The greedy algorithm for domination in graphs of maximum degree 3

We show that for a connected graph with n nodes and e edges and maximum degree at most 3, the size of the dominating set found by the greedy algorithm is at most if , if , and if .     

Minimum weight feedback vertex sets in circle graphs

We describe a polynomial time algorithm to find a minimum weight feedback vertex set, or equivalently, a maximum weight induced forest, in a circle graph. The circle graphs are the overlap graphs of intervals on a line.     

On the parameterized complexity of some optimization problems related to multiple-interval graphs

We show that for any constant t≥2, k-Independent Set and k-Dominating Set in t-track interval graphs are W[1]-hard. This settles an open question recently raised by Fellows, Hermelin, Rosamond, and Vialette. We also give an FPT algorithm for k-Clique in t-interval graphs, parameterized by both k and t, with running time , where n is the number of vertices in the graph. This slightly improves the previous FPT algorithm by Fellows, Hermelin, Rosamond, and Vialette. Finally, we use the W[1]-hardness of k-Independent Set in t-track interval graphs to obtain the first parameterized intractability result for a recent bioinformatics problem called Maximal Strip Recovery (MSR). We show that MSR-d is W[1]-hard for any constant d≥4 when the parameter is either the total length of the strips, or the total number of adjacencies in the strips, or the number of strips in the solution.     

Well-balanced orientations of mixed graphs

We show that deciding if a mixed graph has a well-balanced orientation is NP-complete.     

Polynomial-time algorithms for weighted efficient domination problems in AT-free graphs and dually chordal graphs

An efficient dominating set (or perfect code) in a graph is a set of vertices the closed neighborhoods of which partition the vertex set of the graph. The minimum weight efficient domination problem is the problem of finding an efficient dominating set of minimum weight in a given vertex-weighted graph; the maximum weight efficient domination problem is defined similarly. We develop a framework for solving the weighted efficient domination problems based on a reduction to the maximum weight independent set problem in the square of the input graph. Using this approach, we improve on several previous results from the literature by deriving polynomial-time algorithms for the weighted efficient domination problems in the classes of dually chordal and AT-free graphs. In particular, this answers a question by Lu and Tang regarding the complexity of the minimum weight efficient domination problem in strongly chordal graphs.     

k-tuple domination in graphs

In a graph G, a vertex is said to dominate itself and all of its neighbors. For a fixed positive integer k, the k-tuple domination problem is to find a minimum sized vertex subset in a graph such that every vertex in the graph is dominated by at least k vertices in this set. The current paper studies k-tuple domination in graphs from an algorithmic point of view. In particular, we give a linear-time algorithm for the k-tuple domination problem in strongly chordal graphs, which is a subclass of chordal graphs and includes trees, block graphs, interval graphs and directed path graphs. We also prove that the k-tuple domination problem is NP-complete for split graphs (a subclass of chordal graphs) and for bipartite graphs.     

Parameterized power domination complexity

The optimization problem of measuring all nodes in an electrical network by placing as few measurement units (PMUs) as possible is known as Power Dominating Set. Nodes can be measured indirectly according to Kirchhoff's law. We show that this problem can be solved in linear time for graphs of bounded treewidth and establish bounds on its parameterized complexity if the number of PMUs is the parameter.     

Total restrained domination in graphs

In this paper, we initiate the study of a variation of standard domination, namely total restrained domination. Let G=(V,E) be a graph. A set D⊆V is a total restrained dominating set if every vertex in V−D has at least one neighbor in D and at least one neighbor in V−D, and every vertex in D has at least one neighbor in D. The total restrained domination number of G, denoted by γ_tr(G), is the minimum cardinality of all total restrained dominating sets of G. We determine the best possible upper and lower bounds for γ_tr(G), characterize those graphs achieving these bounds and find the best possible lower bounds for where both G and are connected.     

Vertex rankings of chordal graphs and weighted trees

In this paper we consider the vertex ranking problem of weighted trees. We show that this problem is strongly NP-hard. We also give a polynomial-time reduction from the problem of vertex ranking of weighted trees to the vertex ranking of (simple) chordal graphs, which proves that the latter problem is NP-hard. In this way we solve an open problem of Aspvall and Heggernes. We use this reduction and the algorithm of Bodlaender et al.'s for vertex ranking of partial k-trees to give an exact polynomial-time algorithm for vertex ranking of a tree with bounded and integer valued weight functions. This algorithm serves as a procedure in designing a PTAS for weighted vertex ranking problem of trees with bounded weight functions.     

Boundary properties of graphs for algorithmic graph problems

The notion of a boundary graph property was recently introduced as a relaxation of that of a minimal property and was applied to several problems of both algorithmic and combinatorial nature. In the present paper, we first survey recent results related to this notion and then apply it to two algorithmic graph problems: Hamiltonian cycle and vertexk-colorability. In particular, we discover the first two boundary classes for the Hamiltonian cycle problem and prove that for any k>3 there is a continuum of boundary classes for vertexk-colorability.     

A strengthened analysis of a local algorithm for the minimum dominating set problem in planar graphs

In recent years growing interest in local distributed algorithms has widely been observed. This results from their high resistance to errors and damage, as well as from their good performance, which is independent of the size of the network. A local deterministic distributed algorithm finding an approximation of a Minimum Dominating Set in planar graphs has been presented by Lenzen et al., and they proved that the algorithm returns a 130-approximation of the Minimum Dominating Set. In this article we will show that the algorithm is two times more effective than was previously assumed, and we prove that the algorithm by Lenzen et al. outputs a 52-approximation to a Minimum Dominating Set. Therefore the gap between the lower bound and the approximation ratio of the best yet local deterministic distributed algorithm is reduced by half.     

On the parameterized complexity of multiple-interval graph problems

Multiple-interval graphs are a natural generalization of interval graphs where each vertex may have more than one interval associated with it. Many applications of interval graphs also generalize to multiple-interval graphs, often allowing for more robustness in the modeling of the specific application. With this motivation in mind, a recent systematic study of optimization problems in multiple-interval graphs was initiated. In this sequel, we study multiple-interval graph problems from the perspective of parameterized complexity. The problems under consideration are k$k$-Independent Set, k$k$-Dominating Set, and k$k$-Clique, which are all known to be W[1]-hard for general graphs, and NP-complete for multiple-interval graphs. We prove that k$k$-Clique is in FPT, while k$k$-Independent Set and k$k$-Dominating Set are both W[1]-hard. We also prove that k$k$-Independent Dominating Set, a hybrid of the two above problems, is also W[1]-hard. Our hardness results hold even when each vertex is associated with at most two intervals, and all intervals have unit length. Furthermore, as an interesting byproduct of our hardness results, we develop a useful technique for showing W[1]-hardness via a reduction from the k$k$-Multicolored Clique problem, a variant of k$k$-Clique. We believe this technique has interest in its own right, as it should help in simplifying W[1]-hardness results which are notoriously hard to construct and technically tedious.     

On disjoint maximal independent sets in graphs

An old problem in graph theory is to characterize the graphs that admit two disjoint maximal independent sets.     

A fixed-parameter tractable algorithm for matrix domination

Matrix domination is the NP-complete problem of determining whether a given {0,1} matrix contains a set of k non-zero entries that are in the same row or same column as all other non-zero entries. Using a kernelization and search tree approach, we show the problem to be fixed-parameter tractable with running time .     

An output sensitive algorithm for computing a maximum independent set of a circle graph

We present an output sensitive algorithm for computing a maximum independent set of an unweighted circle graph. Our algorithm requires O(nmin{d,α}) time at worst, for an n vertex circle graph where α is the independence number of the circle graph and d is its density. Previous algorithms for this problem required Θ(nd) time at worst.     

The algorithmic complexity of mixed domination in graphs

Let G=(V,E) be a simple graph with vertex set V and edge set E. A subset W⊆V∪E is a mixed dominating set if every element x∈(V∪E)?W is either adjacent or incident to an element of W. The mixed domination problem is to find a minimum mixed dominating set of G. In this paper we first prove that a connected graph is a tree if and only if its total graph is strongly chordal, and thus we obtain a polynomial-time algorithm for this problem in trees. Further we design another linear-time labeling algorithm for this problem in trees. At the end of the paper, we show that the mixed domination problem is NP-complete even when restricted to split graphs, a subclass of chordal graphs.     

A refined search tree technique for Dominating Set on planar graphs

We establish a refined search tree technique for the parameterized DOMINATING SET problem on planar graphs. Here, we are given an undirected graph and we ask for a set of at most k vertices such that every other vertex has at least one neighbor in this set. We describe algorithms with running times O(8^kn) and O(8^kk+n³), where n is the number of vertices in the graph, based on bounded search trees. We describe a set of polynomial time data-reduction rules for a more general “annotated” problem on black/white graphs that asks for a set of k vertices (black or white) that dominate all the black vertices. An intricate argument based on the Euler formula then establishes an efficient branching strategy for reduced inputs to this problem. In addition, we give a family examples showing that the bound of the branching theorem is optimal with respect to our reduction rules. Our final search tree algorithm is easy to implement; its analysis, however, is involved.