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Discrete Mathematics & Theoretical Computer Science |
vol. 23 no. 1
1. Determining Genus From Sandpile Torsor Algorithms
We provide a pair of ribbon graphs that have the same rotor routing and Bernardi sandpile torsors, but different topological genus. This resolves a question posed by M. Chan [Cha]. We also show that if we are given a graph, but not its ribbon structure, along with the rotor routing sandpile torsors, we are able to determine the ribbon graph's genus.
Section:
Combinatorics
2. Efficient enumeration of non-isomorphic interval graphs
Recently, Yamazaki et al. provided an algorithm that enumerates all non-isomorphic interval graphs on $n$ vertices with an $O(n^4)$ time delay. In this paper, we improve their algorithm and achieve $O(n^3 \log n)$ time delay. We also extend the catalog of these graphs providing a list of all non-isomorphic interval graphs for all $n$ up to $15$.
Section:
Graph Theory
3. Wiener Index and Remoteness in Triangulations and Quadrangulations
Let $G$ be a a connected graph. The Wiener index of a connected graph is the sum of the distances between all unordered pairs of vertices. We provide asymptotic formulae for the maximum Wiener index of simple triangulations and quadrangulations with given connectivity, as the order increases, and make conjectures for the extremal triangulations and quadrangulations based on computational evidence. If $\overline{\sigma}(v)$ denotes the arithmetic mean of the distances from $v$ to all other vertices of $G$, then the remoteness of $G$ is defined as the largest value of $\overline{\sigma}(v)$ over all vertices $v$ of $G$. We give sharp upper bounds on the remoteness of simple triangulations and quadrangulations of given order and connectivity.
Section:
Graph Theory
4. On BMRN*-colouring of planar digraphs
In a recent work, Bensmail, Blanc, Cohen, Havet and Rocha, motivated by applications for TDMA scheduling problems, have introduced the notion of BMRN*-colouring of digraphs, which is a type of arc-colouring with particular colouring constraints. In particular, they gave a special focus to planar digraphs. They notably proved that every planar digraph can be 8-BMRN*-coloured, while there exist planar digraphs for which 7 colours are needed in a BMRN*-colouring. They also proved that the problem of deciding whether a planar digraph can be 3-BMRN*-coloured is NP-hard. In this work, we pursue these investigations on planar digraphs, in particular by answering some of the questions left open by the authors in that seminal work. We exhibit planar digraphs needing 8 colours to be BMRN*-coloured, thus showing that the upper bound of Bensmail, Blanc, Cohen, Havet and Rocha cannot be decreased in general. We also generalize their complexity result by showing that the problem of deciding whether a planar digraph can be k-BMRN*-coloured is NP-hard for every k ∈ {3,...,6}. Finally, we investigate the connection between the girth of a planar digraphs and the least number of colours in its BMRN*-colourings.
Section:
Graph Theory
5. Anti-power $j$-fixes of the Thue-Morse word
Recently, Fici, Restivo, Silva, and Zamboni introduced the notion of a $k$-anti-power, which is defined as a word of the form $w^{(1)} w^{(2)} \cdots w^{(k)}$, where $w^{(1)}, w^{(2)}, \ldots, w^{(k)}$ are distinct words of the same length. For an infinite word $w$ and a positive integer $k$, define $AP_j(w,k)$ to be the set of all integers $m$ such that $w_{j+1} w_{j+2} \cdots w_{j+km}$ is a $k$-anti-power, where $w_i$ denotes the $i$-th letter of $w$. Define also $\mathcal{F}_j(k) = (2 \mathbb{Z}^+ - 1) \cap AP_j(\mathbf{t},k)$, where $\mathbf{t}$ denotes the Thue-Morse word. For all $k \in \mathbb{Z}^+$, $\gamma_j(k) = \min (AP_j(\mathbf{t},k))$ is a well-defined positive integer, and for $k \in \mathbb{Z}^+$ sufficiently large, $\Gamma_j(k) = \sup ((2 \mathbb{Z}^+ -1) \setminus \mathcal{F}_j(k))$ is a well-defined odd positive integer. In his 2018 paper, Defant shows that $\gamma_0(k)$ and $\Gamma_0(k)$ grow linearly in $k$. We generalize Defant's methods to prove that $\gamma_j(k)$ and $\Gamma_j(k)$ grow linearly in $k$ for any nonnegative integer $j$. In particular, we show that $\displaystyle 1/10 \leq \liminf_{k \rightarrow \infty} (\gamma_j(k)/k) \leq 9/10$ and $\displaystyle 1/5 \leq \limsup_{k \rightarrow \infty} (\gamma_j(k)/k) \leq 3/2$. Additionally, we show that $\displaystyle \liminf_{k \rightarrow \infty} (\Gamma_j(k)/k) = 3/2$ and $\displaystyle \limsup_{k \rightarrow \infty} (\Gamma_j(k)/k) = 3$.
Section:
Analysis of Algorithms
6. On the existence and non-existence of improper homomorphisms of oriented and $2$-edge-coloured graphs to reflexive targets
We consider non-trivial homomorphisms to reflexive oriented graphs in which some pair of adjacent vertices have the same image. Using a notion of convexity for oriented graphs, we study those oriented graphs that do not admit such homomorphisms. We fully classify those oriented graphs with tree-width $2$ that do not admit such homomorphisms and show that it is NP-complete to decide if a graph admits an orientation that does not admit such homomorphisms. We prove analogous results for $2$-edge-coloured graphs. We apply our results on oriented graphs to provide a new tool in the study of chromatic number of orientations of planar graphs -- a long-standing open problem.
Section:
Graph Theory
7. Exponential multivalued forbidden configurations
The forbidden number $\mathrm{forb}(m,F)$, which denotes the maximum number of unique columns in an $m$-rowed $(0,1)$-matrix with no submatrix that is a row and column permutation of $F$, has been widely studied in extremal set theory. Recently, this function was extended to $r$-matrices, whose entries lie in $\{0,1,\dots,r-1\}$. The combinatorics of the generalized forbidden number is less well-studied. In this paper, we provide exact bounds for many $(0,1)$-matrices $F$, including all $2$-rowed matrices when $r > 3$. We also prove a stability result for the $2\times 2$ identity matrix. Along the way, we expose some interesting qualitative differences between the cases $r=2$, $r = 3$, and $r > 3$.
Section:
Combinatorics
8. On the density of sets of the Euclidean plane avoiding distance 1
A subset $A \subset \mathbb R^2$ is said to avoid distance $1$ if: $\forall x,y \in A, \left\| x-y \right\|_2 \neq 1.$ In this paper we study the number $m_1(\mathbb R^2)$ which is the supremum of the upper densities of measurable sets avoiding distance 1 in the Euclidean plane. Intuitively, $m_1(\mathbb R^2)$ represents the highest proportion of the plane that can be filled by a set avoiding distance 1. This parameter is related to the fractional chromatic number $\chi_f(\mathbb R^2)$ of the plane. We establish that $m_1(\mathbb R^2) \leq 0.25647$ and $\chi_f(\mathbb R^2) \geq 3.8991$.
Section:
Combinatorics
9. Row bounds needed to justifiably express flagged Schur functions with Gessel-Viennot determinants
Let $\lambda$ be a partition with no more than $n$ parts. Let $\beta$ be a weakly increasing $n$-tuple with entries from $\{ 1, ... , n \}$. The flagged Schur function in the variables $x_1, ... , x_n$ that is indexed by $\lambda$ and $\beta$ has been defined to be the sum of the content weight monomials for the semistandard Young tableaux of shape $\lambda$ whose values are row-wise bounded by the entries of $\beta$. Gessel and Viennot gave a determinant expression for the flagged Schur function indexed by $\lambda$ and $\beta$; this could be done since the pair $(\lambda, \beta)$ satisfied their "nonpermutable" condition for the sequence of terminals of an $n$-tuple of lattice paths that they used to model the tableaux. We generalize flagged Schur functions by dropping the requirement that $\beta$ be weakly increasing. Then for each $\lambda$ we give a condition on the entries of $\beta$ for the pair $(\lambda, \beta)$ to be nonpermutable that is both necessary and sufficient. When the parts of $\lambda$ are not distinct there will be multiple row bound $n$-tuples $\beta$ that will produce the same set of tableaux. We accordingly group the bounding $\beta$ into equivalence classes and identify the most efficient $\beta$ in each class for the determinant computation. We recently showed that many other sets of objects that are indexed by $n$ and $\lambda$ are enumerated by the number of these efficient $n$-tuples. We called these counts "parabolic Catalan […]
Section:
Combinatorics
10. New Algorithms for Mixed Dominating Set
A mixed dominating set is a collection of vertices and edges that dominates all vertices and edges of a graph. We study the complexity of exact and parameterized algorithms for \textsc{Mixed Dominating Set}, resolving some open questions. In particular, we settle the problem's complexity parameterized by treewidth and pathwidth by giving an algorithm running in time $O^*(5^{tw})$ (improving the current best $O^*(6^{tw})$), as well as a lower bound showing that our algorithm cannot be improved under the Strong Exponential Time Hypothesis (SETH), even if parameterized by pathwidth (improving a lower bound of $O^*((2 - \varepsilon)^{pw})$). Furthermore, by using a simple but so far overlooked observation on the structure of minimal solutions, we obtain branching algorithms which improve both the best known FPT algorithm for this problem, from $O^*(4.172^k)$ to $O^*(3.510^k)$, and the best known exponential-time exact algorithm, from $O^*(2^n)$ and exponential space, to $O^*(1.912^n)$ and polynomial space.
Section:
Discrete Algorithms
11. Wiener index in graphs with given minimum degree and maximum degree
Let $G$ be a connected graph of order $n$.The Wiener index $W(G)$ of $G$ is the sum of the distances between all unordered pairs of vertices of $G$. In this paper we show that the well-known upper bound $\big( \frac{n}{\delta+1}+2\big) {n \choose 2}$ on the Wiener index of a graph of order $n$ and minimum degree $\delta$ [M. Kouider, P. Winkler, Mean distance and minimum degree. J. Graph Theory 25 no. 1 (1997)] can be improved significantly if the graph contains also a vertex of large degree. Specifically, we give the asymptotically sharp bound $W(G) \leq {n-\Delta+\delta \choose 2} \frac{n+2\Delta}{\delta+1}+ 2n(n-1)$ on the Wiener index of a graph $G$ of order $n$, minimum degree $\delta$ and maximum degree $\Delta$. We prove a similar result for triangle-free graphs, and we determine a bound on the Wiener index of $C_4$-free graphs of given order, minimum and maximum degree and show that it is, in some sense, best possible.
Section:
Graph Theory
12. Weak equivalence of higher-dimensional automata
This paper introduces a notion of equivalence for higher-dimensional automata, called weak equivalence. Weak equivalence focuses mainly on a traditional trace language and a new homology language, which captures the overall independence structure of an HDA. It is shown that weak equivalence is compatible with both the tensor product and the coproduct of HDAs and that, under certain conditions, HDAs may be reduced to weakly equivalent smaller ones by merging and collapsing cubes.
Section:
Automata, Logic and Semantics
13. Generalized Fitch Graphs III: Symmetrized Fitch maps and Sets of Symmetric Binary Relations that are explained by Unrooted Edge-labeled Trees
Binary relations derived from labeled rooted trees play an import role in mathematical biology as formal models of evolutionary relationships. The (symmetrized) Fitch relation formalizes xenology as the pairs of genes separated by at least one horizontal transfer event. As a natural generalization, we consider symmetrized Fitch maps, that is, symmetric maps $\varepsilon$ that assign a subset of colors to each pair of vertices in $X$ and that can be explained by a tree $T$ with edges that are labeled with subsets of colors in the sense that the color $m$ appears in $\varepsilon(x,y)$ if and only if $m$ appears in a label along the unique path between $x$ and $y$ in $T$. We first give an alternative characterization of the monochromatic case and then give a characterization of symmetrized Fitch maps in terms of compatibility of a certain set of quartets. We show that recognition of symmetrized Fitch maps is NP-complete. In the restricted case where $|\varepsilon(x,y)|\leq 1$ the problem becomes polynomial, since such maps coincide with class of monochromatic Fitch maps whose graph-representations form precisely the class of complete multi-partite graphs.
Section:
Graph Theory
14. Destroying Bicolored $P_3$s by Deleting Few Edges
We introduce and study the Bicolored $P_3$ Deletion problem defined as follows. The input is a graph $G=(V,E)$ where the edge set $E$ is partitioned into a set $E_r$ of red edges and a set $E_b$ of blue edges. The question is whether we can delete at most $k$ edges such that $G$ does not contain a bicolored $P_3$ as an induced subgraph. Here, a bicolored $P_3$ is a path on three vertices with one blue and one red edge. We show that Bicolored $P_3$ Deletion is NP-hard and cannot be solved in $2^{o(|V|+|E|)}$ time on bounded-degree graphs if the ETH is true. Then, we show that Bicolored $P_3$ Deletion is polynomial-time solvable when $G$ does not contain a bicolored $K_3$, that is, a triangle with edges of both colors. Moreover, we provide a polynomial-time algorithm for the case that $G$ contains no blue $P_3$, red $P_3$, blue $K_3$, and red $K_3$. Finally, we show that Bicolored $P_3$ Deletion can be solved in $ O(1.84^k\cdot |V| \cdot |E|)$ time and that it admits a kernel with $ O(k\Delta\min(k,\Delta))$ vertices, where $\Delta$ is the maximum degree of $G$.
Section:
Graph Theory
15. The Elser nuclei sum revisited
Fix a finite undirected graph $\Gamma$ and a vertex $v$ of $\Gamma$. Let $E$ be the set of edges of $\Gamma$. We call a subset $F$ of $E$ pandemic if each edge of $\Gamma$ has at least one endpoint that can be connected to $v$ by an $F$-path (i.e., a path using edges from $F$ only). In 1984, Elser showed that the sum of $\left(-1\right)^{\left| F\right|}$ over all pandemic subsets $F$ of $E$ is $0$ if $E\neq \varnothing$. We give a simple proof of this result via a sign-reversing involution, and discuss variants, generalizations and refinements, revealing connections to abstract convexity (the notion of an antimatroid) and discrete Morse theory.
Section:
Combinatorics
16. A note on tight cuts in matching-covered graphs
Edmonds, Lovász, and Pulleyblank showed that if a matching covered graph has a nontrivial tight cut, then it also has a nontrivial ELP-cut. Carvalho et al. gave a stronger conjecture: if a matching covered graph has a nontrivial tight cut $C$, then it also has a nontrivial ELP-cut that does not cross $C$. Chen, et al gave a proof of the conjecture. This note is inspired by the paper of Carvalho et al. We give a simplified proof of the conjecture, and prove the following result which is slightly stronger than the conjecture: if a nontrivial tight cut $C$ of a matching covered graph $G$ is not an ELP-cut, then there is a sequence $G_1=G, G_2,\ldots,G_r, r\geq2$ of matching covered graphs, such that for $i=1, 2,\ldots, r-1$, $G_i$ has an ELP-cut $C_i$, and $G_{i+1}$ is a $C_i$-contraction of $G_i$, and $C$ is a $2$-separation cut of $G_r$.
Section:
Graph Theory
17. A birational lifting of the Stanley-Thomas word on products of two chains
The dynamics of certain combinatorial actions and their liftings to actions at the piecewise-linear and birational level have been studied lately with an eye towards questions of periodicity, orbit structure, and invariants. One key property enjoyed by the rowmotion operator on certain finite partially-ordered sets is homomesy, where the average value of a statistic is the same for all orbits. To prove refined versions of homomesy in the product of two chain posets, J. Propp and the second author used an equivariant bijection discovered (less formally) by R. Stanley and H. Thomas. We explore the lifting of this "Stanley--Thomas word" to the piecewise-linear, birational, and noncommutative realms. Although the map is no longer a bijection, so cannot be used to prove periodicity directly, it still gives enough information to prove the homomesy at the piecewise-linear and birational levels (a result previously shown by D. Grinberg, S. Hopkins, and S. Okada). Even at the noncommutative level, the Stanley--Thomas word of a poset labeling rotates cyclically with the lifting of antichain rowmotion. Along the way we give some formulas for noncommutative antichain rowmotion that we hope will be first steps towards proving the conjectured periodicity at this level.
Section:
Combinatorics
18. Crisp-determinization of weighted tree automata over strong bimonoids
We consider weighted tree automata (wta) over strong bimonoids and their initial algebra semantics and their run semantics. There are wta for which these semantics are different; however, for bottom-up deterministic wta and for wta over semirings, the difference vanishes. A wta is crisp-deterministic if it is bottom-up deterministic and each transition is weighted by one of the unit elements of the strong bimonoid. We prove that the class of weighted tree languages recognized by crisp-deterministic wta is the same as the class of recognizable step mappings. Moreover, we investigate the following two crisp-determinization problems: for a given wta ${\cal A}$, (a) does there exist a crisp-deterministic wta which computes the initial algebra semantics of ${\cal A}$ and (b) does there exist a crisp-deterministic wta which computes the run semantics of ${\cal A}$? We show that the finiteness of the Nerode algebra ${\cal N}({\cal A})$ of ${\cal A}$ implies a positive answer for (a), and that the finite order property of ${\cal A}$ implies a positive answer for (b). We show a sufficient condition which guarantees the finiteness of ${\cal N}({\cal A})$ and a sufficient condition which guarantees the finite order property of ${\cal A}$. Also, we provide an algorithm for the construction of the crisp-deterministic wta according to (a) if ${\cal N}({\cal A})$ is finite, and similarly for (b) if ${\cal A}$ has finite order property. We prove that it is undecidable whether an arbitrary […]
Section:
Automata, Logic and Semantics
19. Semipaired Domination in Some Subclasses of Chordal Graphs
A dominating set $D$ of a graph $G$ without isolated vertices is called semipaired dominating set if $D$ can be partitioned into $2$-element subsets such that the vertices in each set are at distance at most $2$. The semipaired domination number, denoted by $\gamma_{pr2}(G)$ is the minimum cardinality of a semipaired dominating set of $G$. Given a graph $G$ with no isolated vertices, the \textsc{Minimum Semipaired Domination} problem is to find a semipaired dominating set of $G$ of cardinality $\gamma_{pr2}(G)$. The decision version of the \textsc{Minimum Semipaired Domination} problem is already known to be NP-complete for chordal graphs, an important graph class. In this paper, we show that the decision version of the \textsc{Minimum Semipaired Domination} problem remains NP-complete for split graphs, a subclass of chordal graphs. On the positive side, we propose a linear-time algorithm to compute a minimum cardinality semipaired dominating set of block graphs. In addition, we prove that the \textsc{Minimum Semipaired Domination} problem is APX-complete for graphs with maximum degree $3$.
Section:
Discrete Algorithms