Optimal Augmentation of a 2-Vertex-Connected Multigraph to a k-Edge-Connected and 3-Vertex-Connected Multigraph

Given an undirected multigraph G = (V, E) and two positive integers and k, we consider the problem of augmenting G by the smallest number of new edges to obtain an -edge-connected and k-vertex-connected multigraph. In this paper, we show that the problem can be solved in Õ(mn²) time for any fixed and k = 3 if an input multigraph G is 2-vertex-connected, where n = |V| and m is the number of pairs of adjacent vertices in G.     

The Steiner Tree Problem in Kalmanson Matrices and in Circulant Matrices

We investigate the computational complexity of two special cases of the Steiner tree problem where the distance matrix is a Kalmanson matrix or a circulant matrix, respectively. For Kalmanson matrices we develop an efficient polynomial time algorithm that is based on dynamic programming. For circulant matrices we give an -hardness proof and thus establish computational intractability.     

Improved Approximation for Breakpoint Graph Decomposition and Sorting by Reversals

Sorting by Reversals (SBR) is one of the most widely studied models of genome rearrangements in computational molecular biology. At present, is the best known approximation ratio achievable in polynomial time for SBR. A very closely related problem, called Breakpoint Graph Decomposition (BGD), calls for a largest collection of edge disjoint cycles in a suitably-defined graph. It has been shown that for almost all instances SBR is equivalent to BGD, in the sense that any solution of the latter corresponds to a solution of the former having the same value. In this paper, we show how to improve the approximation ratio achievable in polynomial time for BGD, from the previously known to for any > 0. Combined with the results in (Caprara, Journal of Combinatorial Optimization, vol. 3, pp. 149–182, 1999b), this yields the same approximation guarantee for n! – O((n – 5)!) out of the n! instances of SBR on permutations with n elements. Our result uses the best known approximation algorithms for Stable Set on graphs with maximum degree 4 as well as for Set Packing where the maximum size of a set is 6. Any improvement in the ratio achieved by these approximation algorithms will yield an automatic improvement of our result.     

Finding a Noncrossing Steiner Forest in Plane Graphs Under a 2-Face Condition

Let G = (V,E) be a plane graph with nonnegative edge weights, and let be a family of k vertex sets , called nets. Then a noncrossing Steiner forest for in G is a set of k trees in G such that each tree connects all vertices, called terminals, in net N _i, any two trees in do not cross each other, and the sum of edge weights of all trees is minimum. In this paper we give an algorithm to find a noncrossing Steiner forest in a plane graph G for the case where all terminals in nets lie on any two of the face boundaries of G. The algorithm takes time if G has n vertices and each net contains a bounded number of terminals.     

Fast On-Line/Off-Line Algorithms for Optimal Reinforcement of a Network and its Connections with Principal Partition

The problem of computing the strength and performing optimal reinforcement for an edge-weighted graph G(V, E, w) is well-studied. In this paper, we present fast (sequential linear time and parallel logarithmic time) on-line algorithms for optimally reinforcing the graph when the reinforcement material is available continuously on-line. These are the first on-line algorithms for this problem. We invest O(|V|³|E|log|V|) time (equivalent to (|V|) invocations of the fastest known algorithms for optimal reinforcement) in preprocessing the graph before the start of our algorithms. It is shown that the output of our on-line algorithms is as good as that of the off-line algorithms. Thus our algorithms are better than the fastest off-line algorithms in situations when a sequence of more than (|V|) reinforcement problems need to be solved. The key idea is to make use of ideas underlying the theory of Principal Partition of a Graph. Our ideas are easily generalized to the general setting of polymatroid functions. We also present a new efficient algorithm for computation of the Principal Sequence of a graph.     

The Independence Number of Graphs with a Forbidden Cycle and Ramsey Numbers

Let k 5 be a fixed integer and let m = (k – 1)/2. It is shown that the independence number of a C _k-free graph is at least c ₁[ d(v)^{1/(m – 1)}]^{(m – 1)/m} and that, for odd k, the Ramsey number r(C _k, K _n) is at most c ₂(n ^{m + 1}/log n)^1/m , where c ₁ = c ₁(m) > 0 and c ₂ = c ₂(m) > 0.     

The densest <Emphasis Type="Italic">k</Emphasis>-subgraph problem on clique graphs

The Densest k-Subgraph (DkS) problem asks for a k-vertex subgraph of a given graph with the maximum number of edges. The problem is strongly NP-hard, as a generalization of the well known Clique problem and we also know that it does not admit a Polynomial Time Approximation Scheme (PTAS). In this paper we focus on special cases of the problem, with respect to the class of the input graph. Especially, towards the elucidation of the open questions concerning the complexity of the problem for interval graphs as well as its approximability for chordal graphs, we consider graphs having special clique graphs. We present a PTAS for stars of cliques and a dynamic programming algorithm for trees of cliques. M.L. is co-financed within Op. Education by the ESF (European Social Fund) and National Resources. V.Z. is partially supported by the Special Research Grants Account of the University of Athens under Grant 70/4/5821.     

Decomposition of K m,n into 4-cycles and 2t-cycles

In this paper we show the sufficient conditions for the decomposition of the complete bipartite graphs K _2m,2n and K _2n+1,2n+1−F into cycles of two different lengths 4 and 2t, t>2, where F is a 1-factor of K _2n+1,2n+1. After that we prove that the results are true for t=5 and 6. Dedicated to Frank K. Hwang on the occasion of his 65th birthday. An erratum to this article can be found at     

A study on cyclic bandwidth sum

Suppose G is a graph of p vertices. A proper labeling f of G is a one-to-one mapping f:V(G)→{1,2,…,p}. The cyclic bandwidth sum of G with respect to f is defined by CBS _f (G)=∑ _uv∈E(G)|f(v)−f(u)| _p , where |x| _p =min {|x|,p−|x|}. The cyclic bandwidth sum of G is defined by CBS(G)=min {CBS _f (G): f is a proper labeling of G}. The bandwidth sum of G with respect to f is defined by BS _f (G)=∑ _uv∈E(G)|f(v)−f(u)|. The bandwidth sum of G is defined by BS(G)=min {BS _f (G): f is a proper labeling of G}. In this paper, we give a necessary and sufficient condition for BS(G)=CBS(G), and use this to show that BS(T)=CBS(T) when T is a tree. We also find cyclic bandwidth sums of complete bipartite graphs. Dedicated to Professor Frank K. Hwang on the occasion of his 65th birthday. Supported in part by the National Science Council under grants NSC91-2115-M-156-001.     

Distance graphs on R n with 1-norm

Suppose S is a subset of a metric space X with metric d. For each subset D⊆{d(x,y):x,y∈S,x≠y}, the distance graph G(S,D) is the graph with vertex set S and edge set E(S,D)={xy:x,y∈S,d(x,y)∈D}. The current paper studies distance graphs on the n-space R ₁ ⁿ with 1-norm. In particular, most attention is paid to the subset Z ₁ ⁿ of all lattice points of R ₁ ⁿ . The results obtained include the degrees of vertices, components, and chromatic numbers of these graphs. Dedicated to Professor Frank K. Hwang on the occasion of his 65th birthday. Supported in part by the National Science Council under grant NSC-94-2115-M-002-015. Taida Institue for Mathematical Sciences, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan. National Center for Theoretical Sciences, Taipei Office.