Visibility representation of plane graphs via canonical ordering tree

In a visibility representation (VR for short) of a plane graph G, each vertex of G is represented by a horizontal line segment such that the line segments representing any two adjacent vertices of G are joined by a vertical line segment. Rosenstiehl and Tarjan [Rectilinear planar layouts and bipolar orientations of planar graphs, Discrete Comput. Geom. 1 (1986) 343], Tamassia and Tollis [An unified approach to visibility representations of planar graphs, Discrete Comput. Geom. 1 (1986) 321] independently gave linear time VR algorithms for 2-connected plane graph. Afterwards, one of the main concerns for VR is the size of the representation. In this paper, we prove that any plane graph G has a VR with height bounded by . This improves the previously known bound . We also construct a plane graph G with n vertices where any VR of G requires a size of . Our result provides an answer to Kant's open question about whether there exists a plane graph G such that all of its VR require width greater that cn, where c>1 [G. Kant, A more compact visibility representation, Internat. J. Comput. Geom. Appl. 7 (1997) 197].     

Drawing directed graphs using quadratic programming

We describe a new method for visualization of directed graphs. The method combines constraint programming techniques with a high performance force-directed placement (FDP) algorithm. The resulting placements highlight hierarchy in directed graphs while retaining useful properties of FDP; such as emphasis of symmetries and preservation of proximity relations. Our algorithm automatically identifies those parts of the digraph that contain hierarchical information and draws them accordingly. Additionally, those parts that do not contain hierarchy are drawn at the same quality expected from a nonhierarchical, undirected layout algorithm. Our experiments show that this new approach is better able to convey the structure of large digraphs than the most widely used hierarchical graph-drawing method. An interesting application of our algorithm is directional multidimensional scaling (DMDS). DMDS deals with low-dimensional embedding of multivariate data where we want to emphasize the overall flow in the data (e.g., chronological progress) along one of the axes.     

Drawing graphs with nonuniform nodes using potential fields

Graphs with nonuniform nodes arise naturally in many real-world applications. Although graph drawing has been a very active research in the computer science community during the past decade, most of the graph drawing algorithms developed thus far have been designed for graphs whose nodes are represented as single points. As a result, it is of importance to develop drawing methods for graphs whose nodes are of different sizes and shapes, in order to meet the need of real-world applications. To this end, a potential field approach, coupled with an idea commonly found in force-directed methods, is proposed in this paper for drawing graphs with nonuniform nodes in 2-D and 3-D. In our framework, nonuniform nodes are uniformly charged, while edges are modelled by springs. Using certain techniques developed in the field of potential-based path planning, we are able to find analytically tractable procedures for computing the repulsive force and torque of a node in the potential field induced by the remaining nodes. The crucial feature of our approach is that the rotation of every nonuniform node and the multiple edges between two nonuniform nodes are taken into account. In comparison with the existing algorithms found in the literature, our experimental results suggest this new approach to be promising, as drawings of good quality for a variety of moderate-sized graphs in 2-D and 3-D can be produced reasonably efficiently. That is, our approach is suitable for moderate-sized interactive graphs or larger-sized static graphs. Furthermore, to illustrate the usefulness of our new drawing method for graphs with zero-sized nodes, we give an application to the visualization of hierarchical clustered graphs, for which our method offers a very efficient solution.     

Drawing plane graphs nicely

Summary This paper presents two efficient algorithms for drawing plane graphs nicely. Both draw all edges of a graph as straight line segments without crossing lines. The first draws a plane graph convex if possible, that is, in a way that every inner face and the complement of the outer face are convex polygons. The second, using the first, produces a pleasing drawing of a given plane graph that satisfies the following property as far as possible: the complements of 3-connected components, together with inner faces and the complement of the outer face, are convex polygons. The running time and storage space of both algorithms are linear in the number of vertices of the graph.     

Generating random connected planar graphs

Connected planar graphs are of interest to a variety of scholars. Being able to simulate a database of such graphs with selected properties would support specific types of inference for spatial analysis and other network-based disciplines. This paper presents a simple, efficient, and flexible connected planar graph generator for this purpose. It also summarizes a comparison between an empirical set of specimen graphs and their simulated counterpart set, and establishes evidence for positing a conjecture about the principal eigenvalue of connected planar graphs. Finally, it summarizes a probability assessment of the algorithm’s outcomes as well as a comparison between the new algorithm and selected existing planar graph generators.     

On the total choosability of planar graphs and of sparse graphs

In the current paper, we prove the 11-total choosability of planar graphs with maximum degree Δ?8, the (Δ+1)-total choosability of 5-cycle-free planar graphs with maximum degree Δ?8, the 5-total choosability of graphs with maximum degree Δ=4 and maximum average degree mad<3, and the 4-total choosability of subcubic graphs with maximum average degree .     

Antimagic labeling and canonical decomposition of graphs

An antimagic labeling of a connected graph with m edges is an injective assignment of labels from {1,…,m} to the edges such that the sums of incident labels are distinct at distinct vertices. Hartsfield and Ringel conjectured that every connected graph other than K₂ has an antimagic labeling. We prove this for the classes of split graphs and graphs decomposable under the canonical decomposition introduced by Tyshkevich. As a consequence, we provide a sufficient condition on graph degree sequences to guarantee an antimagic labeling.     

Drawing polytopal graphs with polymake

This note wants to explain how to obtain meaningful pictures of (possibly high-dimensional) convex polytopes, triangulated manifolds, and other objects from the realm of geometric combinatorics such as tight spans of finite metric spaces and tropical polytopes. In all our cases we arrive at specific, geometrically motivated, graph drawing problems. The methods displayed are implemented in the software system polymake.     

Buckling load of planar frames with semi-rigid joints using weighted symmetric graphs

The main aim of this paper is to extend the recently developed methods for calculating the buckling loads of planar symmetric frames to include the effect of semi-rigidity of the joints. This is achieved by decomposing a symmetric weighted graph model into two submodels and using canonical forms in such a manner that the union of the eigenvalues of the submodels result in the eigenvalues of the entire model. Thus the critical load of the frame is obtained as the smallest eigenvalue obtained for the submodels.     

Drawing slicing graphs with face areas

We consider orthogonal drawings of a plane graph G$G$ with specified face areas. For a natural number k$k$, a k$k$-gonal drawing of G$G$ is an orthogonal drawing such that the boundary of G$G$ is drawn as a rectangle and each inner face is drawn as a polygon with at most k$k$ corners whose area is equal to the specified value. In this paper, we show that every slicing graph G$G$ with a slicing tree T$T$ and a set of specified face areas admits a 10-gonal drawing D$D$ such that the boundary of each slicing subgraph that appears in T$T$ is also drawn as a polygon with at most 10 corners. Such a drawing D$D$ can be found in linear time.     

An algorithm for drawing planar graphs

A simple algorithm for drawing 3‐connected planar graphs is presented. It is derived from the Fruchterman and Reingold spring embedding algorithm by deleting all repulsive forces and fixing vertices of an outer face. The algorithm is implemented in the system for manipulating discrete mathematical structures Vega. Some examples of derived figures are given. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On the small cycle transversal of planar graphs

We consider the problem of finding a k-edge transversal set that intersects all (simple) cycles of length at most s in a planar graph, where s≥3 is a constant. This problem, referred to as Small Cycle Transversal, is known to be NP-complete. We present a polynomial-time algorithm that computes a kernel of size 36s³k for Small Cycle Transversal. In order to achieve this kernel, we extend the region decomposition technique of Alber et al. (2004) [1] by considering a unique region decomposition that is defined by shortest paths. Our kernel size is a significant improvement in terms of s over the kernel size obtained under the meta-kernelization framework by Bodlaender et al. (2009) [7].     

Algorithms for routing in planar graphs

Summary A routing problem is given by a planar graph G= (V, E) with a given embedding into the plane and a set Ne of nets. A net is a pair of points on the boundary of the infinite face. The goal is to find a set of pairwise edge-disjoint paths connecting the terminals of the various nets. We assume that the degree of every vertex not on the boundary of the infinite face is even and call such routing problems half-even. We show that one can decide in time O(bn) whether a half-even problem is solvable and that a solution can be constructed in time O(n ²). Here n=¦V¦ and b is the number of vertices on the boundary of the infinite face. If the routing problem is even, i.e. every cut has even free capacity, and G is a subgraph of the planar grid then a solution can be found in time O(n ^3/2).This research was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, SFB 124, VLSI-Entwurfsmethoden und Parallelität. Part of it was done while the second author was visiting SIEMENS A.G., ZTI VENUS     

Three-coloring planar graphs without short cycles

In this paper we prove that every planar graph without cycles of length 4, 6, 7 and 9 is 3-colorable.     

Drawing layered graphs with port constraints

Complex software systems are often modeled using data flow diagrams, in which nodes are connected to each other through dedicated connection points called ports. The influence a layout algorithm has on the placement of ports is determined by port constraints defined on the corresponding node.In this paper we present approaches for integrating port constraints into the layer-based approach to graph drawing pioneered by Sugiyama et al. We show how our layout algorithm, called KLay Layered, progresses from relaxed to more restricted port constraint levels as it executes, and how established algorithms for crossing minimization and edge routing can be extended to support port constraints. Compared to the previous layout algorithms supporting ports, our algorithm produces fewer edge crossings and bends and yields pleasing results.We also explain and evaluate how layout algorithms can be kept simple by using the concept of intermediate processors to structure them in a modular way. A case study integrating our layout algorithm into UC Berkeley's Ptolemy tool illustrates how KLay Layered can be integrated into Java-based applications.     

Drawing graphs with right angle crossings

Cognitive experiments show that humans can read graph drawings in which all edge crossings are at right angles equally well as they can read planar drawings; they also show that the readability of a drawing is heavily affected by the number of bends along the edges. A graph visualization whose edges can only cross perpendicularly is called a RAC (Right Angle Crossing) drawing. This paper initiates the study of combinatorial and algorithmic questions related to the problem of computing RAC drawings with few bends per edge. Namely, we study the interplay between number of bends per edge and total number of edges in RAC drawings. We establish upper and lower bounds on these quantities by considering two classical graph drawing scenarios: The one where the algorithm can choose the combinatorial embedding of the input graph and the one where this embedding is fixed.     

Recognition of 3D planar objects in canonical frames

An algorithm for recognizing 3D planar objects by their boundaries is presented. Extreme points on a shape are extracted for constructing canonical frames, under which signatures are then generated for determining the similarity between shapes. The method is efficient and yields a high recognition rate.