Reconstructing a Simple Polytope from its Graph

Blind and Mani (1987) proved that the entire combinatorial structure (the vertex-facet incidences) of a simple convex polytope is determined by its abstract graph. Their proof is not constructive. Kalai (1988) found a short, elegant, and algorithmic proof of that result. However, his algorithm has always exponential running time. We show that the problem to reconstruct the vertex-facet incidences of a simple polytope P from its graph can be formulated as a combinatorial optimization problem that is strongly dual to the problem of finding an abstract objective function on P (i.e., a shelling order of the facets of the dual polytope of P). Thereby, we derive polynomial certificates for both the vertex-facet incidences as well as for the abstract objective functions in terms of the graph of P. The paper is a variation on joint work with Michael Joswig and Friederike Koerner (2001).Comment: 14 page

Fractional Perfect b-Matching Polytopes. I: General Theory

The fractional perfect b-matching polytope of an undirected graph G is the polytope of all assignments of nonnegative real numbers to the edges of G such that the sum of the numbers over all edges incident to any vertex v is a prescribed nonnegative number b_v. General theorems which provide conditions for nonemptiness, give a formula for the dimension, and characterize the vertices, edges and face lattices of such polytopes are obtained. Many of these results are expressed in terms of certain spanning subgraphs of G which are associated with subsets or elements of the polytope. For example, it is shown that an element u of the fractional perfect b-matching polytope of G is a vertex of the polytope if and only if each component of the graph of u either is acyclic or else contains exactly one cycle with that cycle having odd length, where the graph of u is defined to be the spanning subgraph of G whose edges are those at which u is positive.Comment: 37 page

Acyclic orientations with path constraints

Many well-known combinatorial optimization problems can be stated over the set of acyclic orientations of an undirected graph. For example, acyclic orientations with certain diameter constraints are closely related to the optimal solutions of the vertex coloring and frequency assignment problems. In this paper we introduce a linear programming formulation of acyclic orientations with path constraints, and discuss its use in the solution of the vertex coloring problem and some versions of the frequency assignment problem. A study of the polytope associated with the formulation is presented, including proofs of which constraints of the formulation are facet-defining and the introduction of new classes of valid inequalities

Weighted graphs defining facets: a connection between stable set and linear ordering polytopes

A graph is alpha-critical if its stability number increases whenever an edge is removed from its edge set. The class of alpha-critical graphs has several nice structural properties, most of them related to their defect which is the number of vertices minus two times the stability number. In particular, a remarkable result of Lov\'asz (1978) is the finite basis theorem for alpha-critical graphs of a fixed defect. The class of alpha-critical graphs is also of interest for at least two topics of polyhedral studies. First, Chv\'atal (1975) shows that each alpha-critical graph induces a rank inequality which is facet-defining for its stable set polytope. Investigating a weighted generalization, Lipt\'ak and Lov\'asz (2000, 2001) introduce critical facet-graphs (which again produce facet-defining inequalities for their stable set polytopes) and they establish a finite basis theorem. Second, Koppen (1995) describes a construction that delivers from any alpha-critical graph a facet-defining inequality for the linear ordering polytope. Doignon, Fiorini and Joret (2006) handle the weighted case and thus define facet-defining graphs. Here we investigate relationships between the two weighted generalizations of alpha-critical graphs. We show that facet-defining graphs (for the linear ordering polytope) are obtainable from 1-critical facet-graphs (linked with stable set polytopes). We then use this connection to derive various results on facet-defining graphs, the most prominent one being derived from Lipt\'ak and Lov\'asz's finite basis theorem for critical facet-graphs. At the end of the paper we offer an alternative proof of Lov\'asz's finite basis theorem for alpha-critical graphs