A Brightwell-Winkler type characterisation of NU graphs

In 2000, Brightwell and Winkler characterised dismantlable graphs as the graphs $H$ for which the Hom-graph ${\rm Hom}(G,H)$, defined on the set of homomorphisms from $G$ to $H$, is connected for all graphs $G$. This shows that the reconfiguration version ${\rm Recon_{Hom}}(H)$ of the $H$-colouring problem, in which one must decide for a given $G$ whether ${\rm Hom}(G,H)$ is connected, is trivial if and only if $H$ is dismantlable. We prove a similar starting point for the reconfiguration version of the $H$-extension problem. Where ${\rm Hom}(G,H;p)$ is the subgraph of the Hom-graph ${\rm Hom}(G,H)$ induced by the $H$-colourings extending the $H$-precolouring $p$ of $G$, the reconfiguration version ${\rm Recon_{Ext}(H)}$ of the $H$-extension problem asks, for a given $H$-precolouring $p$ of a graph $G$, if ${\rm Hom}(G,H;p)$ is connected. We show that the graphs $H$ for which ${\rm Hom}(G,H;p)$ is connected for every choice of $(G,p)$ are exactly the ${\rm NU}$ graphs. This gives a new characterisation of ${\rm NU}$ graphs, a nice class of graphs that is important in the algebraic approach to the ${\rm CSP}$-dichotomy. We further give bounds on the diameter of ${\rm Hom}(G,H;p)$ for ${\rm NU}$ graphs $H$, and show that shortest path between two vertices of ${\rm Hom}(G,H;p)$ can be found in parameterised polynomial time. We apply our results to the problem of shortest path reconfiguration, significantly extending recent results.Comment: 17 pages, 1 figur

Reconfiguring Graph Homomorphisms on the Sphere

Given a loop-free graph $H$, the reconfiguration problem for homomorphisms to $H$ (also called $H$-colourings) asks: given two $H$-colourings $f$ of $g$ of a graph $G$, is it possible to transform $f$ into $g$ by a sequence of single-vertex colour changes such that every intermediate mapping is an $H$-colouring? This problem is known to be polynomial-time solvable for a wide variety of graphs $H$ (e.g. all $C_4$-free graphs) but only a handful of hard cases are known. We prove that this problem is PSPACE-complete whenever $H$ is a $K_{2,3}$-free quadrangulation of the $2$-sphere (equivalently, the plane) which is not a $4$-cycle. From this result, we deduce an analogous statement for non-bipartite $K_{2,3}$-free quadrangulations of the projective plane. This include several interesting classes of graphs, such as odd wheels, for which the complexity was known, and $4$-chromatic generalized Mycielski graphs, for which it was not. If we instead consider graphs $G$ and $H$ with loops on every vertex (i.e. reflexive graphs), then the reconfiguration problem is defined in a similar way except that a vertex can only change its colour to a neighbour of its current colour. In this setting, we use similar ideas to show that the reconfiguration problem for $H$-colourings is PSPACE-complete whenever $H$ is a reflexive $K_{4}$-free triangulation of the $2$-sphere which is not a reflexive triangle. This proof applies more generally to reflexive graphs which, roughly speaking, resemble a triangulation locally around a particular vertex. This provides the first graphs for which $H$-Recolouring is known to be PSPACE-complete for reflexive instances.Comment: 22 pages, 9 figure

Reconfiguring graph homomorphisms on the sphere

Given a loop-free graph H, the reconfiguration problem for homomorphisms to H (also called H-colourings) asks: given two H-colourings f of g of a graph G, is it possible to transform f into g by a sequence of single-vertex colour changes such that every intermediate mapping is an H-colouring? This problem is known to be polynomial-time solvable for a wide variety of graphs H (e.g. all C4-free graphs) but only a handful of hard cases are known. We prove that this problem is PSPACE-complete whenever H is a K2,3-free quadrangulation of the 2-sphere (equivalently, the plane) which is not a 4-cycle. From this result, we deduce an analogous statement for non-bipartite K2,3-free quadrangulations of the projective plane. This include several interesting classes of graphs, such as odd wheels, for which the complexity was known, and 4-chromatic generalized Mycielski graphs, for which it was not. If we instead consider graphs G and H with loops on every vertex (i.e. reflexive graphs), then the reconfiguration problem is defined in a similar way except that a vertex can only change its colour to a neighbour of its current colour. In this setting, we use similar ideas to show that the reconfiguration problem for H-colourings is PSPACE-complete whenever H is a reflexive K4-free triangulation of the 2-sphere which is not a reflexive triangle. This proof applies more generally to reflexive graphs which, roughly speaking, resemble a triangulation locally around a particular vertex. This provides the first graphs for which H-Recolouring is known to be PSPACE-complete for reflexive instances