87 research outputs found
The Strong Perfect Graph Conjecture: 40 years of Attempts, and its Resolution
International audienceThe Strong Perfect Graph Conjecture (SPGC) was certainly one of the most challenging conjectures in graph theory. During more than four decades, numerous attempts were made to solve it, by combinatorial methods, by linear algebraic methods, or by polyhedral methods. The first of these three approaches yielded the first (and to date only) proof of the SPGC; the other two remain promising to consider in attempting an alternative proof. This paper is an unbalanced survey of the attempts to solve the SPGC; unbalanced, because (1) we devote a signicant part of it to the 'primitive graphs and structural faults' paradigm which led to the Strong Perfect Graph Theorem (SPGT); (2) we briefly present the other "direct" attempts, that is, the ones for which results exist showing one (possible) way to the proof; (3) we ignore entirely the "indirect" approaches whose aim was to get more information about the properties and structure of perfect graphs, without a direct impact on the SPGC. Our aim in this paper is to trace the path that led to the proof of the SPGT as completely as possible. Of course, this implies large overlaps with the recent book on perfect graphs [J.L. Ramirez-Alfonsin and B.A. Reed, eds., Perfect Graphs (Wiley & Sons, 2001).], but it also implies a deeper analysis (with additional results) and another viewpoint on the topic
Topics in graph colouring and extremal graph theory
In this thesis we consider three problems related to colourings of graphs and one problem in extremal graph theory. Let be a connected graph with vertices and maximum degree . Let denote the graph with vertex set all proper -colourings of and two -colourings are joined by an edge if they differ on the colour of exactly one vertex.
Our first main result states that has a unique non-trivial component with diameter . This result can be viewed as a reconfigurations analogue of Brooks' Theorem and completes the study of reconfigurations of colourings of graphs with bounded maximum degree.
A Kempe change is the operation of swapping some colours , of a component of the subgraph induced by vertices with colour or . Two colourings are Kempe equivalent if one can be obtained from the other by a sequence of Kempe changes. Our second main result states that all -colourings of a graph are Kempe equivalent unless is the complete graph or the triangular prism. This settles a conjecture of Mohar (2007).
Motivated by finding an algorithmic version of a structure theorem for bull-free graphs due to Chudnovsky (2012), we consider the computational complexity of deciding if the vertices of a graph can be partitioned into two parts such that one part is triangle-free and the other part is a collection of complete graphs. We show that this problem is NP-complete when restricted to five classes of graphs (including bull-free graphs) while polynomial-time solvable for the class of cographs.
Finally we consider a graph-theoretic version formulated by Holroyd, Spencer and Talbot (2007) of the famous Erd\H{o}s-Ko-Rado Theorem in extremal combinatorics and obtain some results for the class of trees
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Graph Theory
Highlights of this workshop on structural graph theory included new developments on graph and matroid minors, continuous structures arising as limits of finite graphs, and new approaches to higher graph connectivity via tree structures
Communities of Minima in Local Optima Networks of Combinatorial Spaces
In this work we present a new methodology to study the structure of the
configuration spaces of hard combinatorial problems. It consists in building
the network that has as nodes the locally optimal configurations and as edges
the weighted oriented transitions between their basins of attraction. We apply
the approach to the detection of communities in the optima networks produced by
two different classes of instances of a hard combinatorial optimization
problem: the quadratic assignment problem (QAP). We provide evidence indicating
that the two problem instance classes give rise to very different configuration
spaces. For the so-called real-like class, the networks possess a clear modular
structure, while the optima networks belonging to the class of random uniform
instances are less well partitionable into clusters. This is convincingly
supported by using several statistical tests. Finally, we shortly discuss the
consequences of the findings for heuristically searching the corresponding
problem spaces
Propriétés géométriques du nombre chromatique : polyèdres, structures et algorithmes
Computing the chromatic number and finding an optimal coloring of a perfect graph can be done efficiently, whereas it is an NP-hard problem in general. Furthermore, testing perfection can be carried- out in polynomial-time. Perfect graphs are characterized by a minimal structure of their sta- ble set polytope: the non-trivial facets are defined by clique-inequalities only. Conversely, does a similar facet-structure for the stable set polytope imply nice combinatorial and algorithmic properties of the graph ? A graph is h-perfect if its stable set polytope is completely de- scribed by non-negativity, clique and odd-circuit inequalities. Statements analogous to the results on perfection are far from being understood for h-perfection, and negative results are missing. For ex- ample, testing h-perfection and determining the chromatic number of an h-perfect graph are unsolved. Besides, no upper bound is known on the gap between the chromatic and clique numbers of an h-perfect graph. Our first main result states that the operations of t-minors keep h- perfection (this is a non-trivial extension of a result of Gerards and Shepherd on t-perfect graphs). We show that it also keeps the Integer Decomposition Property of the stable set polytope, and use this to answer a question of Shepherd on 3-colorable h-perfect graphs in the negative. The study of minimally h-imperfect graphs with respect to t-minors may yield a combinatorial co-NP characterization of h-perfection. We review the currently known examples of such graphs, study their stable set polytope and state several conjectures on their structure. On the other hand, we show that the (weighted) chromatic number of certain h-perfect graphs can be obtained efficiently by rounding-up its fractional relaxation. This is related to conjectures of Goldberg and Seymour on edge-colorings. Finally, we introduce a new parameter on the complexity of the matching polytope and use it to give an efficient and elementary al- gorithm for testing h-perfection in line-graphs.Le calcul du nombre chromatique et la détermination d'une colo- ration optimale des sommets d'un graphe sont des problèmes NP- difficiles en général. Ils peuvent cependant être résolus en temps po- lynomial dans les graphes parfaits. Par ailleurs, la perfection d'un graphe peut être décidée efficacement. Les graphes parfaits sont caractérisés par la structure de leur poly- tope des stables : les facettes non-triviales sont définies exclusivement par des inégalités de cliques. Réciproquement, une structure similaire des facettes du polytope des stables détermine-t-elle des propriétés combinatoires et algorithmiques intéressantes? Un graphe est h-parfait si les facettes non-triviales de son polytope des stables sont définies par des inégalités de cliques et de circuits impairs. On ne connaît que peu de résultats analogues au cas des graphes parfaits pour la h-perfection, et on ne sait pas si les problèmes sont NP-difficiles. Par exemple, les complexités algorithmiques de la re- connaissance des graphes h-parfaits et du calcul de leur nombre chro- matique sont toujours ouvertes. Par ailleurs, on ne dispose pas de borne sur la différence entre le nombre chromatique et la taille maxi- mum d'une clique d'un graphe h-parfait. Dans cette thèse, nous montrons tout d'abord que les opérations de t-mineurs conservent la h-perfection (ce qui fournit une extension non triviale d'un résultat de Gerards et Shepherd pour la t-perfection). De plus, nous prouvons qu'elles préservent la propriété de décompo- sition entière du polytope des stables. Nous utilisons ce résultat pour répondre négativement à une question de Shepherd sur les graphes h-parfaits 3-colorables. L'étude des graphes minimalement h-imparfaits (relativement aux t-mineurs) est liée à la recherche d'une caractérisation co-NP com- binatoire de la h-perfection. Nous faisons l'inventaire des exemples connus de tels graphes, donnons une description de leur polytope des stables et énonçons plusieurs conjectures à leur propos. D'autre part, nous montrons que le nombre chromatique (pondéré) de certains graphes h-parfaits peut être obtenu efficacement en ar- rondissant sa relaxation fractionnaire à l'entier supérieur. Ce résultat implique notamment un nouveau cas d'une conjecture de Goldberg et Seymour sur la coloration d'arêtes. Enfin, nous présentons un nouveau paramètre de graphe associé aux facettes du polytope des couplages et l'utilisons pour donner un algorithme simple et efficace de reconnaissance des graphes h- parfaits dans la classe des graphes adjoints
Rees algebras, Monomial Subrings and Linear Optimization Problems
In this thesis we are interested in studying algebraic properties of monomial
algebras, that can be linked to combinatorial structures, such as graphs and
clutters, and to optimization problems. A goal here is to establish bridges
between commutative algebra, combinatorics and optimization. We study the
normality and the Gorenstein property-as well as the canonical module and the
a-invariant-of Rees algebras and subrings arising from linear optimization
problems. In particular, we study algebraic properties of edge ideals and
algebras associated to uniform clutters with the max-flow min-cut property or
the packing property. We also study algebraic properties of symbolic Rees
algebras of edge ideals of graphs, edge ideals of clique clutters of
comparability graphs, and Stanley-Reisner rings.Comment: PhD thesis, Cinvestav-IPN, June 201
Simplified Distributed Programming with Micro Objects
Developing large-scale distributed applications can be a daunting task.
object-based environments have attempted to alleviate problems by providing
distributed objects that look like local objects. We advocate that this
approach has actually only made matters worse, as the developer needs to be
aware of many intricate internal details in order to adequately handle partial
failures. The result is an increase of application complexity. We present an
alternative in which distribution transparency is lessened in favor of clearer
semantics. In particular, we argue that a developer should always be offered
the unambiguous semantics of local objects, and that distribution comes from
copying those objects to where they are needed. We claim that it is often
sufficient to provide only small, immutable objects, along with facilities to
group objects into clusters.Comment: In Proceedings FOCLASA 2010, arXiv:1007.499
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Geometric, Algebraic, and Topological Combinatorics
The 2019 Oberwolfach meeting "Geometric, Algebraic and Topological Combinatorics"
was organized by Gil Kalai (Jerusalem), Isabella Novik (Seattle),
Francisco Santos (Santander), and Volkmar Welker (Marburg). It covered
a wide variety of aspects of Discrete Geometry, Algebraic Combinatorics
with geometric flavor, and Topological Combinatorics. Some of the
highlights of the conference included (1) Karim Adiprasito presented his
very recent proof of the -conjecture for spheres (as a talk and as a "Q\&A"
evening session) (2) Federico Ardila gave an overview on "The geometry of matroids",
including his recent extension with Denham and Huh of previous work of Adiprasito, Huh and Katz
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