that two species compete if and only if their ecological niches overlap. Biologists often describe competitive relations among species cohabiting in a community by a food web that is a digraph whose vertices are the species and an arc goes from a predator to a prey. In this context, Cohen [11] defined the competition graph of a digraph as follows. The competition graph C(D) of a digraph D is defined to be a simple graph whose vertex set is the same as V (D) and which has an edge joining two distinct vertices u and v if and only if there are arcs (u, w) and (v, w) for some vertex w in D. Since Cohen introduced this definition, its variants such as m-step competition graphs, (i, j)-step competition graphs, phylogeny graphs, CCE graphs, p-competition graphs, and niche graphs have been introduced and studied. As part of these studies, we show that the connected triangle-free m-step competition graph on n vertices is a tree and completely characterize the digraphs of order n whose m-step competition graphs are star graphs for positive integers 2 ≤ m < n. We completely identify (1,2)-step competition graphs C_{1,2}(D) of orientations D of a complete k-partite graph for some k ≥ 3 when each partite set of D forms a clique in C_{1,2}(D). In addition, we show that the diameter of each component of C_{1,2}(D) is at most three and provide a sharp upper bound on the domination number of C_{1,2}(D) and give a sufficient condition for C_{1,2}(D) being an interval graph. On the other hand, we study on phylogeny graphs and CCE graphs of degreebounded acyclic digraphs. An acyclic digraph in which every vertex has indegree at most i and outdegree at most j is called an (i, j) digraph for some positive integers i and j. If each vertex of a (not necessarily acyclic) digraph D has indegree at most i and outdegree at most j, then D is called an hi, ji digraph. We give a sufficient condition on the size of hole of an underlying graph of an (i, 2) digraph D for the phylogeny graph of D being a chordal graph where D is an (i, 2) digraph. Moreover, we go further to completely characterize phylogeny graphs of (i, j) digraphs by listing the forbidden induced subgraphs. We completely identify the graphs with the least components among the CCE graphs of (2, 2) digraphs containing at most one cycle and exactly two isolated vertices, and their digraphs. Finally, we gives a sufficient condition for CCE graphs being interval graphs.이 논문에서 경쟁그래프의 주요 변이들 중 m-step 경쟁그래프, (1, 2)-step 경쟁 그래프, 계통 그래프, 경쟁공적그래프에 대한 연구 결과를 종합했다. Cohen [11]은 먹이사슬에서 포식자-피식자 개념을 연구하면서 경쟁그래프 개념을 고안했다. 생태계는 상호작용하는 종들과 그들의 물리적 환경의 생물학적 체계이다. 생태계의 각 종에 대해서, 토양, 기후, 온도 등과 같은 다양한 차원의 하계 및 상계를 고려하여 좋은 환경을 m개의 조건들로 나타낼 수 있는데 이를 생태적 지위(ecological niche)라고 한다. 생태학적 기본가정은 두 종이 생태적 지위가 겹치면 경쟁하고(compete), 경쟁하는 두 종은 생태적 지위가 겹친다는 것이다. 흔히 생물학자들은 한 체제에서 서식하는 종들의 경쟁적 관계를 각 종은 꼭짓점으로, 포식자에서 피식자에게는 유향변(arc)을 그어서 먹이사슬로 표현한다. 이러한 맥락에서 Cohen [11]은 다음과 같이 유향그래프의 경쟁 그래프를 정의했다. 유향그래프(digraph) D의 경쟁그래프(competition graph) C(D) 란 V (D)를 꼭짓점 집합으로 하고 두 꼭짓점 u, v를 양 끝점으로 갖는 변이 존재한다는 것과 꼭짓점 w가 존재하여 (u, w),(v, w)가 모두 D에서 유향변이 되는 것이 동치인 그래프를 의미한다. Cohen이 경쟁그래프의 정의를 도입한 이후로 그 변이들로 m-step 경쟁그래프(m-step competition graph), (i, j)-step 경쟁그래프((i, j)-step competition graph), 계통그래프(phylogeny graph), 경쟁공적그래프(competition-common enemy graph), p-경쟁그래프(p-competition graph), 그리고 지위그래프(niche graph)가 도입되었고 연구되고 있다. 이 논문의 연구 결과들의 일부는 다음과 같다. 삼각형이 없이 연결된 m-step 경쟁 그래프는 트리(tree)임을 보였으며 2 ≤ m < n을 만족하는 정수 m, n에 대하여 꼭짓점의 개수가 n개이고 m-step 경쟁그래프가 별그래프(star graph)가 되는 유향그래프를 완벽하게 특징화 하였다. k ≥ 3이고 방향지어진 완전 k-분할 그래프(oriented complete k-partite graph)의 (1, 2)-step 경쟁그래프 C_{1,2}(D)에서 각 분할이 완전 부분 그래프를 이룰 때, C_{1,2}(D)을 모두 특징화 하였다. 또한, C_{1,2}(D)의 각 성분(component)의 지름(diameter)의 길이가 최대 3이며 C_{1,2}(D)의 지배수(domination number)에 대한 상계와 최댓값을 구하고 구간그래프(interval graph)가 되기 위한 충분 조건을 구하였다. 차수가 제한된 유향회로를 갖지 않는 유향그래프(degree-bounded acyclic digraph)의 계통그래프와 경쟁공적그래프에 대해서도 연구하였다. 양의 정수들 i, j에 대하여 (i, j) 유향그래프란 각 꼭짓점의 내차수는 최대 i, 외차수는 최대 j인 유향회로 갖지 않는 유향그래프이다. 만약 유향그래프 D에 각 꼭짓점이 내차수가 최대 i, 외차수가 최대 j 인 경우에 D를 hi, ji 유향그래프라 한다. D가 (i, 2) 유향그래프일 때, D의 계통그래프가 현그래프(chordal graph)가 되기 위한 D의 방향을 고려하지 않고 얻어지는 그래프(underlying graph)에서 길이가 4이상인 회로(hole)의 길이에 대한 충분조건을 구하였다. 게다가 (i, j) 유향그래프의 계통그래프에서 나올 수 없는 생성 부분 그래프(forbidden induced subgraph)를 특징화 하였다. (2, 2) 유향그래프 D의 경쟁공적그래프 CCE(D)가 2개의 고립점(isolated vertex)과 최대 1개의 회로를 갖으면서 가장 적은 성분을 갖는 경우일 때의 구조를 규명했다. 마지막으로, CCE(D)가 구간그래프가 되기 위한 성분의 개수에 대한 충분조건을 구하였다.1 Introduction 1 1.1 Graph theory terminology and basic concepts 1 1.2 Competition graphs and its variants 6 1.2.1 A brief background of competition graphs 6 1.2.2 Variants of competition graphs 8 1.2.3 m-step competition graphs 10 1.2.4 (1, 2)-step competition graphs 13 1.2.5 Phylogeny graphs 14 1.2.6 CCE graphs 16 1.3 A preview of the thesis 17 2 Digraphs whose m-step competition graphs are trees 19 2.1 The triangle-free m-step competition graphs 23 2.2 Digraphs whose m-step competition graphs are trees 29 2.3 The digraphs whose m-step competition graphs are star graphs 38 3 On (1, 2)-step competition graphs of multipartite tournaments 47 3.1 Preliminaries 48 3.2 C1,2(D) with a non-clique partite set of D 51 3.3 C1,2(D) without a non-clique partite set of D 66 3.4 C1,2(D) as a complete graph 74 3.5 Diameters and domination numbers of C1,2(D) 79 3.6 Disconnected (1, 2)-step competition graphs 82 3.7 Interval (1, 2)-step competition graphs 84 4 The forbidden induced subgraphs of (i, j) phylogeny graphs 90 4.1 A necessary condition for an (i, 2) phylogeny graph being chordal 91 4.2 Forbidden subgraphs for phylogeny graphs of degree bounded digraphs 99 5 On CCE graphs of (2, 2) digraphs 122 5.1 CCE graphs of h2, 2i digraphs 128 5.2 CCE graphs of (2, 2) digraphs 134 Abstract (in Korean) 168 Acknowledgement (in Korean) 170박

Subtrees search, cycle spectra and edge-connectivity structures

In the first part of this thesis, we study subtrees of specified weight in a tree $T$ with vertex weights $c: V(T) \rightarrow \mathbb{N}$. We introduce an overload-discharge method, and discover that there always exists some subtree $S$ whose weight $c(S) := \sum_{v \in V(S)} c(v)$ is close to $\frac{c(T)}{2}$; the smaller the weight $c(T)$ of $T$ is, the smaller difference between $c(S)$ and $\frac{c(T)}{2}$ we can assure. We also show that such a subtree can be found efficiently, namely in linear time. With this tool we prove that every planar Hamiltonian graph $G = (V(G), E(G))$ with minimum degree $\delta \geq 4$ has a cycle of length $k$ for every $k \in \{\lfloor \frac{|V(G)|}{2} \rfloor, \dots, \lceil \frac{|V(G)|}{2} \rceil + 3\}$ with $3 \leq k \leq |V(G)|$. Such a cycle can be found in linear time if a Hamilton cycle of the graph is given. In the second part of the thesis, we present three cut trees of a graph, each of them giving insights into the edge-connectivity structure. All three cut trees have in common that they cover a given binary symmetric irreflexive relation on the vertex set of the graph, while generalizing Gomory-Hu trees. With these cut trees we show the following: (i) every simple graph $G$ with $\delta \geq 5$ or with edge-connectivity $\lambda \geq 4$ or with vertex-connectivity $\kappa \geq 3$ contains at least $\frac{1}{24}\delta |V(G)|$ pendant pairs, where a pair of vertices $\{v, w\}$ is pendant if $\lambda_G(v,w) = \min\{d_G(v), d_G(w)\}$; (ii) every simple graph $G$ satisfying $\delta > 0$ has $O(|V(G)|/\delta)$ $\delta$-edge-connected components, and there are only $O(|V(G)|)$ edges left if these components are contracted; (iii) given a simple graph $G$ satisfying $\delta > 0$, one can find some vertex subsets in near-linear time such that all non-trivial min-cuts are preserved, and $O(|V(G)|/\delta)$ vertices and $O(|V(G)|)$ edges remain when these vertex subsets are contracted.Im ersten Teil dieser Dissertation untersuchen wir Teilbäume eines Baumes $T$ mit vorgegebenen Knotengewichten $c: V(T) \rightarrow \mathbb{N}$. Wir führen eine Overload-Discharge-Methode ein, und zeigen, dass es immer einen Teilbaum $S$ gibt, dessen Gewicht $c(S) := \sum_ {v \in V (S)} c(v)$ nahe $\frac{c(T)}{2}$ liegt. Je kleiner das Gewicht $c(T)$ von $T$ ist, desto geringer ist dabei die Differenz zwischen $c(S)$ und $\frac{c(T)}{2}$, die wir sicherstellen können. Wir zeigen auch, dass ein solcher Teilbaum effizient, nämlich in Linearzeit, berechnet werden kann. Unter Ausnutzung dieser Methode beweisen wir, dass jeder planare hamiltonsche Graph $G = (V(G), E(G))$ mit Mindestgrad $\delta \geq 4$ einen Kreis der Länge $k$ für jedes $k \in \{\lfloor \frac{|V(G)|}{2} \rfloor, \dots, \lceil \frac{|V(G)|}{2} \rceil + 3\}$ mit $3 \leq k \leq |V (G)|$ enthält. Dieser kann in Linearzeit berechnet werden, falls ein Hamilton-Kreis des Graphen bekannt ist. Im zweiten Teil der Dissertation stellen wir drei Schnittbäume eines Graphen vor, von denen jeder Einblick in die Kantenzusammenhangsstruktur des Graphen gibt. Allen drei Schnittbäumen ist gemeinsam, dass sie eine bestimmte binäre symmetrische irreflexive Relation auf der Knotenmenge des Graphen überdecken; die Bäume können als Verallgemeinerungen von Gomory-Hu-Bäumen aufgefasst werden. Die Schnittbäume implizieren folgende Aussagen: (i) Jeder schlichte Graph $G$, der $\delta \geq 5$ oder Kantenzusammenhang $\lambda \geq 4$ oder Knotenzusammenhang $\kappa \geq 3$ erfüllt, enthält mindestens $\frac{1}{24} \delta |V(G)|$ zusammengehörige Paare, wobei ein Paar von Knoten $\{v, w \}$ zusammengehörig ist, falls $\lambda_G (v, w) = \min \{d_G(v), d_G(w)\}$ ist. (ii) Jeder schlichte Graph $G$ mit $\delta > 0$ hat $O(|V (G)| / \delta)$ $\delta$-kantenzusammenhängende Komponenten, und es verbleiben lediglich $O(|V (G)|)$ Kanten, wenn diese Komponenten kontrahiert werden. (iii) Für jeden schlichten Graphen $G$ mit $\delta > 0$ sind Knotenmengen derart effizient berechenbar, dass alle nicht trivialen minimalen Schnitte erhalten bleiben, und $O(|V(G)| / \delta)$ Knoten und $O(|V(G)|)$ Kanten verbleiben, wenn diese Knotenmengen kontrahiert werden

A method for system of systems definition and modeling using patterns of collective behavior

The Department of Defense ship and aircraft acquisition process, with its capability-based assessments and fleet synthesis studies, relies heavily on the assumption that a functional decomposition of higher-level system of systems (SoS) capabilities into lower-level system and subsystem behaviors is both possible and practical. However, SoS typically exhibit “non-decomposable” behaviors (also known as emergent behaviors) for which no widely-accepted representation exists. The presence of unforeseen emergent behaviors, particularly undesirable ones, can make systems vulnerable to attacks, hacks, or other exploitation, or can cause delays in acquisition program schedules and cost overruns in order to mitigate them. The International Council on Systems Engineering has identified the development of methods for predicting and managing emergent behaviors as one of the top research priorities for the Systems Engineering profession. Therefore, this thesis develops a method for rendering quantifiable SoS emergent properties and behaviors traceable to patterns of interaction of their constitutive systems, so that exploitable patterns identified during the early stages of design can be accounted for. This method is designed to fill two gaps in the literature. First, the lack of an approach for mining data to derive a model (i.e. an equation) of the non-decomposable behavior. Second, the lack of an approach for qualitatively and quantitatively associating emergent behaviors with the components that cause the behavior. A definition for emergent behavior is synthesized from the literature, as well as necessary conditions for its identification. An ontology of emergence that enables studying the emergent behaviors exhibited by self-organized systems via numerical simulations is adapted for this thesis in order to develop the mathematical approach needed to satisfy the research objective. Within the confines of two carefully qualified assumptions (that the model is valid, and that the model is efficient), it is argued that simulated emergence is bona-fide emergence, and that simulations can be used for experimentation without sacrificing rigor. This thesis then puts forward three hypotheses: The first hypothesis is that self-organized structures imply the presence of a form of data compression, and this compression can be used to explicitly calculate an upper bound on the number of emergent behaviors that a system can possess. The second hypothesis is that the set of numerical criteria for detecting emergent behavior derived in this research constitutes sufficient conditions for identifying weak and functional emergent behaviors. The third hypothesis states that affecting the emergent properties of these systems will have a bigger impact on the system’s performance than affecting any single component of that system. Using the method developed in this thesis, exploitable properties are identified and component behaviors are modified to attempt the exploit. Changes in performance are evaluated using problem-specific measures of merit. The experiments find that Hypothesis 2 is false (the numerical criteria are not sufficient conditions) by identifying instances where the numerical criteria produce a false-positive. As a result, a set of sufficient conditions for emergent behavior identification remains to be found. Hypothesis 1 was also falsified based on a worst-case scenario where the largest possible number of obtainable emergent behaviors was compared against the upper bound computed from the smallest possible data compression of a self-organized system. Hypothesis 3, on the other hand, was supported, as it was found that new behavior rules based on component-level properties provided less improvement to performance against an adversary than rules based on system-level properties. Overall, the method is shown to be an effective, systematic approach to non-decomposable behavior exploitation, and an improvement over the modern, largely ad hoc approach.Ph.D