arXiv subjects

Andrei Gagarin

Publications and source records attributed to Andrei Gagarin.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Approximation algorithms and ratios for multiple domination in graphs

We analyse approximation algorithms (greedy heuristics) for the classical domination number and two multiple domination numbers in simple graphs. First, we present a short self-contained proof of the known result that the minimum domination problem in any graph $G$ with maximum degree $\Delta$ can be solved within the approximation ratio of ${\ln(\Delta+1)+1}$. The proof is based on an analysis of a simple greedy heuristic. Then, by analysing more advanced greedy heuristic techniques and using ideas from our self-contained proof for the classical domination number, we fix a gap in the existing proof of a similar result for the $k$-tuple domination number. That is, we prove that the minimum $k$-tuple domination problem indeed can be approximated within the ratio of $\ln(\Delta+1)+1$. The proof of this result is self-contained, direct, and much shorter than the existing proof, which contains the gap. Finally, we show that the known approximation ratio of $\ln(2\Delta)+1$ for the minimum $k$-domination problem can be improved to a better ratio.

math.CO↗

arXiv2024

Greedy and randomized heuristics for optimization of k-domination models in digraphs and road networks

Directed graphs provide more subtle and precise modelling tools for optimization in road networks than simple graphs. In particular, they are more suitable in the context of alternative fuel vehicles and new automotive technologies, like electric vehicles. In this paper, we introduce the new general concept of a reachability digraph associated with a road network to model the placement of refuelling facilities in road networks as k-dominating sets in the reachability digraph. Two new greedy heuristics are designed and experimentally tested to search for small k-dominating sets in two types of digraphs, including the reachability digraphs. Refined greedy strategies are shown to be efficient, capable of finding good quality solutions, and suitable for application in very large digraphs and road networks. Also, a probabilistic method is used to prove a new upper bound on the k-domination number of a digraph, which informs the development of a new randomized heuristic to search for k-dominating sets in the digraph. Generalizing the randomized heuristic ideas, making the heuristic more flexible, tuning and combining it with the greedy strategies allows us to obtain even better results for the reachability digraphs. Computational experiments are conducted for a case study of road networks in the West Midlands (UK).

cs.DM↗

arXiv2024

Weighted domination models and randomized heuristics

We consider the minimum weight and smallest weight minimum-size dominating set problems in vertex-weighted graphs and networks. The latter problem is a two-objective optimization problem, which is different from the classic minimum weight dominating set problem that requires finding a dominating set of the smallest weight in a graph without trying to optimize its cardinality. In other words, the objective of minimizing the size of the dominating set in the two-objective problem can be considered as a constraint, i.e. a particular case of finding Pareto-optimal solutions. First, we show how to reduce the two-objective optimization problem to the minimum weight dominating set problem by using Integer Linear Programming formulations. Then, under different assumptions, the probabilistic method is applied to obtain upper bounds on the minimum weight dominating sets in graphs. The corresponding randomized algorithms for finding small-weight dominating sets in graphs are described as well. Computational experiments are used to illustrate the results for two different types of random graphs.

math.CO↗

arXiv2022

Embedding K3,3 and K5 on the Double Torus

The Kuratowski graphs $K_{3,3}$ and $K_5$ characterize planarity. Counting distinct 2-cell embeddings of these two graphs on orientable surfaces was previously done by using Burnside's Lemma and their automorphism groups, without actually constructing the embeddings. We obtain all 2-cell embeddings of these graphs on the double torus, using a constructive approach. This shows that there is a unique non-orientable 2-cell embedding of $K_{3,3}$, 14 orientable and 17 non-orientable 2-cell embeddings of $K_5$ on the double torus, which explicitly confirms the enumerative results. As a consequence, several new polygonal representations of the double torus are presented.

math.CO↗

arXiv2021

Heuristics for k-domination models of facility location problems in street networks

We present new greedy and beam search heuristic methods to find small-size $k$-dominating sets in graphs. The methods are inspired by a new problem formulation which explicitly highlights a certain structure of the problem. An empirical evaluation of the new methods is done with respect to two existing methods, using instances of graphs corresponding to street networks. The k-domination problem with respect to this class of graphs can be used to model real-world facility location problem scenarios. For the classic minimum dominating set ($1$-domination) problem, all except one methods perform similarly, which is due to their equivalence in this particular case. However, for the k-domination problem with k>1, the new methods outperform the benchmark methods, and the performance gain is more significant for larger values of k.

cs.DM↗

arXiv2019

Pattern-Based Approach to the Workflow Satisfiability Problem with User-Independent Constraints

The fixed parameter tractable (FPT) approach is a powerful tool in tackling computationally hard problems. In this paper, we link FPT results to classic artificial intelligence (AI) techniques to show how they complement each other. Specifically, we consider the workflow satisfiability problem (WSP) which asks whether there exists an assignment of authorised users to the steps in a workflow specification, subject to certain constraints on the assignment. It was shown by Cohen et al. (JAIR 2014) that WSP restricted to the class of user-independent constraints (UI), covering many practical cases, admits FPT algorithms, i.e. can be solved in time exponential only in the number of steps $k$ and polynomial in the number of users $n$. Since usually $k << n$ in WSP, such FPT algorithms are of great practical interest. We present a new interpretation of the FPT nature of the WSP with UI constraints giving a decomposition of the problem into two levels. Exploiting this two-level split, we develop a new FPT algorithm that is by many orders of magnitude faster than the previous state-of-the-art WSP algorithm and also has only polynomial-space complexity. We also introduce new pseudo-Boolean (PB) and Constraint Satisfaction (CSP) formulations of the WSP with UI constraints which efficiently exploit this new decomposition of the problem and raise the novel issue of how to use general-purpose solvers to tackle FPT problems in a fashion that meets FPT efficiency expectations. In our computational study, we investigate, for the first time, the phase transition (PT) properties of the WSP, under a model for generation of random instances. We show how PT studies can be extended, in a novel fashion, to support empirical evaluation of scaling of FPT algorithms.

cs.AI↗

arXiv2017

The complement of proper power graphs of finite groups

For a finite group $G$, the proper power graph $\mathscr{P}^*(G)$ of $G$ is the graph whose vertices are non-trivial elements of $G$ and two vertices $u$ and $v$ are adjacent if and only if $u \neq v$ and $u^m=v$ or $v^m=u$ for some positive integer $m$. In this paper, we consider the complement of $\mathscr{P}^*(G)$, denoted by ${\overline{\mathscr{P}^*(G)}}$. We classify all finite groups whose complement of proper power graphs is complete, bipartite, a path, a cycle, a star, claw-free, triangle-free, disconnected, planar, outer-planar, toroidal, or projective. Among the other results, we also determine the diameter and girth of the complement of proper power graphs of finite groups.

math.GR↗

arXiv2017

Multiple domination models for placement of electric vehicle charging stations in road networks

Electric and hybrid vehicles play an increasing role in the road transport networks. Despite their advantages, they have a relatively limited cruising range in comparison to traditional diesel/petrol vehicles, and require significant battery charging time. We propose to model the facility location problem of the placement of charging stations in road networks as a multiple domination problem on reachability graphs. This model takes into consideration natural assumptions such as a threshold for remaining battery load, and provides some minimal choice for a travel direction to recharge the battery. Experimental evaluation and simulations for the proposed facility location model are presented in the case of real road networks corresponding to the cities of Boston and Dublin.

cs.DM↗

arXiv2015

On the Workflow Satisfiability Problem with Class-Independent Constraints

A workflow specification defines sets of steps and users. An authorization policy determines for each user a subset of steps the user is allowed to perform. Other security requirements, such as separation-of-duty, impose constraints on which subsets of users may perform certain subsets of steps. The \emph{workflow satisfiability problem} (WSP) is the problem of determining whether there exists an assignment of users to workflow steps that satisfies all such authorizations and constraints. An algorithm for solving WSP is important, both as a static analysis tool for workflow specifications, and for the construction of run-time reference monitors for workflow management systems. Given the computational difficulty of WSP, it is important, particularly for the second application, that such algorithms are as efficient as possible. We introduce class-independent constraints, enabling us to model scenarios where the set of users is partitioned into groups, and the identities of the user groups are irrelevant to the satisfaction of the constraint. We prove that solving WSP is fixed-parameter tractable (FPT) for this class of constraints and develop an FPT algorithm that is useful in practice. We compare the performance of the FPT algorithm with that of SAT4J (a pseudo-Boolean SAT solver) in computational experiments, which show that our algorithm significantly outperforms SAT4J for many instances of WSP. User-independent constraints, a large class of constraints including many practical ones, are a special case of class-independent constraints for which WSP was proved to be FPT (Cohen {\em et al.}, J. Artif. Intel. Res. 2014). Thus our results considerably extend our knowledge of the fixed-parameter tractability of WSP.

cs.CR↗

arXiv2015

Classification of finite groups with toroidal or projective-planar permutability graphs

Let $G$ be a group. The permutability graph of subgroups of $G$, denoted by $Γ(G)$, is a graph having all the proper subgroups of $G$ as its vertices, and two subgroups are adjacent in $Γ(G)$ if and only if they permute. In this paper, we classify the finite groups whose permutability graphs are toroidal or projective-planar. In addition, we classify the finite groups whose permutability graph does not contain one of $K_{3,3}$, $K_{1,5}$, $C_6$, $P_5$, or $P_6$ as a subgraph.

math.GR↗

arXiv2015

Pattern Backtracking Algorithm for the Workflow Satisfiability Problem

The workflow satisfiability problem (WSP) asks whether there exists an assignment of authorised users to the steps in a workflow specification, subject to certain constraints on the assignment. (Such an assignment is called valid.) The problem is NP-hard even when restricted to the large class of user-independent constraints. Since the number of steps $k$ is relatively small in practice, it is natural to consider a parametrisation of the WSP by $k$. We propose a new fixed-parameter algorithm to solve the WSP with user-independent constraints. The assignments in our method are partitioned into equivalence classes such that the number of classes is exponential in $k$ only. We show that one can decide, in polynomial time, whether there is a valid assignment in an equivalence class. By exploiting this property, our algorithm reduces the search space to the space of equivalence classes, which it browses within a backtracking framework, hence emerging as an efficient yet relatively simple-to-implement or generalise solution method. We empirically evaluate our algorithm against the state-of-the-art methods and show that it clearly wins the competition on the whole range of our test problems and significantly extends the domain of practically solvable instances of the WSP.

cs.DS↗

arXiv2014

Bounds and algorithms for limited packings in graphs

We consider (closed neighbourhood) packings and their generalization in graphs called limited packings. A vertex set X in a graph G is a k-limited packing if for any vertex $v\in V(G)$, $\left|N[v] \cap X\right| \le k$, where $N[v]$ is the closed neighbourhood of $v$. The k-limited packing number $L_k(G)$ is the largest size of a k-limited packing in G. Limited packing problems can be considered as secure facility location problems in networks. We develop probabilistic and greedy approaches to limited packings in graphs, providing lower bounds for the k-limited packing number, and randomized and greedy algorithms to find k-limited packings satisfying the bounds. Some upper bounds for $L_k(G)$ are given as well. The problem of finding a maximum size k-limited packing is known to be NP-complete even in split or bipartite graphs.

cs.DM↗

arXiv2014

Iterative Plan Construction for the Workflow Satisfiability Problem

The \emph{Workflow Satisfiability Problem (WSP)} is a problem of practical interest that arises whenever tasks need to be performed by authorized users, subject to constraints defined by business rules. We are required to decide whether there exists a \emph{plan} -- an assignment of tasks to authorized users -- such that all constraints are satisfied. Several bespoke algorithms have been constructed for solving the WSP, optimised to deal with constraints (business rules) of particular types. It is natural to see the WSP as a subclass of the {\em Constraint Satisfaction Problem (CSP)} in which the variables are tasks and the domain is the set of users. What makes the WSP distinctive as a CSP is that we can assume that the number of tasks is very small compared to the number of users. This is in sharp contrast with traditional CSP models where the domain is small and the number of variables is very large. As such, it is appropriate to ask for which constraint languages the WSP is fixed-parameter tractable (FPT), parameterized by the number of tasks. We have identified a new FPT constraint language, user-independent constraint, that includes many of the constraints of interest in business processing systems. We are also able to prove that the union of FPT languages remains FPT if they satisfy a simple compatibility condition. In this paper we present our generic algorithm, in which plans are grouped into equivalence classes, each class being associated with a \emph{pattern}. We demonstrate that our generic algorithm has running time $O^*(2^{k\log k})$, where $k$ is the number of tasks, for the language of user-independent constraints. We also show that there is no algorithm of running time $O^*(2^{o(k\log k)})$ for user-independent constraints unless the Exponential Time Hypothesis fails.

cs.DS↗

arXiv2013

The probabilistic approach to limited packings in graphs

We consider (closed neighbourhood) packings and their generalization in graphs. A vertex set X in a graph G is a k-limited packing if for any vertex $v\in V(G)$, $\left|N[v] \cap X\right| \le k$, where N[v] is the closed neighbourhood of v. The k-limited packing number $L_k(G)$ of a graph G is the largest size of a k-limited packing in G. Limited packing problems can be considered as secure facility location problems in networks. In this paper, we develop a new probabilistic approach to limited packings in graphs, resulting in lower bounds for the k-limited packing number and a randomized algorithm to find k-limited packings satisfying the bounds. In particular, we prove that for any graph G of order n with maximum vertex degree $Δ$, $$L_k(G) \ge {kn \over (k+1)\sqrt[k]{\pmatrix{Δ\cr k} (Δ+1)}}.$$ The problem of finding a maximum size k-limited packing is known to be NP-complete even in split or bipartite graphs.

cs.DM↗

arXiv2012

The bondage number of graphs on topological surfaces and Teschner's conjecture

The bondage number of a graph is the smallest number of its edges whose removal results in a graph having a larger domination number. We provide constant upper bounds for the bondage number of graphs on topological surfaces, improve upper bounds for the bondage number in terms of the maximum vertex degree and the orientable and non-orientable genera of the graph, and show tight lower bounds for the number of vertices of graphs 2-cell embeddable on topological surfaces of a given genus. Also, we provide stronger upper bounds for graphs with no triangles and graphs with the number of vertices larger than a certain threshold in terms of the graph genera. This settles Teschner's Conjecture in positive for almost all graphs.

math.CO↗

arXiv2011

Upper bounds for the bondage number of graphs on topological surfaces

The bondage number b(G) of a graph G is the smallest number of edges of G whose removal from G results in a graph having the domination number larger than that of G. We show that, for a graph G having the maximum vertex degree $Δ(G)$ and embeddable on an orientable surface of genus h and a non-orientable surface of genus k, $b(G)\le \min\{Δ(G)+h+2, Δ(G)+k+1\}$. This generalizes known upper bounds for planar and toroidal graphs.

math.CO↗

arXiv2008

Upper bounds for alpha-domination parameters

In this paper, we provide a new upper bound for the alpha-domination number. This result generalises the well-known Caro-Roditty bound for the domination number of a graph. The same probabilistic construction is used to generalise another well-known upper bound for the classical domination in graphs. We also prove similar upper bounds for the alpha-rate domination number, which combines the concepts of alpha-domination and k-tuple domination.

math.CO↗

arXiv2008

Two-connected graphs with prescribed three-connected components

We adapt the classical 3-decomposition of any 2-connected graph to the case of simple graphs (no loops or multiple edges). By analogy with the block-cutpoint tree of a connected graph, we deduce from this decomposition a bicolored tree tc(g) associated with any 2-connected graph g, whose white vertices are the 3-components of g (3-connected components or polygons) and whose black vertices are bonds linking together these 3-components, arising from separating pairs of vertices of g. Two fundamental relationships on graphs and networks follow from this construction. The first one is a dissymmetry theorem which leads to the expression of the class B=B(F) of 2-connected graphs, all of whose 3-connected components belong to a given class F of 3-connected graphs, in terms of various rootings of B. The second one is a functional equation which characterizes the corresponding class R=R(F) of two-pole networks all of whose 3-connected components are in F. All the rootings of B are then expressed in terms of F and R. There follow corresponding identities for all the associated series, in particular the edge index series. Numerous enumerative consequences are discussed.

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