On Universal Point Sets for Planar Graphs

A set P of points in R^2 is n-universal, if every planar graph on n vertices admits a plane straight-line embedding on P. Answering a question by Kobourov, we show that there is no n-universal point set of size n, for any n>=15. Conversely, we use a computer program to show that there exist universal point sets for all n<=10 and to enumerate all corresponding order types. Finally, we describe a collection G of 7'393 planar graphs on 35 vertices that do not admit a simultaneous geometric embedding without mapping, that is, no set of 35 points in the plane supports a plane straight-line embedding of all graphs in G.Comment: Fixed incorrect numbers of universal point sets in the last par

The Complexity of Simultaneous Geometric Graph Embedding

Given a collection of planar graphs $G_1,\dots,G_k$ on the same set $V$ of $n$ vertices, the simultaneous geometric embedding (with mapping) problem, or simply $k$-SGE, is to find a set $P$ of $n$ points in the plane and a bijection $\phi: V \to P$ such that the induced straight-line drawings of $G_1,\dots,G_k$ under $\phi$ are all plane. This problem is polynomial-time equivalent to weak rectilinear realizability of abstract topological graphs, which Kyn\v{c}l (doi:10.1007/s00454-010-9320-x) proved to be complete for $\exists\mathbb{R}$, the existential theory of the reals. Hence the problem $k$-SGE is polynomial-time equivalent to several other problems in computational geometry, such as recognizing intersection graphs of line segments or finding the rectilinear crossing number of a graph. We give an elementary reduction from the pseudoline stretchability problem to $k$-SGE, with the property that both numbers $k$ and $n$ are linear in the number of pseudolines. This implies not only the $\exists\mathbb{R}$-hardness result, but also a $2^{2^{\Omega (n)}}$ lower bound on the minimum size of a grid on which any such simultaneous embedding can be drawn. This bound is tight. Hence there exists such collections of graphs that can be simultaneously embedded, but every simultaneous drawing requires an exponential number of bits per coordinates. The best value that can be extracted from Kyn\v{c}l's proof is only $2^{2^{\Omega (\sqrt{n})}}$

A logarithmic bound for simultaneous embeddings of planar graphs

A set $\mathcal{G}$ of planar graphs on the same number $n$ of vertices is called simultaneously embeddable if there exists a set $P$ of $n$ points in the plane such that every graph $G \in \mathcal{G}$ admits a (crossing-free) straight-line embedding with vertices placed at points of $P$. A well-known open problem from 2007 posed by Brass, Cenek, Duncan, Efrat, Erten, Ismailescu, Kobourov, Lubiw and Mitchell, asks whether for some $n$ there exists a set $\mathcal{G}$ consisting of two planar graphs on $n$ vertices that are not simultaneously embeddable. While this remains widely open, we give a short proof that for every $\varepsilon>0$ and sufficiently large $n$ there exists a collection of at most $(4+\varepsilon)\log_2(n)$ planar graphs on $n$ vertices which cannot be simultaneously embedded. This significantly improves the previous exponential bound of $O(n\cdot 4^{n/11})$ for the same problem which was recently established by Goenka, Semnani and Yip.Comment: note, 5 page

Relating Graph Thickness to Planar Layers and Bend Complexity

The thickness of a graph $G=(V,E)$ with $n$ vertices is the minimum number of planar subgraphs of $G$ whose union is $G$. A polyline drawing of $G$ in $\mathbb{R}^2$ is a drawing $\Gamma$ of $G$, where each vertex is mapped to a point and each edge is mapped to a polygonal chain. Bend and layer complexities are two important aesthetics of such a drawing. The bend complexity of $\Gamma$ is the maximum number of bends per edge in $\Gamma$, and the layer complexity of $\Gamma$ is the minimum integer $r$ such that the set of polygonal chains in $\Gamma$ can be partitioned into $r$ disjoint sets, where each set corresponds to a planar polyline drawing. Let $G$ be a graph of thickness $t$. By F\'{a}ry's theorem, if $t=1$, then $G$ can be drawn on a single layer with bend complexity $0$. A few extensions to higher thickness are known, e.g., if $t=2$ (resp., $t>2$), then $G$ can be drawn on $t$ layers with bend complexity 2 (resp., $3n+O(1)$). However, allowing a higher number of layers may reduce the bend complexity, e.g., complete graphs require $\Theta(n)$ layers to be drawn using 0 bends per edge. In this paper we present an elegant extension of F\'{a}ry's theorem to draw graphs of thickness $t>2$. We first prove that thickness-$t$ graphs can be drawn on $t$ layers with $2.25n+O(1)$ bends per edge. We then develop another technique to draw thickness-$t$ graphs on $t$ layers with bend complexity, i.e., $O(\sqrt{2}^{t} \cdot n^{1-(1/\beta)})$, where $\beta = 2^{\lceil (t-2)/2 \rceil }$. Previously, the bend complexity was not known to be sublinear for $t>2$. Finally, we show that graphs with linear arboricity $k$ can be drawn on $k$ layers with bend complexity $\frac{3(k-1)n}{(4k-2)}$.Comment: A preliminary version appeared at the 43rd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages and Programming (ICALP 2016

An exponential bound for simultaneous embeddings of planar graphs

We show that there are $O(n \cdot 4^{n/11})$ planar graphs on $n$ vertices which do not admit a simultaneous straight-line embedding on any $n$-point set in the plane. In particular, this improves the best known bound $O(n!)$ significantly.Comment: 4 figures, 8 page

Hierarchical Partial Planarity

In this paper we consider graphs whose edges are associated with a degree of {\em importance}, which may depend on the type of connections they represent or on how recently they appeared in the scene, in a streaming setting. The goal is to construct layouts of these graphs in which the readability of an edge is proportional to its importance, that is, more important edges have fewer crossings. We formalize this problem and study the case in which there exist three different degrees of importance. We give a polynomial-time testing algorithm when the graph induced by the two most important sets of edges is biconnected. We also discuss interesting relationships with other constrained-planarity problems.Comment: Conference version appeared in WG201