217 research outputs found
On the (non-)existence of polynomial kernels for Pl-free edge modification problems
Given a graph G = (V,E) and an integer k, an edge modification problem for a
graph property P consists in deciding whether there exists a set of edges F of
size at most k such that the graph H = (V,E \vartriangle F) satisfies the
property P. In the P edge-completion problem, the set F of edges is constrained
to be disjoint from E; in the P edge-deletion problem, F is a subset of E; no
constraint is imposed on F in the P edge-edition problem. A number of
optimization problems can be expressed in terms of graph modification problems
which have been extensively studied in the context of parameterized complexity.
When parameterized by the size k of the edge set F, it has been proved that if
P is an hereditary property characterized by a finite set of forbidden induced
subgraphs, then the three P edge-modification problems are FPT. It was then
natural to ask whether these problems also admit a polynomial size kernel.
Using recent lower bound techniques, Kratsch and Wahlstrom answered this
question negatively. However, the problem remains open on many natural graph
classes characterized by forbidden induced subgraphs. Kratsch and Wahlstrom
asked whether the result holds when the forbidden subgraphs are paths or cycles
and pointed out that the problem is already open in the case of P4-free graphs
(i.e. cographs). This paper provides positive and negative results in that line
of research. We prove that parameterized cograph edge modification problems
have cubic vertex kernels whereas polynomial kernels are unlikely to exist for
the Pl-free and Cl-free edge-deletion problems for large enough l
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