Lower Bounds for On-line Interval Coloring with Vector and Cardinality Constraints

We propose two strategies for Presenter in the on-line interval graph coloring games. Specifically, we consider a setting in which each interval is associated with a $d$-dimensional vector of weights and the coloring needs to satisfy the $d$-dimensional bandwidth constraint, and the $k$-cardinality constraint. Such a variant was first introduced by Epstein and Levy and it is a natural model for resource-aware task scheduling with $d$ different shared resources where at most $k$ tasks can be scheduled simultaneously on a single machine. The first strategy forces any on-line interval coloring algorithm to use at least $(5m-3)\frac{d}{\log d + 3}$ different colors on an $m(\frac{d}{k} + \log{d} + 3)$-colorable set of intervals. The second strategy forces any on-line interval coloring algorithm to use at least $\lfloor\frac{5m}{2}\rfloor\frac{d}{\log d + 3}$ different colors on an $m(\frac{d}{k} + \log{d} + 3)$-colorable set of unit intervals

A comprehensive introduction to the theory of word-representable graphs

Letters x and y alternate in a word w if after deleting in w all letters but the copies of x and y we either obtain a word xyxy⋯ (of even or odd length) or a word yxyx⋯  (of even or odd length). A graph G=(V,E) is word-representable if and only if there exists a word w over the alphabet V such that letters x and y alternate in w if and only if xy ∈ E.   Word-representable graphs generalize several important classes of graphs such as circle graphs, 3-colorable graphs and comparability graphs. This paper offers a comprehensive introduction to the theory of word-representable graphs including the most recent developments in the area

Approximation algorithms for hard variants of the stable marriage and hospitals/residents problems

When ties and incomplete preference lists are permitted in the Stable Marriage and Hospitals/Residents problems, stable matchings can have different sizes. The problem of finding a maximum cardinality stable matching in this context is known to be NP-hard, even under very severe restrictions on the number, size and position of ties. In this paper, we describe polynomial-time 5/3-approximation algorithms for variants of these problems in which ties are on one side only and at the end of the preference lists. The particular variant is motivated by important applications in large scale centralised matching schemes

Adding Isolated Vertices Makes some Online Algorithms Optimal

An unexpected difference between online and offline algorithms is observed. The natural greedy algorithms are shown to be worst case online optimal for Online Independent Set and Online Vertex Cover on graphs with 'enough' isolated vertices, Freckle Graphs. For Online Dominating Set, the greedy algorithm is shown to be worst case online optimal on graphs with at least one isolated vertex. These algorithms are not online optimal in general. The online optimality results for these greedy algorithms imply optimality according to various worst case performance measures, such as the competitive ratio. It is also shown that, despite this worst case optimality, there are Freckle graphs where the greedy independent set algorithm is objectively less good than another algorithm. It is shown that it is NP-hard to determine any of the following for a given graph: the online independence number, the online vertex cover number, and the online domination number.Comment: A footnote in the .tex file didn't show up in the last version. This was fixe

An Efficient Local Search for Partial Latin Square Extension Problem

A partial Latin square (PLS) is a partial assignment of n symbols to an nxn grid such that, in each row and in each column, each symbol appears at most once. The partial Latin square extension problem is an NP-hard problem that asks for a largest extension of a given PLS. In this paper we propose an efficient local search for this problem. We focus on the local search such that the neighborhood is defined by (p,q)-swap, i.e., removing exactly p symbols and then assigning symbols to at most q empty cells. For p in {1,2,3}, our neighborhood search algorithm finds an improved solution or concludes that no such solution exists in O(n^{p+1}) time. We also propose a novel swap operation, Trellis-swap, which is a generalization of (1,q)-swap and (2,q)-swap. Our Trellis-neighborhood search algorithm takes O(n^{3.5}) time to do the same thing. Using these neighborhood search algorithms, we design a prototype iterated local search algorithm and show its effectiveness in comparison with state-of-the-art optimization solvers such as IBM ILOG CPLEX and LocalSolver.Comment: 17 pages, 2 figure

Structurally Parameterized d-Scattered Set

In $d$-Scattered Set we are given an (edge-weighted) graph and are asked to select at least $k$ vertices, so that the distance between any pair is at least $d$, thus generalizing Independent Set. We provide upper and lower bounds on the complexity of this problem with respect to various standard graph parameters. In particular, we show the following: - For any $d\ge2$, an $O^*(d^{\textrm{tw}})$-time algorithm, where $\textrm{tw}$ is the treewidth of the input graph. - A tight SETH-based lower bound matching this algorithm's performance. These generalize known results for Independent Set. - $d$-Scattered Set is W[1]-hard parameterized by vertex cover (for edge-weighted graphs), or feedback vertex set (for unweighted graphs), even if $k$ is an additional parameter. - A single-exponential algorithm parameterized by vertex cover for unweighted graphs, complementing the above-mentioned hardness. - A $2^{O(\textrm{td}^2)}$-time algorithm parameterized by tree-depth ($\textrm{td}$), as well as a matching ETH-based lower bound, both for unweighted graphs. We complement these mostly negative results by providing an FPT approximation scheme parameterized by treewidth. In particular, we give an algorithm which, for any error parameter $\epsilon > 0$, runs in time $O^*((\textrm{tw}/\epsilon)^{O(\textrm{tw})})$ and returns a $d/(1+\epsilon)$-scattered set of size $k$, if a $d$-scattered set of the same size exists

Approximating the double-cut-and-join distance between unsigned genomes

In this paper we study the problem of sorting unsigned genomes by double-cut-and-join operations, where genomes allow a mix of linear and circular chromosomes to be present. First, we formulate an equivalent optimization problem, called maximum cycle/path decomposition, which is aimed at finding a largest collection of edge-disjoint cycles/AA-paths/AB-paths in a breakpoint graph. Then, we show that the problem of finding a largest collection of edge-disjoint cycles/AA-paths/AB-paths of length no more than l can be reduced to the well-known degree-bounded k-set packing problem with k = 2l. Finally, a polynomial-time approximation algorithm for the problem of sorting unsigned genomes by double-cut-and-join operations is devised, which achieves the approximation ratio for any positive ε. For the restricted variation where each genome contains only one linear chromosome, the approximation ratio can be further improved t

GraphCombEx: A Software Tool for Exploration of Combinatorial Optimisation Properties of Large Graphs

We present a prototype of a software tool for exploration of multiple combinatorial optimisation problems in large real-world and synthetic complex networks. Our tool, called GraphCombEx (an acronym of Graph Combinatorial Explorer), provides a unified framework for scalable computation and presentation of high-quality suboptimal solutions and bounds for a number of widely studied combinatorial optimisation problems. Efficient representation and applicability to large-scale graphs and complex networks are particularly considered in its design. The problems currently supported include maximum clique, graph colouring, maximum independent set, minimum vertex clique covering, minimum dominating set, as well as the longest simple cycle problem. Suboptimal solutions and intervals for optimal objective values are estimated using scalable heuristics. The tool is designed with extensibility in mind, with the view of further problems and both new fast and high-performance heuristics to be added in the future. GraphCombEx has already been successfully used as a support tool in a number of recent research studies using combinatorial optimisation to analyse complex networks, indicating its promise as a research software tool