We provide combinatorial decompositions as well as asymptotic tight estimates for two maximal parameters: the number and average size of maximal independent sets and maximal matchings in series-parallel graphs (and related graph classes) with n vertices. In particular, our results extend previous results of Meir and Moon for trees [Meir, Moon: On maximal independent sets of nodes in trees, Journal of Graph Theory 1988]. We also show that these two parameters converge to a central limit law.

We define a new class of tree automata with constraints and prove decidability of the emptiness problem for this class in exponential time. As a consequence, we obtain several EXPTIME-completeness results for problems on images of regular tree languages under tree homomorphisms, like set inclusion, regularity (HOM problem), and finiteness of set difference. Our result also has implications in term rewriting, since the set of reducible terms of a term rewrite system can be described as the image of a tree homomorphism. In particular, we prove that inclusion of sets of normal forms of term rewrite systems can be decided in exponential time. Analogous consequences arise in the context of XML typechecking, since types are defined by tree automata and some type transformations are homomorphic.

The HOM problem questions whether the image of a given regular tree language through a given tree homomorphism is also regular. Decidability of HOM is an important theoretical question which was open for a long time. Recently, HOM has been proved decidable with a triple exponential time algorithm. In this paper we obtain an exponential time algorithm for this problem, and conclude that it is EXPTIME-complete. The proof builds upon previous results and techniques on tree automata with constraints.

Singleton Tree Grammars (STGs) have recently drawn considerable attention. They generalize the sharing of subtrees known from DAGs to sharing of connected subgraphs. This allows to obtain smaller in-memory representations of trees than with DAGs. In the past years some important tree algorithms were proved to perform efficiently (without decompression) over STGs; e.g., type checking, equivalence checking, and unification. We present a tool that implements an extension of the unification algorithm for STGs. This algorithm makes extensive use of equivalence checking. For the latter we implemented two variants, the classical exact one and a recent randomized one. Our experiments show that the randomized algorithm performs better. The running times are also compared to those of unification over uncompressed trees.

We provide an algorithm that, given a tree homomorphism H and a regular tree language L represented by a tree automaton, determines whether H(L) is regular. This settles a question that has been open for a long time.