On the Design, Analysis, and Implementation of Algorithms for Selected Problems in Graphs and Networks

This thesis studies three problems in network optimization, viz., the minimum spanning tree verification (MSTV) problem, the undirected negative cost cycle detection (UNCCD) problem, and the negative cost girth (NCG) problem. These problems find applications in several domains including program verification, proof theory, real-time scheduling, social networking, and operations research.;The MSTV problem is defined as follows: Given an undirected graph G = (V,E) and a spanning tree T, is T a minimum spanning tree of G? We focus on the case where the number of distinct edge weights is bounded. Using a bucketed data structure to organize the edge weights, we present an efficient algorithm for the MSTV problem, which runs in O (| E| + |V| · K) time, where K is the number of distinct edge weights. When K is a fixed constant, this algorithm runs in linear time. We also profile our MSTV algorithm with the current fastest known MSTV implementation. Our results demonstrate the superiority of our algorithm when K ≤ 24.;The UNCCD problem is defined as follows: Given an undirected graph G = (V,E) with arbitrarily weighted edges, does G contain a negative cost cycle? We discuss two polynomial time algorithms for solving the UNCCD problem: the b-matching approach and the T-join approach. We obtain new results for the case where the edge costs are integers in the range {lcub}--K ·· K{rcub}, where K is a positive constant. We also provide the first extensive empirical study that profiles the discussed UNCCD algorithms for various graph types, sizes, and experiments.;The NCG problem is defined as follows: Given a directed graph G = (V,E) with arbitrarily weighted edges, find the length, or number of edges, of the negative cost cycle having the least number of edges. We discuss three strongly polynomial NCG algorithms. The first NCG algorithm is known as the matrix multiplication approach in the literature. We present two new NCG algorithms that are asymptotically and empirically superior to the matrix multiplication approach for sparse graphs. We also provide a parallel implementation of the matrix multiplication approach that runs in polylogarithmic parallel time using a polynomial number of processors. We include an implementation profile to demonstrate the efficiency of the parallel implementation as we increase the graph size and number of processors. We also present an NCG algorithm for planar graphs that is asymptotically faster than the fastest topology-oblivious algorithm when restricted to planar graphs

A Homologically Persistent Skeleton is a fast and robust descriptor of interest points in 2D images

2D images often contain irregular salient features and interest points with non-integer coordinates. Our skeletonization problem for such a noisy sparse cloud is to summarize the topology of a given 2D cloud across all scales in the form of a graph, which can be used for combining local features into a more powerful object-wide descriptor. We extend a classical Minimum Spanning Tree of a cloud to a Homologically Persistent Skeleton, which is scale-and-rotation invariant and depends only on the cloud without extra parameters. This graph (1) is computable in time O(nlogn) for any n points in the plane; (2) has the minimum total length among all graphs that span a 2D cloud at any scale and also have most persistent 1-dimensional cycles; (3) is geometrically stable for noisy samples around planar graphs

On Minimum Average Stretch Spanning Trees in Polygonal 2-trees

A spanning tree of an unweighted graph is a minimum average stretch spanning tree if it minimizes the ratio of sum of the distances in the tree between the end vertices of the graph edges and the number of graph edges. We consider the problem of computing a minimum average stretch spanning tree in polygonal 2-trees, a super class of 2-connected outerplanar graphs. For a polygonal 2-tree on $n$ vertices, we present an algorithm to compute a minimum average stretch spanning tree in $O(n \log n)$ time. This algorithm also finds a minimum fundamental cycle basis in polygonal 2-trees.Comment: 17 pages, 12 figure

Bidimensionality and EPTAS

Bidimensionality theory is a powerful framework for the development of metaalgorithmic techniques. It was introduced by Demaine et al. as a tool to obtain sub-exponential time parameterized algorithms for problems on H-minor free graphs. Demaine and Hajiaghayi extended the theory to obtain PTASs for bidimensional problems, and subsequently improved these results to EPTASs. Fomin et. al related the theory to the existence of linear kernels for parameterized problems. In this paper we revisit bidimensionality theory from the perspective of approximation algorithms and redesign the framework for obtaining EPTASs to be more powerful, easier to apply and easier to understand. Two of the most widely used approaches to obtain PTASs on planar graphs are the Lipton-Tarjan separator based approach, and Baker's approach. Demaine and Hajiaghayi strengthened both approaches using bidimensionality and obtained EPTASs for a multitude of problems. We unify the two strenghtened approaches to combine the best of both worlds. At the heart of our framework is a decomposition lemma which states that for "most" bidimensional problems, there is a polynomial time algorithm which given an H-minor-free graph G as input and an e > 0 outputs a vertex set X of size e * OPT such that the treewidth of G n X is f(e). Here, OPT is the objective function value of the problem in question and f is a function depending only on e. This allows us to obtain EPTASs on (apex)-minor-free graphs for all problems covered by the previous framework, as well as for a wide range of packing problems, partial covering problems and problems that are neither closed under taking minors, nor contractions. To the best of our knowledge for many of these problems including cycle packing, vertex-h-packing, maximum leaf spanning tree, and partial r-dominating set no EPTASs on planar graphs were previously known

The Power of Dynamic Distance Oracles: Efficient Dynamic Algorithms for the Steiner Tree

In this paper we study the Steiner tree problem over a dynamic set of terminals. We consider the model where we are given an $n$-vertex graph $G=(V,E,w)$ with positive real edge weights, and our goal is to maintain a tree which is a good approximation of the minimum Steiner tree spanning a terminal set $S \subseteq V$, which changes over time. The changes applied to the terminal set are either terminal additions (incremental scenario), terminal removals (decremental scenario), or both (fully dynamic scenario). Our task here is twofold. We want to support updates in sublinear $o(n)$ time, and keep the approximation factor of the algorithm as small as possible. We show that we can maintain a $(6+\varepsilon)$-approximate Steiner tree of a general graph in $\tilde{O}(\sqrt{n} \log D)$ time per terminal addition or removal. Here, $D$ denotes the stretch of the metric induced by $G$. For planar graphs we achieve the same running time and the approximation ratio of $(2+\varepsilon)$. Moreover, we show faster algorithms for incremental and decremental scenarios. Finally, we show that if we allow higher approximation ratio, even more efficient algorithms are possible. In particular we show a polylogarithmic time $(4+\varepsilon)$-approximate algorithm for planar graphs. One of the main building blocks of our algorithms are dynamic distance oracles for vertex-labeled graphs, which are of independent interest. We also improve and use the online algorithms for the Steiner tree problem.Comment: Full version of the paper accepted to STOC'1