The complexity of classical computational problems in graph classes defined by forbidding induced subgraphs is one of the central topics of algorithmic graph theory. Recently, there has been a growing interest in the complexity of such problems in ordered graphs, i.e., graphs with a fixed linear ordering of vertices. Such an approach allows us to investigate the boundary of tractability more closely. However, most results so far concern coloring problems. In this paper, we focus on the complexity of the Maximum Weight Independent Set (MWIS) problem in classes of ordered graphs. For every ordered graph H, we classify the complexity of MWIS in ordered graphs that exclude H as an induced subgraph into one of the following cases: (1) solvable in polynomial time, (2) solvable in quasipolynomial time, (3) solvable in subexponential time, and (4) NP-hard. Notably, case (3) contains only one well-structured family of H obtained from two nested edges by adding isolated vertices in a specific way. Thus, our results yield an almost complete complexity dichotomy for MWIS in classes of ordered graphs defined by a single forbidden induced subgraph into cases solvable in quasipolynomial time and those that are NP-hard.

The tree-independence number of a graph is the minimum, over all tree-decompositions of the graph, of the maximum size of an independent set contained in a bag. Graph classes of bounded tree-independence number have strong structural and algorithmic properties, but the parameter can be unbounded even in quite restricted classes. In particular, the presence of an induced biclique K_{𝓁,𝓁} forces tree-independence number at least 𝓁. This leads to the question whether large induced bicliques are the only obstruction to bounded tree-independence number in natural hereditary classes. A conjecture of Dallard, Krnc, Kwon, Milanič, Munaro, Štorgel, and Wiederrecht states that for all positive integers t and 𝓁, {P_t,K_{𝓁,𝓁}}-free graphs have bounded tree-independence number. We prove this conjecture for t = 5 by showing that every {P₅,K_{𝓁,𝓁}}-free graph has tree-independence number at most 4𝓁. We also obtain related bounds for the weaker parameter of α-degeneracy.

A graph class is \(\chi\)-bounded if the only way to force large chromatic number in graphs from the class is by forming a large clique. In the 1970s, Erdős conjectured that intersection graphs of straight-line segments in the plane are \(\chi\)-bounded, but this was disproved by Pawlik et al. (2014), who showed another way to force large chromatic number in this class\(\unicode{x2014}\)by triangle-free graphs \(B_k\) with \(\chi(B_k) = k\) constructed by Burling (1965). This also disproved the celebrated conjecture of Scott (1997) that classes of graphs excluding induced subdivisions of a fixed graph are \(\chi\)-bounded.

In the List k-Coloring problem we are given a graph whose every vertex is equipped with a list, which is a subset of {1,…,k}. We need to decide if G admits a proper coloring, where every vertex receives a color from its list. The complexity of the problem in classes defined by forbidding induced subgraphs is a widely studied topic in algorithmic graph theory. Recently, Hajebi, Li, and Spirkl [SIAM J. Discr. Math. 38 (2024)] initiated the study of List 3-Coloring in ordered graphs, i.e., graphs with fixed linear ordering of vertices. Forbidding ordered induced subgraphs allows us to investigate the boundary of tractability more closely. We continue this direction of research, focusing mostly on the case of List 4-Coloring. We present several algorithmic and hardness results, which altogether provide an almost complete dichotomy for classes defined by forbidding one fixed ordered graph: our investigations leave one minimal open case.

We prove that a number of computational problems that ask for the largest sparse induced subgraph satisfying some property definable in \(\mathsf{CMSO}_{2}\) logic, most notably Feedback Vertex Set , are polynomial-time solvable in the class of \(P_{6}\) -free graphs. This generalizes the work of Grzesik, Klimošová, Pilipczuk, and Pilipczuk on the Maximum Weight Independent Set problem in \(P_{6}\) -free graphs [SODA 2019, TALG 2022], and of Abrishami, Chudnovsky, Pilipczuk, Rzążewski, and Seymour on problems in \(P_{5}\) -free graphs [SODA 2021]. The key step is a new generalization of the framework of potential maximal cliques . We show that instead of listing a large family of potential maximal cliques, it is sufficient to only list their carvers : vertex sets that contain the same vertices from the sought solution and have similar separation properties.

We present a 1.8334-approximation algorithm for Vertex Cover on string graphs given with a representation, which takes polynomial time in the size of the representation; the exact approximation factor is $11/6$. Recently, the barrier of 2 was broken by Lokshtanov et al. [SoGC '24] with a 1.9999-approximation algorithm. Thus we increase by three orders of magnitude the distance of the approximation ratio to the trivial bound of 2. Our algorithm is very simple. The intricacies reside in its analysis, where we mainly establish that string graphs without odd cycles of length at most 11 are 8-colorable. Previously, Chudnovsky, Scott, and Seymour [JCTB '21] showed that string graphs without odd cycles of length at most 7 are 80-colorable, and string graphs without odd cycles of length at most 5 have bounded chromatic number.

We study the problem of fair division of a set of indivisible goods with connectivity constraints. Specifically, we assume that the goods are represented as vertices of a connected graph, and sets of goods allocated to the agents are connected subgraphs of this graph. We focus on the widely-studied maximin share criterion of fairness. It has been shown that an allocation satisfying this criterion may not exist even without connectivity constraints, i.e., if the graph of goods is complete. In view of this, it is natural to seek approximate allocations that guarantee each agent a connected bundle of goods with value at least a constant fraction of the maximin share value to the agent. It is known that for some classes of graphs, such as complete graphs, cycles, and d-claw-free graphs for any fixed d, such approximate allocations indeed exist. However, it is an open problem whether they exist for the class of all graphs. In this paper, we continue the systematic study of the existence of approximate allocations on restricted graph classes. In particular, we show that such allocations exist for several well-studied classes, including block graphs, cacti, complete multipartite graphs, and split graphs.

The Directed Traveling Salesman Problem (DTSP) is a variant of the classical Traveling Salesman Problem in which the edges in the graph are directed and a vertex and edge can be visited multiple times. The goal is to find a directed closed walk of minimum length (or total weight) that visits every vertex of the given graph at least once. In a yet more general version, Directed Waypoint Routing Problem (DWRP), some vertices are marked as terminals and we are only required to visit all terminals. Furthermore, each edge has its capacity bounding the number of times this edge can be used by a solution. While both problems (and many other variants of TSP) were extensively investigated, mostly from the approximation point of view, there are surprisingly few results concerning the parameterized complexity. Our starting point is the result of Marx et al. [APPROX/RANDOM 2016] who proved that DTSP is W[1]-hard parameterized by distance to pathwidth 3. In this paper we aim to initiate the systematic complexity study of variants of Directed Traveling Salesman Problem with respect to various, mostly structural, parameters. We show that DWRP is FPT parameterized by the solution size, the feedback edge number and the vertex integrity of the underlying undirected graph. Furthermore, the problem is XP parameterized by treewidth. On the complexity side, we show that the problem is W[1]-hard parameterized by the distance to constant treedepth.

Many natural computational problems, including e.g. Max Weight Independent Set, Feedback Vertex Set, or Vertex Planarization, can be unified under an umbrella of finding the largest sparse induced subgraph that satisfies some property definable in CMSO₂ logic. It is believed that each problem expressible with this formalism can be solved in polynomial time in graphs that exclude a fixed path as an induced subgraph. This belief is supported by the existence of a quasipolynomial-time algorithm by Gartland, Lokshtanov, Pilipczuk, Pilipczuk, and Rzążewski [STOC 2021], and a recent polynomial-time algorithm for P₆-free graphs by Chudnovsky, McCarty, Pilipczuk, Pilipczuk, and Rzążewski [SODA 2024]. In this work we extend polynomial-time tractability of all such problems to P₇-free graphs of bounded clique number.

Abstract. For a tree decomposition [Formula: see text] of a graph [Formula: see text], let [Formula: see text] denote the maximum size of an induced matching in [Formula: see text] with the property that some bag of [Formula: see text] contains at least one endpoint of every edge of the matching. The induced matching treewidth of a graph [Formula: see text] is the minimum value of [Formula: see text] over all tree decompositions [Formula: see text] of [Formula: see text]. Classes of graphs with bounded induced matching treewidth admit polynomial-time algorithms for a number of problems, including Independent Set, [Formula: see text]-Coloring, Odd Cycle Transversal, and Feedback Vertex Set. In this paper, we focus on combinatorial properties of such classes. First, we show that graphs with bounded induced matching treewidth that exclude a fixed biclique as an induced subgraph have bounded tree-independence number, which is another well-studied parameter defined in terms of tree decompositions. This sufficient condition about excluding a biclique is also necessary, as bicliques have unbounded tree-independence number. Second, we show that graphs with bounded induced matching treewidth that exclude a fixed clique have bounded chromatic number, that is, classes of graphs with bounded induced matching treewidth are [Formula: see text]-bounded. The two results confirm two conjectures due to Lima et al. [32 nd Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2024), LIPIcs 308, pp. 85:1–85:17].

An independent set in a graph \(G\) is a set of pairwise non-adjacent vertices. A graph \(G\) is bipartite if its vertex set can be partitioned into two independent sets. In the Odd Cycle Transversal problem, the input is a graph \(G\) along with a weight function w associating a rational weight with each vertex, and the task is to find a minimum weight vertex subset \(S\) in \(G\) such that \(G-S\) is bipartite; the weight of \(S\) , \(\text{w}(S)=\sum_{v\in S}\text{w}(v)\) . We show that Odd Cycle Transversal is polynomial-time solvable on graphs excluding \(P_{5}\) (a path on five vertices) as an induced subgraph. The problem was previously known to be polynomial-time solvable on \(P_{4}\) -free graphs and NP -hard on \(P_{6}\) -free graphs [Dabrowski, Feghali, Johnson, Paesani, Paulusma and Rzążewski, Algorithmica 2020]. Bonamy, Dabrowski, Feghali, Johnson and Paulusma [Algorithmica 2019] posed the existence of a polynomial-time algorithm on \(P_{5}\) -free graphs as an open problem. This was later re-stated by Rzążewski [Dagstuhl Reports, 9(6): 2019], by Chudnovsky, King, Pilipczuk, Rzążewski, and Spirkl [SIDMA 2021] who gave an algorithm with running time \(n^{O(\sqrt{n})}\) for the problem, and by Agrawal, Lima, Lokshtanov, Saurabh, and Sharma [SODA 2024] who gave a quasi-polynomial time algorithm.

The goal of this paper is to investigate a family of optimization problems arising from list homomorphisms, and to understand what the best possible algorithms are if we restrict the problem to bounded-treewidth graphs. For a fixed $H$, the input of the optimization problem LHomVD($H$) is a graph $G$ with lists $L(v)$, and the task is to find a set $X$ of vertices having minimum size such that $(G-X,L)$ has a list homomorphism to $H$. We define analogously the edge-deletion variant LHomED($H$). This expressive family of problems includes members that are essentially equivalent to fundamental problems such as Vertex Cover, Max Cut, Odd Cycle Transversal, and Edge/Vertex Multiway Cut. For both variants, we first characterize those graphs $H$ that make the problem polynomial-time solvable and show that the problem is NP-hard for every other fixed $H$. Second, as our main result, we determine for every graph $H$ for which the problem is NP-hard, the smallest possible constant $c_H$ such that the problem can be solved in time $c^t_H\cdot n^{O(1)}$ if a tree decomposition of $G$ having width $t$ is given in the input.Let $i(H)$ be the maximum size of a set of vertices in $H$ that have pairwise incomparable neighborhoods. For the vertex-deletion variant LHomVD($H$), we show that the smallest possible constant is $i(H)+1$ for every $H$. The situation is more complex for the edge-deletion version. For every $H$, one can solve LHomED($H$) in time $i(H)^t\cdot n^{O(1)}$ if a tree decomposition of width $t$ is given. However, the existence of a specific type of decomposition of $H$ shows that there are graphs $H$ where LHomED($H$) can be solved significantly more efficiently and the best possible constant can be arbitrarily smaller than $i(H)$. Nevertheless, we determine this best possible constant and (assuming the SETH) prove tight bounds for every fixed $H$.

For a tree decomposition $\mathcal{T}$ of a graph $G$, by $μ(\mathcal{T})$ we denote the size of a largest induced matching in $G$ all of whose edges intersect one bag of $\mathcal{T}$. Induced matching treewidth of a graph $G$ is the minimum value of $μ(\mathcal{T})$ over all tree decompositions $\mathcal{T}$ of $G$. Yolov [SODA 2018] proved that Max Weight Independent Set can be solved in polynomial time for graphs of bounded induced matching treewidth. In this paper we explore what other problems are tractable in such classes of graphs. As our main result, we give a polynomial-time algorithm for Min Weight Feedback Vertex Set. We also provide some positive results concerning packing induced subgraphs, which in particular imply a PTAS for the problem of finding a largest induced subgraph of bounded treewidth. These results suggest that in graphs of bounded induced matching treewidth, one could find in polynomial time a maximum-weight induced subgraph of bounded treewidth satisfying a given CMSO$_2$ formula. We conjecture that such a result indeed holds and prove it for graphs of bounded tree-independence number, which form a rich and important family of subclasses of graphs of bounded induced matching treewidth. We complement these algorithmic results with a number of complexity and structural results concerning induced matching treewidth.

A homomorphism from a graph G to a graph H is an edge-preserving mapping from V(G) to V(H). In the graph homomorphism problem, denoted by Hom(H), the graph H is fixed and we need to determine if there exists a homomorphism from an instance graph G to H. We study the complexity of the problem parameterized by the cutwidth of G, i.e., we assume that G is given along with a linear ordering v_1,…,v_n of V(G) such that, for each i ∈ {1,…,n-1}, the number of edges with one endpoint in {v_1,…,v_i} and the other in {v_{i+1},…,v_n} is at most k. We aim, for each H, for algorithms for Hom(H) running in time c_H^k n^𝒪(1) and matching lower bounds that exclude c_H^{k⋅o(1)} n^𝒪(1) or c_H^{k(1-Ω(1))} n^𝒪(1) time algorithms under the (Strong) Exponential Time Hypothesis. In the paper we introduce a new parameter that we call mimsup(H). Our main contribution is strong evidence of a close connection between c_H and mimsup(H): - an information-theoretic argument that the number of states needed in a natural dynamic programming algorithm is at most mimsup(H)^k, - lower bounds that show that for almost all graphs H indeed we have c_H ≥ mimsup(H), assuming the (Strong) Exponential-Time Hypothesis, and - an algorithm with running time exp(𝒪(mimsup(H)⋅k log k)) n^𝒪(1). In the last result we do not need to assume that H is a fixed graph. Thus, as a consequence, we obtain that the problem of deciding whether G admits a homomorphism to H is fixed-parameter tractable, when parameterized by cutwidth of G and mimsup(H). The parameter mimsup(H) can be thought of as the p-th root of the maximum induced matching number in the graph obtained by multiplying p copies of H via a certain graph product, where p tends to infinity. It can also be defined as an asymptotic rank parameter of the adjacency matrix of H. Such parameters play a central role in, among others, algebraic complexity theory and additive combinatorics. Our results tightly link the parameterized complexity of a problem to such an asymptotic matrix parameter for the first time.

For graphs G and H, an H-coloring of G is an edge-preserving mapping from V(G) to V(H). Note that if H is the triangle, then H-colorings are equivalent to 3-colorings. In this paper we are interested in the case that H is the five-vertex cycle C₅. A minimal obstruction to C₅-coloring is a graph that does not have a C₅-coloring, but every proper induced subgraph thereof has a C₅-coloring. In this paper we are interested in minimal obstructions to C₅-coloring in F-free graphs, i.e., graphs that exclude some fixed graph F as an induced subgraph. Let P_t denote the path on t vertices, and let S_{a,b,c} denote the graph obtained from paths P_{a+1},P_{b+1},P_{c+1} by identifying one of their endvertices. We show that there is only a finite number of minimal obstructions to C₅-coloring among F-free graphs, where F ∈ {P₈, S_{2,2,1}, S_{3,1,1}} and explicitly determine all such obstructions. This extends the results of Kamiński and Pstrucha [Discr. Appl. Math. 261, 2019] who proved that there is only a finite number of P₇-free minimal obstructions to C₅-coloring, and of Dębski et al. [ISAAC 2022 Proc.] who showed that the triangle is the unique S_{2,1,1}-free minimal obstruction to C₅-coloring. We complement our results with a construction of an infinite family of minimal obstructions to C₅-coloring, which are simultaneously P_{13}-free and S_{2,2,2}-free. We also discuss infinite families of F-free minimal obstructions to H-coloring for other graphs H.

We prove that a number of computational problems that ask for the largest sparse induced subgraph satisfying some property definable in CMSO2 logic, most notably Feedback Vertex Set, are polynomial-time solvable in the class of P6-free graphs. This generalizes the work of Grzesik, Klimošová, Pilipczuk, and Pilipczuk on the Maximum Weight Independent Set problem in P6-free graphs [SODA 2019, TALG 2022], and of Abrishami, Chudnovsky, Pilipczuk, Rzążewski, and Seymour on problems in P5-free graphs [SODA 2021].

We show that the Maximum Weight Independent Set problem (MWIS) can be solved in quasi-polynomial time on H-free graphs (graphs excluding a fixed graph H as an induced subgraph) for every H whose every connected component is a path or a subdivided claw (i.e., a tree with at most three leaves). This completes the dichotomy of the complexity of MWIS in F-free graphs for any finite set F of graphs into NP-hard cases and cases solvable in quasi-polynomial time, and corroborates the conjecture that the cases not known to be NP-hard are actually polynomial-time solvable. The key graph-theoretic ingredient in our result is as follows. Fix an integer t ≥ 1. Let St,t,t be the graph created from three paths on t edges by identifying one endpoint of each path into a single vertex. We show that, given a graph G, one can in polynomial time find either an induced St,t,t in G, or a balanced separator consisting of O(log|V(G)|) vertex neighborhoods in G, or an extended strip decomposition of G (a decomposition almost as useful for recursion for MWIS as a partition into connected components) with each particle of weight multiplicatively smaller than the weight of G. This is a strengthening of a result of Majewski, Masařík, Novotná, Okrasa, Pilipczuk, Rzążewski, and Sokołowski [Transactions on Computation Theory ‍2024] which provided such an extended strip decomposition only after the deletion of O(log|V(G)|) vertex neighborhoods. To reach the final result, we employ an involved branching strategy that relies on the structural lemma presented above.

Abstract. A hole in a graph is an induced cycle of length at least 4. A hole is long if its length is at least 5. By [Formula: see text], we denote a path on [Formula: see text] vertices. In this paper, we give polynomial-time algorithms for the following problems: the maximum weight independent set problem in long-hole–free graphs and the feedback vertex set problem in [Formula: see text]-free graphs. Each of the above results resolves a corresponding long-standing open problem. An extended [Formula: see text] is a five-vertex hole with an additional vertex adjacent to one or two consecutive vertices of the hole. Let [Formula: see text] be the class of graphs excluding an extended [Formula: see text] and holes of length at least 6 as induced subgraphs; [Formula: see text] contains all long-hole–free graphs and all [Formula: see text]-free graphs. We show that, given an [Formula: see text]-vertex graph [Formula: see text] with vertex weights and an integer [Formula: see text], one can, in time, [Formula: see text] find a maximum-weight induced subgraph of [Formula: see text] of treewidth less than [Formula: see text]. This implies both aforementioned results. To achieve this goal, we extend the framework of potential maximal cliques (PMCs) to containers. Developed by Bouchitté and Todinca [ SIAM J. Comput., 31 (2001), pp. 212–232] and extended by Fomin, Todinca, and Villanger [ SIAM J. Comput., 44 (2015), pp. 54–87], this framework allows us to solve a wide variety of tasks, including finding a maximum-weight induced subgraph of treewidth less than [Formula: see text] for fixed [Formula: see text], in time polynomial in the size of the graph and the number of potential maximal cliques. Further developments, tailored to solve the maximum weight independent set problem within this framework (e.g., for [Formula: see text]-free [Lokshtanov, Vatshelle, and Villanger, SODA 2014, pp. 570–581] or [Formula: see text]-free graphs [Grzesik, Klimošová, Pilipczuk, and Pilipczuk, ACM Trans. Algorithms, 18 (2022), pp. 4:1–4:57]), enumerate only a specifically chosen subset of all PMCs of a graph. In all aforementioned works, the final step is an involved dynamic programming algorithm whose state space is based on the considered list of PMCs. Here, we modify the dynamic programming algorithm and show that it is sufficient to consider only a container for each PMC: a superset of the maximal clique that intersects the sought solution only in the vertices of the PMC. This strengthening of the framework not only allows us to obtain our main result but also leads to significant simplifications of the reasoning in previous papers.

Abstract. We confirm a conjecture of Gartland and Lokshtanov [SODA 2023]: if for a hereditary graph class [Formula: see text] there exists a constant [Formula: see text] such that no member of [Formula: see text] contains a [Formula: see text]-creature as an induced subgraph or a [Formula: see text]-skinny-ladder as an induced minor, then there exists a polynomial [Formula: see text] such that every [Formula: see text] contains at most [Formula: see text] minimal separators. By a result of Fomin, Todinca, and Villanger [ SIAM J. Comput., 44 (2015), pp. 54–87] the latter entails the existence of polynomial-time algorithms for Maximum Weight Independent Set, Feedback Vertex Set and many other problems, when restricted to an input graph from [Formula: see text]. Furthermore, as shown by Gartland and Lokshtanov, our result implies a full dichotomy of hereditary graph classes defined by a finite set of forbidden induced subgraphs into tame (admitting a polynomial bound of the number of minimal separators) and feral (containing infinitely many graphs with exponential number of minimal separators).

The goal of this work is to give precise bounds on the counting complexity of a family of generalized coloring problems (list homomorphisms) on bounded-treewidth graphs. Given graphs G , H , and lists L (v) ⊆ V(H) for every v ∈ V(G) , a f:V(G) → V(H) that preserves the edges (i.e., uv ∈ E(G) implies f(u)f(v) ∈ E(H) ) and respects the lists (i.e., f(v) ∈ L(v) ). Standard techniques show that if G is given with a tree decomposition of width t , then the number of list homomorphisms can be counted in time |V(H)| t ⋅ n 𝒪(1) . Our main result is determining, for every fixed graph H , how much the base |V(H)| in the running time can be improved. For a connected graph H , we define irr( H ) in the following way: if H has a loop or is nonbipartite, then irr( H ) is the maximum size of a set S⊆ V(H) where any two vertices have different neighborhoods; if H is bipartite, then irr( H ) is the maximum size of such a set that is fully in one of the bipartition classes. For disconnected H , we define irr( H ) as the maximum of irr( C ) over every connected component C of H . It follows from earlier results that if irr( H )=1, then the problem of counting list homomorphisms to H is polynomial-time solvable, and otherwise it is #P-hard. We show that, for every fixed graph H , the number of list homomorphisms from (G,L) to H — can be counted in time \(\operatorname{irr}(H)^t\cdot n^{\mathcal {O}(1)}\) if a tree decomposition of G having width at most t is given in the input, and, — given that \(\operatorname{irr}(H)\ge 2\) , cannot be counted in time \((\operatorname{irr}(H)-\varepsilon)^t\cdot n^{\mathcal {O}(1)}\) for any \(\varepsilon \gt 0\) , even if a tree decomposition of G having width at most t is given in the input, unless the Counting Strong Exponential-Time Hypothesis (#SETH) fails. Thereby, we give a precise and complete complexity classification featuring matching upper and lower bounds for all target graphs with or without loops.

A \emph{mixed interval graph} is an interval graph that has, for every pair of intersecting intervals, either an arc (directed arbitrarily) or an (undirected) edge. We are particularly interested in scenarios where edges and arcs are defined by the geometry of intervals. In a proper coloring of a mixed interval graph $G$, an interval $u$ receives a lower (different) color than an interval $v$ if $G$ contains arc $(u,v)$ (edge $\{u,v\}$). Coloring of mixed graphs has applications, for example, in scheduling with precedence constraints; see a survey by Sotskov [Mathematics, 2020]. For coloring general mixed interval graphs, we present a $\min \{ω(G), λ(G)+1 \}$-approximation algorithm, where $ω(G)$ is the size of a largest clique and $λ(G)$ is the length of a longest directed path in $G$. For the subclass of \emph{bidirectional interval graphs} (introduced recently for an application in graph drawing), we show that optimal coloring is NP-hard. This was known for general mixed interval graphs. We introduce a new natural class of mixed interval graphs, which we call \emph{containment interval graphs}. In such a graph, there is an arc $(u,v)$ if interval $u$ contains interval $v$, and there is an edge $\{u,v\}$ if $u$ and $v$ overlap. We show that these graphs can be recognized in polynomial time, that coloring them with the minimum number of colors is NP-hard, and that there is a 2-approximation algorithm for coloring.

Abstract Exhibiting a deep connection between purely geometric problems and real algebra, the complexity class $$\exists \mathbb {R}$$ ∃ R plays a crucial role in the study of geometric problems. Sometimes $$\exists \mathbb {R}$$ ∃ R is referred to as the ‘real analog’ of NP. While NP is a class of computational problems that deals with existentially quantified boolean variables, $$\exists \mathbb {R}$$ ∃ R deals with existentially quantified real variables. In analogy to $$\Pi _2^p$$ Π 2 p and $$\Sigma _2^p$$ Σ 2 p in the famous polynomial hierarchy, we study the complexity classes $$\forall \exists \mathbb {R}$$ ∀ ∃ R and $$ \exists \forall \mathbb {R}$$ ∃ ∀ R with real variables. Our main interest is the AreaUniversality problem, where we are given a plane graph G, and ask if for each assignment of areas to the inner faces of G, there exists a straight-line drawing of G realizing the assigned areas. We conjecture that AreaUniversality is $$\forall \exists \mathbb {R}$$ ∀ ∃ R -complete and support this conjecture by proving $$\exists \mathbb {R}$$ ∃ R - and $$\forall \exists \mathbb {R}$$ ∀ ∃ R -completeness of two variants of AreaUniversality. To this end, we introduce tools to prove $$\forall \exists \mathbb {R}$$ ∀ ∃ R -hardness and membership. Finally, we present geometric problems as candidates for $$\forall \exists \mathbb {R}$$ ∀ ∃ R -complete problems. These problems have connections to the concepts of imprecision, robustness, and extendability.

We confirm a conjecture of Gartland and Lokshtanov [arXiv:2007.08761]: if for a hereditary graph class 𝒢 there exists a constant k such that no member of 𝒢 contains a k-creature as an induced subgraph or a k-skinny-ladder as an induced minor, then there exists a polynomial p such that every G ∈ 𝒢 contains at most p(|V(G)|) minimal separators. By a result of Fomin, Todinca, and Villanger [SIAM J. Comput. 2015] the latter entails the existence of polynomial-time algorithms for Maximum Weight Independent Set, Feedback Vertex Set and many other problems, when restricted to an input graph from 𝒢. Furthermore, as shown by Gartland and Lokshtanov, our result implies a full dichotomy of hereditary graph classes defined by a finite set of forbidden induced subgraphs into tame (admitting a polynomial bound of the number of minimal separators) and feral (containing infinitely many graphs with exponential number of minimal separators).

We revisit recent developments for the Maximum Weight Independent Set problem in graphs excluding a subdivided claw $S_{t,t,t}$ as an induced subgraph [Chudnovsky, Pilipczuk, Pilipczuk, Thomassé, SODA 2020] and provide a subexponential-time algorithm with improved running time $2^{\mathcal{O}(\sqrt{n}\log n)}$ and a quasipolynomial-time approximation scheme with improved running time $2^{\mathcal{O}(\varepsilon^{-1} \log^{5} n)}$. The Gyárfás' path argument, a powerful tool that is the main building block for many algorithms in $P_t$-free graphs, ensures that given an $n$-vertex $P_t$-free graph, in polynomial time we can find a set $P$ of at most $t-1$ vertices, such that every connected component of $G-N[P]$ has at most $n/2$ vertices. Our main technical contribution is an analog of this result for $S_{t,t,t}$-free graphs: given an $n$-vertex $S_{t,t,t}$-free graph, in polynomial time we can find a set $P$ of $\mathcal{O}(t \log n)$ vertices and an extended strip decomposition (an appropriate analog of the decomposition into connected components) of $G-N[P]$ such that every particle (an appropriate analog of a connected component to recurse on) of the said extended strip decomposition has at most $n/2$ vertices.

For graphs G and H, an H-coloring of G is an edge-preserving mapping from V(G) to V(H). In the H-Coloring problem the graph H is fixed and we ask whether an instance graph G admits an H-coloring. A generalization of this problem is H-ColoringExt, where some vertices of G are already mapped to vertices of H and we ask if this partial mapping can be extended to an H-coloring. We study the complexity of variants of H-Coloring in F-free graphs, i.e., graphs excluding a fixed graph F as an induced subgraph. For integers a,b,c ⩾ 1, by S_{a,b,c} we denote the graph obtained by identifying one endvertex of three paths on a+1, b+1, and c+1 vertices, respectively. For odd k ⩾ 5, by W_k we denote the graph obtained from the k-cycle by adding a universal vertex. As our main algorithmic result we show that W_5-ColoringExt is polynomial-time solvable in S_{2,1,1}-free graphs. This result exhibits an interesting non-monotonicity of H-ColoringExt with respect to taking induced subgraphs of H. Indeed, W_5 contains a triangle, and K_3-Coloring, i.e., classical 3-coloring, is NP-hard already in claw-free (i.e., S_{1,1,1}-free) graphs. Our algorithm is based on two main observations: 1) W_5-ColoringExt in S_{2,1,1}-free graphs can be in polynomial time reduced to a variant of the problem of finding an independent set intersecting all triangles, and 2) the latter problem can be solved in polynomial time in S_{2,1,1}-free graphs. We complement this algorithmic result with several negative ones. In particular, we show that W_5-Coloring is NP-hard in P_t-free graphs for some constant t and W_5-ColoringExt is NP-hard in S_{3,3,3}-free graphs of bounded degree. This is again uncommon, as usually problems that are NP-hard in S_{a,b,c}-free graphs for some constant a,b,c are already hard in claw-free graphs

A locally surjective homomorphism from a graph G to a graph H is an edge-preserving mapping from V(G) to V(H) that is surjective in the neighborhood of each vertex in G. In the list locally surjective homomorphism problem, denoted by LLSHom(H), the graph H is fixed and the instance consists of a graph G whose every vertex is equipped with a subset of V(H), called list. We ask for the existence of a locally surjective homomorphism from G to H, where every vertex of G is mapped to a vertex from its list. In this paper, we study the complexity of the LLSHom(H) problem in F-free graphs, i.e., graphs that exclude a fixed graph F as an induced subgraph. We aim to understand for which pairs (H,F) the problem can be solved in subexponential time. We show that for all graphs H, for which the problem is NP-hard in general graphs, it cannot be solved in subexponential time in F-free graphs for F being a bounded-degree forest, unless the ETH fails. The initial study reveals that a natural subfamily of bounded-degree forests F, that might lead to some tractability results, is the family 𝒮 consisting of forests whose every component has at most three leaves. In this case, we exhibit the following dichotomy theorem: besides the cases that are polynomial-time solvable in general graphs, the graphs H ∈ {P₃,C₄} are the only connected ones that allow for a subexponential-time algorithm in F-free graphs for every F ∈ 𝒮 (unless the ETH fails).

For graphs G and H, we say that G is H-free if it does not contain H as an induced subgraph. Already in the early 1980s Alekseev observed that if H is connected, then the Max Weight Independent Set problem (MWIS) remains NP-hard in H-free graphs, unless H is a path or a subdivided claw, i.e., a graph obtained from the three-leaf star by subdividing each edge some number of times (possibly zero). Since then determining the complexity of MWIS in these remaining cases is one of the most important problems in algorithmic graph theory. A general belief is that the problem is polynomial-time solvable, which is witnessed by algorithmic results for graphs excluding some small paths or subdivided claws. A more conclusive evidence was given by the recent breakthrough result by Gartland and Lokshtanov [FOCS 2020]: They proved that MWIS can be solved in quasipolynomial time in H-free graphs, where H is any fixed path. If H is an arbitrary subdivided claw, we know much less: The problem admits a QPTAS and a subexponential-time algorithm [Chudnovsky et al., SODA 2019]. In this paper we make an important step towards solving the problem by showing that for any subdivided claw H, MWIS is polynomial-time solvable in H-free graphs of bounded degree.

The goal of this work is to give precise bounds on the counting complexity of a family of generalized coloring problems (list homomorphisms) on bounded-treewidth graphs. Given graphs G, H, and lists L(v) ⊆ V(H) for every v ∊ V(G), a list homomorphism is a function f : V(G) → V(H) that preserves the edges (i.e., uv ∊ E(G) implies f(u)f(v) ∊ E(H)) and respects the lists (i.e., f(v) ∊ L(v)). Standard techniques show that if G is given with a tree decomposition of width t, then the number of list homomorphisms can be counted in time . Our main result is determining, for every fixed graph H, how much the base |V(H)| in the running time can be improved. For a connected graph H we define irr(H) in the following way: if H has a loop or is nonbipartite, then irr(H) is the maximum size of a set S ⊆ V(H) where any two vertices have different neighborhoods; if H is bipartite, then irr(H) is the maximum size of such a set that is fully in one of the bipartition classes. For disconnected H, we define irr(H) as the maximum of irr(C) over every connected component C of H. It follows from earlier results that if irr(H) = 1, then the problem of counting list homomorphisms to H is polynomial-time solvable, and otherwise it is #P-hard. We show that, for every fixed graph H, the number of list homomorphisms from (G, L) to H can be counted in time if a tree decomposition of G having width at most t is given in the input, and given that irr(H) ≥ 2, cannot be counted in time for any ∊ > 0, even if a tree decomposition of G having width at most t is given in the input, unless the Counting Strong Exponential-Time Hypothesis (#SETH) fails. Thereby we give a precise and complete complexity classification featuring matching upper and lower bounds for all target graphs with or without loops.

We study the 3-Coloring problem in graphs with small diameter. In 2013, Mertzios and Spirakis showed that for $n$-vertex diameter-2 graphs this problem can be solved in subexponential time $2^{\mathcal{O}(\sqrt{n \log n})}$. Whether the problem can be solved in polynomial time remains a well-known open question in the area of algorithmic graph theory. In this paper we present an algorithm that solves 3-Coloring in $n$-vertex diameter-2 graphs in time $2^{\mathcal{O}(n^{1/3} \log^{2} n)}$. This is the first improvement upon the algorithm of Mertzios and Spirakis in the general case, i.e., without putting any further restrictions on the instance graph. In addition to standard branchings and reducing the problem to an instance of 2-Sat, the crucial building block of our algorithm is a combinatorial observation about 3-colorable diameter-2 graphs, which is proven using a probabilistic argument. As a side result, we show that 3-Coloring can be solved in time $2^{\mathcal{O}( (n \log n)^{2/3})}$ in $n$-vertex diameter-3 graphs. This is the first algorithm for 3-Coloring which works in subexponential time for all diameter-3 graphs. We also discuss generalizations of our results to the weighted variant of 3-Coloring.

The Directed Grid Theorem, stating that there is a function $f$ such that a directed graph of directed treewidth at least $f(k)$ contains a directed grid of size at least $k$ as a butterfly minor, after being a conjecture for nearly 20 years, was proved in 2015 by Kawarabayashi and Kreutzer. However, the function $f$ obtained in the proof is very fast growing. In this work, we show that if one relaxes directed grid to bramble of constant congestion, one can obtain a polynomial bound. More precisely, we show that for every $k \geq 1$ there exists $t = \mathcal{O}(k^{48} \log^{13} k)$ such that every directed graph of directed treewidth at least $t$ contains a bramble of congestion at most 8 and size at least $k$.

We prove new complexity results for Feedback Vertex Set and Even Cycle Transversal on $H$-free graphs, that is, graphs that do not contain some fixed graph $H$ as an induced subgraph. In particular, we prove that for every $s\geq 1$, both problems are polynomial-time solvable for $sP_3$-free graphs and $(sP_1+P_5)$-free graphs; here, the graph $sP_3$ denotes the disjoint union of $s$ paths on three vertices and the graph $sP_1+P_5$ denotes the disjoint union of $s$ isolated vertices and a path on five vertices. Our new results for Feedback Vertex Set extend all known polynomial-time results for Feedback Vertex Set on $H$-free graphs, namely for $sP_2$-free graphs [Chiarelli et al., Theoret. Comput. Sci., 705 (2018), pp. 75--83], $(sP_1+P_3)$-free graphs [Dabrowski et al., Algorithmica, 82 (2020), pp. 2841--2866] and $P_5$-free graphs [Abrishami et al., Induced subgraphs of bounded treewidth and the container method, in Proceedings of the 2021 ACM-SIAM Symposium on Discrete Algorithms (SODA), SIAM, Philadelphia, 2021, pp. 1948--1964]. Together, the new results also show that both problems exhibit the same behavior on $H$-free graphs (subject to some open cases). This is in part due to a new general algorithm we design for finding in a ($sP_3)$-free or $(sP_1+P_5)$-free graph $G$ a largest induced subgraph whose blocks belong to some finite class ${\cal C}$ of graphs. We also compare our results with the state-of-the-art results for the Odd Cycle Transversal problem, which is known to behave differently on $H$-free graphs.

We study the 3-Coloring problem in graphs with small diameter. In 2013, Mertzios and Spirakis showed that for n-vertex diameter-2 graphs this problem can be solved in subexponential time 2^{𝒪(√{n log n})}. Whether the problem can be solved in polynomial time remains a well-known open question in the area of algorithmic graphs theory. In this paper we present an algorithm that solves 3-Coloring in n-vertex diameter-2 graphs in time 2^{𝒪(n^{1/3} log² n)}. This is the first improvement upon the algorithm of Mertzios and Spirakis in the general case, i.e., without putting any further restrictions on the instance graph. In addition to standard branchings and reducing the problem to an instance of 2-Sat, the crucial building block of our algorithm is a combinatorial observation about 3-colorable diameter-2 graphs, which is proven using a probabilistic argument. As a side result, we show that 3-Coloring can be solved in time 2^{𝒪((n log n)^{2/3})} in n-vertex diameter-3 graphs. We also generalize our algorithms to the problem of finding a list homomorphism from a small-diameter graph to a cycle.

We prove new complexity results for Feedback Vertex Set and Even Cycle Transversal on H-free graphs, that is, graphs that do not contain some fixed graph H as an induced subgraph. In particular, we prove that both problems are polynomial-time solvable for sP₃-free graphs for every integer s ≥ 1; here, the graph sP₃ denotes the disjoint union of s paths on three vertices. Our results show that both problems exhibit the same behaviour on H-free graphs (subject to some open cases). This is in part explained by a new general algorithm we design for finding in a graph G a largest induced subgraph whose blocks belong to some finite class C of graphs. We also compare our results with the state-of-the-art results for the Odd Cycle Transversal problem, which is known to behave differently on H-free graphs.

A hole in a graph is an induced cycle of length at least 4. A hole is long if its length is at least 5. By Pt we denote a path on t vertices. In this paper we give polynomial-time algorithms for the following problems: the Maximum Weight Independent Set problem in long-hole-free graphs, and the Feedback Vertex Set problem in P5-free graphs. Each of the above results resolves a corresponding long-standing open problem. An extended C5 is a five-vertex hole with an additional vertex adjacent to one or two consecutive vertices of the hole. Let be the class of graphs excluding an extended C5 and holes of length at least 6 as induced subgraphs; contains all long-hole-free graphs and all P5-free graphs. We show that, given an n-vertex graph G ∊ with vertex weights and an integer k, one can in time find a maximum-weight induced subgraph of G of treewidth less than k. This implies both aforementioned results. To achieve this goal, we extend the framework of potential maximal cliques (PMCs) to containers. Developed by Bouchitté and Todinca [SIAM J. Comput. 2001] and extended by Fomin, Todinca, and Villanger [SIAM J. Comput. 2015], this framework allows to solve high variety of tasks, including finding a maximum-weight induced subgraph of treewidth less than k for fixed k, in time polynomial in the size of the graph and the number of potential maximal cliques. Further developments, tailored to solve the Maximum Weight Independent Set problem within this framework (e.g., for P5-free [SODA 2014] or P6-free graphs [SODA 2019]), enumerate only a specifically chosen subset of all PMCs of a graph. In all aforementioned works, the final step is an involved dynamic programming algorithm whose state space is based on the considered list of PMCs. Here we modify the dynamic programming algorithm and show that it is sufficient to consider only a container for each potential maximal clique: a superset of the maximal clique that intersects the sought solution only in the vertices of the potential maximal clique. This strengthening of the framework not only allows us to obtain our main result, but also leads to significant simplifications of reasonings in previous papers.

International audience

For graphs G,H, a homomorphism from G to H is an edge-preserving mapping from V(G) to V(H). In the list homomorphism problem, denoted by LHom(H), we are given a graph G, whose every vertex v is equipped with a list L(v) ⊆ V(H), and we need to determine whether there exists a homomorphism from G to H which additionally respects the lists L. List homomorphisms are a natural generalization of (list) colorings. Very recently Okrasa, Piecyk, and Rzążewski [ESA 2020] studied the fine-grained complexity of the problem, parameterized by the treewidth of the instance graph G. They defined a new invariant i^*(H), and proved that for every relevant graph H, i.e., such that LHom(H) is NP-hard, this invariant is the correct base of the exponent in the running time of any algorithm solving the LHom(H) problem. In this paper we continue this direction and study the complexity of the problem under different parameterizations. As the first result, we show that i^*(H) is also the right complexity base if the parameter is the size of a minimum feedback vertex set of G, denoted by fvs(G). In particular, for every relevant graph H, the LHom(H) problem - can be solved in time i^*(H)^fvs(G) ⋅ |V(G)|^𝒪(1), if a minimum feedback vertex set of G is given, - cannot be solved in time (i^*(H) - ε)^fvs(G) ⋅ |V(G)|^𝒪(1), for any ε > 0, unless the SETH fails. Then we turn our attention to a parameterization by the cutwidth ctw(G) of G. Jansen and Nederlof [TCS 2019] showed that List k-Coloring (i.e., LHom(K_k)) can be solved in time c^ctw(G) ⋅ |V(G)|^𝒪(1) for an absolute constant c, i.e., the base of the exponential function does not depend on the number of colors. Jansen asked whether this behavior extends to graph homomorphisms. As the main result of the paper, we answer the question in the negative. We define a new graph invariant mim^*(H), closely related to the size of a maximum induced matching in H, and prove that for all relevant graphs H, the LHom(H) problem cannot be solved in time (mim^*(H)-ε)^{ctw(G)}⋅ |V(G)|^𝒪(1) for any ε > 0, unless the SETH fails. In particular, this implies that, assuming the SETH, there is no constant c, such that for every odd cycle the non-list version of the problem can be solved in time c^ctw(G) ⋅ |V(G)|^𝒪(1).

For an integer t, a graph G is called C>t-free if G does not contain any induced cycle on more than t vertices. We prove the following statement: for every pair of integers d and t and a statement φ, there exists an algorithm that, given an n-vertex C>t-free graph G with weights on vertices, finds in time n(log3 n) a maximum-weight vertex subset S such that G[S] has degeneracy at most d and satisfies φ. The running time can be improved to n(log2 n) assuming G is Pt-free, that is, G does not contain an induced path on t vertices. This expands the recent results of the authors [FOCS 2020 and SOSA 2021] on the Maximum Weight Independent Set problem on Pt-free graphs in two directions: by encompassing the more general setting of C>t-free graphs, and by being applicable to a much wider variety of problems, such as Maximum Weight Induced Forest or Maximum Weight Induced Planar Graph.

Abstract Let $${\mathcal {C}}$$ C and $${\mathcal {D}}$$ D be hereditary graph classes. Consider the following problem: given a graph $$G\in {\mathcal {D}}$$ G ∈ D , find a largest, in terms of the number of vertices, induced subgraph of G that belongs to $${\mathcal {C}}$$ C . We prove that it can be solved in $$2^{o(n)}$$ 2 o ( n ) time, where n is the number of vertices of G , if the following conditions are satisfied: the graphs in $${\mathcal {C}}$$ C are sparse, i.e., they have linearly many edges in terms of the number of vertices; the graphs in $${\mathcal {D}}$$ D admit balanced separators of size governed by their density, e.g., $${\mathcal {O}}(\varDelta )$$ O ( Δ ) or $${\mathcal {O}}(\sqrt{m})$$ O ( m ) , where $$\varDelta$$ Δ and m denote the maximum degree and the number of edges, respectively; and the considered problem admits a single-exponential fixed-parameter algorithm when parameterized by the treewidth of the input graph. This leads, for example, to the following corollaries for specific classes $${\mathcal {C}}$$ C and $${\mathcal {D}}$$ D : a largest induced forest in a $$P_t$$ P t -free graph can be found in $$2^{\tilde{{\mathcal {O}}}(n^{2/3})}$$ 2 O ~ ( n

A (unit) disk graph is the intersection graph of closed (unit) disks in the plane. Almost three decades ago, an elegant polynomial-time algorithm was found for M AXIMUM C LIQUE on unit disk graphs [Clark, Colbourn, Johnson; Discrete Mathematics ’90]. Since then, it has been an intriguing open question whether or not tractability can be extended to general disk graphs. We show that the disjoint union of two odd cycles is never the complement of a disk graph nor of a unit (3-dimensional) ball graph. From that fact and existing results, we derive a simple QPTAS and a subexponential algorithm running in time 2 Õ( n 2/3 ) for M AXIMUM C LIQUE on disk and unit ball graphs. We then obtain a randomized EPTAS for computing the independence number on graphs having no disjoint union of two odd cycles as an induced subgraph, bounded VC-dimension, and linear independence number. This, in combination with our structural results, yields a randomized EPTAS for M AX C LIQUE on disk and unit ball graphs. M AX C LIQUE on unit ball graphs is equivalent to finding, given a collection of points in R 3 , a maximum subset of points with diameter at most some fixed value. In stark contrast, M AXIMUM C LIQUE on ball graphs and unit 4-dimensional ball graphs, as well as intersection graphs of filled ellipses (even close to unit disks) or filled triangles is unlikely to have such algorithms. Indeed, we show that, for all those problems, there is a constant ratio of approximation that cannot be attained even in time 2 n 1−ɛ , unless the Exponential Time Hypothesis fails.

For a fixed graph $H$, by Hom($H$) we denote the computational problem which asks whether a given graph $G$ admits a homomorphism to $H$, i.e., an edge-preserving mapping from $V(G)$ to $V(H)$. As Hom($K_k$) is equivalent to $k$-Coloring, graph homomorphisms can be seen as generalizations of colorings. It is known that Hom($H$) is polynomial-time solvable if $H$ is bipartite or has a vertex with a loop, and NP-complete otherwise [Hell and Nešetřil, J. Comb. Theory Ser. B, 48 (1990), pp. 92--110]. In this paper we are interested in the complexity of the problem, parameterized by the treewidth of the input graph $G$. If $G$ has $n$ vertices and is given along with its tree decomposition of width ${tw}(G)$, then the problem can be solved in time $|V(H)|^{{tw}(G)} \cdot n^{\mathcal{O}(1)}$, using a straightforward dynamic programming. We explore whether this bound can be improved. We show that if $H$ is a projective core, then the existence of such a faster algorithm is unlikely: assuming the Strong Exponential Time Hypothesis, the Hom($H$) problem cannot be solved in time $(|V(H)|-\epsilon)^{{tw}(G)} \cdot n^{\mathcal{O}(1)}$, for any $\epsilon > 0$. This result provides a full complexity characterization for a large class of graphs $H$, as almost all graphs are projective cores. We also notice that the naive algorithm can be improved for some graphs $H$ and show a complexity classification for all graphs $H$, assuming two conjectures from algebraic graph theory. In particular, there are no known graphs $H$ which are not covered by our result.

We study the Max Partial $H$-Coloring problem: given a graph $G$, find the largest induced subgraph of $G$ that admits a homomorphism into $H$, where $H$ is a fixed pattern graph without loops. Note that when $H$ is a complete graph on $k$ vertices, the problem reduces to finding the largest induced $k$-colorable subgraph, which for $k=2$ is equivalent (by complementation) to Odd Cycle Transversal. We prove that for every fixed pattern graph $H$ without loops, Max Partial $H$-Coloring can be solved in $\{P_5,F\}$-free graphs in polynomial time, whenever $F$ is a threshold graph; in $\{P_5,{bull}\}$-free graphs in polynomial time; in $P_5$-free graphs in time $n^{\mathcal{O}(\omega(G))}$; and in $\{P_6,{1-subdivided claw}\}$-free graphs in time $n^{\mathcal{O}(\omega(G)^3)}$. Here, $n$ is the number of vertices of the input graph $G$ and $\omega(G)$ is the maximum size of a clique in $G$. Furthermore, by combining the mentioned algorithms for $P_5$-free and for $\{P_6,{1-subdivided claw}\}$-free graphs with a simple branching procedure, we obtain subexponential-time algorithms for Max Partial $H$-Coloring in these classes of graphs. Finally, we show that even a restricted variant of Max Partial $H$-Coloring is $\mathsf{NP}$-hard in the considered subclasses of $P_5$-free graphs if we allow loops on $H$.

A homomorphism from a graph $G$ to a graph $H$ is an edge-preserving mapping from $V(G)$ to $V(H)$. Let $H$ be a fixed graph with possible loops. In the list homomorphism problem, denoted by LHom($H$), we are given a graph $G$, whose every vertex $v$ is assigned with a list $L(v)$ of vertices of $H$. We ask whether there exists a homomorphism $h$ from $G$ to $H$, which respects lists $L$, i.e., for every $v \in V(G)$ it holds that $h(v) \in L(v)$. The complexity dichotomy for LHom($H$) was proven by Feder, Hell, and Huang [JGT 2003]. We are interested in the complexity of the problem, parameterized by the treewidth of the input graph. This problem was investigated by Egri, Marx, and Rzążewski [STACS 2018], who obtained tight complexity bounds for the special case of reflexive graphs $H$. In this paper we extend and generalize their results for \emph{all} relevant graphs $H$, i.e., those, for which the LHom{H} problem is NP-hard. For every such $H$ we find a constant $k = k(H)$, such that LHom($H$) on instances with $n$ vertices and treewidth $t$ * can be solved in time $k^{t} \cdot n^{\mathcal{O}(1)}$, provided that the input graph is given along with a tree decomposition of width $t$, * cannot be solved in time $(k-\varepsilon)^{t} \cdot n^{\mathcal{O}(1)}$, for any $\varepsilon >0$, unless the SETH fails. For some graphs $H$ the value of $k(H)$ is much smaller than the trivial upper bound, i.e., $|V(H)|$. Obtaining matching upper and lower bounds shows that the set of algorithmic tools we have discovered cannot be extended in order to obtain faster algorithms for LHom($H$) in bounded-treewidth graphs. Furthermore, neither the algorithm, nor the proof of the lower bound, is very specific to treewidth. We believe that they can be used for other variants of LHom($H$), e.g. with different parameterizations.

We investigate the List H-Coloring problem, the generalization of graph coloring that asks whether an input graph G admits a homomorphism to the undirected graph H (possibly with loops), such that each vertex v ∈ V(G) is mapped to a vertex on its list L(v) ⊆ V(H). An important result by Feder, Hell, and Huang [JGT 2003] states that List H-Coloring is polynomial-time solvable if H is a so-called bi-arc graph, and NP-complete otherwise. We investigate the NP-complete cases of the problem from the perspective of polynomial-time sparsification: can an n-vertex instance be efficiently reduced to an equivalent instance of bitsize 𝒪(n^(2-ε)) for some ε > 0? We prove that if H is not a bi-arc graph, then List H-Coloring does not admit such a sparsification algorithm unless NP ⊆ coNP/poly. Our proofs combine techniques from kernelization lower bounds with a study of the structure of graphs H which are not bi-arc graphs.

For graphs G and H, a homomorphism from G to H is an edge-preserving mapping from the vertex set of G to the vertex set of H. For a fixed graph H, by Hom(H) we denote the computational problem which asks whether a given graph G admits a homomorphism to H. If H is a complete graph with k vertices, then Hom(H) is equivalent to the k-Coloring problem, so graph homomorphisms can be seen as generalizations of colorings. It is known that Hom(H) is polynomial-time solvable if H is bipartite or has a vertex with a loop, and NP-complete otherwise [Hell and Nešetřil, JCTB 1990]. In this paper we are interested in the complexity of the problem, parameterized by the treewidth of the input graph G. If G has n vertices and is given along with its tree decomposition of width tw(G), then the problem can be solved in time |V(H)|tw(G) · , using a straightforward dynamic programming. We explore whether this bound can be improved. We show that if H is a projective core, then the existence of such a faster algorithm is unlikely: assuming the Strong Exponential Time Hypothesis (SETH), the Hom(H) problem cannot be solved in time (|V(H)| – ε)tw(G) · , for any ε > 0. This result provides a full complexity characterization for a large class of graphs H, as almost all graphs are projective cores. We also notice that the naive algorithm can be improved for some graphs H, and show a complexity classification for all graphs H, assuming two conjectures from algebraic graph theory. In particular, there are no known graphs H which are not covered by our result. In order to prove our results, we bring together some tools and techniques from algebra and from fine-grained complexity.

Abstract A graph isH-free if it contains no induced subgraph isomorphic to H. We prove new complexity results for the two classical cycle transversal problemsFeedback Vertex SetandOdd Cycle Transversalby showing that they can be solved in polynomial time on $$(sP_1+ P_3)$$ (sP1+P3) -free graphs for every integer $$s\ge 1$$ s≥1 . We show the same result for the variantsConnected Feedback Vertex SetandConnected Odd Cycle Transversal. We also prove that the latter two problems are polynomial-time solvable on cographs; this was already known forFeedback Vertex SetandOdd Cycle Transversal. We complement these results by proving thatOdd Cycle TransversalandConnected Odd Cycle Transversalare -complete on $$(P_2+ P_5,P_6)$$ (P2+P5,P6) -free graphs.

For a graph F, a graph G is F-free if it does not contain an induced subgraph isomorphic to F. For two graphs G and H, an H-coloring of G is a mapping f:V(G) -> V(H) such that for every edge uv in E(G) it holds that f(u)f(v)in E(H). We are interested in the complexity of the problem H-Coloring, which asks for the existence of an H-coloring of an input graph G. In particular, we consider H-Coloring of F-free graphs, where F is a fixed graph and H is an odd cycle of length at least 5. This problem is closely related to the well known open problem of determining the complexity of 3-Coloring of P_t-free graphs. We show that for every odd k >= 5 the C_k-Coloring problem, even in the precoloring-extension variant, can be solved in polynomial time in P_9-free graphs. On the other hand, we prove that the extension version of C_k-Coloring is NP-complete for F-free graphs whenever some component of F is not a subgraph of a subdivided claw.

The celebrated Erdős-Pósa theorem states that every undirected graph that does not admit a family of k vertex-disjoint cycles contains a feedback vertex set (a set of vertices hitting all cycles in the graph) of size O(k log k). After being known for long as Younger’s conjecture, a similar statement for directed graphs has been proven in 1996 by Reed, Robertson, Seymour, and Thomas. However, in their proof, the dependency of the size of the feedback vertex set on the size of vertex-disjoint cycle packing is not elementary. We show that if we compare the size of a minimum feedback vertex set in a directed graph with quarter-integral cycle packing number, we obtain a polynomial bound. More precisely, we show that if in a directed graph G there is no family of k cycles such that every vertex of G is in at most four of the cycles, then there exists a feedback vertex set in G of size O(k^4). On the way there we prove a more general result about quarter-integral packing of subgraphs of high directed treewidth: for every pair of positive integers a and b, if a directed graph G has directed treewidth Omega(a^6 b^8 log^2(ab)), then one can find in G a family of a subgraphs, each of directed treewidth at least b, such that every vertex of G is in at most four subgraphs.

Planar graphs are known to allow subexponential algorithms running in time $$2^{O(\sqrt{n})}$$ or $$2^{O(\sqrt{n} \log n)}$$ for most of the paradigmatic problems, while the brute-force time $$2^{\varTheta (n)}$$ is very likely to be asymptotically best on general graphs. Intrigued by an algorithm packing curves in $$2^{O(n^{2/3}\log n)}$$ by Fox and Pach (SODA’11), we investigate which problems have subexponential algorithms on the intersection graphs of curves (string graphs) or segments (segment intersection graphs) and which problems have no such algorithms under the Exponential Time Hypothesis (ETH). Among our results, we show that, quite surprisingly, 3-Coloring can also be solved in time $$2^{O(n^{2/3}\log ^{O(1)}n)}$$ on string graphs while an algorithm running in time $$2^{o(n)}$$ for 4-Coloring even on axis-parallel segments (of unbounded length) would disprove the ETH. For 4-Coloring of unit segments, we show a weaker lower bound, excluding a $$2^{o(n^{2/3})}$$ algorithm (under the ETH). The construction exploits the celebrated Erdős–Szekeres theorem. The subexponential running time also carries over to Min Feedback Vertex Set, but not to Min Dominating Set and Min Independent Dominating Set.

A (unit) disk graph is the intersection graph of closed (unit) disks in the plane. Almost three decades ago, an elegant polynomial-time algorithm was found for \textsc{Maximum Clique} on unit disk graphs [Clark, Colbourn, Johnson; Discrete Mathematics '90]. Since then, it has been an intriguing open question whether or not tractability can be extended to general disk graphs. We show the rather surprising structural result that a disjoint union of cycles is the complement of a disk graph if and only if at most one of those cycles is of odd length. From that, we derive the first QPTAS and subexponential algorithm running in time $2^{\tilde{O}(n^{2/3})}$ for \textsc{Maximum Clique} on disk graphs. In stark contrast, \textsc{Maximum Clique} on intersection graphs of filled ellipses or filled triangles is unlikely to have such algorithms, even when the ellipses are close to unit disks. Indeed, we show that there is a constant approximation which is not attainable even in time $2^{n^{1-\varepsilon}}$, unless the Exponential Time Hypothesis fails.

In the list homomorphism problem, the input consists of two graphs G and H, together with a list L(v) \subseteq V(H) for every vertex v \in V(G). The task is to find a homomorphism phi:V(G) -> V(H) respecting the lists, that is, we have that phi(v) \in L(v) for every v \in V(H) and if u and v are adjacent in G, then phi(u) and phi(v) are adjacent in H. If H is a fixed graph, then the problem is denoted LHom(H). We consider the reflexive version of the problem, where we assume that every vertex in H has a self-loop. If is known that reflexive LHom(H) is polynomial-time solvable if H is an interval graph and it is NP-complete otherwise [Feder and Hell, JCTB 1998]. We explore the complexity of the problem parameterized by the treewidth tw(G) of the input graph G. If a tree decomposition of G of width tw(G) is given in the input, then the problem can be solved in time |V(H)|^{tw(G)} n^{O(1)} by naive dynamic programming. Our main result completely reveals when and by exactly how much this naive algorithm can be improved. We introduce a simple combinatorial invariant i^*(H), which is based on the existence of decompositions and incomparable sets, and show that this number should appear as the base of the exponent in the best possible running time. Specifically, we prove for every fixed non-interval graph H that * If a tree decomposition of width tw(G) is given in the input, then the problem can be solved in time i^*(H)^{tw(G)} n^{O(1)}. * Assuming the Strong Exponential-Time Hypothesis (SETH), the probem cannot be solved in time (i^*(H)-epsilon)^{tw(G)} n^{O(1)} for any epsilon>0. Thus by matching upper and lower bounds, our result exactly characterizes for every fixed H the complexity of reflexive LHom(H) parameterized by treewidth.

In the Token Swapping problem we are given a graph with a token placed on each vertex. Each token has exactly one destination vertex, and we try to move all the tokens to their destinations, using the minimum number of swaps, i.e., operations of exchanging the tokens on two adjacent vertices. As the main result of this paper, we show that Token Swapping is $$W[1]$$ -hard parameterized by the length k of a shortest sequence of swaps. In fact, we prove that, for any computable function f, it cannot be solved in time $$f(k)n^{o(k / \log k)}$$ where n is the number of vertices of the input graph, unless the ETH fails. This lower bound almost matches the trivial $$n^{O(k)}$$ -time algorithm. We also consider two generalizations of the Token Swapping, namely Colored Token Swapping (where the tokens have colors and tokens of the same color are indistinguishable), and Subset Token Swapping (where each token has a set of possible destinations). To complement the hardness result, we prove that even the most general variant, Subset Token Swapping, is FPT in nowhere-dense graph classes. Finally, we consider the complexities of all three problems in very restricted classes of graphs: graphs of bounded treewidth and diameter, stars, cliques, and paths, trying to identify the borderlines between polynomial and NP-hard cases.

In this paper we give a family of online algorithms for the classical coloring and the $L(2,1)$-labeling problems of unit disk intersection graphs. In the $L(2,1)$-labeling we ask for an assignment of nonnegative integers to the vertices of the input graph, such that adjacent vertices get labels that differ by at least 2, and vertices with a common neighbor get different labels. In particular, we present a coloring algorithm with competitive ratio less than 5, which makes it the currently best online coloring algorithm for unit disk intersection graphs. Our algorithms make use of a geometric representation of such graphs and are inspired by previous results but have better competitive ratios. The improvement comes from a novel application of a fractional and a $b$-fold coloring of the plane, which is in turn a variation of the Hadwiger--Nelson problem. Our method can also be adapted successfully for other classes of geometric intersection graphs.

Summary Motion planning is an important and well‐studied field of robotics. A typical approach to finding a route is to construct a cell graph representing a scene and then to find a path in such a graph. In this paper, we present and analyze several parallel algorithms for constructing the cell graph on a single instruction, multiple data‐like graphics processing unit (GPU) processor. GPU utilization is necessary because of insufficient processing power of CPUs reported by other authors. A GPU processor with its parallel processing capabilities promises some improvement if only proper implementations of the algorithms can be found. We show that a naive brute force algorithm, enhanced by a simple heuristics, in an average case, can be faster than comprehensive solutions based on parallel implementation of an asymptotically optimal sequential algorithm. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

In this note we present a corrected version of Lemma 4.9 and two corollaries implied by this lemma, from our paper [Bondy, Lonc, and Rzaͅżewski, SIAM J. Discrete Math., 30 (2016), pp. 452--464].

A $k$-radius sequence over an $n$-element alphabet $A$ is a sequence in which every two elements of $A$ appear within distance at most $k$ (where the distance is defined as the difference of indices). By a $k$-radius sequence over an $n$-element alphabet $A$ we mean a sequence in which every two elements of $A$ appear within distance at most $k$. The problem of constructing shortest possible $k$-radius sequences, motivated by some problems occurring in large data transfer, has been studied by several authors recently. In this paper we present an explicit construction of “short” $k$-radius sequences for some values of $k$ and $n$. This construction allows us to find 2-radius sequences of the shortest possible length for all but very special values of $n$. For all $n$ we construct 2-radius sequences whose length differs from the length of the shortest one only by a constant. Moreover, we construct shortest possible $k$-radius sequences when $n=2k^2+2k+1$ and $k$ is a power of a prime. Our construction depends on the existence of some other sequences that we call $k$-perfect and $k$-additive. We investigate these sequences as they seem to be interesting in themselves.