arXiv subjects

Paul Dorbec

Publications and source records attributed to Paul Dorbec.

15 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Patrolling cop vs omniscient robber

We study a variant of the classical Cops and Robbers game with one cop and one robber. The cop follows a fixed walk on the graph, called a patrol, that is chosen before the game begins. The robber is omniscient and knows the entire patrol in advance. A capture occurs when the robber comes within a given distance of the cop, and this distance is referred to as the capture distance. The patrol capture radius, $\tilde{\rho}{(G)}$, is the minimum radius of capture required for the cop to always be able to capture the robber on a connected graph $G$, under optimal play. We initiate a systematic study of this parameter for several graph classes. We determine the exact value of $\tilde{\rho}{(G)}$ for trees, establish upper and lower bounds for grids, and analyze the parameter for various families of chordal graphs, including interval graphs and caterpillars. Along the way, we develop general tools and structural results that may be of independent interest for the study of pursuit-evasion games with predetermined patrols and limited information.

math.CO↗

arXiv2025

Cayley trees and increasing 1,2-trees: let's twist!

An increasing 1,2-tree is a labeled graph formed by starting with a vertex and then repeatedly attaching a leaf to a vertex or a triangle to an edge, the labeling of the vertices corresponding to the order in which the vertices are added. Equivalently, increasing 1,2-trees are connected chordal graphs of treewidth at most 2 labeled with a reversed perfect elimination ordering. We prove that this family is equinumerous with Cayley trees, which are unconstrained labeled trees. In particular, the number of triangles in an increasing 1,2-tree corresponds to the number of twists. A twist (also called improper edge) is an edge whose endpoint closer to vertex 1 has a greater label than some vertex in the subtree rooted at the other endpoint of the edge. We provide three proofs of this result, the rst being based on similar recursive decompositions, the second on the resolution of generating functions, and the third describing a bijection. Finally, we propose ecient random generators for these two combinatorial families.

math.CO↗

arXiv2024

An exploration of the balance game

The balance game is played on a graph $G$ by two players, Admirable (A) and Impish (I), who take turns selecting unlabeled vertices of $G$. Admirable labels the selected vertices by $0$ and Impish by $1$, and the resulting label on any edge is the sum modulo $2$ of the labels of the vertices incident to that edge. Let $e_0$ and $e_1$ denote the number of edges labeled by $0$ and $1$ after all the vertices are labeled. The discrepancy in the balance game is defined as $d = e_1 - e_0$. The two players have opposite goals: Admirable attempts to minimize the discrepancy $d$ while Impish attempts to maximize $d$. When (A) makes the first move in the game, the (A)-start game balance number, $b^A_g(G)$, is the value of $d$ when both players play optimally, and when (I) makes the first move in the game, the (I)-start game balance number, $b^I_g(G)$, is the value of $d$ when both players play optimally. Among other results, we show that if $G$ has order $n$, then $-\log_2(n) \le b^A_g(G) \le \frac{n}{2}$ if $n$ is even and $0 \le b^A_g(G) \le \frac{n}{2} + \log_2(n)$ if $n$ is odd. Moreover we show that $b^A_g(G) + b^I_g(\overline{G}) = \lfloor n/2 \rfloor$.

math.CO↗

arXiv2024

The 1/3-conjectures for domination in cubic graphs

A set S of vertices in a graph G is a dominating set of G if every vertex not in S is adjacent to a vertex in S . The domination number of G, denoted by $\gamma$(G), is the minimum cardinality of a dominating set in G. In a breakthrough paper in 2008, L{\"o}wenstein and Rautenbach proved that if G is a cubic graph of order n and girth at least 83, then $\gamma$(G) $\le$ n/3. A natural question is if this girth condition can be lowered. The question gave birth to two 1/3-conjectures for domination in cubic graphs. The first conjecture, posed by Verstraete in 2010, states that if G is a cubic graph on n vertices with girth at least 6, then $\gamma$(G) $\le$ n/3. The second conjecture, first posed as a question by Kostochka in 2009, states that if G is a cubic, bipartite graph of order n, then $\gamma$(G) $\le$n/3. In this paper, we prove Verstraete's conjecture when there is no 7-cycle and no 8-cycle, and we prove the Kostochka's related conjecture for bipartite graphs when there is no 4-cycle and no 8-cycle.

cs.DM↗

arXiv2023

Theoretical analysis of git bisect

In this paper, we consider the problem of finding a regression in a version control system (VCS), such as git. The set of versions is modelled by a Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) where vertices represent versions of the software, and arcs are the changes between different versions. We assume that somewhere in the DAG, a bug was introduced, which persists in all of its subsequent versions. It is possible to query a vertex to check whether the corresponding version carries the bug. Given a DAG and a bugged vertex, the Regression Search Problem consists in finding the first vertex containing the bug in a minimum number of queries in the worst-case scenario. This problem is known to be NP-complete. We study the algorithm used in git to address this problem, known as git bisect. We prove that in a general setting, git bisect can use an exponentially larger number of queries than an optimal algorithm. We also consider the restriction where all vertices have indegree at most 2 (i.e. where merges are made between at most two branches at a time in the VCS), and prove that in this case, git bisect is a $\frac{1}{\log_2(3/2)}$-approximation algorithm, and that this bound is tight. We also provide a better approximation algorithm for this case. Finally, we give an alternative proof of the NP-completeness of the Regression Search Problem, via a variation with bounded indegree.

cs.DM↗

arXiv2023

Orientable Burning Number of Graphs

In this paper, we introduce the problem of finding an orientation of a given undirected graph that maximizes the burning number of the resulting directed graph. We show that the problem is polynomial-time solvable on Kőnig-Egerváry graphs (and thus on bipartite graphs) and that an almost optimal solution can be computed in polynomial time for perfect graphs. On the other hand, we show that the problem is NP-hard in general and W[1]-hard parameterized by the target burning number. The hardness results are complemented by several fixed-parameter tractable results parameterized by structural parameters. Our main result in this direction shows that the problem is fixed-parameter tractable parameterized by cluster vertex deletion number plus clique number (and thus also by vertex cover number).

cs.DS↗

arXiv2021

Dominating sets reconfiguration under token sliding

Let $G$ be a graph and $D_s$ and $D_t$ be two dominating sets of $G$ of size $k$. Does there exist a sequence $\langle D_0 = D_s, D_1, \ldots, D_{\ell-1}, D_\ell = D_t \rangle$ of dominating sets of $G$ such that $D_{i+1}$ can be obtained from $D_i$ by replacing one vertex with one of its neighbors? In this paper, we investigate the complexity of this decision problem. We first prove that this problem is PSPACE-complete, even when restricted to split, bipartite or bounded treewidth graphs. On the other hand, we prove that it can be solved in polynomial time on dually chordal graphs (a superclass of both trees and interval graphs) or cographs.

cs.CC↗

arXiv2019

Power domination in maximal planar graphs

Power domination in graphs emerged from the problem of monitoring an electrical system by placing as few measurement devices in the system as possible. It corresponds to a variant of domination that includes the possibility of propagation. For measurement devices placed on a set S of vertices of a graph G, the set of monitored vertices is initially the set S together with all its neighbors. Then iteratively, whenever some monitored vertex v has a single neighbor u not yet monitored, u gets monitored. A set S is said to be a power dominating set of the graph G if all vertices of G eventually are monitored. The power domination number of a graph is the minimum size of a power dominating set. In this paper, we prove that any maximal planar graph of order n $\ge$ 6 admits a power dominating set of size at most (n--2)/4 .

cs.DM↗

arXiv2018

Toward Quantum Combinatorial Games

In this paper, we propose a Quantum variation of combinatorial games, generalizing the Quantum Tic-Tac-Toe proposed by Allan Goff. A combinatorial game is a two-player game with no chance and no hidden information, such as Go or Chess. In this paper, we consider the possibility of playing superpositions of moves in such games. We propose different rulesets depending on when superposed moves should be played, and prove that all these rulesets may lead similar games to different outcomes. We then consider Quantum variations of the game of Nim. We conclude with some discussion on the relative interest of the different rulesets.

cs.DM↗

arXiv2018

Cutting Lemma and Union Lemma for the Domination Game

Two new techniques are introduced into the theory of the domination game. The cutting lemma bounds the game domination number of a partially dominated graph with the game domination number of suitably modified partially dominated graph. The union lemma bounds the S-game domination number of a disjoint union of paths using appropriate weighting functions. Using these tools a conjecture asserting that the so-called three legged spiders are game domination critical graphs is proved. An extended cutting lemma is also derived and all game domination critical trees on 18, 19, and 20 vertices are listed.

math.CO↗

arXiv2016

On the number of planar Eulerian orientations

The number of planar Eulerian maps with n edges is well-known to have a simple expression. But what is the number of planar Eulerian orientations with n edges? This problem appears to be difficult. To approach it, we define and count families of subsets and supersets of planar Eulerian orientations, indexed by an integer k, that converge to the set of all planar Eulerian orientations as k increases. The generating functions of our subsets can be characterized by systems of polynomial equations, and are thus algebraic. The generating functions of our supersets are characterized by polynomial systems involving divided differences, as often occurs in map enumeration. We prove that these series are algebraic as well. We obtain in this way lower and upper bounds on the growth rate of planar Eulerian orientations, which appears to be around 12.5.

math.CO↗

arXiv2016

Complexity of the Game Domination Problem

The game domination number is a graph invariant that arises from a game, which is related to graph domination in a similar way as the game chromatic number is related to graph coloring. In this paper we show that verifying whether the game domination number of a graph is bounded by a given integer is PSPACE-complete. This contrasts the situation of the game coloring problem whose complexity is still unknown.

math.CO↗

arXiv2016

Heredity for generalized power domination

In this paper, we study the behaviour of the generalized power domination number of a graph by small changes on the graph, namely edge and vertex deletion and edge contraction. We prove optimal bounds for $γ\_{p,k}(G-e)$, $γ\_{p,k}(G/e)$ and for $γ\_{p,k}(G-v)$ in terms of $γ\_{p,k}(G)$, and give examples for which these bounds are tight. We characterize all graphs for which $γ\_{p,k}(G-e) = γ\_{p,k}(G)+1$ for any edge $e$. We also consider the behaviour of the propagation radius of graphs by similar modifications.

cs.DM↗

arXiv2015

Ice sliding games

This paper deals with sliding games, which are a variant of the better known pushpush game. On a given structure (grid, torus...), a robot can move in a specific set of directions, and stops when it hits a block or boundary of the structure. The objective is to place the minimum number of blocks such that the robot can visit all the possible positions of the structure. In particular, we give the exact value of this number when playing on a rectangular grid and a torus. Other variants of this game are also considered, by constraining the robot to stop on each case, or by replacing blocks by walls.

math.CO↗

arXiv2013

Domination game: effect of edge- and vertex-removal

The domination game is played on a graph $G$ by two players, named Dominator and Staller. They alternatively select vertices of $G$ such that each chosen vertex enlarges the set of vertices dominated before the move on it. Dominator's goal is that the game is finished as soon as possible, while Staller wants the game to last as long as possible. It is assumed that both play optimally. Game 1 and Game 2 are variants of the game in which Dominator and Staller has the first move, respectively. The game domination number $γ_g(G)$, and the Staller-start game domination number $γ_g'(G)$, is the number of vertices chosen in Game 1 and Game 2, respectively. It is proved that if $e\in E(G)$, then $|γ_g(G) - γ_g(G-e)| \le 2$ and $|γ_g'(G) - γ_g'(G-e)| \le 2$, and that each of the possibilities here is realizable by connected graphs $G$ for all values of $γ_g(G)$ and $γ_g'(G)$ larger than 5. For the remaining small values it is either proved that realizations are not possible or realizing examples are provided. It is also proved that if $v\in V(G)$, then $γ_g(G) - γ_g(G-v) \le 2$ and $γ_g'(G) - γ_g'(G-v) \le 2$. Possibilities here are again realizable by connected graphs $G$ in almost all the cases, the exceptional values are treated similarly as in the edge-removal case.

math.CO↗