Proceedings of the 8th Cologne-Twente Workshop on Graphs and Combinatorial Optimization

International audienceThe Cologne-Twente Workshop (CTW) on Graphs and Combinatorial Optimization started off as a series of workshops organized bi-annually by either Köln University or Twente University. As its importance grew over time, it re-centered its geographical focus by including northern Italy (CTW04 in Menaggio, on the lake Como and CTW08 in Gargnano, on the Garda lake). This year, CTW (in its eighth edition) will be staged in France for the first time: more precisely in the heart of Paris, at the Conservatoire National d’Arts et Métiers (CNAM), between 2nd and 4th June 2009, by a mixed organizing committee with members from LIX, Ecole Polytechnique and CEDRIC, CNAM

Parameterized Algorithms for Graph Partitioning Problems

In parameterized complexity, a problem instance (I, k) consists of an input I and an extra parameter k. The parameter k usually a positive integer indicating the size of the solution or the structure of the input. A computational problem is called fixed-parameter tractable (FPT) if there is an algorithm for the problem with time complexity O(f(k).nc ), where f(k) is a function dependent only on the input parameter k, n is the size of the input and c is a constant. The existence of such an algorithm means that the problem is tractable for fixed values of the parameter. In this thesis, we provide parameterized algorithms for the following NP-hard graph partitioning problems: (i) Matching Cut Problem: In an undirected graph, a matching cut is a partition of vertices into two non-empty sets such that the edges across the sets induce a matching. The matching cut problem is the problem of deciding whether a given graph has a matching cut. The Matching Cut problem is expressible in monadic second-order logic (MSOL). The MSOL formulation, together with Courcelle’s theorem implies linear time solvability on graphs with bounded tree-width. However, this approach leads to a running time of f(||ϕ||, t) · n, where ||ϕ|| is the length of the MSOL formula, t is the tree-width of the graph and n is the number of vertices of the graph. The dependency of f(||ϕ||, t) on ||ϕ|| can be as bad as a tower of exponentials. In this thesis we give a single exponential algorithm for the Matching Cut problem with tree-width alone as the parameter. The running time of the algorithm is 2O(t) · n. This answers an open question posed by Kratsch and Le [Theoretical Computer Science, 2016]. We also show the fixed parameter tractability of the Matching Cut problem when parameterized by neighborhood diversity or other structural parameters. (ii) H-Free Coloring Problems: In an undirected graph G for a fixed graph H, the H-Free q-Coloring problem asks to color the vertices of the graph G using at most q colors such that none of the color classes contain H as an induced subgraph. That is every color class is H-free. This is a generalization of the classical q-Coloring problem, which is to color the vertices of the graph using at most q colors such that no pair of adjacent vertices are of the same color. The H-Free Chromatic Number is the minimum number of colors required to H-free color the graph. For a fixed q, the H-Free q-Coloring problem is expressible in monadic secondorder logic (MSOL). The MSOL formulation leads to an algorithm with time complexity f(||ϕ||, t) · n, where ||ϕ|| is the length of the MSOL formula, t is the tree-width of the graph and n is the number of vertices of the graph. In this thesis we present the following explicit combinatorial algorithms for H-Free Coloring problems: • An O(q O(t r ) · n) time algorithm for the general H-Free q-Coloring problem, where r = |V (H)|. • An O(2t+r log t · n) time algorithm for Kr-Free 2-Coloring problem, where Kr is a complete graph on r vertices. The above implies an O(t O(t r ) · n log t) time algorithm to compute the H-Free Chromatic Number for graphs with tree-width at most t. Therefore H-Free Chromatic Number is FPT with respect to tree-width. We also address a variant of H-Free q-Coloring problem which we call H-(Subgraph)Free q-Coloring problem, which is to color the vertices of the graph such that none of the color classes contain H as a subgraph (need not be induced). We present the following algorithms for H-(Subgraph)Free q-Coloring problems. • An O(q O(t r ) · n) time algorithm for the general H-(Subgraph)Free q-Coloring problem, which leads to an O(t O(t r ) · n log t) time algorithm to compute the H- (Subgraph)Free Chromatic Number for graphs with tree-width at most t. • An O(2O(t 2 ) · n) time algorithm for C4-(Subgraph)Free 2-Coloring, where C4 is a cycle on 4 vertices. • An O(2O(t r−2 ) · n) time algorithm for {Kr\e}-(Subgraph)Free 2-Coloring, where Kr\e is a graph obtained by removing an edge from Kr. • An O(2O((tr2 ) r−2 ) · n) time algorithm for Cr-(Subgraph)Free 2-Coloring problem, where Cr is a cycle of length r. (iii) Happy Coloring Problems: In a vertex-colored graph, an edge is happy if its endpoints have the same color. Similarly, a vertex is happy if all its incident edges are happy. we consider the algorithmic aspects of the following Maximum Happy Edges (k-MHE) problem: given a partially k-colored graph G, find an extended full k-coloring of G such that the number of happy edges are maximized. When we want to maximize the number of happy vertices, the problem is known as Maximum Happy Vertices (k-MHV). We show that both k-MHE and k-MHV admit polynomial-time algorithms for trees. We show that k-MHE admits a kernel of size k + `, where ` is the natural parameter, the number of happy edges. We show the hardness of k-MHE and k-MHV for some special graphs such as split graphs and bipartite graphs. We show that both k-MHE and k-MHV are tractable for graphs with bounded tree-width and graphs with bounded neighborhood diversity. vii In the last part of the thesis we present an algorithm for the Replacement Paths Problem which is defined as follows: Let G (|V (G)| = n and |E(G)| = m) be an undirected graph with positive edge weights. Let PG(s, t) be a shortest s − t path in G. Let l be the number of edges in PG(s, t). The Edge Replacement Path problem is to compute a shortest s − t path in G\{e}, for every edge e in PG(s, t). The Node Replacement Path problem is to compute a shortest s−t path in G\{v}, for every vertex v in PG(s, t). We present an O(TSP T (G) + m + l 2 ) time and O(m + l 2 ) space algorithm for both the problems, where TSP T (G) is the asymptotic time to compute a single source shortest path tree in G. The proposed algorithm is simple and easy to implement

On dd-stable locally checkable problems parameterized by mim-width

In this paper we continue the study of locally checkable problems under the framework introduced by Bonomo-Braberman and Gonzalez in 2020, by focusing on graphs of bounded mim-width. We study which restrictions on a locally checkable problem are necessary in order to be able to solve it efficiently on graphs of bounded mim-width. To this end, we introduce the concept of $d$-stability of a check function. The related locally checkable problems contain large classes of problems, among which we can mention, for example, LCVP problems. We give an algorithm showing that these problems are XP when parameterized by the mim-width of a given binary decomposition tree of the input graph, that is, that they can be solved in polynomial time given a binary decomposition tree of bounded mim-width. We explore the relation between $d$-stable locally checkable problems and the recently introduced DN logic (Bergougnoux, Dreier and Jaffke, 2022), and show that both frameworks model the same family of problems. We include a list of concrete examples of $d$-stable locally checkable problems whose complexity on graphs of bounded mim-width was open so far

Graph Theory

This was a workshop on graph theory, with a comprehensive approach. Highlights included the emerging theories of sparse graph limits and of infinite matroids, new techniques for colouring graphs on surfaces, and extensions of graph minor theory to directed graphs and to immersion

Polyhedra and algorithms for problems bridging notions of connectivity and independence

I denne avhandlinga interesserer vi oss for å finne delgrafer som svarer til utvalgte modeller for begrepene sammenheng og uavhengighet. I korthet betyr dette stabile (også kalt uavhengige) mengder med gitt kardinalitet, stabile (også kalt konfliktfrie) spenntrær og pardannelser (eller uavhengige kantmengder) som induserer en sammenhengende delgraf. Dette er kombinatoriske strukturer som kan generaliseres til ulike modeller for nettverksdesign innen telekommunikasjon og forsyningsvirksomhet, plassering av anlegg, fylogenetikk, og mange andre applikasjoner innen operasjonsanalyse og optimering. Vi argumenterer for at de valgte strukturene reiser interessante forskningsspørsmål, og vi bidrar med forbedret matematisk forståelse av selve strukturene, samt forbedrede algoritmer for å takle de tilhørende kombinatoriske optimeringsproblemene. Med det mener vi metoder for å identifisere en optimal struktur, forutsatt at elementene som danner dem (hjørner eller kanter i en gitt graf) er tildelt verdier. Forskninga vår omfatter ulike områder innenfor algoritmer, kombinatorikk og optimering. De fleste resultatene omhandler det å finne bedre beskrivelser av de geometriske strukturene (nemlig 0/1-polytoper) som representerer alle mulige løsninger for hvert av problemene. Slike forbedrede beskrivelser oversettes til lineære ulikheter i heltallsprogrammeringsmodeller, noe som igjen gir mer effektive beregningsresultater når man løser referanseinstanser av hvert problem. Vi påpeker gjentatte ganger betydninga av å dele kildekoden til implementasjonen av alle utviklede algoritmer og verktøy når det foreslås nye modeller og løsningsmetoder for heltallsprogrammering og kombinatorisk optimering. Kodearkivene våre inkluderer fullstendige implementasjoner, utformet med effektivitet og modulær design i tankene, og fremmer dermed gjenbruk, videre forskning og nye anvendelser innen forskning og utvikling.We are interested in finding subgraphs that capture selected models of connectivity and independence. In short: fixed cardinality stable (or independent) sets, stable (or conflict-free) spanning trees, and matchings (or independent edge sets) inducing a connected subgraph. These are combinatorial structures that can be generalized to a number of models across network design in telecommunication and utilities, facility location, phylogenetics, among many other application domains of operations research and optimization. We argue that the selected structures raise appealing research questions, and seek to contribute with improved mathematical understanding of the structures themselves, as well as improved algorithms to face the corresponding combinatorial optimization problems. That is, methods to identify an optimal structure, assuming the elements that form them (vertices or edges in a given graph) have a weight. Our research spans different lines within algorithmics, combinatorics and optimization. Most of the results concern finding better descriptions of the geometric structures (namely, 0/1-polytopes) that represent all feasible solutions to each of the problems. Such improved descriptions translate to linear inequalities in integer programming formulations which, in turn, provide stronger computational results when solving benchmark instances of each problem. We repeatedly remark the importance of sharing an open-source implementation of all algorithms and tools developed when proposing new models and solution methods in integer programming and combinatorial optimization. Our code repositories include full implementations, crafted with efficiency and modular design in mind, thus fostering reuse, further research and new applications in research and development.Doktorgradsavhandlin

Algorithmic Graph Theory

The main focus of this workshop was on mathematical techniques needed for the development of efficient solutions and algorithms for computationally difficult graph problems. The techniques studied at the workshhop included: the probabilistic method and randomized algorithms, approximation and optimization, structured families of graphs and approximation algorithms for large problems. The workshop Algorithmic Graph Theory was attended by 46 participants, many of them being young researchers. In 15 survey talks an overview of recent developments in Algorithmic Graph Theory was given. These talks were supplemented by 10 shorter talks and by two special sessions

Exploiting structure to cope with NP-hard graph problems: Polynomial and exponential time exact algorithms

An ideal algorithm for solving a particular problem always finds an optimal solution, finds such a solution for every possible instance, and finds it in polynomial time. When dealing with NP-hard problems, algorithms can only be expected to possess at most two out of these three desirable properties. All algorithms presented in this thesis are exact algorithms, which means that they always find an optimal solution. Demanding the solution to be optimal means that other concessions have to be made when designing an exact algorithm for an NP-hard problem: we either have to impose restrictions on the instances of the problem in order to achieve a polynomial time complexity, or we have to abandon the requirement that the worst-case running time has to be polynomial. In some cases, when the problem under consideration remains NP-hard on restricted input, we are even forced to do both. Most of the problems studied in this thesis deal with partitioning the vertex set of a given graph. In the other problems the task is to find certain types of paths and cycles in graphs. The problems all have in common that they are NP-hard on general graphs. We present several polynomial time algorithms for solving restrictions of these problems to specific graph classes, in particular graphs without long induced paths, chordal graphs and claw-free graphs. For problems that remain NP-hard even on restricted input we present exact exponential time algorithms. In the design of each of our algorithms, structural graph properties have been heavily exploited. Apart from using existing structural results, we prove new structural properties of certain types of graphs in order to obtain our algorithmic results