We first show that the Traveling Salesman Problem in an n-vertex graph with
average degree bounded by d can be solved in O*(2^{(1-\eps_d)n}) time and
exponential space for a constant \eps_d depending only on d, where the
O*-notation suppresses factors polynomial in the input size. Thus, we
generalize the recent results of Bjorklund et al. [TALG 2012] on graphs of
bounded degree.
Then, we move to the problem of counting perfect matchings in a graph. We
first present a simple algorithm for counting perfect matchings in an n-vertex
graph in O*(2^{n/2}) time and polynomial space; our algorithm matches the
complexity bounds of the algorithm of Bjorklund [SODA 2012], but relies on
inclusion-exclusion principle instead of algebraic transformations. Building
upon this result, we show that the number of perfect matchings in an n-vertex
graph with average degree bounded by d can be computed in
O*(2^{(1-\eps_{2d})n/2}) time and exponential space, where \eps_{2d} is the
constant obtained by us for the Traveling Salesman Problem in graphs of average
degree at most 2d.
Moreover we obtain a simple algorithm that counts the number of perfect
matchings in an n-vertex bipartite graph of average degree at most d in
O*(2^{(1-1/(3.55d))n/2}) time, improving and simplifying the recent result of
Izumi and Wadayama [FOCS 2012].Comment: 10 page
