arXiv subjects

Jean Cardinal

Publications and source records attributed to Jean Cardinal.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2019

Flip distances between graph orientations

Flip graphs are a ubiquitous class of graphs, which encode relations induced on a set of combinatorial objects by elementary, local changes. Skeletons of associahedra, for instance, are the graphs induced by quadrilateral flips in triangulations of a convex polygon. For some definition of a flip graph, a natural computational problem to consider is the flip distance: Given two objects, what is the minimum number of flips needed to transform one into the other? We consider flip graphs on orientations of simple graphs, where flips consist of reversing the direction of some edges. More precisely, we consider so-called $α$-orientations of a graph $G$, in which every vertex $v$ has a specified outdegree $α(v)$, and a flip consists of reversing all edges of a directed cycle. We prove that deciding whether the flip distance between two $α$-orientations of a planar graph $G$ is at most two is \NP-complete. This also holds in the special case of perfect matchings, where flips involve alternating cycles. This problem amounts to finding geodesics on the common base polytope of two partition matroids, or, alternatively, on an alcoved polytope. It therefore provides an interesting example of a flip distance question that is computationally intractable despite having a natural interpretation as a geodesic on a nicely structured combinatorial polytope. We also consider the dual question of the flip distance betwe en graph orientations in which every cycle has a specified number of forward edges, and a flip is the reversal of all edges in a minimal directed cut. In general, the problem remains hard. However, if we restrict to flips that only change sinks into sources, or vice-versa, then the problem can be solved in polynomial time. Here we exploit the fact that the flip graph is the cover graph of a distributive lattice. This generalizes a recent result from Zhang, Qian, and Zhang.

math.CO↗

arXiv2019

Recognition and Complexity of Point Visibility Graphs

A point visibility graph is a graph induced by a set of points in the plane, where every vertex corresponds to a point, and two vertices are adjacent whenever the two corresponding points are visible from each other, that is, the open segment between them does not contain any other point of the set. We study the recognition problem for point visibility graphs: given a simple undirected graph, decide whether it is the visibility graph of some point set in the plane. We show that the problem is complete for the existential theory of the reals. Hence the problem is as hard as deciding the existence of a real solution to a system of polynomial inequalities. The proof involves simple substructures forcing collinearities in all realizations of some visibility graphs, which are applied to the algebraic universality constructions of Mnëv and Richter-Gebert. This solves a longstanding open question and paves the way for the analysis of other classes of visibility graphs. Furthermore, as a corollary of one of our construction, we show that there exist point visibility graphs that do not admit any geometric realization with points having integer coordinates.

cs.CG↗

arXiv2018

A Note on Flips in Diagonal Rectangulations

Rectangulations are partitions of a square into axis-aligned rectangles. A number of results provide bijections between combinatorial equivalence classes of rectangulations and families of pattern-avoiding permutations. Other results deal with local changes involving a single edge of a rectangulation, referred to as flips, edge rotations, or edge pivoting. Such operations induce a graph on equivalence classes of rectangulations, related to so-called flip graphs on triangulations and other families of geometric partitions. In this note, we consider a family of flip operations on the equivalence classes of diagonal rectangulations, and their interpretation as transpositions in the associated Baxter permutations, avoiding the vincular patterns { 3{14}2, 2{41}3 }. This complements results from Law and Reading (JCTA, 2012) and provides a complete characterization of flip operations on diagonal rectangulations, in both geometric and combinatorial terms.

math.CO↗

arXiv2018

Finding a Maximum-Weight Convex Set in a Chordal Graph

We consider a natural combinatorial optimization problem on chordal graphs, the class of graphs with no induced cycle of length four or more. A subset of vertices of a chordal graph is (monophonically) convex if it contains the vertices of all chordless paths between any two vertices of the set. The problem is to find a maximum-weight convex subset of a given vertex-weighted chordal graph. It generalizes previously studied special cases in trees and split graphs. It also happens to be closely related to the closure problem in partially ordered sets and directed graphs. We give the first polynomial-time algorithm for the problem.

cs.DS↗

arXiv2018

Dynamic Graph Coloring

In this paper we study the number of vertex recolorings that an algorithm needs to perform in order to maintain a proper coloring of a graph under insertion and deletion of vertices and edges. We present two algorithms that achieve different trade-offs between the number of recolorings and the number of colors used. For any $d>0$, the first algorithm maintains a proper $O(\mathcal{C} d N^{1/d})$-coloring while recoloring at most $O(d)$ vertices per update, where $\mathcal{C}$ and $N$ are the maximum chromatic number and maximum number of vertices, respectively. The second algorithm reverses the trade-off, maintaining an $O(\mathcal{C} d)$-coloring with $O(d N^{1/d})$ recolorings per update. The two converge when $d = \log N$, maintaining an $O(\mathcal{C} \log N)$-coloring with $O(\log N)$ recolorings per update. We also present a lower bound, showing that any algorithm that maintains a $c$-coloring of a $2$-colorable graph on $N$ vertices must recolor at least $Ω(N^\frac{2}{c(c-1)})$ vertices per update, for any constant $c \geq 2$.

cs.DS↗

arXiv2018

Reconfiguration of Satisfying Assignments and Subset Sums: Easy to Find, Hard to Connect

We consider the computational complexity of reconfiguration problems, in which one is given two combinatorial configurations satisfying some constraints, and is asked to transform one into the other using elementary transformations, while satisfying the constraints at all times. Such problems appear naturally in many contexts, such as model checking, motion planning, enumeration and sampling, and recreational mathematics. We provide hardness results for problems in this family, in which the constraints and operations are particularly simple. More precisely, we prove the PSPACE-completeness of the following decision problems: $\bullet$ Given two satisfying assignments to a planar monotone instance of Not-All-Equal 3-SAT, can one assignment be transformed into the other by single variable `flips' (assignment changes), preserving satisfiability at every step? $\bullet$ Given two subsets of a set S of integers with the same sum, can one subset be transformed into the other by adding or removing at most three elements of S at a time, such that the intermediate subsets also have the same sum? $\bullet$ Given two points in $\{0,1\}^n$ contained in a polytope P specified by a constant number of linear inequalities, is there a path in the n-hypercube connecting the two points and contained in P? These problems can be interpreted as reconfiguration analogues of standard problems in NP. Interestingly, the instances of the NP problems that appear as input to the reconfiguration problems in our reductions can be shown to lie in P. In particular, the elements of S and the coefficients of the inequalities defining P can be restricted to have logarithmic bit-length.

cs.CC↗

arXiv2018

On the Diameter of Tree Associahedra

We consider a natural notion of search trees on graphs, which we show is ubiquitous in various areas of discrete mathematics and computer science. Search trees on graphs can be modified by local operations called rotations, which generalize rotations in binary search trees. The rotation graph of search trees on a graph $G$ is the skeleton of a polytope called the graph associahedron of $G$. We consider the case where the graph $G$ is a tree. We construct a family of trees $G$ on $n$ vertices and pairs of search trees on $G$ such that the minimum number of rotations required to transform one search tree into the other is $Ω(n\log n)$. This implies that the worst-case diameter of tree associahedra is $Θ(n\log n)$, which answers a question from Thibault Manneville and Vincent Pilaud. The proof relies on a notion of projection of a search tree which may be of independent interest.

math.CO↗

arXiv2018

Subquadratic Encodings for Point Configurations

For most algorithms dealing with sets of points in the plane, the only relevant information carried by the input is the combinatorial configuration of the points: the orientation of each triple of points in the set (clockwise, counterclockwise, or collinear). This information is called the order type of the point set. In the dual, realizable order types and abstract order types are combinatorial analogues of line arrangements and pseudoline arrangements. Too often in the literature we analyze algorithms in the real-RAM model for simplicity, putting aside the fact that computers as we know them cannot handle arbitrary real numbers without some sort of encoding. Encoding an order type by the integer coordinates of some realizing point set is known to yield doubly exponential coordinates in some cases. Other known encodings can achieve quadratic space or fast orientation queries, but not both. In this contribution, we give a compact encoding for abstract order types that allows efficient query of the orientation of any triple: the encoding uses O(n^2) bits and an orientation query takes O(log n) time in the word-RAM model. This encoding is space-optimal for abstract order types. We show how to shorten the encoding to O(n^2 (loglog n)^2 / log n) bits for realizable order types, giving the first subquadratic encoding for those order types with fast orientation queries. We further refine our encoding to attain O(log n/loglog n) query time without blowing up the space requirement. In the realizable case, we show that all those encodings can be computed efficiently. Finally, we generalize our results to the encoding of point configurations in higher dimension.

cs.CG↗

arXiv2017

Helly Numbers of Polyominoes

We define the Helly number of a polyomino $P$ as the smallest number $h$ such that the $h$-Helly property holds for the family of symmetric and translated copies of $P$ on the integer grid. We prove the following: (i) the only polyominoes with Helly number 2 are the rectangles, (ii) there does not exist any polyomino with Helly number 3, (iii) there exist polyominoes of Helly number $k$ for any $k\neq 1,3$.

cs.CG↗

arXiv2017

Solving and Sampling with Many Solutions: Satisfiability and Other Hard Problems

We investigate parameterizing hard combinatorial problems by the size of the solution set compared to all solution candidates. Our main result is a uniform sampling algorithm for satisfying assignments of 2-CNF formulas that runs in expected time $O^*(\varepsilon^{-0.617})$ where $\varepsilon$ is the fraction of assignments that are satisfying. This improves significantly over the trivial sampling bound of expected $Θ^*(\varepsilon^{-1})$, and on all previous algorithms whenever $\varepsilon = Ω(0.708^n)$. We also consider algorithms for 3-SAT with an $\varepsilon$ fraction of satisfying assignments, and prove that it can be solved in $O^*(\varepsilon^{-2.27})$ deterministic time, and in $O^*(\varepsilon^{-0.936})$ randomized time. Finally, to further demonstrate the applicability of this framework, we also explore how similar techniques can be used for vertex cover problems.

cs.DM↗

arXiv2017

On the shelling antimatroids of split graphs

Chordal graph shelling antimatroids have received little attention with regard to their combinatorial properties and related optimization problems, as compared to the case of poset shelling antimatroids. Here we consider a special case of these antimatroids, namely the split graph shelling antimatroids. We show that the feasible sets of such an antimatroid relate to some poset shelling antimatroids constructed from the graph. We discuss a few applications, obtaining in particular a simple polynomial-time algorithm to find a maximum weight feasible set. We also provide a simple description of the circuits and the free sets.

cs.DM↗

arXiv2017

Topological Drawings of Complete Bipartite Graphs

Topological drawings are natural representations of graphs in the plane, where vertices are represented by points, and edges by curves connecting the points. Topological drawings of complete graphs and of complete bipartite graphs have been studied extensively in the context of crossing number problems. We consider a natural class of simple topological drawings of complete bipartite graphs, in which we require that one side of the vertex set bipartition lies on the outer boundary of the drawing. We investigate the combinatorics of such drawings. For this purpose, we define combinatorial encodings of the drawings by enumerating the distinct drawings of subgraphs isomorphic to $K_{2,2}$ and $K_{3,2}$, and investigate the constraints they must satisfy. We prove that a drawing of $K_{k,n}$ exists if and only if some simple local conditions are satisfied by the encodings. This directly yields a polynomial-time algorithm for deciding the existence of such a drawing given the encoding. We show the encoding is equivalent to specifying which pairs of edges cross, yielding a similar polynomial-time algorithm for the realizability of abstract topological graphs. We also completely characterize and enumerate such drawings of $K_{k,n}$ in which the order of the edges around each vertex is the same for vertices on the same side of the bipartition. Finally, we investigate drawings of $K_{k,n}$ using straight lines and pseudolines, and consider the complexity of the corresponding realizability problems.

cs.CG↗

arXiv2016

Intersection Graphs of Rays and Grounded Segments

We consider several classes of intersection graphs of line segments in the plane and prove new equality and separation results between those classes. In particular, we show that: (1) intersection graphs of grounded segments and intersection graphs of downward rays form the same graph class, (2) not every intersection graph of rays is an intersection graph of downward rays, and (3) not every intersection graph of rays is an outer segment graph. The first result answers an open problem posed by Cabello and Jejčič. The third result confirms a conjecture by Cabello. We thereby completely elucidate the remaining open questions on the containment relations between these classes of segment graphs. We further characterize the complexity of the recognition problems for the classes of outer segment, grounded segment, and ray intersection graphs. We prove that these recognition problems are complete for the existential theory of the reals. This holds even if a 1-string realization is given as additional input.

cs.DM↗

arXiv2016

Subquadratic Algorithms for Algebraic Generalizations of 3SUM

The 3SUM problem asks if an input $n$-set of real numbers contains a triple whose sum is zero. We consider the 3POL problem, a natural generalization of 3SUM where we replace the sum function by a constant-degree polynomial in three variables. The motivations are threefold. Raz, Sharir, and de Zeeuw gave a $O(n^{11/6})$ upper bound on the number of solutions of trivariate polynomial equations when the solutions are taken from the cartesian product of three $n$-sets of real numbers. We give algorithms for the corresponding problem of counting such solutions. Grønlund and Pettie recently designed subquadratic algorithms for 3SUM. We generalize their results to 3POL. Finally, we shed light on the General Position Testing (GPT) problem: "Given $n$ points in the plane, do three of them lie on a line?", a key problem in computational geometry. We prove that there exist bounded-degree algebraic decision trees of depth $O(n^{\frac{12}{7}+\varepsilon})$ that solve 3POL, and that 3POL can be solved in $O(n^2 {(\log \log n)}^\frac{3}{2} / {(\log n)}^\frac{1}{2})$ time in the real-RAM model. Among the possible applications of those results, we show how to solve GPT in subquadratic time when the input points lie on $o({(\log n)}^\frac{1}{6}/{(\log \log n)}^\frac{1}{2})$ constant-degree polynomial curves. This constitutes a first step towards closing the major open question of whether GPT can be solved in subquadratic time. To obtain these results, we generalize important tools --- such as batch range searching and dominance reporting --- to a polynomial setting. We expect these new tools to be useful in other applications.

cs.DS↗

arXiv2016

Arc diagrams, flip distances, and Hamiltonian triangulations

We show that every triangulation (maximal planar graph) on $n\ge 6$ vertices can be flipped into a Hamiltonian triangulation using a sequence of less than $n/2$ combinatorial edge flips. The previously best upper bound uses $4$-connectivity as a means to establish Hamiltonicity. But in general about $3n/5$ flips are necessary to reach a $4$-connected triangulation. Our result improves the upper bound on the diameter of the flip graph of combinatorial triangulations on $n$ vertices from $5.2n-33.6$ to $5n-23$. We also show that for every triangulation on $n$ vertices there is a simultaneous flip of less than $2n/3$ edges to a $4$-connected triangulation. The bound on the number of edges is tight, up to an additive constant. As another application we show that every planar graph on $n$ vertices admits an arc diagram with less than $n/2$ biarcs, that is, after subdividing less than $n/2$ (of potentially $3n-6$) edges the resulting graph admits a $2$-page book embedding.

cs.CG↗

arXiv2016

Ramsey-type theorems for lines in 3-space

We prove geometric Ramsey-type statements on collections of lines in 3-space. These statements give guarantees on the size of a clique or an independent set in (hyper)graphs induced by incidence relations between lines, points, and reguli in 3-space. Among other things, we prove that: (1) The intersection graph of n lines in R^3 has a clique or independent set of size Omega(n^{1/3}). (2) Every set of n lines in R^3 has a subset of n^{1/2} lines that are all stabbed by one line, or a subset of Omega((n/log n)^{1/5}) such that no 6-subset is stabbed by one line. (3) Every set of n lines in general position in R^3 has a subset of Omega(n^{2/3}) lines that all lie on a regulus, or a subset of Omega(n^{1/3}) lines such that no 4-subset is contained in a regulus. The proofs of these statements all follow from geometric incidence bounds -- such as the Guth-Katz bound on point-line incidences in R^3 -- combined with Turán-type results on independent sets in sparse graphs and hypergraphs. Although similar Ramsey-type statements can be proved using existing generic algebraic frameworks, the lower bounds we get are much larger than what can be obtained with these methods. The proofs directly yield polynomial-time algorithms for finding subsets of the claimed size.

math.CO↗

arXiv2016

Solving $k$-SUM using few linear queries

The $k$-SUM problem is given $n$ input real numbers to determine whether any $k$ of them sum to zero. The problem is of tremendous importance in the emerging field of complexity theory within $P$, and it is in particular open whether it admits an algorithm of complexity $O(n^c)$ with $c<\lceil \frac{k}{2} \rceil$. Inspired by an algorithm due to Meiser (1993), we show that there exist linear decision trees and algebraic computation trees of depth $O(n^3\log^3 n)$ solving $k$-SUM. Furthermore, we show that there exists a randomized algorithm that runs in $\tilde{O}(n^{\lceil \frac{k}{2} \rceil+8})$ time, and performs $O(n^3\log^3 n)$ linear queries on the input. Thus, we show that it is possible to have an algorithm with a runtime almost identical (up to the $+8$) to the best known algorithm but for the first time also with the number of queries on the input a polynomial that is independent of $k$. The $O(n^3\log^3 n)$ bound on the number of linear queries is also a tighter bound than any known algorithm solving $k$-SUM, even allowing unlimited total time outside of the queries. By simultaneously achieving few queries to the input without significantly sacrificing runtime vis-à-vis known algorithms, we deepen the understanding of this canonical problem which is a cornerstone of complexity-within-$P$. We also consider a range of tradeoffs between the number of terms involved in the queries and the depth of the decision tree. In particular, we prove that there exist $o(n)$-linear decision trees of depth $o(n^4)$.

cs.DS↗

arXiv2015

The Complexity of Simultaneous Geometric Graph Embedding

Given a collection of planar graphs $G_1,\dots,G_k$ on the same set $V$ of $n$ vertices, the simultaneous geometric embedding (with mapping) problem, or simply $k$-SGE, is to find a set $P$ of $n$ points in the plane and a bijection $ϕ: V \to P$ such that the induced straight-line drawings of $G_1,\dots,G_k$ under $ϕ$ are all plane. This problem is polynomial-time equivalent to weak rectilinear realizability of abstract topological graphs, which Kynčl (doi:10.1007/s00454-010-9320-x) proved to be complete for $\exists\mathbb{R}$, the existential theory of the reals. Hence the problem $k$-SGE is polynomial-time equivalent to several other problems in computational geometry, such as recognizing intersection graphs of line segments or finding the rectilinear crossing number of a graph. We give an elementary reduction from the pseudoline stretchability problem to $k$-SGE, with the property that both numbers $k$ and $n$ are linear in the number of pseudolines. This implies not only the $\exists\mathbb{R}$-hardness result, but also a $2^{2^{Ω(n)}}$ lower bound on the minimum size of a grid on which any such simultaneous embedding can be drawn. This bound is tight. Hence there exists such collections of graphs that can be simultaneously embedded, but every simultaneous drawing requires an exponential number of bits per coordinates. The best value that can be extracted from Kynčl's proof is only $2^{2^{Ω(\sqrt{n})}}$.

cs.CG↗