The structure of graphs not admitting a fixed immersion

We present an easy structure theorem for graphs which do not admit an immersion of the complete graph. The theorem motivates the definition of a variation of tree decompositions based on edge cuts instead of vertex cuts which we call tree-cut decompositions. We give a definition for the width of tree-cut decompositions, and using this definition along with the structure theorem for excluded clique immersions, we prove that every graph either has bounded tree-cut width or admits an immersion of a large wall

The structure of graphs not admitting a fixed immersion

We present an easy structure theorem for graphs which do not admit an immersion of the complete graph. The theorem motivates the definition of a variation of tree decompositions based on edge cuts instead of vertex cuts which we call tree-cut decompositions. We give a definition for the width of tree-cut decompositions, and using this definition along with the structure theorem for excluded clique immersions, we prove that every graph either has bounded tree-cut width or admits an immersion of a large wall

A new proof of the flat wall theorem

We give an elementary and self-contained proof, and a numerical improvement, of a weaker form of the excluded clique minor theorem of Robertson and Seymour, the following. Let t,r >= 1 be integers, and let R = 49152t(24) (40t(2) +r). An r-wall is obtained from a 2r x r-grid by deleting every odd vertical edge in every odd row and every even vertical edge in every even row, then deleting the two resulting vertices of degree one, and finally subdividing edges arbitrarily. The vertices of degree two that existed before the subdivision are called the pegs of the r-wall. Let G be a graph with no Kt minor, and let W be an R-wall in G. We prove that there exist a set A subset of V(G) of size at most 12288t(24) and an r-subwall W' of W such that V(W') n A = 0 and W' is a flat wall in G A in the following sense. There exists a separation (X, Y) of G A such that X boolean AND Y is a subset of the vertex set of the cycle C' that bounds the outer face of W', V(W') subset of Y, every peg of W' belongs to X and the graph G[Y] can almost be drawn in the unit disk with the vertices X n Y drawn on the boundary of the disk in the order determined by C'. Here almost means that the assertion holds after repeatedly removing parts of the graph separated from X n Y by a cutset Z of size at most three, and adding all edges with both ends in Z. Our proof gives rise to an algorithm that runs in polynomial time even when r and t are part of the input instance. The proof is self-contained in the sense that it uses only results whose proofs can be found in textbooks. (C) 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc

Displaying blocking pairs in signed graphs

A signed graph is a pair (G, S) where G is a graph and S is a subset of the edges of G. A circuit of G is even (resp. odd) if it contains an even (resp. odd) number of edges of S. A blocking pair of (G, S) is a pair of vertices s, t such that every odd circuit intersects at least one of s or t. In this paper, we characterize when the blocking pairs of a signed graph can be represented by 2-cuts in an auxiliary graph. We discuss the relevance of this result to the problem of recognizing even cycle matroids and to the problem of characterizing signed graphs with no odd-K5 minor

The spin-temperature theory of dynamic nuclear polarization and nuclear spin-lattice relaxation

A detailed derivation of the equations governing dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) and nuclear spin lattice relaxation by use of the spin temperature theory has been carried to second order in a perturbation expansion of the density matrix. Nuclear spin diffusion in the rapid diffusion limit and the effects of the coupling of the electron dipole-dipole reservoir (EDDR) with the nuclear spins are incorporated. The complete expression for the dynamic nuclear polarization has been derived and then examined in detail for the limit of well resolved solid effect transitions. Exactly at the solid effect transition peaks, the conventional solid-effect DNP results are obtained, but with EDDR effects on the nuclear relaxation and DNP leakage factor included. Explicit EDDR contributions to DNP are discussed, and a new DNP effect is predicted

Finding topological subgraphs is fixed-parameter tractable

We show that for every fixed undirected graph $H$, there is a $O(|V(G)|^3)$ time algorithm that tests, given a graph $G$, if $G$ contains $H$ as a topological subgraph (that is, a subdivision of $H$ is subgraph of $G$). This shows that topological subgraph testing is fixed-parameter tractable, resolving a longstanding open question of Downey and Fellows from 1992. As a corollary, for every $H$ we obtain an $O(|V(G)|^3)$ time algorithm that tests if there is an immersion of $H$ into a given graph $G$. This answers another open question raised by Downey and Fellows in 1992