2,149 research outputs found
A combinatorial approach to knot recognition
This is a report on our ongoing research on a combinatorial approach to knot
recognition, using coloring of knots by certain algebraic objects called
quandles. The aim of the paper is to summarize the mathematical theory of knot
coloring in a compact, accessible manner, and to show how to use it for
computational purposes. In particular, we address how to determine colorability
of a knot, and propose to use SAT solving to search for colorings. The
computational complexity of the problem, both in theory and in our
implementation, is discussed. In the last part, we explain how coloring can be
utilized in knot recognition
Recognising Multidimensional Euclidean Preferences
Euclidean preferences are a widely studied preference model, in which
decision makers and alternatives are embedded in d-dimensional Euclidean space.
Decision makers prefer those alternatives closer to them. This model, also
known as multidimensional unfolding, has applications in economics,
psychometrics, marketing, and many other fields. We study the problem of
deciding whether a given preference profile is d-Euclidean. For the
one-dimensional case, polynomial-time algorithms are known. We show that, in
contrast, for every other fixed dimension d > 1, the recognition problem is
equivalent to the existential theory of the reals (ETR), and so in particular
NP-hard. We further show that some Euclidean preference profiles require
exponentially many bits in order to specify any Euclidean embedding, and prove
that the domain of d-Euclidean preferences does not admit a finite forbidden
minor characterisation for any d > 1. We also study dichotomous preferencesand
the behaviour of other metrics, and survey a variety of related work.Comment: 17 page
On the pseudolinear crossing number
A drawing of a graph is {\em pseudolinear} if there is a pseudoline
arrangement such that each pseudoline contains exactly one edge of the drawing.
The {\em pseudolinear crossing number} of a graph is the minimum number of
pairwise crossings of edges in a pseudolinear drawing of . We establish
several facts on the pseudolinear crossing number, including its computational
complexity and its relationship to the usual crossing number and to the
rectilinear crossing number. This investigation was motivated by open questions
and issues raised by Marcus Schaefer in his comprehensive survey of the many
variants of the crossing number of a graph.Comment: 12 page
Exact Distance Oracles for Planar Graphs
We present new and improved data structures that answer exact node-to-node
distance queries in planar graphs. Such data structures are also known as
distance oracles. For any directed planar graph on n nodes with non-negative
lengths we obtain the following:
* Given a desired space allocation , we show how to
construct in time a data structure of size that answers
distance queries in time per query.
As a consequence, we obtain an improvement over the fastest algorithm for
k-many distances in planar graphs whenever .
* We provide a linear-space exact distance oracle for planar graphs with
query time for any constant eps>0. This is the first such data
structure with provable sublinear query time.
* For edge lengths at least one, we provide an exact distance oracle of space
such that for any pair of nodes at distance D the query time is
. Comparable query performance had been observed
experimentally but has never been explained theoretically.
Our data structures are based on the following new tool: given a
non-self-crossing cycle C with nodes, we can preprocess G in
time to produce a data structure of size that can
answer the following queries in time: for a query node u, output
the distance from u to all the nodes of C. This data structure builds on and
extends a related data structure of Klein (SODA'05), which reports distances to
the boundary of a face, rather than a cycle.
The best distance oracles for planar graphs until the current work are due to
Cabello (SODA'06), Djidjev (WG'96), and Fakcharoenphol and Rao (FOCS'01). For
and space , we essentially improve the query
time from to .Comment: To appear in the proceedings of the 23rd ACM-SIAM Symposium on
Discrete Algorithms, SODA 201
The Complexity of Simultaneous Geometric Graph Embedding
Given a collection of planar graphs on the same set of
vertices, the simultaneous geometric embedding (with mapping) problem, or
simply -SGE, is to find a set of points in the plane and a bijection
such that the induced straight-line drawings of
under 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 , the existential theory of the
reals. Hence the problem -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
-SGE, with the property that both numbers and are linear in the
number of pseudolines. This implies not only the -hardness
result, but also a 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
Toward the Rectilinear Crossing Number of : New Drawings, Upper Bounds, and Asymptotics
Scheinerman and Wilf (1994) assert that `an important open problem in the
study of graph embeddings is to determine the rectilinear crossing number of
the complete graph K_n.' A rectilinear drawing of K_n is an arrangement of n
vertices in the plane, every pair of which is connected by an edge that is a
line segment. We assume that no three vertices are collinear, and that no three
edges intersect in a point unless that point is an endpoint of all three. The
rectilinear crossing number of K_n is the fewest number of edge crossings
attainable over all rectilinear drawings of K_n.
For each n we construct a rectilinear drawing of K_n that has the fewest
number of edge crossings and the best asymptotics known to date. Moreover, we
give some alternative infinite families of drawings of K_n with good
asymptotics. Finally, we mention some old and new open problems.Comment: 13 Page
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