Towards optimal kernel for connected vertex cover in planar graphs

We study the parameterized complexity of the connected version of the vertex cover problem, where the solution set has to induce a connected subgraph. Although this problem does not admit a polynomial kernel for general graphs (unless NP is a subset of coNP/poly), for planar graphs Guo and Niedermeier [ICALP'08] showed a kernel with at most 14k vertices, subsequently improved by Wang et al. [MFCS'11] to 4k. The constant 4 here is so small that a natural question arises: could it be already an optimal value for this problem? In this paper we answer this quesion in negative: we show a (11/3)k-vertex kernel for Connected Vertex Cover in planar graphs. We believe that this result will motivate further study in search for an optimal kernel

Complexity of Splits Reconstruction for Low-Degree Trees

Given a vertex-weighted tree T, the split of an edge xy in T is min{s_x(xy), s_y(xy)} where s_u(uv) is the sum of all weights of vertices that are closer to u than to v in T. Given a set of weighted vertices V and a multiset of splits S, we consider the problem of constructing a tree on V whose splits correspond to S. The problem is known to be NP-complete, even when all vertices have unit weight and the maximum vertex degree of T is required to be no more than 4. We show that the problem is strongly NP-complete when T is required to be a path, the problem is NP-complete when all vertices have unit weight and the maximum degree of T is required to be no more than 3, and it remains NP-complete when all vertices have unit weight and T is required to be a caterpillar with unbounded hair length and maximum degree at most 3. We also design polynomial time algorithms for the variant where T is required to be a path and the number of distinct vertex weights is constant, and the variant where all vertices have unit weight and T has a constant number of leaves. The latter algorithm is not only polynomial when the number of leaves, k, is a constant, but also fixed-parameter tractable when parameterized by k. Finally, we shortly discuss the problem when the vertex weights are not given but can be freely chosen by an algorithm. The considered problem is related to building libraries of chemical compounds used for drug design and discovery. In these inverse problems, the goal is to generate chemical compounds having desired structural properties, as there is a strong correlation between structural properties, such as the Wiener index, which is closely connected to the considered problem, and biological activity

Interconnection network with a shared whiteboard: Impact of (a)synchronicity on computing power

In this work we study the computational power of graph-based models of distributed computing in which each node additionally has access to a global whiteboard. A node can read the contents of the whiteboard and, when activated, can write one message of O(log n) bits on it. When the protocol terminates, each node computes the output based on the final contents of the whiteboard. We consider several scheduling schemes for nodes, providing a strict ordering of their power in terms of the problems which can be solved with exactly one activation per node. The problems used to separate the models are related to Maximal Independent Set, detection of cycles of length 4, and BFS spanning tree constructions

Minimum kk-critical-bipartite graphs: the irregular Case

We study the problem of finding a minimum $k$-critical-bipartite graph of order $(n,m)$: a bipartite graph $G=(U,V;E)$, with $|U|=n$, $|V|=m$, and $n>m>1$, which is $k$-critical-bipartite, and the tuple $(|E|, \Delta_U, \Delta_V)$, where $\Delta_U$ and $\Delta_V$ denote the maximum degree in $U$ and $V$, respectively, is lexicographically minimum over all such graphs. $G$ is $k$-critical-bipartite if deleting at most $k=n-m$ vertices from $U$ yields $G'$ that has a complete matching, i.e., a matching of size $m$. Cichacz and Suchan solved the problem for biregular bipartite graphs. Here, we extend their results to bipartite graphs that are not biregular. We also prove tight lower bounds on the connectivity of $k$-critical-bipartite graphs

Distributed computing of efficient routing schemes in generalized chordal graphs

International audienceEfficient algorithms for computing routing tables should take advantage of the particular properties arising in large scale networks. Two of them are of particular interest: low (logarithmic) diameter and high clustering coefficient. High clustering coefficient implies the existence of few large induced cycles. Considering this fact, we propose here a routing scheme that computes short routes in the class of $k$-chordal graphs, i.e., graphs with no induced cycles of length more than $k$. In the class of $k$-chordal graphs, our routing scheme achieves an additive stretch of at most $k-1$, i.e., for all pairs of nodes, the length of the route never exceeds their distance plus $k-1$. In order to compute the routing tables of any $n$-node graph with diameter $D$ we propose a distributed algorithm which uses messages of size $O(\log n)$ and takes $O(D)$ time. The corresponding routing scheme achieves the stretch of $k-1$ on $k$-chordal graphs. We then propose a routing scheme that achieves a better additive stretch of $1$ in chordal graphs (notice that chordal graphs are 3-chordal graphs). In this case, the distributed computation of the routing tables takes $O(\min\{\Delta D , n\})$ time, where $\Delta$ is the maximum degree of the graph. Our routing schemes use addresses of size $\log n$ bits and local memory of size $2(d-1) \log n$ bits per node of degree $d$

Allowing each node to communicate only once in a distributed system: shared whiteboard models

International audienceIn this paper we study distributed algorithms on massive graphs where links represent a particular relationship between nodes (for instance, nodes may represent phone numbers and links may indicate telephone calls). Since such graphs are massive they need to be processed in a distributed way. When computing graph-theoretic properties, nodes become natural units for distributed computation. Links do not necessarily represent communication channels between the computing units and therefore do not restrict the communication flow. Our goal is to model and analyze the computational power of such distributed systems where one computing unit is assigned to each node. Communication takes place on a whiteboard where each node is allowed to write at most one message. Every node can read the contents of the whiteboard and, when activated, can write one small message based on its local knowledge. When the protocol terminates its output is computed from the final contents of the whiteboard. We describe four synchronization models for accessing the whiteboard. We show that message size and synchronization power constitute two orthogonal hierarchies for these systems.We exhibit problems that separate these models, i.e., that can be solved in one model but not in a weaker one, even with increased message size. These problems are related to maximal independent set and connectivity. We also exhibit problems that require a given message size independently of the synchronization model

k-Chordal Graphs: from Cops and Robber to Compact Routing via Treewidth

International audienceCops and robber games, introduced by Winkler and Nowakowski [41] and independently defined by Quilliot [43], concern a team of cops that must capture a robber moving in a graph. We consider the class of k-chordal graphs, i.e., graphs with no induced (chordless) cycle of length greater than k, k ≥ 3. We prove that k − 1 cops are always sufficient to capture a robber in k-chordal graphs. This leads us to our main result, a new structural decomposition for a graph class including k-chordal graphs. We present a polynomial-time algorithm that, given a graph G and k ≥ 3, either returns an induced cycle larger than k in G, or computes a tree-decomposition of G, each bag of which contains a dominating path with at most k − 1 vertices. This allows us to prove that any k-chordal graph with maximum degree ∆ has treewidth at most (k −1)(∆ −1) +2, improving the O(∆ (∆ −1) k−3) bound of Bodlaender and Thilikos (1997). Moreover, any graph admitting such a tree-decomposition has small hyperbolicity. As an application, for any n-vertex graph admitting such a tree-decomposition, we propose a compact routing scheme using routing tables, addresses and headers of size O(k log ∆ + log n) bits and achieving an additive stretch of O(k log ∆). As far as we know, this is the first routing scheme with O(k log ∆ + log n)-routing tables and small additive stretch for k-chordal graphs

On interval number in cycle convexity

International audienceRecently, Araujo et al. [Manuscript in preparation, 2017] introduced the notion of Cycle Convexity of graphs. In their seminal work, they studied the graph convexity parameter called hull number for this new graph convexity they proposed, and they presented some of its applications in Knot theory. Roughly, the tunnel number of a knot embedded in a plane is upper bounded by the hull number of a corresponding planar 4-regular graph in cycle convexity. In this paper, we go further in the study of this new graph convexity and we study the interval number of a graph in cycle convexity. This parameter is, alongside the hull number, one of the most studied parameters in the literature about graph convexities. Precisely, given a graph G, its interval number in cycle convexity, denoted by $in_{cc} (G)$, is the minimum cardinality of a set S ⊆ V (G) such that every vertex w ∈ V (G) \ S has two distinct neighbors u, v ∈ S such that u and v lie in same connected component of G[S], i.e. the subgraph of G induced by the vertices in S.In this work, first we provide bounds on $in_{cc} (G)$ and its relations to other graph convexity parameters, and explore its behavior on grids. Then, we present some hardness results by showing that deciding whether $in_{cc} (G)$ ≤ k is NP-complete, even if G is a split graph or a bounded-degree planar graph, and that the problem is W[2]-hard in bipartite graphs when k is the parameter. As a consequence, we obtainthat $in_{cc} (G)$ cannot be approximated up to a constant factor in the classes of split graphs and bipartite graphs (unless P = N P ).On the positive side, we present polynomial-time algorithms to compute $in_{cc} (G)$ for outerplanar graphs, cobipartite graphs and interval graphs. We also present fixed-parameter tractable (FPT) algorithms to compute it for (q, q − 4)-graphs when q is the parameter and for general graphs G when parameterized either by the treewidth or the neighborhood diversity of G.Some of our hardness results and positive results are not known to hold for related graph convexities and domination problems. We hope that the design of our new reductions and polynomial-time algorithms can be helpful in order to advance in the study of related graph problems