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Maria Chudnovsky

Publications and source records attributed to Maria Chudnovsky.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
arXiv2025

Induced subgraphs and tree decompositions XII. Grid theorem for pinched graphs

Given an integer $c\in \mathbb{N}$, we say a graph $G$ is $c$-pinched if $G$ does not contain an induced subgraph consisting of $c$ cycles, all going through a single common vertex and otherwise pairwise disjoint and with no edges between them. What can be said about the structure of $c$-pinched graphs? For instance, $1$-pinched graphs are exactly graphs of treewidth $1$. However, bounded treewidth for $c>1$ is immediately seen to be a false hope because complete graphs, complete bipartite graphs, subdivided walls and line graphs of subdivided walls are all examples of $2$-pinched graphs with arbitrarily large treewidth. There is even a fifth obstruction for larger values of $c$, discovered by Pohoata and later independently by Davies, consisting of $3$-pinched graphs with unbounded treewidth and no large induced subgraph isomorphic to any of the first four obstructions. We fuse the above five examples into a grid-type theorem fully describing the unavoidable induced subgraphs of pinched graphs with large treewidth. More precisely, we prove that for every integer $c\in \mathbb{N}$, a $c$-pinched graph $G$ has large treewidth if and only if $G$ contains one of the following as an induced subgraph: a large complete graph, a large complete bipartite graph, a subdivision of a large wall, the line-graph of a subdivision of a large wall, or a large graph from the Pohoata-Davies construction. Our main result also generalizes to an extension of pinched graphs where the lengths of excluded cycles are lower-bounded.

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arXiv2025

Strictly Metrizable Graphs are Minor-Closed

A consistent path system in a graph $G$ is an collection of paths, with exactly one path between any two vertices in $G$. A path system is said to be consistent if it is intersection-closed. We say that $G$ is strictly metrizable if every consistent path system in $G$ can be realized as the system of unique geodesics with respect to some assignment of positive edge weight. In this paper, we show that the family of strictly metrizable graphs is minor-closed.

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arXiv2024

Colouring t-perfect graphs

Perfect graphs can be described as the graphs whose stable set polytopes are defined by their non-negativity and clique inequalities (including edge inequalities). In 1975, Chvátal defined an analogous class of t-perfect graphs, which are the graphs whose stable set polytopes are defined by their non-negativity, edge inequalities, and odd circuit inequalities. We show that t-perfect graphs are $199053$-colourable. This is the first finite bound on the chromatic number of t-perfect graphs and answers a question of Shepherd from 1995. Our proof also shows that every h-perfect graph with clique number $ω$ is $(ω+ 199050)$-colourable.

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arXiv2024

Induced subgraphs and tree decompositions XIII. Basic obstructions in $\mathcal{H}$-free graphs for finite $\mathcal{H}$

Unlike minors, the induced subgraph obstructions to bounded treewidth come in a large variety, including, for every $t\geq 1$, the $t$-basic obstructions: the graphs $K_{t+1}$ and $K_{t,t}$, along with the subdivisions of the $t$-by-$t$ wall and their line graphs. But this list is far from complete. The simplest example of a ''non-basic'' obstruction is due to Pohoata and Davies (independently). For every $n \geq 1$, they construct certain graphs of treewidth $n$ and with no $3$-basic obstruction as an induced subgraph, which we call $n$-arrays. Let us say a graph class $\mathcal{G}$ is clean if the only obstructions to bounded treewidth in $\mathcal{G}$ are in fact the basic ones. It follows that a full description of the induced subgraph obstructions to bounded treewidth is equivalent to a characterization of all families $\mathcal{H}$ of graphs for which the class of all $\mathcal{H}$-free graphs is clean (a graph $G$ is $\mathcal{H}$-free if no induced subgraph of $G$ is isomorphic to any graph in $\mathcal{H}$). This remains elusive, but there is an immediate necessary condition: if $\mathcal{H}$-free graphs are clean, then there are only finitely many integers $n\geq 1$ such that there is an $n$-array which is $\mathcal{H}$-free. The above necessary condition is not sufficient in general. However, the situation turns out to be different if $\mathcal{H}$ is finite: we prove that for every finite set $\mathcal{H}$ of graphs, the class of all $\mathcal{H}$-free graphs is clean if and only if there is no $\mathcal{H}$-free $n$-array except possibly for finitely many values of $n$.

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arXiv2024

Induced subgraphs and tree decompositions VI. Graphs with 2-cutsets

This paper continues a series of papers investigating the following question: which hereditary graph classes have bounded treewidth? We call a graph $t$-clean if it does not contain as an induced subgraph the complete graph $K_t$, the complete bipartite graph $K_{t, t}$, subdivisions of a $(t \times t)$-wall, and line graphs of subdivisions of a $(t \times t)$-wall. It is known that graphs with bounded treewidth must be $t$-clean for some $t$; however, it is not true that every $t$-clean graph has bounded treewidth. In this paper, we show that three types of cutsets, namely clique cutsets, 2-cutsets, and 1-joins, interact well with treewidth and with each other, so graphs that are decomposable by these cutsets into basic classes of bounded treewidth have bounded treewidth. We apply this result to two hereditary graph classes, the class of ($ISK_4$, wheel)-free graphs and the class of graphs with no cycle with a unique chord. These classes were previously studied and decomposition theorems were obtained for both classes. Our main results are that $t$-clean ($ISK_4$, wheel)-free graphs have bounded treewidth and that $t$-clean graphs with no cycle with a unique chord have bounded treewidth.

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arXiv2024

Excluding the fork and antifork

The fork is the tree obtained from the claw $K_{1,3}$ by subdividing one of its edges once, and the antifork is its complement graph. We give a complete description of all graphs that do not contain the fork or antifork as induced subgraphs.

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arXiv2024

Tree Independence Number IV. Even-hole-free Graphs

We prove that the tree independence number of every even-hole-free graph is at most polylogarithmic in its number of vertices. More explicitly, we prove that there exists a constant c>0 such that for every integer n>1 every n-vertex even-hole-free graph has a tree decomposition where each bag has stability (independence) number at most c log^10 n. This implies that the Maximum Weight Independent Set problem, as well as several other natural algorithmic problems that are known to be NP-hard in general, can be solved in quasi-polynomial time if the input graph is even-hole-free.

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arXiv2024

Counting independent sets in structured graphs

Counting independent sets in graphs and hypergraphs under a variety of restrictions is a classical question with a long history. It is the subject of the celebrated container method which found numerous spectacular applications over the years. We consider the question of how many independent sets we can have in a graph under structural restrictions. We show that any $n$-vertex graph with independence number $α$ without $bK_a$ as an induced subgraph has at most $n^{O(1)} \cdot α^{O(α)}$ independent sets. This substantially improves the trivial upper bound of $n^α,$ whenever $α\le n^{o(1)}$ and gives a characterization of graphs forbidding of which allows for such an improvement. It is also in general tight up to a constant in the exponent since there exist triangle-free graphs with $α^{Ω(α)}$ independent sets. We also prove that if one in addition assumes the ground graph is chi-bounded one can improve the bound to $n^{O(1)} \cdot 2^{O(α)}$ which is tight up to a constant factor in the exponent.

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arXiv2024

Induced subgraphs and tree decompositions XV. Even-hole-free graphs with bounded clique number have logarithmic treewidth

We prove that for every integer $t\geq 1$ there exists an integer $c_t\geq 1$ such that every $n$-vertex even-hole-free graph with no clique of size $t$ has treewidth at most $c_t\log{n}$. This resolves a conjecture of Sintiari and Trotignon, who also proved that the logarithmic bound is asymptotically best possible. It follows that several \textsf{NP}-hard problems such as \textsc{Stable Set}, \textsc{Vertex Cover}, \textsc{Dominating Set} and \textsc{Coloring} admit polynomial-time algorithms on this class of graphs. As a consequence, for every positive integer $r$, $r$-{\sc Coloring} can be solved in polynomial time on even-hole-free graphs without any assumptions on clique size. As part of the proof, we show that there is an integer $d$ such that every even-hole-free graph has a balanced separator which is contained in the (closed) neighborhood of at most $d$ vertices. This is of independent interest; for instance, it implies the existence of efficient approximation algorithms for certain \textsf{NP}-hard problems while restricted to the class of all even-hole-free graphs.

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arXiv2024

Tree independence number I. (Even hole, diamond, pyramid)-free graphs

The tree-independence number tree-$α$, first defined and studied by Dallard, Milanič and Štorgel, is a variant of treewidth tailored to solving the maximum independent set problem. Over a series of papers, Abrishami et al. developed the so-called central bag method to study induced obstructions to bounded treewidth. Among others, they showed that, in a certain superclass $\mathcal C$ of (even hole, diamond, pyramid)-free graphs, treewidth is bounded by a function of the clique number. In this paper, we relax the bounded clique number assumption, and show that $\mathcal C$ has bounded tree-$α$. Via existing results, this yields a polynomial time algorithm for the maximum independent set problem in this class. Our result also corroborates, for this class of graphs, a conjecture of Dallard, Milanič and Štorgel that in a hereditary graph class, tree-$α$ is bounded if and only if the treewidth is bounded by a function of the clique number.

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arXiv2024

Max Weight Independent Set in sparse graphs with no long claws

We revisit the recent polynomial-time algorithm for the MAX WEIGHT INDEPENDENT SET (MWIS) problem in bounded-degree graphs that do not contain a fixed graph whose every component is a subdivided claw as an induced subgraph [Abrishami, Dibek, Chudnovsky, Rzążewski, SODA 2022]. First, we show that with an arguably simpler approach we can obtain a faster algorithm with running time $n^{\mathcal{O}(Δ^2)}$, where $n$ is the number of vertices of the instance and $Δ$ is the maximum degree. Then we combine our technique with known results concerning tree decompositions and provide a polynomial-time algorithm for MWIS in graphs excluding a fixed graph whose every component is a subdivided claw as an induced subgraph, and a fixed biclique as a subgraph.

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arXiv2024

On prime Cayley graphs

The decomposition of complex networks into smaller, interconnected components is a central challenge in network theory with a wide range of potential applications. In this paper, we utilize tools from group theory and ring theory to study this problem when the network is a Cayley graph. In particular, we answer the following question: Which Cayley graphs are prime?

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arXiv2024

Submodular functions and perfect graphs

We give a combinatorial polynomial-time algorithm to find a maximum weight independent set in perfect graphs of bounded degree that do not contain a prism or a hole of length four as an induced subgraph. An even pair in a graph is a pair of vertices all induced paths between which are even. An even set is a set of vertices every two of which are an even pair. We show that every perfect graph that does not contain a prism or a hole of length four as an induced subgraph has a balanced separator which is the union of a bounded number of even sets, where the bound depends only on the maximum degree of the graph. This allows us to solve the maximum weight independent set problem using the well-known submodular function minimization algorithm.

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arXiv2023

The Structure of Metrizable Graphs

A consistent path system in a graph $G$ is an intersection-closed collection of paths, with exactly one path between any two vertices in $G$. We call $G$ metrizable if every consistent path system in it is the system of geodesic paths defined by assigning some positive lengths to its edges. We show that metrizable graphs are, in essence, subdivisions of a small family of basic graphs with additional compliant edges. In particular, we show that every metrizable graph with 11 vertices or more is outerplanar plus one vertex.

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arXiv2023

Quasi-polynomial time approximation schemes for the Maximum Weight Independent Set Problem in H-free graphs

In the Maximum Independent Set problem we are asked to find a set of pairwise nonadjacent vertices in a given graph with the maximum possible cardinality. In general graphs, this classical problem is known to be NP-hard and hard to approximate within a factor of $n^{1-\varepsilon}$ for any $\varepsilon > 0$. Due to this, investigating the complexity of Maximum Independent Set in various graph classes in hope of finding better tractability results is an active research direction. In $H$-free graphs, that is, graphs not containing a fixed graph $H$ as an induced subgraph, the problem is known to remain NP-hard and APX-hard whenever $H$ contains a cycle, a vertex of degree at least four, or two vertices of degree at least three in one connected component. For the remaining cases, where every component of $H$ is a path or a subdivided claw, the complexity of Maximum Independent Set remains widely open, with only a handful of polynomial-time solvability results for small graphs $H$ such as $P_5$, $P_6$, the claw, or the fork. We show that for every graph $H$ for which Maximum Independent Set is not known to be APX-hard and SUBEXP-hard in $H$-free graphs, the problem admits a quasi-polynomial time approximation scheme and a subexponential-time exact algorithm in this graph class. Our algorithm works also in the more general weighted setting, where the input graph is supplied with a weight function on vertices and we are maximizing the total weight of an independent set.

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arXiv2023

List-$k$-Coloring $H$-free graphs for all $k>4$

Given an integer $k>4$ and a graph $H$, we prove that, assuming P$\neq$NP, the List-$k$-Coloring Problem restricted to $H$-free graphs can be solved in polynomial time if and only if either every component of $H$ is a path on at most three vertices, or removing the isolated vertices of $H$ leaves an induced subgraph of the five-vertex path. In fact, the "if" implication holds for all $k\geq 1$.

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arXiv2023

Induced subgraphs and tree decompositions XIV. Non-adjacent neighbours in a hole

A clock is a graph consisting of an induced cycle $C$ and a vertex not in $C$ with at least two non-adjacent neighbours in $C$. We show that every clock-free graph of large treewidth contains a "basic obstruction" of large treewidth as an induced subgraph: a complete graph, a subdivision of a wall, or the line graph of a subdivision of a wall.

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