Cartesian product of hypergraphs: properties and algorithms

Cartesian products of graphs have been studied extensively since the 1960s. They make it possible to decrease the algorithmic complexity of problems by using the factorization of the product. Hypergraphs were introduced as a generalization of graphs and the definition of Cartesian products extends naturally to them. In this paper, we give new properties and algorithms concerning coloring aspects of Cartesian products of hypergraphs. We also extend a classical prime factorization algorithm initially designed for graphs to connected conformal hypergraphs using 2-sections of hypergraphs

The Cartesian product of graphs with loops

We extend the definition of the Cartesian product to graphs with loops and show that the Sabidussi-Vizing unique factorization theorem for connected finite simple graphs still holds in this context for all connected finite graphs with at least one unlooped vertex. We also prove that this factorization can be computed in O(m) time, where m is the number of edges of the given graph.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figur

Fast Recognition of Partial Star Products and Quasi Cartesian Products

This paper is concerned with the fast computation of a relation $\R$ on the edge set of connected graphs that plays a decisive role in the recognition of approximate Cartesian products, the weak reconstruction of Cartesian products, and the recognition of Cartesian graph bundles with a triangle free basis. A special case of $\R$ is the relation $\delta^\ast$, whose convex closure yields the product relation $\sigma$ that induces the prime factor decomposition of connected graphs with respect to the Cartesian product. For the construction of $\R$ so-called Partial Star Products are of particular interest. Several special data structures are used that allow to compute Partial Star Products in constant time. These computations are tuned to the recognition of approximate graph products, but also lead to a linear time algorithm for the computation of $\delta^\ast$ for graphs with maximum bounded degree. Furthermore, we define \emph{quasi Cartesian products} as graphs with non-trivial $\delta^\ast$. We provide several examples, and show that quasi Cartesian products can be recognized in linear time for graphs with bounded maximum degree. Finally, we note that quasi products can be recognized in sublinear time with a parallelized algorithm

On the Complexity of Recognizing S-composite and S-prime Graphs

S-prime graphs are graphs that cannot be represented as nontrivial subgraphs of nontrivial Cartesian products of graphs, i.e., whenever it is a subgraph of a nontrivial Cartesian product graph it is a subgraph of one the factors. A graph is S-composite if it is not S-prime. Although linear time recognition algorithms for determining whether a graph is prime or not with respect to the Cartesian product are known, it remained unknown if a similar result holds also for the recognition of S-prime and S-composite graphs. In this contribution the computational complexity of recognizing S-composite and S-prime graphs is considered. Klav{\v{z}}ar \emph{et al.} [\emph{Discr.\ Math.} \textbf{244}: 223-230 (2002)] proved that a graph is S-composite if and only if it admits a nontrivial path-$k$-coloring. The problem of determining whether there exists a path-$k$-coloring for a given graph is shown to be NP-complete even for $k=2$. This in turn is utilized to show that determining whether a graph is S-composite is NP-complete and thus, determining whether a graph is S-prime is CoNP-complete. Many other problems are shown to be NP-hard, using the latter results