K3K_3-WORM colorings of graphs: Lower chromatic number and gaps in the chromatic spectrum

A $K_3$-WORM coloring of a graph $G$ is an assignment of colors to the vertices in such a way that the vertices of each $K_3$-subgraph of $G$ get precisely two colors. We study graphs $G$ which admit at least one such coloring. We disprove a conjecture of Goddard et al. [Congr. Numer., 219 (2014) 161--173] who asked whether every such graph has a $K_3$-WORM coloring with two colors. In fact for every integer $k\ge 3$ there exists a $K_3$-WORM colorable graph in which the minimum number of colors is exactly $k$. There also exist $K_3$-WORM colorable graphs which have a $K_3$-WORM coloring with two colors and also with $k$ colors but no coloring with any of $3,\dots,k-1$ colors. We also prove that it is NP-hard to determine the minimum number of colors and NP-complete to decide $k$-colorability for every $k \ge 2$ (and remains intractable even for graphs of maximum degree 9 if $k=3$). On the other hand, we prove positive results for $d$-degenerate graphs with small $d$, also including planar graphs. Moreover we point out a fundamental connection with the theory of the colorings of mixed hypergraphs. We list many open problems at the end.Comment: 18 page

Parameterized Complexity of Simultaneous Planarity

Given $k$ input graphs $G_1, \dots ,G_k$, where each pair $G_i$, $G_j$ with $i \neq j$ shares the same graph $G$, the problem Simultaneous Embedding With Fixed Edges (SEFE) asks whether there exists a planar drawing for each input graph such that all drawings coincide on $G$. While SEFE is still open for the case of two input graphs, the problem is NP-complete for $k \geq 3$ [Schaefer, JGAA 13]. In this work, we explore the parameterized complexity of SEFE. We show that SEFE is FPT with respect to $k$ plus the vertex cover number or the feedback edge set number of the the union graph $G^\cup = G_1 \cup \dots \cup G_k$. Regarding the shared graph $G$, we show that SEFE is NP-complete, even if $G$ is a tree with maximum degree 4. Together with a known NP-hardness reduction [Angelini et al., TCS 15], this allows us to conclude that several parameters of $G$, including the maximum degree, the maximum number of degree-1 neighbors, the vertex cover number, and the number of cutvertices are intractable. We also settle the tractability of all pairs of these parameters. We give FPT algorithms for the vertex cover number plus either of the first two parameters and for the number of cutvertices plus the maximum degree, whereas we prove all remaining combinations to be intractable.Comment: Appears in the Proceedings of the 31st International Symposium on Graph Drawing and Network Visualization (GD 2023

On the Complexity of Two Dots for Narrow Boards and Few Colors

Two Dots is a popular single-player puzzle video game for iOS and Android. A level of this game consists of a grid of colored dots. The player connects two or more adjacent dots, removing them from the grid and causing the remaining dots to fall, as if influenced by gravity. One special move, which is frequently a game-changer, consists of connecting a cycle of dots: this removes all the dots of the given color from the grid. The goal is to remove a certain number of dots of each color using a limited number of moves. The computational complexity of Two Dots has already been addressed in [Misra, FUN 2016], where it has been shown that the general version of the problem is NP-complete. Unfortunately, the known reductions produce Two Dots levels having both a large number of colors and many columns. This does not completely match the spirit of the game, where, on the one hand, only few colors are allowed, and on the other hand, the grid of the game has only a constant number of columns. In this paper, we partially fill this gap by assessing the computational complexity of Two Dots instances having a small number of colors or columns. More precisely, we show that Two Dots is hard even for instances involving only 3 colors or 2 columns. As a contrast, we also prove that the problem can be solved in polynomial-time on single-column instances with a constant number of goals

Strings-and-Coins and Nimstring are PSPACE-complete

We prove that Strings-and-Coins -- the combinatorial two-player game generalizing the dual of Dots-and-Boxes -- is strongly PSPACE-complete on multigraphs. This result improves the best previous result, NP-hardness, argued in Winning Ways. Our result also applies to the Nimstring variant, where the winner is determined by normal play; indeed, one step in our reduction is the standard reduction (also from Winning Ways) from Nimstring to Strings-and-Coins.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures. Improved wording and figures; cite arXiv:2105.0283

Global offensive kk-alliances in digraphs

In this paper, we initiate the study of global offensive $k$-alliances in digraphs. Given a digraph $D=(V(D),A(D))$, a global offensive $k$-alliance in a digraph $D$ is a subset $S\subseteq V(D)$ such that every vertex outside of $S$ has at least one in-neighbor from $S$ and also at least $k$ more in-neighbors from $S$ than from outside of $S$, by assuming $k$ is an integer lying between two minus the maximum in-degree of $D$ and the maximum in-degree of $D$. The global offensive $k$-alliance number $\gamma_{k}^{o}(D)$ is the minimum cardinality among all global offensive $k$-alliances in $D$. In this article we begin the study of the global offensive $k$-alliance number of digraphs. For instance, we prove that finding the global offensive $k$-alliance number of digraphs $D$ is an NP-hard problem for any value $k\in \{2-\Delta^-(D),\dots,\Delta^-(D)\}$ and that it remains NP-complete even when restricted to bipartite digraphs when we consider the non-negative values of $k$ given in the interval above. Based on these facts, lower bounds on $\gamma_{k}^{o}(D)$ with characterizations of all digraphs attaining the bounds are given in this work. We also bound this parameter for bipartite digraphs from above. For the particular case $k=1$, an immediate result from the definition shows that $\gamma(D)\leq \gamma_{1}^{o}(D)$ for all digraphs $D$, in which $\gamma(D)$ stands for the domination number of $D$. We show that these two digraph parameters are the same for some infinite families of digraphs like rooted trees and contrafunctional digraphs. Moreover, we show that the difference between $\gamma_{1}^{o}(D)$ and $\gamma(D)$ can be arbitrary large for directed trees and connected functional digraphs

Partitioning a graph into degenerate subgraphs

Let $G = (V, E)$ be a connected graph with maximum degree $k\geq 3$ distinct from $K_{k+1}$. Given integers $s \geq 2$ and $p_1,\ldots,p_s\geq 0$, $G$ is said to be $(p_1, \dots, p_s)$-partitionable if there exists a partition of $V$ into sets~$V_1,\ldots,V_s$ such that $G[V_i]$ is $p_i$-degenerate for $i\in\{1,\ldots,s\}$. In this paper, we prove that we can find a $(p_1, \dots, p_s)$-partition of $G$ in $O(|V| + |E|)$-time whenever $1\geq p_1, \dots, p_s \geq 0$ and $p_1 + \dots + p_s \geq k - s$. This generalizes a result of Bonamy et al. (MFCS, 2017) and can be viewed as an algorithmic extension of Brooks' theorem and several results on vertex arboricity of graphs of bounded maximum degree. We also prove that deciding whether $G$ is $(p, q)$-partitionable is $\mathbb{NP}$-complete for every $k \geq 5$ and pairs of non-negative integers $(p, q)$ such that $(p, q) \not = (1, 1)$ and $p + q = k - 3$. This resolves an open problem of Bonamy et al. (manuscript, 2017). Combined with results of Borodin, Kostochka and Toft (\emph{Discrete Mathematics}, 2000), Yang and Yuan (\emph{Discrete Mathematics}, 2006) and Wu, Yuan and Zhao (\emph{Journal of Mathematical Study}, 1996), it also settles the complexity of deciding whether a graph with bounded maximum degree can be partitioned into two subgraphs of prescribed degeneracy.Comment: 16 pages; minor revisio