Equistarable graphs and counterexamples to three conjectures on equistable graphs

Equistable graphs are graphs admitting positive weights on vertices such that a subset of vertices is a maximal stable set if and only if it is of total weight $1$. In $1994$, Mahadev et al.~introduced a subclass of equistable graphs, called strongly equistable graphs, as graphs such that for every $c \le 1$ and every non-empty subset $T$ of vertices that is not a maximal stable set, there exist positive vertex weights such that every maximal stable set is of total weight $1$ and the total weight of $T$ does not equal $c$. Mahadev et al. conjectured that every equistable graph is strongly equistable. General partition graphs are the intersection graphs of set systems over a finite ground set $U$ such that every maximal stable set of the graph corresponds to a partition of $U$. In $2009$, Orlin proved that every general partition graph is equistable, and conjectured that the converse holds as well. Orlin's conjecture, if true, would imply the conjecture due to Mahadev, Peled, and Sun. An intermediate conjecture, one that would follow from Orlin's conjecture and would imply the conjecture by Mahadev, Peled, and Sun, was posed by Miklavi\v{c} and Milani\v{c} in $2011$, and states that every equistable graph has a clique intersecting all maximal stable sets. The above conjectures have been verified for several graph classes. We introduce the notion of equistarable graphs and based on it construct counterexamples to all three conjectures within the class of complements of line graphs of triangle-free graphs

Total Domishold Graphs: a Generalization of Threshold Graphs, with Connections to Threshold Hypergraphs

A total dominating set in a graph is a set of vertices such that every vertex of the graph has a neighbor in the set. We introduce and study graphs that admit non-negative real weights associated to their vertices such that a set of vertices is a total dominating set if and only if the sum of the corresponding weights exceeds a certain threshold. We show that these graphs, which we call total domishold graphs, form a non-hereditary class of graphs properly containing the classes of threshold graphs and the complements of domishold graphs, and are closely related to threshold Boolean functions and threshold hypergraphs. We present a polynomial time recognition algorithm of total domishold graphs, and characterize graphs in which the above property holds in a hereditary sense. Our characterization is obtained by studying a new family of hypergraphs, defined similarly as the Sperner hypergraphs, which may be of independent interest.Comment: 19 pages, 1 figur

Strong cliques and equistability of EPT graphs

In this paper, we characterize the equistable graphs within the class of EPT graphs, the edge-intersection graphs of paths in a tree. This result generalizes a previously known characterization of equistable line graphs. Our approach is based on the combinatorial features of triangle graphs and general partition graphs. We also show that, in EPT graphs, testing whether a given clique is strong is co-NP-complete. We obtain this hardness result by first showing hardness of the problem of determining whether a given graph has a maximal matching disjoint from a given edge cut. As a positive result, we prove that the problem of testing whether a given clique is strong is polynomial in the class of local EPT graphs, which are defined as the edge intersection graphs of paths in a star and are known to coincide with the line graphs of multigraphs.Facultad de Ciencias ExactasConsejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnica

Decomposing 1-Sperner hypergraphs

A hypergraph is Sperner if no hyperedge contains another one. A Sperner hypergraph is equilizable (resp., threshold) if the characteristic vectors of its hyperedges are the (minimal) binary solutions to a linear equation (resp., inequality) with positive coefficients. These combinatorial notions have many applications and are motivated by the theory of Boolean functions and integer programming. We introduce in this paper the class of $1$-Sperner hypergraphs, defined by the property that for every two hyperedges the smallest of their two set differences is of size one. We characterize this class of Sperner hypergraphs by a decomposition theorem and derive several consequences from it. In particular, we obtain bounds on the size of $1$-Sperner hypergraphs and their transversal hypergraphs, show that the characteristic vectors of the hyperedges are linearly independent over the reals, and prove that $1$-Sperner hypergraphs are both threshold and equilizable. The study of $1$-Sperner hypergraphs is motivated also by their applications in graph theory, which we present in a companion paper

Complexity Results for Equistable Graphs and Related Classes

The class of equistable graphs is defined by the existence of a cost structure on the vertices such that the maximal stable sets are characterized by their costs. This graph class, not contained in any nontrivial hereditary class, has so far been studied mostly from a structural point of view; characterizations and polynomial time recognition algorithms have been obtained for special cases. We focus on complexity issues for equistable graphs and related classes. We describe a simple pseudo-polynomial-time dynamic programming algorithm to solve the maximum weight stable set problem along with the weighted independent domination problem in some classes of graphs, including equistable graphs. Our results are obtained within the wider context of Boolean optimization; corresponding hardness results are also provided. More specifically, we show that the above problems are APX-hard for equistable graphs and that it is co-NP-complete to determine whether a given cost function on the vertices of a graph defines an equistable cost structure of that graph.Germany. Federal Ministry of Education and ResearchAlexander von Humboldt-Stiftung (Sofja Kovalevskaja Award 2004

Strong cliques and equistability of EPT graphs

In this paper, we characterize the equistable graphs within the class of EPT graphs, the edge-intersection graphs of paths in a tree. This result generalizes a previously known characterization of equistable line graphs. Our approach is based on the combinatorial features of triangle graphs and general partition graphs. We also show that, in EPT graphs, testing whether a given clique is strong is co-NP-complete. We obtain this hardness result by first showing hardness of the problem of determining whether a given graph has a maximal matching disjoint from a given edge cut. As a positive result, we prove that the problem of testing whether a given clique is strong is polynomial in the class of local EPT graphs, which are defined as the edge intersection graphs of paths in a star and are known to coincide with the line graphs of multigraphs.Facultad de Ciencias ExactasConsejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnica