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Frédéric Meunier

Publications and source records attributed to Frédéric Meunier.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
arXiv2020

A business dinner problem

We are given suppliers and customers, and a set of tables. Every evening of the forthcoming days, there will be a dinner. Each customer must eat with each supplier exactly once, but two suppliers may meet at most once at a table. The number of customers and the number of suppliers who can sit together at a table are bounded above by fixed parameters. What is the minimum number of evenings to be scheduled in order to reach this objective? This question was submitted by a firm to the Junior company of a French engineering school some years ago. Lower and upper bounds are given in this paper, as well as proven optimal solutions with closed-form expressions for some cases.

math.CO↗
arXiv2020

$O_n$ is an $n$-MCFL

Commutative properties in formal languages pose problems at the frontier of computer science, computational linguistics and computational group theory. A prominent problem of this kind is the position of the language $O_n$, the language that contains the same number of letters $a_i$ and $\bar a_i$ with $1\leq i\leq n$, in the known classes of formal languages. It has recently been shown that $O_n$ is a Multiple Context-Free Language (MCFL). However the more precise conjecture of Nederhof that $O_n$ is an MCFL of dimension $n$ was left open. We present two proofs of this conjecture, both relying on tools from algebraic topology. On our way, we prove a variant of the necklace splitting theorem.

cs.FL↗
arXiv2020

Colorings of complements of line graphs

Our purpose is to show that complements of line graphs enjoy nice coloring properties. We show that for all graphs in this class the local and usual chromatic numbers are equal. We also prove a sufficient condition for the chromatic number to be equal to a natural upper bound. A consequence of this latter condition is a complete characterization of all induced subgraphs of the Kneser graph $\operatorname{KG}(n,2)$ that have a chromatic number equal to its chromatic number, namely $n-2$. In addition to the upper bound, a lower bound is provided by Dol'nikov's theorem, a classical result of the topological method in graph theory. We prove the $\operatorname{NP}$-hardness of deciding the equality between the chromatic number and any of these bounds. The topological method is especially suitable for the study of coloring properties of complements of line graphs of hypergraphs. Nevertheless, all proofs in this paper are elementary and we also provide a short discussion on the ability for the topological methods to cover some of our results.

math.CO↗
arXiv2019

Topological bounds for graph representations over any field

Haviv ({\em European Journal of Combinatorics}, 2019) has recently proved that some topological lower bounds on the chromatic number of graphs are also lower bounds on their orthogonality dimension over $\mathbb{R}$. We show that this holds actually for all known topological lower bounds and all fields. We also improve the topological bound he obtained for the minrank parameter over $\mathbb{R}$ -- an important graph invariant from coding theory -- and show that this bound is actually valid for all fields as well. The notion of independent representation over a matroid is introduced and used in a general theorem having these results as corollaries. Related complexity results are also discussed.

math.CO↗
arXiv2019

Aircraft routing and crew pairing: updated algorithms at Air France

Aircraft routing and crew pairing problems aims at building the sequences of flight legs operated respectively by airplanes and by crews of an airline. Given their impact on airlines operating costs, both have been extensively studied for decades. Our goal is to provide reliable and easy to maintain frameworks for both problems at Air France. We propose simple approaches to deal with Air France current setting. For routing, we introduce a compact MIP formulation that can be solved by current MIP solvers in at most a few minutes even on Air France largest instances. Regarding crew pairing, we provide a standard methodology to model the column generation pricing subproblem within a new resource constrained shortest path framework recently introduced by the first author. This new framework, which can be used as a black-box, leverages on bounds on paths' resource to discard partial solutions and speed-up the resolution. The resulting approach enables to solve to optimality Air France largest instances. Recent literature has focused on integrating aircraft routing and crew pairing problems. As a side result, we have been able to solve to near optimality large industrial instances of the integrated problem by combining the aforementioned algorithms within a simple cut generating method.

math.OC↗
arXiv2019

Different versions of the nerve theorem and rainbow simplices

Given a simplicial complex and a collection of subcomplexes covering it, the nerve theorem, a fundamental tool in topological combinatorics, guarantees a certain connectivity of the simplicial complex when connectivity conditions on the intersection of the subcomplexes are satisfied. We show that it is possible to extend this theorem by replacing some of these connectivity conditions on the intersection of the subcomplexes by connectivity conditions on their union. While this is interesting for its own sake, we use this extension to generalize in various ways the Meshulam lemma, a powerful homological version of the Sperner lemma. We also prove a generalization of the Meshulam lemma that is somehow reminiscent of the polytopal generalization of the Sperner lemma by De Loera, Peterson, and Su. For this latter result, we use a different approach and we do not know whether there is a way to get it via a nerve theorem of some kind.

math.CO↗
arXiv2019

Multilabeled versions of Sperner's and Fan's lemmas and applications

We propose a general technique related to the polytopal Sperner lemma for proving old and new multilabeled versions of Sperner's lemma. A notable application of this technique yields a cake-cutting theorem where the number of players and the number of pieces can be independently chosen. We also prove multilabeled versions of Fan's lemma, a combinatorial analogue of the Borsuk-Ulam theorem, and exhibit applications to fair division and graph coloring.

math.CO↗
arXiv2019

Tverberg theorems over discrete sets of points

This paper discusses Tverberg-type theorems with coordinate constraints (i.e., versions of these theorems where all points lie within a subset $S \subset \mathbb{R}^d$ and the intersection of convex hulls is required to have a non-empty intersection with $S$). We determine the $m$-Tverberg number, when $m \geq 3$, of any discrete subset $S$ of $\mathbb{R}^2$ (a generalization of an unpublished result of J.-P. Doignon). We also present improvements on the upper bounds for the Tverberg numbers of $\mathbb{Z}^3$ and $\mathbb{Z}^j \times \mathbb{R}^k$ and an integer version of the well-known positive-fraction selection lemma of J. Pach.

math.MG↗
arXiv2019

Envy-free cake division without assuming the players prefer nonempty pieces

Consider $n$ players having preferences over the connected pieces of a cake, identified with the interval $[0,1]$. A classical theorem, found independently by Stromquist and by Woodall in 1980, ensures that, under mild conditions, it is possible to divide the cake into $n$ connected pieces and assign these pieces to the players in an envy-free manner, i.e, such that no player strictly prefers a piece that has not been assigned to her. One of these conditions, considered as crucial, is that no player is happy with an empty piece. We prove that, even if this condition is not satisfied, it is still possible to get such a division when $n$ is a prime number or is equal to $4$. When $n$ is at most $3$, this has been previously proved by Erel Segal-Halevi, who conjectured that the result holds for any $n$. The main step in our proof is a new combinatorial lemma in topology, close to a conjecture by Segal-Halevi and which is reminiscent of the celebrated Sperner lemma: instead of restricting the labels that can appear on each face of the simplex, the lemma considers labelings that enjoy a certain symmetry on the boundary.

math.CO↗
arXiv2018

Perfect graphs with polynomially computable kernels

In a directed graph, a kernel is a subset of vertices that is both stable and absorbing. Not all digraphs have a kernel, but a theorem due to Boros and Gurvich guarantees the existence of a kernel in every clique-acyclic orientation of a perfect graph. However, an open question is the complexity status of the computation of a kernel in such a digraph. Our main contribution is to prove new polynomiality results for subfamilies of perfect graphs, among which are claw-free perfect graphs and chordal graphs. Our results are based on the design of kernel computation methods with respect to two graph operations: clique-cutset decomposition and augmentation of flat edges. We also prove that deciding the existence of a kernel - and computing it if it exists - is polynomial in every orientation of a chordal or a circular-arc graph, even not clique-acyclic.

cs.DM↗
arXiv2017

Fair splitting of colored paths

This paper deals with two problems about splitting fairly a path with colored vertices, where "fairly" means that each part contains almost the same amount of vertices in each color. Our first result states that it is possible to remove one vertex per color from a path with colored vertices so that the remaining vertices can be fairly split into two independent sets of the path. It implies in particular a conjecture of Ron Aharoni and coauthors. The proof uses the octahedral Tucker lemma. Our second result is the proof of a particular case of a conjecture of D{ö}m{ö}t{ö}r P{á}lv{ö}lgyi about fair splittings of necklaces for which one can decide which thieves are advantaged. The proof is based on a rounding technique introduced by Noga Alon and coauthors to prove the discrete splitting necklace theorem from the continuous one.

math.CO↗
arXiv2017

Minimizing the waiting time for a one-way shuttle service

Consider a terminal in which users arrive continuously over a finite period of time at a variable rate known in advance. A fleet of shuttles has to carry the users over a fixed trip. What is the shuttle schedule that minimizes their waiting time? This is the question addressed in the present paper. We propose efficient algorithms for several variations of this question with proven performance guarantees. The techniques used are of various types (convex optimization, shortest paths,...). The paper ends with numerical experiments showing that most of our algorithms behave also well in practice.

math.OC↗
arXiv2017

Achieving rental harmony with a secretive roommate

Given the subjective preferences of n roommates in an n-bedroom apartment, one can use Sperner's lemma to find a division of the rent such that each roommate is content with a distinct room. At the given price distribution, no roommate has a strictly stronger preference for a different room. We give a new elementary proof that the subjective preferences of only n-1 of the roommates actually suffice to achieve this envy-free rent division. Our proof, in particular, yields an algorithm to find such a fair division of rent. The techniques also give generalizations of Sperner's lemma including a new proof of a conjecture of the third author.

math.CO↗
arXiv2017

Strengthening topological colorful results for graphs

Various results ensure the existence of large complete bipartite graphs in properly colored graphs when some condition related to a topological lower bound on the chromatic number is satisfied. We generalize three theorems of this kind, respectively due to Simonyi and Tardos (Combinatorica, 2006), Simonyi, Tardif, and Zsbán (The Electronic Journal of Combinatorics, 2013), and Chen (Journal of Combinatorial Theory, Series A, 2011). As a consequence of the generalization of Chen's theorem, we get new families of graphs whose chromatic number equals their circular chromatic number and that satisfy Hedetniemi's conjecture for the circular chromatic number.

math.CO↗
arXiv2016

Colorful linear programming, Nash equilibrium, and pivots

The colorful Carathéodory theorem, proved by Bárány in 1982, states that given d+1 sets of points S_1,...,S_{d+1} in R^d, with each S_i containing 0 in its convex hull, there exists a subset T of the union of the S_i's containing 0 in its convex hull and such that T contains at most one point from each S_i. An intriguing question -- still open -- is whether such a set T, whose existence is ensured, can be found in polynomial time. In 1997, Bárány and Onn defined colorful linear programming as algorithmic questions related to the colorful Carathéodory theorem. The question we just mentioned comes under colorful linear programming. The traditional applications of colorful linear programming lie in discrete geometry. In this paper, we study its relations with other areas, such as game theory, operations research, and combinatorics. Regarding game theory, we prove that computing a Nash equilibrium in a bimatrix game is a colorful linear programming problem. We also formulate an optimization problem for colorful linear programming and show that as for usual linear programming, deciding and optimizing are computationally equivalent. We discuss then a colorful version of Dantzig's diet problem. We also propose a variant of the Bárány algorithm, which is an algorithm computing a set T whose existence is ensured by the colorful Carathéodory theorem. Our algorithm makes a clear connection with the simplex algorithm and we discuss its computational efficiency. Related complexity and combinatorial results are also provided.

cs.DM↗
arXiv2016

The Rainbow at the End of the Line --- A PPAD Formulation of the Colorful Carathéodory Theorem with Applications

Let $C_1,...,C_{d+1}$ be $d+1$ point sets in $\mathbb{R}^d$, each containing the origin in its convex hull. A subset $C$ of $\bigcup_{i=1}^{d+1} C_i$ is called a colorful choice (or rainbow) for $C_1, \dots, C_{d+1}$, if it contains exactly one point from each set $C_i$. The colorful Carathéodory theorem states that there always exists a colorful choice for $C_1,\dots,C_{d+1}$ that has the origin in its convex hull. This theorem is very general and can be used to prove several other existence theorems in high-dimensional discrete geometry, such as the centerpoint theorem or Tverberg's theorem. The colorful Carathéodory problem (CCP) is the computational problem of finding such a colorful choice. Despite several efforts in the past, the computational complexity of CCP in arbitrary dimension is still open. We show that CCP lies in the intersection of the complexity classes PPAD and PLS. This makes it one of the few geometric problems in PPAD and PLS that are not known to be solvable in polynomial time. Moreover, it implies that the problem of computing centerpoints, computing Tverberg partitions, and computing points with large simplicial depth is contained in $\text{PPAD} \cap \text{PLS}$. This is the first nontrivial upper bound on the complexity of these problems. Finally, we show that our PPAD formulation leads to a polynomial-time algorithm for a special case of CCP in which we have only two color classes $C_1$ and $C_2$ in $d$ dimensions, each with the origin in its convex hull, and we would like to find a set with half the points from each color class that contains the origin in its convex hull.

cs.CG↗
arXiv2014

Computing solutions of the multiclass network equilibrium problem with affine cost functions

We consider a nonatomic congestion game on a graph, with several classes of players. Each player wants to go from its origin vertex to its destination vertex at the minimum cost and all players of a given class share the same characteristics: cost functions on each arc, and origin-destination pair. Under some mild conditions, it is known that a Nash equilibrium exists, but the computation of an equilibrium in the multiclass case is an open problem for general functions. We consider the specific case where the cost functions are affine. We show that this problem is polynomially solvable when the number of vertices and the number of classes are fixed. In particular, it shows that the parallel-link case with a fixed number of classes is polynomially solvable. On a more practical side, we propose an extension of Lemke's algorithm able to solve this problem.

cs.GT↗