On the <Emphasis Type="Italic">k</Emphasis>-accessibility of cores of <Emphasis Type="Italic">TU</Emphasis>-cooperative games

This paper proposes a strengthening of the author’s core-accessibility theorem for balanced TU-cooperative games. The obtained strengthening relaxes the influence of the nontransitivity of classical domination αv on the quality of the sequential improvement of dominated imputations in a game v. More specifically, we establish the k-accessibility of the core C(α _v ) of any balanced TU-cooperative game v for all natural numbers k: for each dominated imputation x, there exists a converging sequence of imputations x₀, x₁,..., such that x₀ = x, lim x _r ∈ C(α _v ) and x_r?m is dominated by any successive imputation x _r with m ∈ [1, k] and r ≥ m. For showing that the TU-property is essential to provide the k-accessibility of the core, we give an example of an NTU-cooperative game G with a ”black hole” representing a nonempty closed subset B ? G(N) of dominated imputations that contains all the α _G -monotonic sequential improvement trajectories originating at any point x ∈ B.     

On binary self-complementary [120, 9, 56] codes having an automorphism of order 3 and associated SDP designs

The number of known inequivalent binary self-complementary [120, 9, 56] codes (and hence the number of known binary self-complementary [136, 9, 64] codes) is increased from 25 to 4668 by showing that there are exactly 4650 such inequivalent codes with an automorphism of order 3. This implies that there are at least 4668 nonisomorphic quasi-symmetric SDP designs with parameters (v = 120, k = 56, λ = 55) and as many SDP designs with parameters (v = 136, k = 64, λ = 56).     

Patterns and anomalies in <Emphasis Type="Italic">k</Emphasis>-cores of real-world graphs with applications

How do the k-core structures of real-world graphs look like? What are the common patterns and the anomalies? How can we exploit them for applications? A k-core is the maximal subgraph in which all vertices have degree at least k. This concept has been applied to such diverse areas as hierarchical structure analysis, graph visualization, and graph clustering. Here, we explore pervasive patterns related to k-cores and emerging in graphs from diverse domains. Our discoveries are: (1) Mirror Pattern: coreness (i.e., maximum k such that each vertex belongs to the k-core) is strongly correlated with degree. (2) Core-Triangle Pattern: degeneracy (i.e., maximum k such that the k-core exists) obeys a 3-to-1 power-law with respect to the count of triangles. (3) Structured Core Pattern: degeneracy–cores are not cliques but have non-trivial structures such as core–periphery and communities. Our algorithmic contributions show the usefulness of these patterns. (1) Core-A, which measures the deviation from Mirror Pattern, successfully spots anomalies in real-world graphs, (2) Core-D, a single-pass streaming algorithm based on Core-Triangle Pattern, accurately estimates degeneracy up to 12 \(\times \) faster than its competitor. (3) Core-S, inspired by Structured Core Pattern, identifies influential spreaders up to 17 \(\times \) faster than its competitors with comparable accuracy.     

The Outer-connected Domination Number of Sierpiński-like Graphs

An outer-connected dominating set in a graph G = (V, E) is a set of vertices D ? V satisfying the condition that, for each vertex v ? D, vertex v is adjacent to some vertex in D and the subgraph induced by V?D is connected. The outer-connected dominating set problem is to find an outer-connected dominating set with the minimum number of vertices which is denoted by \(\tilde {\gamma }_{c}(G)\). In this paper, we determine \(\tilde {\gamma }_{c}(S(n,k))\), \(\tilde {\gamma }_{c}(S^{+}(n,k))\), \(\tilde {\gamma }_{c}(S^{++}(n,k))\), and \(\tilde {\gamma }_{c}(S_{n})\), where S(n, k), S ⁺(n, k), S ⁺⁺(n, k), and S _n are Sierpi\(\acute {\mathrm {n}}\)ski-like graphs.     

On Fixed Cost k-Flow Problems

In the Fixed Cost k-Flow problem, we are given a graph G = (V, E) with edge-capacities {u _e ∣e ∈ E} and edge-costs {c _e ∣e ∈ E}, source-sink pair s, t ∈ V, and an integer k. The goal is to find a minimum cost subgraph H of G such that the minimum capacity of an st-cut in H is at least k. By an approximation-preserving reduction from Group Steiner Tree problem to Fixed Cost k-Flow, we obtain the first polylogarithmic lower bound for the problem; this also implies the first non-constant lower bounds for the Capacitated Steiner Network and Capacitated Multicommodity Flow problems. We then consider two special cases of Fixed Cost k-Flow. In the Bipartite Fixed-Cost k-Flow problem, we are given a bipartite graph G = (A ∪ B, E) and an integer k > 0. The goal is to find a node subset S ? A ∪ B of minimum size |S| such G has k pairwise edge-disjoint paths between S ∩ A and S ∩ B. We give an \(O(\sqrt {k\log k})\) approximation for this problem. We also show that we can compute a solution of optimum size with Ω(k/polylog(n)) paths, where n = |A| + |B|. In the Generalized-P2P problem we are given an undirected graph G = (V, E) with edge-costs and integer charges {b _v : v ∈ V}. The goal is to find a minimum-cost spanning subgraph H of G such that every connected component of H has non-negative charge. This problem originated in a practical project for shift design [11]. Besides that, it generalizes many problems such as Steiner Forest, k-Steiner Tree, and Point to Point Connection. We give a logarithmic approximation algorithm for this problem. Finally, we consider a related problem called Connected Rent or Buy Multicommodity Flow and give a log^3+?? n approximation scheme for it using Group Steiner Tree techniques.     

Cardinality spectra of components of correlation immune functions,bent functions,perfect colorings,and codes

We study cardinalities of components of perfect codes and colorings, correlation immune functions, and bent function (sets of ones of these functions). Based on results of Kasami and Tokura, we show that for any of these combinatorial objects the component cardinality in the interval from 2 ^k to 2 ^k+1 can only take values of the form 2 ^k+1 ? 2 ^p , where p ∈ {0, ..., k} and 2 ^k is the minimum component cardinality for a combinatorial object with the same parameters. For bent functions, we prove existence of components of any cardinality in this spectrum. For perfect colorings with certain parameters and for correlation immune functions, we find components of some of the above-given cardinalities.     

General Independence Sets in Random Strongly Sparse Hypergraphs

We analyze the asymptotic behavior of the j-independence number of a random k-uniform hypergraph H(n, k, p) in the binomial model. We prove that in the strongly sparse case, i.e., where \(p = c/\left( \begin{gathered} n - 1 \hfill \\ k - 1 \hfill \\ \end{gathered} \right)\) for a positive constant 0 < c ≤ 1/(k ? 1), there exists a constant γ(k, j, c) > 0 such that the j-independence number α _j (H(n, k, p)) obeys the law of large numbers \(\frac{{{\alpha _j}\left( {H\left( {n,k,p} \right)} \right)}}{n}\xrightarrow{P}\gamma \left( {k,j,c} \right)asn \to + \infty \) Moreover, we explicitly present γ(k, j, c) as a function of a solution of some transcendental equation.     

Algorithmizing design of a class of combinatorial block diagrams

An algorithm to design combinatorial symmetrical block diagrams of the class B(n, s = p + 1, σ = 1), where p is a simple number, was described and illustrated by an example for s = 7 + 1.     

On resol vability of Steine r systems S( v = 2m, 4, 3) of rank r ≤ v − m + 1 o ve r $$\mathbb{F}_2 $$

Two new constructions of Steiner quadruple systems S(v, 4, 3) are given. Both preserve resolvability of the original Steiner system and make it possible to control the rank of the resulting system. It is proved that any Steiner system S(v = 2 ^m , 4, 3) of rank r ≤ v ? m + 1 over F₂ is resolvable and that all systems of this rank can be constructed in this way. Thus, we find the number of all different Steiner systems of rank r = v ? m + 1.     

On transitive partitions of an <Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis>-cube into codes

We present methods to construct transitive partitions of the set E ⁿ of all binary vectors of length n into codes. In particular, we show that for all n = 2 ^k ? 1, k ≥ 3, there exist transitive partitions of E ⁿ into perfect transitive codes of length n.     

The weight-constrained maximum-density subtree problem and related problems in trees

Given a tree T=(V,E) of n nodes such that each node v is associated with a value-weight pair (val _v ,w _v ), where value val _v is a real number and weight w _v is a non-negative integer, the density of T is defined as \(\frac{\sum_{v\in V}{\mathit{val}}_{v}}{\sum_{v\in V}w_{v}}\). A subtree of T is a connected subgraph (V′,E′) of T, where V′?V and E′?E. Given two integers w _min? and w _max?, the weight-constrained maximum-density subtree problem on T is to find a maximum-density subtree T′=(V′,E′) satisfying w _min?≤∑_v∈V′ w _v ≤w _max?. In this paper, we first present an O(w _max? n)-time algorithm to find a weight-constrained maximum-density path in a tree T, and then present an O(w _max? ² n)-time algorithm to find a weight-constrained maximum-density subtree in T. Finally, given a node subset S?V, we also present an O(w _max? ² n)-time algorithm to find a weight-constrained maximum-density subtree in T which covers all the nodes in S.     

Expansion of Self-Similar Functions in the Faber–Schauder System

Let Ω = A^N be a space of right-sided infinite sequences drawn from a finite alphabet A = {0,1}, N = {1,2,…}. Let ρ(x, y)Σ_k=1^∞|x _k ? y _k |2^?k be a metric on Ω = AN, and μ the Bernoulli measure on Ω with probabilities p₀, p₁ > 0, p₀ + p₁ = 1. Denote by B(x,ω) an open ball of radius r centered at ω. The main result of this paper \(\mu (B(\omega ,r))r + \sum\nolimits_{n = 0}^\infty {\sum\nolimits_{j = 0}^{{2^n} - 1} {{\mu _{n,j}}} } (\omega )\tau ({2^n}r - j)\), where τ(x) = 2min {x,1 ? x}, 0 ≤ x ≤ 1, (τ(x) = 0, if x < 0 or x > 1 ), \({\mu _{n,j}}(\omega ) = (1 - {p_{{\omega _{n + 1}}}})\prod _{k = 1}^n{p_{{\omega _k}}} \oplus {j_k}\), \(j = {j_1}{2^{n - 1}} + {j_2}{2^{n - 2}} + ... + {j_n}\). The family of functions 1, x, τ(2 ⁿ r ? j), j = 0,1,…, 2 ⁿ ? 1, n = 0,1,…, is the Faber–Schauder system for the space C([0,1]) of continuous functions on [0, 1]. We also obtain the Faber–Schauder expansion for Lebesgue’s singular function, Cezaro curves, and Koch–Peano curves. Article is published in the author’s wording.     

On partitions of an <Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis>-cube into nonequivalent perfect codes

We prove that for all n = 2^k ? 1, k ≥ 5, there exists a partition of the set of all binary vectors of length n into pairwise nonequivalent perfect binary codes of length n with distance 3.     

On the Number of Edges of a Uniform Hypergraph with a Range of Allowed Intersections

We study the quantity p(n, k, t₁, t₂) equal to the maximum number of edges in a k-uniform hypergraph having the property that all cardinalities of pairwise intersections of edges lie in the interval [t₁, t₂]. We present previously known upper and lower bounds on this quantity and analyze their interrelations. We obtain new bounds on p(n, k, t₁, t₂) and consider their possible applications in combinatorial geometry problems. For some values of the parameters we explicitly evaluate the quantity in question. We also give a new bound on the size of a constant-weight error-correcting code.     

Mutually independent Hamiltonian cycles in dual-cubes

The hypercube family Q _n is one of the most well-known interconnection networks in parallel computers. With Q _n , dual-cube networks, denoted by DC _n , was introduced and shown to be a (n+1)-regular, vertex symmetric graph with some fault-tolerant Hamiltonian properties. In addition, DC _n ’s are shown to be superior to Q _n ’s in many aspects. In this article, we will prove that the n-dimensional dual-cube DC _n contains n+1 mutually independent Hamiltonian cycles for n≥2. More specifically, let v _i ∈V(DC _n ) for 0≤i≤|V(DC _n )|?1 and let \(\langle v_{0},v_{1},\ldots ,v_{|V(\mathit{DC}_{n})|-1},v_{0}\rangle\) be a Hamiltonian cycle of DC _n . We prove that DC _n contains n+1 Hamiltonian cycles of the form \(\langle v_{0},v_{1}^{k},\ldots,v_{|V(\mathit{DC}_{n})|-1}^{k},v_{0}\rangle\) for 0≤k≤n, in which v _i ^k ≠v _i ^k′ whenever k≠k′. The result is optimal since each vertex of DC _n has only n+1 neighbors.     

The bounded core for games with restricted cooperation

A game with restricted (incomplete) cooperation is a triple (N, v, Ω), where N represents a finite set of players, Ω ? 2^N is a set of feasible coalitions such that N ∈ Ω, and v: Ω → R denotes a characteristic function. Unlike the classical TU games, the core of a game with restricted cooperation can be unbounded. Recently Grabisch and Sudhölter [9] proposed a new solution concept—the bounded core—that associates a game (N, v,Ω) with the union of all bounded faces of the core. The bounded core can be empty even if the core is nonempty. This paper gives two axiomatizations of the bounded core. The first axiomatization characterizes the bounded core for the class G^r of all games with restricted cooperation, whereas the second one for the subclass G_bc^r ? G^r of the games with nonempty bounded cores.     

A novel weighting scheme for random k-SAT关于随机 k-SAT 的新加权方法

Consider a random k-conjunctive normal form F_k(n, rn) with n variables and rn clauses. We prove that if the probability that the formula F_k(n, rn) is satisfiable tends to 0 as n→∞, then r ? 2.83, 8.09, 18.91, 40.81, and 84.87, for k = 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, respectively.     

Faster Parameterized Algorithms for <Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">Minimum Fill-in</Emphasis>

We present two parameterized algorithms for the Minimum Fill-in problem, also known as Chordal Completion: given an arbitrary graph G and integer k, can we add at most k edges to G to obtain a chordal graph? Our first algorithm has running time \(\mathcal {O}(k^{2}nm+3.0793^{k})\), and requires polynomial space. This improves the base of the exponential part of the best known parameterized algorithm time for this problem so far. We are able to improve this running time even further, at the cost of more space. Our second algorithm has running time \(\mathcal {O}(k^{2}nm+2.35965^{k})\) and requires \(\mathcal {O}^{\ast}(1.7549^{k})\) space. To achieve these results, we present a new lemma describing the edges that can safely be added to achieve a chordal completion with the minimum number of edges, regardless of k.     

Tilings of nonorientable surfaces by Steiner triple systems

A Steiner triple system of order n (for short, STS(n)) is a system of three-element blocks (triples) of elements of an n-set such that each unordered pair of elements occurs in precisely one triple. Assign to each triple (i,j,k) ? STS(n) a topological triangle with vertices i, j, and k. Gluing together like sides of the triangles that correspond to a pair of disjoint STS(n) of a special form yields a black-and-white tiling of some closed surface. For each n ≡ 3 (mod 6) we prove that there exist nonisomorphic tilings of nonorientable surfaces by pairs of Steiner triple systems of order n. We also show that for half of the values n ≡ 1 (mod 6) there are nonisomorphic tilings of nonorientable closed surfaces.     

Linear Time Algorithms for Generalizations of the Longest Common Substring Problem

In its simplest form, the longest common substring problem is to find a longest substring common to two or multiple strings. Using (generalized) suffix trees, this problem can be solved in linear time and space. A first generalization is the k -common substring problem: Given m strings of total length n, for all k with 2≤k≤m simultaneously find a longest substring common to at least k of the strings. It is known that the k-common substring problem can also be solved in O(n) time (Hui in Proc. 3rd Annual Symposium on Combinatorial Pattern Matching, volume 644 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, pp. 230–243, Springer, Berlin, 1992). A further generalization is the k -common repeated substring problem: Given m strings T ⁽¹⁾,T ⁽²⁾,…,T ^(m) of total length n and m positive integers x ₁,…,x _m , for all k with 1≤k≤m simultaneously find a longest string ω for which there are at least k strings \(T^{(i_{1})},T^{(i_{2})},\ldots,T^{(i_{k})}\) (1≤i ₁<i ₂<???<i _k ≤m) such that ω occurs at least \(x_{i_{j}}\) times in \(T^{(i_{j})}\) for each j with 1≤j≤k. (For x ₁=???=x _m =1, we have the k-common substring problem.) In this paper, we present the first O(n) time algorithm for the k-common repeated substring problem. Our solution is based on a new linear time algorithm for the k-common substring problem.