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Torsten Ueckerdt

Publications and source records attributed to Torsten Ueckerdt.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2018

Decomposing $4$-connected planar triangulations into two trees and one path

Refining a classical proof of Whitney, we show that any $4$-connected planar triangulation can be decomposed into a Hamiltonian path and two trees. Therefore, every $4$-connected planar graph decomposes into three forests, one having maximum degree at most $2$. We use this result to show that any Hamiltonian planar triangulation can be decomposed into two trees and one spanning tree of maximum degree at most $3$. These decompositions improve the result of Gonçalves [Covering planar graphs with forests, one having bounded maximum degree. J. Comb. Theory, Ser. B, 100(6):729--739, 2010] that every planar graph can be decomposed into three forests, one of maximum degree at most $4$. We also show that our results are best-possible.

math.CO↗

arXiv2018

Induced and Weak Induced Arboricities

We define the induced arboricity of a graph $G$, denoted by ${\rm ia}(G)$, as the smallest $k$ such that the edges of $G$ can be covered with $k$ induced forests in $G$. This notion generalizes the classical notions of the arboricity and strong chromatic index. For a class $\mathcal{F}$ of graphs and a graph parameter $p$, let $p(\mathcal{F}) = \sup\{p(G) \mid G\in \mathcal{F}\}$. We show that ${\rm ia}(\mathcal{F})$ is bounded from above by an absolute constant depending only on $\mathcal{F}$, that is ${\rm ia}(\mathcal{F})\neq\infty$ if and only if $χ(\mathcal{F} \nabla \frac{1}{2}) \neq\infty$, where $\mathcal{F} \nabla \frac{1}{2}$ is the class of $\frac{1}{2}$-shallow minors of graphs from $\mathcal{F}$ and $χ$ is the chromatic number. Further, we give bounds on ${\rm ia}(\mathcal{F})$ when $\mathcal{F}$ is the class of planar graphs, the class of $d$-degenerate graphs, or the class of graphs having tree-width at most $d$. Specifically, we show that if $\mathcal{F}$ is the class of planar graphs, then $8 \leq {\rm ia}(\mathcal{F}) \leq 10$. In addition, we establish similar results for so-called weak induced arboricities and star arboricities of classes of graphs.

math.CO↗

arXiv2017

Beyond-Planarity: Density Results for Bipartite Graphs

Beyond-planarity focuses on the study of geometric and topological graphs that are in some sense nearly-planar. Here, planarity is relaxed by allowing edge crossings, but only with respect to some local forbidden crossing configurations. Early research dates back to the 1960s (e.g., Avital and Hanani 1966) for extremal problems on geometric graphs, but is also related to graph drawing problems where visual clutter by edge crossings should be minimized (e.g., Huang et al. 2008) that could negatively affect the readability of the drawing. Different types of forbidden crossing configurations give rise to different families of nearly-planar graphs. Most of the literature focuses on Turán-type problems, which ask for the maximum number of edges a nearly-planar graph can have. Here, we study this problem for bipartite topological graphs, considering several types of nearly-planar graphs, i.e., 1-planar, 2-planar, fan-planar, and RAC graphs. We prove bounds on the number of edges that are tight up to small additive constants; some of them are surprising and not along the lines of the known results for non-bipartite graphs. Our findings lead to an improvement of the leading constant of the well-known Crossing Lemma for bipartite graphs, as well as to a number of interesting research questions on topological graphs.

cs.DM↗

arXiv2017

The $k$-strong induced arboricity of a graph

The induced arboricity of a graph $G$ is the smallest number of induced forests covering the edges of $G$. This is a well-defined parameter bounded from above by the number of edges of $G$ when each forest in a cover consists of exactly one edge. Not all edges of a graph necessarily belong to induced forests with larger components. For $k\geq 1$, we call an edge $k$-valid if it is contained in an induced tree on $k$ edges. The $k$-strong induced arboricity of $G$, denoted by $f_k(G)$, is the smallest number of induced forests with components of sizes at least $k$ that cover all $k$-valid edges in $G$. This parameter is highly non-monotone. However, we prove that for any proper minor-closed graph class $\mathcal{C}$, and more generally for any class of bounded expansion, and any $k \geq 1$, the maximum value of $f_k(G)$ for $G \in \mathcal{C}$ is bounded from above by a constant depending only on $\mathcal{C}$ and $k$. This implies that the adjacent closed vertex-distinguishing number of graphs from a class of bounded expansion is bounded by a constant depending only on the class. We further prove that $f_2(G) \leq 3\binom{t+1}{3}$ for any graph $G$ of tree-width~$t$ and that $f_k(G) \leq (2k)^d$ for any graph of tree-depth $d$. In addition, we prove that $f_2(G) \leq 310$ when $G$ is planar.

math.CO↗

arXiv2017

On the Maximum Crossing Number

Research about crossings is typically about minimization. In this paper, we consider \emph{maximizing} the number of crossings over all possible ways to draw a given graph in the plane. Alpert et al. [Electron. J. Combin., 2009] conjectured that any graph has a \emph{convex} straight-line drawing, e.g., a drawing with vertices in convex position, that maximizes the number of edge crossings. We disprove this conjecture by constructing a planar graph on twelve vertices that allows a non-convex drawing with more crossings than any convex one. Bald et al. [Proc. COCOON, 2016] showed that it is NP-hard to compute the maximum number of crossings of a geometric graph and that the weighted geometric case is NP-hard to approximate. We strengthen these results by showing hardness of approximation even for the unweighted geometric case and prove that the unweighted topological case is NP-hard.

cs.CG↗

arXiv2016

The Chromatic Number of Ordered Graphs With Constrained Conflict Graphs

An ordered graph $G$ is a graph whose vertex set is a subset of integers. The edges are interpreted as tuples $(u,v)$ with $u < v$. For a positive integer $s$, a matrix $M \in \mathbb{Z}^{s \times 4}$, and a vector $\mathbf{p} = (p,\ldots,p) \in \mathbb{Z}^s$ we build a conflict graph by saying that edges $(u,v)$ and $(x,y)$ are conflicting if $M(u,v,x,y)^\top \geq \mathbf{p}$ or $M(x,y,u,v)^\top \geq \mathbf{p}$, where the comparison is componentwise. This new framework generalizes many natural concepts of ordered and unordered graphs, such as the page-number, queue-number, band-width, interval chromatic number and forbidden ordered matchings. For fixed $M$ and $p$, we investigate how the chromatic number of $G$ depends on the structure of its conflict graph. Specifically, we study the maximum chromatic number $X_\text{cli}(M,p,w)$ of ordered graphs $G$ with no $w$ pairwise conflicting edges and the maximum chromatic number $X_\text{ind}(M,p,a)$ of ordered graphs $G$ with no $a$ pairwise non-conflicting edges. We determine $X_\text{cli}(M,p,w)$ and $X_\text{ind}(M,p,a)$ exactly whenever $M$ consists of one row with entries in $\{-1,0,+1\}$ and moreover consider several cases in which $M$ consists of two rows or has arbitrary entries from $\mathbb{Z}$.

math.CO↗

arXiv2016

Local and Union Boxicity

The boxicity $\operatorname{box}(H)$ of a graph $H$ is the smallest integer $d$ such that $H$ is the intersection of $d$ interval graphs, or equivalently, that $H$ is the intersection graph of axis-aligned boxes in $\mathbb{R}^d$. These intersection representations can be interpreted as covering representations of the complement $H^c$ of $H$ with co-interval graphs, that is, complements of interval graphs. We follow the recent framework of global, local and folded covering numbers (Knauer and Ueckerdt, Discrete Mathematics 339 (2016)) to define two new parameters: the local boxicity $\operatorname{box}_\ell(H)$ and the union boxicity $\overline{\operatorname{box}}(H)$ of $H$. The union boxicity of $H$ is the smallest $d$ such that $H^c$ can be covered with $d$ vertex-disjoint unions of co-interval graphs, while the local boxicity of $H$ is the smallest $d$ such that $H^c$ can be covered with co-interval graphs, at most $d$ at every vertex. We show that for every graph $H$ we have $\operatorname{box}_\ell(H) \leq \overline{\operatorname{box}}(H) \leq \operatorname{box}(H)$ and that each of these inequalities can be arbitrarily far apart. Moreover, we show that local and union boxicity are also characterized by intersection representations of appropriate axis-aligned boxes in $\mathbb{R}^d$. We demonstrate with a few striking examples, that in a sense, the local boxicity is a better indication for the complexity of a graph, than the classical boxicity.

math.CO↗

arXiv2016

Chromatic number of ordered graphs with forbidden ordered subgraphs

It is well-known that the graphs not containing a given graph H as a subgraph have bounded chromatic number if and only if H is acyclic. Here we consider ordered graphs, i.e., graphs with a linear ordering on their vertex set, and the function f(H) = sup{chi(G) | G in Forb(H)} where Forb(H) denotes the set of all ordered graphs that do not contain a copy of H. If H contains a cycle, then as in the case of unordered graphs, f(H) is infinity. However, in contrast to the unordered graphs, we describe an infinite family of ordered forests H with infinite f(H). An ordered graph is crossing if there are two edges uv and u'v' with u < u' < v < v'. For connected crossing ordered graphs H we reduce the problem of determining whether f(H) is finite to a family of so-called monotonically alternating trees. For non-crossing H we prove that f(H) is finite if and only if H is acyclic and does not contain a copy of any of the five special ordered forests on four or five vertices, which we call bonnets. For such forests H, we show that f(H) <= 2^|V(H)| and that f(H) <= 2|V(H)|-3 if H is connected.

math.CO↗

arXiv2016

Convex-Arc Drawings of Pseudolines

A weak pseudoline arrangement is a topological generalization of a line arrangement, consisting of curves topologically equivalent to lines that cross each other at most once. We consider arrangements that are outerplanar---each crossing is incident to an unbounded face---and simple---each crossing point is the crossing of only two curves. We show that these arrangements can be represented by chords of a circle, by convex polygonal chains with only two bends, or by hyperbolic lines. Simple but non-outerplanar arrangements (non-weak) can be represented by convex polygonal chains or convex smooth curves of linear complexity.

cs.CG↗

arXiv2016

Intersection Graphs of L-Shapes and Segments in the Plane

An L-shape is the union of a horizontal and a vertical segment with a common endpoint. These come in four rotations: L, Γ, LE{} and \eeG. A $k$-bend path is a simple path in the plane, whose direction changes $k$ times from horizontal to vertical. If a graph admits an intersection representation in which every vertex is represented by an L, an L{} or Γ, a $k$-bend path, or a segment, then this graph is called an $\{L\}$-graph, $\{L,Γ\}$-graph, $B_k$-VPG-graph or SEG-graph, respectively. Motivated by a theorem of Middendorf and Pfeiffer [Discrete Mathematics, 108(1):365--372, 1992], stating that every $\{L,Γ\}$-graph is a SEG-graph, we investigate several known subclasses of SEG-graphs and show that they are $\{L\}$-graphs, or $B_k$-VPG-graphs for some small constant $k$. We show that all planar $3$-trees, all line graphs of planar graphs, and all full subdivisions of planar graphs are $\{L\}$-graphs. Furthermore we show that all complements of planar graphs are $B_{17}$-VPG-graphs and all complements of full subdivisions are $B_2$-VPG-graphs. Here a full subdivision is a graph in which each edge is subdivided at least once.

math.CO↗

arXiv2015

A note on concurrent graph sharing games

In the concurrent graph sharing game, two players, called First and Second, share the vertices of a connected graph with positive vertex-weights summing up to $1$ as follows. The game begins with First taking any vertex. In each proceeding round, the player with the smaller sum of collected weights so far chooses a non-taken vertex adjacent to a vertex which has been taken, i.e., the set of all taken vertices remains connected and one new vertex is taken in every round. (It is assumed that no two subsets of vertices have the same sum of weights.) One can imagine the players consume their taken vertex over a time proportional to its weight, before choosing a next vertex. In this note we show that First has a strategy to guarantee vertices of weight at least $1/3$ regardless of the graph and how it is weighted. This is best-possible already when the graph is a cycle. Moreover, if the graph is a tree First can guarantee vertices of weight at least $1/2$, which is clearly best-possible.

math.CO↗

arXiv2015

Three ways to cover a graph

We consider the problem of covering an input graph $H$ with graphs from a fixed covering class $G$. The classical covering number of $H$ with respect to $G$ is the minimum number of graphs from $G$ needed to cover the edges of $H$ without covering non-edges of $H$. We introduce a unifying notion of three covering parameters with respect to $G$, two of which are novel concepts only considered in special cases before: the local and the folded covering number. Each parameter measures "how far'' $H$ is from $G$ in a different way. Whereas the folded covering number has been investigated thoroughly for some covering classes, e.g., interval graphs and planar graphs, the local covering number has received little attention. We provide new bounds on each covering number with respect to the following covering classes: linear forests, star forests, caterpillar forests, and interval graphs. The classical graph parameters that result this way are interval number, track number, linear arboricity, star arboricity, and caterpillar arboricity. As input graphs we consider graphs of bounded degeneracy, bounded degree, bounded tree-width or bounded simple tree-width, as well as outerplanar, planar bipartite, and planar graphs. For several pairs of an input class and a covering class we determine exactly the maximum ordinary, local, and folded covering number of an input graph with respect to that covering class.

math.CO↗

arXiv2015

Combinatorial Properties of Triangle-Free Rectangle Arrangements and the Squarability Problem

We consider arrangements of axis-aligned rectangles in the plane. A geometric arrangement specifies the coordinates of all rectangles, while a combinatorial arrangement specifies only the respective intersection type in which each pair of rectangles intersects. First, we investigate combinatorial contact arrangements, i.e., arrangements of interior-disjoint rectangles, with a triangle-free intersection graph. We show that such rectangle arrangements are in bijection with the 4-orientations of an underlying planar multigraph and prove that there is a corresponding geometric rectangle contact arrangement. Moreover, we prove that every triangle-free planar graph is the contact graph of such an arrangement. Secondly, we introduce the question whether a given rectangle arrangement has a combinatorially equivalent square arrangement. In addition to some necessary conditions and counterexamples, we show that rectangle arrangements pierced by a horizontal line are squarable under certain sufficient conditions.

cs.CG↗

arXiv2015

Density of Range Capturing Hypergraphs

For a finite set $X$ of points in the plane, a set $S$ in the plane, and a positive integer $k$, we say that a $k$-element subset $Y$ of $X$ is captured by $S$ if there is a homothetic copy $S'$ of $S$ such that $X\cap S' = Y$, i.e., $S'$ contains exactly $k$ elements from $X$. A $k$-uniform $S$-capturing hypergraph $H = H(X,S,k)$ has a vertex set $X$ and a hyperedge set consisting of all $k$-element subsets of $X$ captured by $S$. In case when $k=2$ and $S$ is convex these graphs are planar graphs, known as convex distance function Delaunay graphs. In this paper we prove that for any $k\geq 2$, any $X$, and any convex compact set $S$, the number of hyperedges in $H(X,S,k)$ is at most $(2k-1)|X| - k^2 + 1 - \sum_{i=1}^{k-1}a_i$, where $a_i$ is the number of $i$-element subsets of $X$ that can be separated from the rest of $X$ with a straight line. In particular, this bound is independent of $S$ and indeed the bound is tight for all "round" sets $S$ and point sets $X$ in general position with respect to $S$. This refines a general result of Buzaglo, Pinchasi and Rote stating that every pseudodisc topological hypergraph with vertex set $X$ has $O(k^2|X|)$ hyperedges of size $k$ or less.

math.CO↗

arXiv2015

Splitting Planar Graphs of Girth 6 into Two Linear Forests with Short Paths

Recently, Borodin, Kostochka, and Yancey (On $1$-improper $2$-coloring of sparse graphs. Discrete Mathematics, 313(22), 2013) showed that the vertices of each planar graph of girth at least $7$ can be $2$-colored so that each color class induces a subgraph of a matching. We prove that any planar graph of girth at least $6$ admits a vertex coloring in $2$ colors such that each monochromatic component is a path of length at most $14$. Moreover, we show a list version of this result. On the other hand, for each positive integer $t\geq 3$, we construct a planar graph of girth $4$ such that in any coloring of vertices in $2$ colors there is a monochromatic path of length at least $t$. It remains open whether each planar graph of girth $5$ admits a $2$-coloring with no long monochromatic paths.

math.CO↗

arXiv2015

Pixel and Voxel Representations of Graphs

We study contact representations for graphs, which we call pixel representations in 2D and voxel representations in 3D. Our representations are based on the unit square grid whose cells we call pixels in 2D and voxels in 3D. Two pixels are adjacent if they share an edge, two voxels if they share a face. We call a connected set of pixels or voxels a blob. Given a graph, we represent its vertices by disjoint blobs such that two blobs contain adjacent pixels or voxels if and only if the corresponding vertices are adjacent. We are interested in the size of a representation, which is the number of pixels or voxels it consists of. We first show that finding minimum-size representations is NP-complete. Then, we bound representation sizes needed for certain graph classes. In 2D, we show that, for $k$-outerplanar graphs with $n$ vertices, $Θ(kn)$ pixels are always sufficient and sometimes necessary. In particular, outerplanar graphs can be represented with a linear number of pixels, whereas general planar graphs sometimes need a quadratic number. In 3D, $Θ(n^2)$ voxels are always sufficient and sometimes necessary for any $n$-vertex graph. We improve this bound to $Θ(n\cdot τ)$ for graphs of treewidth $τ$ and to $O((g+1)^2n\log^2n)$ for graphs of genus $g$. In particular, planar graphs admit representations with $O(n\log^2n)$ voxels.

cs.DM↗

arXiv2015

On-line coloring between two lines

We study on-line colorings of certain graphs given as intersection graphs of objects "between two lines", i.e., there is a pair of horizontal lines such that each object of the representation is a connected set contained in the strip between the lines and touches both. Some of the graph classes admitting such a representation are permutation graphs (segments), interval graphs (axis-aligned rectangles), trapezoid graphs (trapezoids) and cocomparability graphs (simple curves). We present an on-line algorithm coloring graphs given by convex sets between two lines that uses $O(ω^3)$ colors on graphs with maximum clique size $ω$. In contrast intersection graphs of segments attached to a single line may force any on-line coloring algorithm to use an arbitrary number of colors even when $ω=2$. The {\em left-of} relation makes the complement of intersection graphs of objects between two lines into a poset. As an aside we discuss the relation of the class $\mathcal{C}$ of posets obtained from convex sets between two lines with some other classes of posets: all $2$-dimensional posets and all posets of height $2$ are in $\mathcal{C}$ but there is a $3$-dimensional poset of height $3$ that does not belong to $\mathcal{C}$. We also show that the on-line coloring problem for curves between two lines is as hard as the on-line chain partition problem for arbitrary posets.

math.CO↗

arXiv2015

Contact Representations of Graphs in 3D

We study contact representations of graphs in which vertices are represented by axis-aligned polyhedra in 3D and edges are realized by non-zero area common boundaries between corresponding polyhedra. We show that for every 3-connected planar graph, there exists a simultaneous representation of the graph and its dual with 3D boxes. We give a linear-time algorithm for constructing such a representation. This result extends the existing primal-dual contact representations of planar graphs in 2D using circles and triangles. While contact graphs in 2D directly correspond to planar graphs, we next study representations of non-planar graphs in 3D. In particular we consider representations of optimal 1-planar graphs. A graph is 1-planar if there exists a drawing in the plane where each edge is crossed at most once, and an optimal n-vertex 1-planar graph has the maximum (4n - 8) number of edges. We describe a linear-time algorithm for representing optimal 1-planar graphs without separating 4-cycles with 3D boxes. However, not every optimal 1-planar graph admits a representation with boxes. Hence, we consider contact representations with the next simplest axis-aligned 3D object, L-shaped polyhedra. We provide a quadratic-time algorithm for representing optimal 1-planar graph with L-shaped polyhedra.

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