Lovász (1967) showed that two graphs G and H are isomorphic if, and only if, they are homomorphism indistinguishable over all graphs, i.e., G and H admit the same number of number of homomorphisms from every graph F. Subsequently, a substantial line of work studied homomorphism indistinguishability over restricted graph classes. For example, homomorphism indistinguishability over minor-closed graph classes ℱ such as the class of planar graphs, the class of graphs of treewidth ≤ k, pathwidth ≤ k, or treedepth ≤ k, was shown to be equivalent to quantum isomorphism and equivalences with respect to counting logic fragments, respectively. Via such characterisations, the distinguishing power of e.g. logical or quantum graph isomorphism relaxations can be studied with graph-theoretic means. In this vein, Roberson (2022) conjectured that homomorphism indistinguishability over every graph class excluding some minor is not the same as isomorphism. We prove this conjecture for all vortex-free graph classes. In particular, homomorphism indistinguishability over graphs of bounded Euler genus is not the same as isomorphism. As a negative result, we show that Roberson’s conjecture fails when generalised to graph classes excluding a topological minor. Furthermore, we show homomorphism distinguishing closedness for several graph classes including all topological-minor-closed and union-closed classes of forests, and show that homomorphism indistinguishability over graphs of genus ≤ g (and other parameters) forms a strict hierarchy.

A central result by Marx [ToC '10] constructs k-vertex graphs H of maximum degree 3 such that n^o(k/log k) time algorithms for detecting colorful H-subgraphs would refute the Exponential-Time Hypothesis (ETH). This result is widely used to obtain almost-tight conditional lower bounds for parameterized problems under ETH. Our first contribution is a new and fully self-contained proof of this result that further simplifies a recent work by Karthik et al. [SOSA 2024]. In our proof, we introduce a novel graph parameter of independent interest, the linkage capacity γ(H), and show that detecting colorful H-subgraphs in time n^o(γ(H)) refutes ETH. Then, we use a simple construction of communication networks credited to Beneš to obtain k-vertex graphs of maximum degree 3 and linkage capacity Ω(k/log k), avoiding arguments involving expander graphs, which were required in previous papers. We also show that every graph H of treewidth t has linkage capacity Ω(t/log t), thus recovering a stronger result shown by Marx [ToC '10] with a simplified proof. Additionally, we obtain new tight lower bounds on the complexity of subgraph detection for certain types of patterns by analyzing their linkage capacity: We prove that almost all k-vertex graphs of polynomial average degree Ω(k^β) for β > 0 have linkage capacity Θ(k), which implies tight lower bounds for finding such patterns H. As an application of these results, we also obtain tight lower bounds for counting small induced subgraphs having a fixed property Φ, improving bounds from, e.g., [Roth et al., FOCS 2020].

In the parameterized problem #IndSub(Φ) for fixed graph properties Φ, given as input a graph G and an integer k, the task is to compute the number of induced k-vertex subgraphs satisfying Φ. Dörfler et al. [Algorithmica 2022] and Roth et al. [SICOMP 2024] conjectured that #IndSub(Φ) is #W[1]-hard for all non-meager properties Φ, i.e., properties that are nontrivial for infinitely many k. This conjecture has been confirmed for several restricted types of properties, including all hereditary properties [STOC 2022] and all edge-monotone properties [STOC 2024]. We refute this conjecture by showing that induced k-vertex graphs that are scorpions can be counted in time O(n⁴) for all k. Scorpions were introduced more than 50 years ago in the context of the evasiveness conjecture. A simple variant of this construction results in graph properties that achieve arbitrary intermediate complexity assuming ETH. Moreover, we formulate an updated conjecture on the complexity of #IndSub(Φ) that correctly captures the complexity status of scorpions and related constructions.

We prove a robust contraction decomposition theorem for $H$-minor-free graphs, which states that given an $H$-minor-free graph $G$ and an integer $p$, one can partition in polynomial time the vertices of $G$ into $p$ sets $Z_1,\dots,Z_p$ such that $\operatorname{tw}(G/(Z_i \setminus Z')) = O(p + |Z'|)$ for all $i \in [p]$ and $Z' \subseteq Z_i$. Here, $\operatorname{tw}(\cdot)$ denotes the treewidth of a graph and $G/(Z_i \setminus Z')$ denotes the graph obtained from $G$ by contracting all edges with both endpoints in $Z_i \setminus Z'$. Our result generalizes earlier results by Klein [SICOMP 2008] and Demaine et al. [STOC 2011] based on partitioning $E(G)$, and some recent theorems for planar graphs by Marx et al. [SODA 2022], for bounded-genus graphs (more generally, almost-embeddable graphs) by Bandyapadhyay et al. [SODA 2022], and for unit-disk graphs by Bandyapadhyay et al. [SoCG 2022]. The robust contraction decomposition theorem directly results in parameterized algorithms with running time $2^{\widetilde{O}(\sqrt{k})} \cdot n^{O(1)}$ or $n^{O(\sqrt{k})}$ for every vertex/edge deletion problems on $H$-minor-free graphs that can be formulated as Permutation CSP Deletion or 2-Conn Permutation CSP Deletion. Consequently, we obtain the first subexponential-time parameterized algorithms for Subset Feedback Vertex Set, Subset Odd Cycle Transversal, Subset Group Feedback Vertex Set, 2-Conn Component Order Connectivity on $H$-minor-free graphs. For other problems which already have subexponential-time parameterized algorithms on $H$-minor-free graphs (e.g., Odd Cycle Transversal, Vertex Multiway Cut, Vertex Multicut, etc.), our theorem gives much simpler algorithms of the same running time.

Treedepth is a central parameter to algorithmic graph theory. The current state-of-the-art in computing and approximating treedepth consists of a 2^{O(k²)} n-time exact algorithm and a polynomial-time O(OPT log^{3/2} OPT)-approximation algorithm, where the former algorithm returns an elimination forest of height k (witnessing that treedepth is at most k) for the n-vertex input graph G, or correctly reports that G has treedepth larger than k, and OPT is the actual value of the treedepth. On the complexity side, exactly computing treedepth is NP-complete, but the known reductions do not rule out a polynomial-time approximation scheme (PTAS), and under the Exponential Time Hypothesis (ETH) only exclude a running time of 2^o(√n) for exact algorithms. We show that 1.0003-approximating Treedepth is NP-hard, and that exactly computing the treedepth of an n-vertex graph requires time 2^Ω(n), unless the ETH fails. We further derive that there exist absolute constants δ, c > 0 such that any (1+δ)-approximation algorithm requires time 2^Ω(n/log^c n). We do so via a simple direct reduction from Satisfiability to Treedepth, inspired by a reduction recently designed for Treewidth [STOC '25].

For a fixed graph property Φ and integer k ≥ 1, consider the problem of counting the induced k-vertex subgraphs satisfying Φ in an input graph G. This problem can be solved by brute-force in time O (nk ). Under ETH, we prove several lower bounds on the optimal exponent in this running time.

A central result by Marx [ToC '10] constructs k-vertex graphs H of maximum degree 3 such that n^o(k/log k) time algorithms for detecting colorful H-subgraphs would refute the Exponential-Time Hypothesis (ETH). This result is widely used to obtain almost-tight conditional lower bounds for parameterized problems under ETH. Our first contribution is a new and fully self-contained proof of this result that further simplifies a recent work by Karthik et al. [SOSA 2024]. In our proof, we introduce a novel graph parameter of independent interest, the linkage capacity γ(H), and show that detecting colorful H-subgraphs in time n^o(γ(H)) refutes ETH. Then, we use a simple construction of communication networks credited to Beneš to obtain k-vertex graphs of maximum degree 3 and linkage capacity Ω(k/log k), avoiding arguments involving expander graphs, which were required in previous papers. We also show that every graph H of treewidth t has linkage capacity Ω(t/log t), thus recovering a stronger result shown by Marx [ToC '10] with a simplified proof. Additionally, we obtain new tight lower bounds on the complexity of subgraph detection for certain types of patterns by analyzing their linkage capacity: We prove that almost all k-vertex graphs of polynomial average degree Ω(k^β) for β > 0 have linkage capacity Θ(k), which implies tight lower bounds for finding such patterns H. As an application of these results, we also obtain tight lower bounds for counting small induced subgraphs having a fixed property Φ, improving bounds from, e.g., [Roth et al., FOCS 2020].

The k -dimensional Weisfeiler-Leman ( k -WL) algorithm is a simple combinatorial algorithm that was originally designed as a graph isomorphism heuristic. It naturally finds applications in Babai’s quasipolynomial-time isomorphism algorithm, practical isomorphism solvers, and algebraic graph theory. However, it also has surprising connections to other areas such as logic, proof complexity, combinatorial optimization, and machine learning. The algorithm iteratively computes a coloring of the k -tuples of vertices of a graph. Since Fürer’s linear lower bound [ICALP 2001], it has been an open question whether there is a super-linear lower bound for the iteration number for k -WL on graphs. We answer this question affirmatively, establishing an Ω ( n k /2 )-lower bound for all k .

We investigate how efficiently a well-studied family of domination-type problems can be solved on bounded-treewidth graphs. For sets \(\sigma,\rho\) of non-negative integers, a \((\sigma,\rho)\) -set of a graph G is a set S of vertices such that \(|N(u)\cap S|\in\sigma\) for every \(u\in S\) , and \(|N(\!\textit{v})\cap S|\in\rho\) for every \(\textit{v}\not\in S\) . The problem of finding a \((\sigma,\rho)\) -set (of a certain size) unifies standard problems, such as Independent Set , Dominating Set , Independent Dominating Set , and many others. For all pairs of finite or cofinite sets \((\sigma,\rho)\) , we determine (under standard complexity assumptions) the best possible value \(c_{\sigma,\rho}\) such that there is an algorithm that counts \((\sigma,\rho)\) -sets in time \(c_{\sigma,\rho}^{\textsf{tw}}\cdot n^{O(1)}\) (if a tree decomposition of width \(\textsf{tw}\) is given in the input). Let \(s_{{\rm top}}\) denote the largest element of \(\sigma\) if \(\sigma\) is finite, or the largest missing integer \(+1\) if \(\sigma\) is cofinite; \(r_{{\rm top}}\) is defined analogously for \(\rho\) . Surprisingly, \(c_{\sigma,\rho}\) is often significantly smaller than the natural bound \(s_{{\rm top}}+r_{{\rm top}}+2\) achieved by existing algorithms. Toward defining \(c_{\sigma,\rho}\) , we say that \((\sigma,\rho)\) is \({\mathrm{m}}\) -structured if there is a pair \((\alpha,\beta)\) such that every integer in \(\sigma\) equals \(\alpha\) mod \({\mathrm{m}}\) , and every integer in \(\rho\) equals \(\beta\) mod \({\mathrm{m}}\) . Then, setting — \(c_{\sigma,\rho}=s_{{\rm top}}+r_{{\rm top}}+2\) if \((\sigma,\rho)\) is not \({\mathrm{m}}\) -structured for any \({\mathrm{m}}\geq 2\) , — \(c_{\sigma,\rho}=\max\{s_{{\rm top}},r_{{\rm top}}\}+2\) if \((\sigma,\rho)\) is 2-structured, but not \({\mathrm{m}}\) -structured for any \({\mathrm{m}}\geq 3\) , and

We prove new upper and lower bounds on the number of iterations the \(k\) -dimensional Weisfeiler-Leman algorithm ( \(k\) -WL) requires until stabilization. For \(k\geq 3\) , we show that \(k\) -WL stabilizes after at most \(O(kn^{k-1}\log n)\) iterations (where \(n\) denotes the number of vertices of the input structures), obtaining the first improvement over the trivial upper bound of \(n^{k}-1\) and extending a previous upper bound of \(O(n\log n)\) for \(k=2\) . We complement our upper bounds by constructing \(k\) -ary relational structures on which \(k\) -WL requires at least \(n^{\Omega(k)}\) iterations to stabilize. This improves over a previous lower bound of \(n^{\Omega(k/\log k)}\) . We also investigate tradeoffs between the dimension and the iteration number of WL, and show that \(d\) -WL, where \(d=\lceil\frac{3(k + 1)}{2}\rceil\) , can simulate the \(k\) -WL algorithm using only \(O(k^{2}\cdot n^{\lfloor k/2\rfloor+1}\log n)\) many iterations, but still requires at least \(n^{\Omega(k)}\) iterations for any \(d\) (that is sufficiently smaller than \(n\) ). The number of iterations required by \(k\) -WL to distinguish two structures corresponds to the quantifier rank of a sentence distinguishing them in the \((k + 1)\) -variable fragment \(\mathsf{C}_{k + 1}\) of first-order logic with counting quantifiers. Hence, our results also imply new upper and lower bounds on the quantifier rank required in the logic \(\mathsf{C}_{k + 1}\) , as well as tradeoffs between variable number and quantifier rank.

The Weisfeiler-Leman (WL) dimension is an established measure for the inherent descriptive complexity of graphs and relational structures. It corresponds to the number of variables that are needed and sufficient to define the object of interest in a counting version of first-order logic (FO). These bounded-variable counting logics were even candidates to capture graph isomorphism, until a celebrated construction due to Cai, Fürer, and Immerman [Combinatorica 1992] showed that Ω(n) variables are required to distinguish all non-isomorphic n-vertex graphs.

The goal of this paper is to understand how exponential-time approximation algorithms can be obtained from existing polynomial-time approximation algorithms, existing parameterized exact algorithms, and existing parameterized approximation algorithms. More formally, we consider a monotone subset minimization problem over a universe of size n (e.g., VERTEX COVER or FEEDBACK VERTEX Set). We have access to an algorithm that finds an α-approximate solution in time ck · nO(1) if a solution of size k exists (and more generally, an extension algorithm that can approximate in a similar way if a set can be extended to a solution with k further elements). Our goal is to obtain a dn · nO(1) time β-approximation algorithm for the problem with d as small as possible. That is, for every fixed α,c,β ≥ 1, we would like to determine the smallest possible d that can be achieved in a model where our problem-specific knowledge is limited to checking the feasibility of a solution and invoking the α-approximate extension algorithm. Our results completely resolve this question:

Two graphs are homomorphism indistinguishable over a graph class $\mathcal{F}$, denoted by $G \equiv_{\mathcal{F}} H$, if $\operatorname{hom}(F,G) = \operatorname{hom}(F,H)$ for all $F \in \mathcal{F}$ where $\operatorname{hom}(F,G)$ denotes the number of homomorphisms from $F$ to $G$. A classical result of Lovász shows that isomorphism between graphs is equivalent to homomorphism indistinguishability over the class of all graphs. More recently, there has been a series of works giving natural algebraic and/or logical characterizations for homomorphism indistinguishability over certain restricted graph classes. A class of graphs $\mathcal{F}$ is homomorphism-distinguishing closed if, for every $F \notin \mathcal{F}$, there are graphs $G$ and $H$ such that $G \equiv_{\mathcal{F}} H$ and $\operatorname{hom}(F,G) \neq \operatorname{hom}(F,H)$. Roberson conjectured that every class closed under taking minors and disjoint unions is homomorphism-distinguishing closed which implies that every such class defines a distinct equivalence relation between graphs. In this note, we confirm this conjecture for the classes $\mathcal{T}_k$, $k \geq 1$, containing all graphs of tree-width at most $k$. As an application of this result, we also characterize which subgraph counts are detected by the $k$-dimensional Weisfeiler-Leman algorithm. This answers an open question from [Arvind et al., J. Comput. Syst. Sci., 2020].

Abstract. We present an isomorphism test for graphs of Euler genus [Formula: see text] running in time [Formula: see text]. Our algorithm provides the first explicit upper bound on the dependence on [Formula: see text] for an fpt isomorphism test parameterized by the Euler genus of the input graphs. The only previous fpt algorithm runs in time [Formula: see text] for some function [Formula: see text] (Kawarabayashi 2015). Actually, our algorithm even works when the input graphs only exclude [Formula: see text] as a minor. For such graphs, no fpt isomorphism test was known before. The algorithm builds on an elegant combination of simple group-theoretic, combinatorial, and graph-theoretic approaches. In particular, our algorithm relies on the notion of [Formula: see text]-WL-bounded graphs which provide a powerful tool to combine group-theoretic techniques with the standard Weisfeiler–Leman algorithm. This concept may be of independent interest.

We give an isomorphism test that runs in time n polylog( h ) on all n -vertex graphs excluding some h -vertex graph as a topological subgraph. Previous results state that isomorphism for such graphs can be tested in time n polylog( h ) (Babai, STOC 2016) and n {f(h) for some function f (Grohe and Marx, SIAM J. Comp., 2015). Our result also unifies and extends previous isomorphism tests for graphs of maximum degree d running in time n polylog( d ) (SIAM J. Comp., 2023) and for graphs of Hadwiger number h running in time n polylog( h ) (SIAM J. Comp., 2023).

The k-dimensional Weisfeiler-Leman (k-WL) algorithm is a simple combinatorial algorithm that was originally designed as a graph isomorphism heuristic. It naturally finds applications in Babai’s quasipolynomial-time isomorphism algorithm, practical isomorphism solvers, and algebraic graph theory. However, it also has surprising connections to other areas such as logic, proof complexity, combinatorial optimization, and machine learning. The algorithm iteratively computes a coloring of the k-tuples of vertices of a graph. Since Fürer’s linear lower bound [ICALP 2001], it has been an open question whether there is a super-linear lower bound for the iteration number for k-WL on graphs. We answer this question affirmatively, establishing an $\Omega\left(n^{k / 2}\right)$-lower bound for all k.

In a recent work, Esmer et al. describe a simple method - Approximate Monotone Local Search - to obtain exponential approximation algorithms from existing parameterized exact algorithms, polynomial-time approximation algorithms and, more generally, parameterized approximation algorithms. In this work, we generalize those results to the weighted setting. More formally, we consider monotone subset minimization problems over a weighted universe of size $n$ (e.g., Vertex Cover, $d$-Hitting Set and Feedback Vertex Set). We consider a model where the algorithm is only given access to a subroutine that finds a solution of weight at most $α\cdot W$ (and of arbitrary cardinality) in time $c^k \cdot n^{O(1)}$ where $W$ is the minimum weight of a solution of cardinality at most $k$. In the unweighted setting, Esmer et al. determine the smallest value $d$ for which a $β$-approximation algorithm running in time $d^n \cdot n^{O(1)}$ can be obtained in this model. We show that the same dependencies also hold in a weighted setting in this model: for every fixed $\varepsilon>0$ we obtain a $β$-approximation algorithm running in time $O\left((d+\varepsilon)^{n}\right)$, for the same $d$ as in the unweighted setting. Similarly, we also extend a $β$-approximate brute-force search (in a model which only provides access to a membership oracle) to the weighted setting. Using existing approximation algorithms and exact parameterized algorithms for weighted problems, we obtain the first exponential-time $β$-approximation algorithms that are better than brute force for a variety of problems including Weighted Vertex Cover, Weighted $d$-Hitting Set, Weighted Feedback Vertex Set and Weighted Multicut.

We prove new upper and lower bounds on the number of iterations the k-dimensional Weisfeiler-Leman algorithm (k-WL) requires until stabilization. For k ≥ 3, we show that k-WL stabilizes after at most O(knk−1log n) iterations (where n denotes the number of vertices of the input structures), obtaining the first improvement over the trivial upper bound of nk− 1 and extending a previous upper bound of O(n log n) for k = 2 [Lichter et al., LICS 2019].We complement our upper bounds by constructing k-ary relational structures on which k-WL requires at least nΩ(k)iterations to stabilize. This improves over a previous lower bound of nΩ(k/logk)[Berkholz, Nordström, LICS 2016].We also investigate tradeoffs between the dimension and the iteration number of WL, and show that d-WL, where $d = \left\lceil {\frac{{3(k + 1)}}{2}} \right\rceil $, can simulate the k-WL algorithm using only O(k2• n⌊k/2⌋+1log n) many iterations, but still requires at least nΩ(k)iterations for any d (that is sufficiently smaller than n).The number of iterations required by k-WL to distinguish two structures corresponds to the quantifier rank of a sentence distinguishing them in the (k + 1)-variable fragment ${{\mathcal{C}}_k}_{ + 1}$ of first-order logic with counting quantifiers. Hence, our results also imply new upper and lower bounds on the quantifier rank required in the logic ${{\mathcal{C}}_k}_{ + 1}$, as well as tradeoffs between variable number and quantifier rank.

A square coloring of a graph G is a coloring of the square G2 of G, that is, a coloring of the vertices of G such that any two vertices that are at distance at most 2 in G receive different colors. We investigate the complexity of finding a square coloring with a given number of q colors. We show that the problem is polynomial-time solvable on graphs of bounded treewidth by presenting an algorithm with running time for graphs of treewidth at most tw. The somewhat unusual exponent 2tw in the running time is essentially optimal: we show that for any ε > 0, there is no algorithm with running time f (tw)n(2-ε)tw unless the Exponential-Time Hypothesis (ETH) fails. We also show that the square coloring problem is NP-hard on planar graphs for any fixed number q ≥ 4 of colors. Our main algorithmic result is showing that the problem (when the number of colors q is part of the input) can be solved in subexponential time on planar graphs. The result follows from the combination of two algorithms. If the number q of colors is small (≤ n1/3), then we can exploit a treewidth bound on the square of the graph to solve the problem in time . If the number of colors is large (≥ n1/3), then an algorithm based on protrusion decompositions and building on our result for the bounded- treewidth case solves the problem in time . * The full version of the paper can be accessed at https://arxiv.org/abs/2211.04458. Research supported by the European Research Council (ERC) consolidator grant No. 725978 SYSTEMATICGRAPH.

We investigate how efficiently a well-studied family of domination-type problems can be solved on bounded-treewidth graphs. For sets σ, ρ of non-negative integers, a (σ, ρ)-set of a graph G is a set S of vertices such that | N (u) ∩ S| ∈ σ for every u ∈ S, and | N (v) ∩ S| ∈ ρ for every v ∉ S. The problem of finding a (σ, ρ)-set (of a certain size) unifies standard problems such as INDEPENDENT SET, DOMINATING SET, INDEPENDENT DOMINATING SET, and many others. For all pairs of finite or cofinite sets (σ, ρ), we determine (under standard complexity assumptions) the best possible value cσ,ρ such that there is an algorithm that counts (σ, ρ)-sets in time ctwσ,ρ · nO(1) (if a tree decomposition of width tw is given in the input). Let stop denote the largest element of σ if σ is finite, or the largest missing integer +1 if σ is cofinite; rtop is defined analogously for ρ. Surprisingly, cσ,ρ is often significantly smaller than the natural bound stop + rtop + 2 achieved by existing algorithms [van Rooij, 2020]. Toward defining cσ,ρ, we say that (σ,ρ) is m-structured if there is a pair (α,β) such that every integer in σ equals α mod m, and every integer in ρ equals β mod m. Then, setting • cσ,ρ = stop + rtop +2 if (σ, ρ) is not m-structured for any m ≥ 2 • cσ,ρ = max{stop,rtop} + 2 if (σ,ρ) is 2-structured, but not m-structured for any m ≥ 3, and stop = rtop is even, and • cσ,ρ = max{stop, rtop} + 1, otherwise we provide algorithms counting (σ, ρ)-sets in time ctwσ,ρ · nO(1). For example, for the EXACT INDEPENDENT DOMINATING SET problem (also known as PERFECT CODE) corresponding to σ = {0} and ρ = {1}, this improves the 3tw · nO(1) algorithm of van Rooij to 2tw· nO(1). Despite the unusually delicate definition of cσ,ρ, we show that our algorithms are most likely optimal, i.e., for any pair (σ, ρ) of finite or cofinite sets where the problem is non-trivial, and any ε > 0, a (cσ,ρ — ε)tw · nO(1)- algorithm counting the number of (σ, ρ)-sets would violate the COUNTING STRONG EXPONENTIAL-TIME HYPOTHESIS (#SETH). For finite sets σ and ρ, our lower bounds also extend to the decision version, showing that our algorithms are optimal in this setting as well. In contrast, for many cofinite sets, we show that further significant improvements for the decision and optimization versions are possible using the technique of representative sets. * The full version of this work can be accessed at https://arxiv.org/abs/2211.04278. Research supported by the European Research Council (ERC) consolidator grant No. 725978 SYSTEMATICGRAPH.

In a recent breakthrough, Babai [ Proceedings of STOC, ACM, New York, 2016, pp. 684--697] gave a quasipolynomial-time graph isomorphism test. In this work, we give an improved isomorphism test for graphs of small degree: our algorithm runs in time $n^{\mathcal{O}((\log d)^{c})}$, where $n$ is the number of vertices of the input graphs, $d$ is the maximum degree of the input graphs, and $c$ is an absolute constant. The best previous isomorphism test for graphs of maximum degree $d$ due to Babai, Kantor, and Luks [ Proceedings of FOCS, IEEE, New York, 1983, pp. 162--171] runs in time $n^{\mathcal{O}(d/ \log d)}$.

Abstract. We prove that there is a graph isomorphism test running in time [Formula: see text] on [Formula: see text]-vertex graphs excluding some [Formula: see text]-vertex graph as a minor. Previously known bounds were [Formula: see text] [I. N. Ponomarenko, J. Soviet Math., 55 (1991), pp. 1621–1643] and [Formula: see text] [L. Babai, Proceedings of the 48 th Annual ACM Symposium on Theory of Computing, 2016, pp. 684–697]. For the algorithm we combine recent advances in the group-theoretic graph isomorphism machinery with new graph-theoretic arguments.

We prove that the combinatorial Weisfeiler-Leman algorithm of dimension (3 k +4) is a complete isomorphism test for the class of all graphs of rank width at most k . Rank width is a graph invariant that, similarly to tree width, measures the width of a certain style of hierarchical decomposition of graphs; it is equivalent to clique width. It was known that isomorphism of graphs of rank width k is decidable in polynomial time (Grohe and Schweitzer, FOCS 2015), but the best previously known algorithm has a running time n f(k) for a non-elementary function f . Our result yields an isomorphism test for graphs of rank width k running in time n O(k) . Another consequence of our result is the first polynomial-time canonisation algorithm for graphs of bounded rank width. Our second main result is that fixed-point logic with counting captures polynomial time on all graph classes of bounded rank width.

We generalize the monotone local search approach of Fomin, Gaspers, Lokshtanov and Saurabh [J.ACM 2019], by establishing a connection between parameterized approximation and exponential-time approximation algorithms for monotone subset minimization problems. In a monotone subset minimization problem the input implicitly describes a non-empty set family over a universe of size n which is closed under taking supersets. The task is to find a minimum cardinality set in this family. Broadly speaking, we use approximate monotone local search to show that a parameterized α-approximation algorithm that runs in c^k⋅n^𝒪(1) time, where k is the solution size, can be used to derive an α-approximation randomized algorithm that runs in dⁿ⋅n^𝒪(1) time, where d is the unique value in (1, 1+{c-1}/α) such that 𝒟(1/α‖{d-1}/{c-1}) = {ln c}/α and 𝒟(a‖b) is the Kullback-Leibler divergence. This running time matches that of Fomin et al. for α = 1, and is strictly better when α > 1, for any c > 1. Furthermore, we also show that this result can be derandomized at the expense of a sub-exponential multiplicative factor in the running time. We use an approximate variant of the exhaustive search as a benchmark for our algorithm. We show that the classic 2ⁿ⋅n^𝒪(1) exhaustive search can be adapted to an α-approximate exhaustive search that runs in time (1+exp(-α⋅ℋ(1/(α))))ⁿ⋅n^𝒪(1), where ℋ is the entropy function. Furthermore, we provide a lower bound stating that the running time of this α-approximate exhaustive search is the best achievable running time in an oracle model. When compared to approximate exhaustive search, and to other techniques, the running times obtained by approximate monotone local search are strictly better for any α ≥ 1, c > 1. We demonstrate the potential of approximate monotone local search by deriving new and faster exponential approximation algorithms for Vertex Cover, 3-Hitting Set, Directed Feedback Vertex Set, Directed Subset Feedback Vertex Set, Directed Odd Cycle Transversal and Undirected Multicut. For instance, we get a 1.1-approximation algorithm for Vertex Cover with running time 1.114ⁿ⋅n^𝒪(1), improving upon the previously best known 1.1-approximation running in time 1.127ⁿ⋅n^𝒪(1) by Bourgeois et al. [DAM 2011].

The Weisfeiler-Leman (WL) algorithm is a combinatorial procedure that computes colorings on graphs, which can often be used to detect their (non-)isomorphism. Particularly the 1- and 2-dimensional versions 1-WL and 2-WL have received much attention, due to their numerous links to other areas of computer science. Knowing the expressive power of a certain dimension of the algorithm usually amounts to understanding the computed colorings. An increase in the dimension leads to finer computed colorings and, thus, more graphs can be distinguished. For example, on the class of planar graphs, 3-WL solves the isomorphism problem. However, the expressive power of 2-WL on the class is poorly understood (and, in particular, it may even well be that it decides isomorphism). In this paper, we investigate the colorings computed by 2-WL on planar graphs. Towards this end, we analyze the graphs induced by edge color classes in the graph. Based on the obtained classification, we show that for every 3-connected planar graph, it holds that: a) after coloring all pairs with their 2-WL color, the graph has fixing number 1 with respect to 1-WL, or b) there is a 2-WL-definable matching that can be used to transform the graph into a smaller one, or c) 2-WL detects a connected subgraph that is essentially the graph of a Platonic or Archimedean solid, a prism, a cycle, or a bipartite graph K_{2,\ell}. In particular, the graphs from case (a) are identified by 2-WL.

Subexponential parameterized algorithms are known for a wide range of natural problems on planar graphs, but the techniques are usually highly problem specific. The goal of this paper is to introduce a framework for obtaining time algorithms for a family of graph modification problems that includes problems that can be seen as generalized cycle hitting problems. Our starting point is the Node Unique Label Cover problem (that is, given a CSP instance where each constraint is a permutation of values on two variables, the task is to delete k variables to make the instance satisfiable). We introduce a variant of the problem where k vertices have to be deleted such that every 2-connected component of the remaining instance is satisfiable. Then we extend the problem with cardinality constraints that restrict the number of times a certain value can be used (globally or within a 2-connected component of the solution). We show that there is an time algorithm on planar graphs for any problem that can be formulated this way, which includes a large number of well-studied problems, for example, Odd Cycle Transversal, Subset Feedback Vertex Set, Group Feedback Vertex Set, Subset Group Feedback Vertex Set, Vertex Multiway Cut, and Component Order Connectivity. For those problems that admit appropriate (quasi)polynomial kernels (that increase the parameter only linearly and preserve planarity), our results immediately imply time parameterized algorithms on planar graphs. In particular, we use or adapt known kernelization results to obtain time (randomized) algorithms for Vertex Multiway Cut, Group Feedback Vertex Set, and Subset Feedback Vertex Set. Our algorithms are designed with possible generalization to H-minor free graphs in mind. To obtain the same time algorithms on H-minor free graphs, the only missing piece is the vertex version of a contraction decomposition theorem that we currently have only for planar graphs.

We give an isomorphism test that runs in time npolylog(h) on all n-vertex graphs excluding some h-vertex graph as a topological subgraph. Previous results state that isomorphism for such graphs can be tested in time npolylog(n) (Babai, STOC 2016) and nf(h) for some function f (Grohe and Marx, SIAM J. Comp., 2015). Our result also unifies and extends previous isomorphism tests for graphs of maximum degree d running in time npolylog(d) (FOCS 2018) and for graphs of Hadwiger number h running in time npolylog(h) (FOCS 2020).

The Weisfeiler--Leman procedure is a widely used technique for graph isomorphism testing that works by iteratively computing an isomorphism-invariant coloring of vertex tuples. Meanwhile, a fundamental tool in structural graph theory, which is often exploited in approaches to tackle the graph isomorphism problem, is the decomposition into 2- and 3-connected components. We prove that the two-dimensional Weisfeiler--Leman algorithm implicitly computes the decomposition of a graph into its 3-connected components. This implies that the dimension of the algorithm needed to distinguish two given nonisomorphic graphs is at most the dimension required to distinguish nonisomorphic 3-connected components of the graphs (assuming dimension at least 2). To obtain our decomposition result, we show that, for 𝑘 ≥ 2, the 𝑘-dimensional algorithm distinguishes 𝑘-separators, i.e., 𝑘-tuples of vertices that separate the graph, from other vertex 𝑘-tuples. As a byproduct, we also obtain insights about the connectivity of constituent graphs of association schemes. In an application of the results, we show the new upper bound of 𝑘 on the Weisfeiler--Leman dimension of the class of graphs of treewidth at most 𝑘. Using a construction by Cai, Fürer, and Immerman, we also provide a new lower bound that is asymptotically tight up to a factor of 2. (A corrected version is attached.)

We consider the isomorphism problem for hypergraphs taking as input two hypergraphs over the same set of vertices V and a permutation group Γ over domain V , and asking whether there is a permutation γ ε Γ that proves the two hypergraphs to be isomorphic. We show that for input groups, all of whose composition factors are isomorphic to a subgroup of the symmetric group on d points, this problem can be solved in time ( n + m ) O ((log d ) c ) for some absolute constant c where n denotes the number of vertices and m the number of hyperedges. In particular, this gives the currently fastest isomorphism test for hypergraphs in general. The previous best algorithm for this problem due to Schweitzer and Wiebking (STOC 2019) runs in time n O ( d ) m O (1) . As an application of this result, we obtain, for example, an algorithm testing isomorphism of graphs excluding K 3, h ( h ≥ 3) as a minor in time n O ((log h ) c ) . In particular, this gives an isomorphism test for graphs of Euler genus at most g running in time n O ((log g ) c ) .

We present an isomorphism test for graphs of Euler genus g running in time 2^{{O}(g⁴ log g)}n^{{O}(1)}. Our algorithm provides the first explicit upper bound on the dependence on g for an fpt isomorphism test parameterized by the Euler genus of the input graphs. The only previous fpt algorithm runs in time f(g)n for some function f (Kawarabayashi 2015). Actually, our algorithm even works when the input graphs only exclude K_{3,h} as a minor. For such graphs, no fpt isomorphism test was known before. The algorithm builds on an elegant combination of simple group-theoretic, combinatorial, and graph-theoretic approaches. In particular, we introduce (t,k)-WL-bounded graphs which provide a powerful tool to combine group-theoretic techniques with the standard Weisfeiler-Leman algorithm. This concept may be of independent interest.

We prove that there is a graph isomorphism test running in time npolylog(h)on n-vertex graphs excluding some h-vertex graph as a minor. Previously known bounds were npoly(h)(Ponomarenko, 1988) and npolylog(n)(Babai, STOC 2016). For the algorithm we combine recent advances in the group-theoretic graph isomorphism machinery with new graph-theoretic arguments.

We consider the isomorphism problem for hypergraphs taking as input two hypergraphs over the same set of vertices V and a permutation group Γ over domain V, and asking whether there is a permutation γ ∈ Γ that proves the two hypergraphs to be isomorphic. We show that for input groups, all of whose composition factors are isomorphic to a subgroup of the symmetric group on d points, this problem can be solved in time (n+m)^O((log d)^c) for some absolute constant c where n denotes the number of vertices and m the number of hyperedges. In particular, this gives the currently fastest isomorphism test for hypergraphs in general. The previous best algorithm for the above problem due to Schweitzer and Wiebking (STOC 2019) runs in time n^O(d)m^O(1). As an application of this result, we obtain, for example, an algorithm testing isomorphism of graphs excluding K_{3,h} as a minor in time n^O((log h)^c). In particular, this gives an isomorphism test for graphs of Euler genus at most g running in time n^O((log g)^c).

We give a new FPT algorithm testing isomorphism of n -vertex graphs of tree-width k in time 2 kpolylog(k) n 3 , improving the FPT algorithm due to Lokshtanov, Pilipczuk, Pilipczuk, and Saurabh (FOCS 2014), which runs in time 2 O(k5 log k) n 5 . Based on an improved version of the isomorphism-invariant graph decomposition technique introduced by Lokshtanov et al., we prove restrictions on the structure of the automorphism groups of graphs of tree-width k . Our algorithm then makes heavy use of the group theoretic techniques introduced by Luks (JCSS 1982) in his isomorphism test for bounded degree graphs and Babai (STOC 2016) in his quasipolynomial isomorphism test. In fact, we even use Babai’s algorithm as a black box in one place. We also give a second algorithm that, at the price of a slightly worse running time 2 O(k2 log k) n 3 , avoids the use of Babai’s algorithm and, more importantly, has the additional benefit that it can also be used as a canonization algorithm.

We prove that the combinatorial Weisfeiler-Leman algorithm of dimension (3k+4) is a complete isomorphism test for the class of all graphs of rank width at most k. Rank width is a graph invariant that, similarly to tree width, measures the width of a certain style of hierarchical decomposition of graphs; it is equivalent to clique width. It was known that isomorphism of graphs of rank width k is decidable in polynomial time (Grohe and Schweitzer, FOCS 2015), but the best previously known algorithm has a running time nf(k)for a non-elementary function f. Our result yields an isomorphism test for graphs of rank width k running in time nO(k). Another consequence of our result is the first polynomial time canonisation algorithm for graphs of bounded rank width. Our second main result is that fixed-point logic with counting captures polynomial time on all graph classes of bounded rank width.

The Weisfeiler-Leman procedure is a widely-used approach for graph isomorphism testing that works by iteratively computing an isomorphism-invariant coloring of vertex tuples. Meanwhile, a fundamental tool in structural graph theory, which is often exploited in approaches to tackle the graph isomorphism problem, is the decomposition into bi- and triconnected components. We prove that the 2-dimensional Weisfeiler-Leman algorithm implicitly computes the decomposition of a graph into its triconnected components. Thus, the dimension of the algorithm needed to distinguish two given graphs is at most the dimension required to distinguish the corresponding decompositions into 3-connected components (assuming dimension at least 2). This result implies that for k >= 2, the k-dimensional algorithm distinguishes k-separators, i.e., k-tuples of vertices that separate the graph, from other vertex k-tuples. As a byproduct, we also obtain insights about the connectivity of constituent graphs of association schemes. In an application of the results, we show the new upper bound of k on the Weisfeiler-Leman dimension of graphs of treewidth at most k. Using a construction by Cai, Fürer, and Immerman, we also provide a new lower bound that is asymptotically tight up to a factor of 2.

In a recent breakthrough, Babai (STOC 2016) gave quasipolynomial graph isomorphism test. In this work, we give an improved isomorphism test for graphs of small degree: our algorithms runs in time n^O((log d)^c), where n is the number of vertices of the input graphs, d is the maximum degree of the input graphs, and c is an absolute constant. The best previous isomorphism test for graphs of maximum degree d due to Babai, Kantor and Luks (FOCS 1983) runs in time n^O(d log d).

The individualization-refinement paradigm provides a strong toolbox for testing isomorphism of two graphs and indeed, the currently fastest implementations of isomorphism solvers all follow this approach. While these solvers are fast in practice, from a theoretical point of view, no general lower bounds concerning the worst case complexity of these tools are known. In fact, it is an open question what the running time of individualization-refinement algorithms is. For all we know some of the algorithms could have polynomial running time.

Colour refinement is at the heart of all the most efficient graph isomorphism software packages. In this paper we present a method for extending the applicability of refinement algorithms to directed graphs with weighted edges. We use {Traces} as a reference software, but the proposed solution is easily transferrable to any other refinement-based graph isomorphism tool in the literature. We substantiate the claim that the performances of the original algorithm remain substantially unchanged by showing experiments for some classes of benchmark graphs.