Planar 3-SAT with a Clause/Variable Cycle

In the Planar 3-SAT problem, we are given a 3-SAT formula together with its incidence graph, which is planar, and are asked whether this formula is satisfiable. Since Lichtenstein's proof that this problem is NP-complete, it has been used as a starting point for a large number of reductions. In the course of this research, different restrictions on the incidence graph of the formula have been devised, for which the problem also remains hard. In this paper, we investigate the restriction in which we require that the incidence graph can be augmented by the edges of a Hamiltonian cycle that first passes through all variables and then through all clauses, in a way that the resulting graph is still planar. We show that the problem of deciding satisfiability of a 3-SAT formula remains NP-complete even if the incidence graph is restricted in that way and the Hamiltonian cycle is given. This complements previous results demanding cycles only through either the variables or clauses. The problem remains hard for monotone formulas, as well as for instances with exactly three distinct variables per clause. In the course of this investigation, we show that monotone instances of Planar 3-SAT with exactly three distinct variables per clause are always satisfiable, thus settling the question by Darmann, D\"ocker, and Dorn on the complexity of this problem variant in a surprising way.Comment: Implementing style of DMTCS journa

Induced Ramsey-type results and binary predicates for point sets

Let $k$ and $p$ be positive integers and let $Q$ be a finite point set in general position in the plane. We say that $Q$ is $(k,p)$-Ramsey if there is a finite point set $P$ such that for every $k$-coloring $c$ of $\binom{P}{p}$ there is a subset $Q'$ of $P$ such that $Q'$ and $Q$ have the same order type and $\binom{Q'}{p}$ is monochromatic in $c$. Ne\v{s}et\v{r}il and Valtr proved that for every $k \in \mathbb{N}$, all point sets are $(k,1)$-Ramsey. They also proved that for every $k \ge 2$ and $p \ge 2$, there are point sets that are not $(k,p)$-Ramsey. As our main result, we introduce a new family of $(k,2)$-Ramsey point sets, extending a result of Ne\v{s}et\v{r}il and Valtr. We then use this new result to show that for every $k$ there is a point set $P$ such that no function $\Gamma$ that maps ordered pairs of distinct points from $P$ to a set of size $k$ can satisfy the following "local consistency" property: if $\Gamma$ attains the same values on two ordered triples of points from $P$, then these triples have the same orientation. Intuitively, this implies that there cannot be such a function that is defined locally and determines the orientation of point triples.Comment: 22 pages, 3 figures, final version, minor correction

Order on Order Types

Given P and P\u27, equally sized planar point sets in general position, we call a bijection from P to P\u27 crossing-preserving if crossings of connecting segments in P are preserved in P\u27 (extra crossings may occur in P\u27). If such a mapping exists, we say that P\u27 crossing-dominates P, and if such a mapping exists in both directions, P and P\u27 are called crossing-equivalent. The relation is transitive, and we have a partial order on the obtained equivalence classes (called crossing types or x-types). Point sets of equal order type are clearly crossing-equivalent, but not vice versa. Thus, x-types are a coarser classification than order types. (We will see, though, that a collapse of different order types to one x-type occurs for sets with triangular convex hull only.) We argue that either the maximal or the minimal x-types are sufficient for answering many combinatorial (existential or extremal) questions on planar point sets. Motivated by this we consider basic properties of the relation. We characterize order types crossing-dominated by points in convex position. Further, we give a full characterization of minimal and maximal abstract order types. Based on that, we provide a polynomial-time algorithm to check whether a point set crossing-dominates another. Moreover, we generate all maximal and minimal x-types for small numbers of points

Linear transformation distance for bichromatic matchings

Let $P=B\cup R$ be a set of $2n$ points in general position, where $B$ is a set of $n$ blue points and $R$ a set of $n$ red points. A \emph{$BR$-matching} is a plane geometric perfect matching on $P$ such that each edge has one red endpoint and one blue endpoint. Two $BR$-matchings are compatible if their union is also plane. The \emph{transformation graph of $BR$-matchings} contains one node for each $BR$-matching and an edge joining two such nodes if and only if the corresponding two $BR$-matchings are compatible. In SoCG 2013 it has been shown by Aloupis, Barba, Langerman, and Souvaine that this transformation graph is always connected, but its diameter remained an open question. In this paper we provide an alternative proof for the connectivity of the transformation graph and prove an upper bound of $2n$ for its diameter, which is asymptotically tight