On-line and first fit colorings of graphs

A graph coloring algorithm that immediately colors the vertices taken from a list without looking ahead or changing colors already assigned is called “on-line coloring.” The properties of on-line colorings are investigated in several classes of graphs. In many cases we find on-line colorings that use no more colors than some function of the largest clique size of the graph. We show that the first fit on-line coloring has an absolute performance ratio of two for the complement of chordal graphs. We prove an upper bound for the performance ratio of the first fit coloring on interval graphs. It is also shown that there are simple families resisting any on-line algorithm: no on-line algorithm can color all trees by a bounded number of colors.     

Approximating maximum independent sets by excluding subgraphs

An approximation algorithm for the maximum independent set problem is given, improving the best performance guarantee known toO(n/(logn)²). We also obtain the same performance guarantee for graph coloring. The results can be combined into a surprisingly strongsimultaneous performance guarantee for the clique and coloring problems.The framework ofsubgraph-excluding algorithms is presented. We survey the known approximation algorithms for the independent set (clique), coloring, and vertex cover problems and show how almost all fit into that framework. We show that among subgraph-excluding algorithms, the ones presented achieve the optimal asymptotic performance guarantees.A preliminary version of this paper appeared in [9].Supported in part by National Science Foundation Grant CCR-8902522 and PYI Award CCR-9057488.Research done at Rutgers University. Supported in part by Center for Discrete Mathematics and Theoretical Computer Science (DIMACS) fellowship.     

Perfect and locally perfect colorings

We present a new algorithm for coloring perfect graphs and use it to color the parity orderable graphs, a class which strictly contains parity graphs. Also, we modify this algorithm to obtain an O(m² + n) locally perfect coloring algorithm for parity graphs. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Efficient parallel exponentiation in using normal basis representations

Von zur Gathen proposed an efficient parallel exponentiation algorithm in finite fields using normal basis representations. In this paper we present a processor-efficient parallel exponentiation algorithm in GF(qⁿ) which improves upon von zur Gathen's algorithm. We also show that exponentiation in GF(qⁿ) can be done in O((log₂n)²/log_qn) time using n/(log₂n)² processors. Hence we get a processor-time bound of O(n/log_qn), which matches the best known sequential algorithm. Finally, we present an efficient on-line processor assignment scheme which was missing in von zur Gathen's algorithm.     

On-line steiner trees in the Euclidean plane

Suppose we are given a sequence ofn points in the Euclidean plane, and our objective is to construct, on-line, a connected graph that connects all of them, trying to minimize the total sum of lengths of its edges. The points appear one at a time, and at each step the on-line algorithm must construct a connected graph that contains all current points by connecting the new point to the previously constructed graph. This can be done by joining the new point (not necessarily by a straight line) to any point of the previous graph (not necessarily one of the given points). The performance of our algorithm is measured by its competitive ratio: the supremum, over all sequences of points, of the ratio between the total length of the graph constructed by our algorithm and the total length of the best Steiner tree that connects all the points. There are known on-line algorithms whose competitive ratio isO(logn) even for all metric spaces, but the only lower bound known is of [IW] for some contrived discrete metric space. Moreover, for the plane, on-line algorithms could have been more powerful and achieve a better competitive ratio, and no nontrivial lower bounds for the best possible competitive ratio were known. Here we prove an almost tight lower bound of Ω(logn/log logn) for the competitive ratio of any on-line algorithm. The lower bound holds for deterministic algorithms as well as for randomized ones, and obviously holds in any Euclidean space of dimension greater than 2 as well. Noga Alon was supported in part by a USA-Israeli BSF grant.     

Randomized online graph coloring

We study the problem of coloring graphs in an online manner. The only known deterministic online graph coloring algorithm with a sublinear performance function was found by [9.], 319–325). Their algorithm colors graphs of chromatic number χ with no more than (2χn)/log^* n colors, where n is the number of vertices. They point out that the performance can be improved slightly for graphs with bounded chromatic number. For three-chromatic graphs the number of colors used, for example, is O(n log log log n/log log n). We show that randomization helps in coloring graphs online. We present a simple randomized online algorithm to color graphs with expected number of colors O(2^χχ²n^{(χ−2)/(χ−1)}(log n)^1/(χ−1)). For three-colorable graphs the expected number of colors our algorithm uses is . All our algorithms run in polynomial time. It is interesting to note that our algorithm compares well with the best known polynomial time offline algorithms. For instance, the best polynomial time algorithm known for three-colorable graphs, due to [4.] pp. 554–562). We also prove a lower bound of Ω((1/(χ − 1))((log n/(12(χ + 1))) − 1)^χ−1) for the randomized model. No lower bound for the randomized model was previously known. For bounded χ, our result improves even the best known lower bound for the deterministic case: Ω((log n/log log n)^χ−1), due to Noga Alon (personal communication, September 1989).     

New Results on the Queens_n 2 Graph Coloring Problem

For the Queens_n ² graph coloring problems no chromatic numbers are available for n > 9 except where n is not a multiple of 2 or 3. In this paper we propose an exact algorithm that takes advantage of the particular structure of these graphs. The algorithm works on the independent sets of the graph rather than on the vertices to be colored. It combines branch and bound, for independent set assignment, with a clique based filtering procedure. A first experimentation of this approach provided the coloring number values ranging for n = 10 to n = 14.     

Optimal on-line flow time with resource augmentation

We study the problem of scheduling n jobs that arrive over time. We consider a non-preemptive setting on a single machine. The goal is to minimize the total flow time. We use extra resource competitive analysis: an optimal off-line algorithm which schedules jobs on a single machine is compared to a more powerful on-line algorithm that has ? machines. We design an algorithm of competitive ratio , where Δ is the maximum ratio between two job sizes, and provide a lower bound which shows that the algorithm is optimal up to a constant factor for any constant ?. The algorithm works for a hard version of the problem where the sizes of the smallest and the largest jobs are not known in advance, only Δ and n are known. This gives a trade-off between the resource augmentation and the competitive ratio.We also consider scheduling on parallel identical machines. In this case the optimal off-line algorithm has m machines and the on-line algorithm has ?m machines. We give a lower bound for this case. Next, we give lower bounds for algorithms using resource augmentation on the speed. Finally, we consider scheduling with hard deadlines, and scheduling so as to minimize the total completion time.     

Minimizing the Makespan in Nonpreemptive Parallel Machine Scheduling Problem

A new n log n algorithm for the scheduling problem of n independent jobs on m identical parallel machines with minimum makespan objective is proposed and its worst-case performance ratio is estimated. The algorithm iteratively combines partial solutions that are obtained by partitioning the set of jobs into suitable families of subsets. The computational behavior on three families of instances taken from the literature provided interesting results.     

Parallel algorithms for permutation graphs

In this paper, parallel algorithms are presented for solving some problems on permutation graphs. The coloring problem is solved inO(log² n) time usingO(n ³/logn) processors on the CREW PRAM, orO(logn) time usingO(n ³) processors on the CRCW PRAM. The weighted clique problem, the weighted independent set problem, the cliques cover problem, and the maximal layers problem are all solved with the same complexities. We can also show that the longest common subsequence problem belongs to the class NC.     

Sequential and distributed graph coloring algorithms with performance analysis in random graph spaces

A sequential graph coloring algorithm and a strict distributed (broadcasting type) algorithm , and an analysis of their performance in scales of random graph spaces is presented. For a space of graphs with n vertices and a mean degree d(n), the number of colors produced is almost surely bounded by about d(n)/logd(n), which is almost surely not more than twice the chromatic number, and the distributed algorithm terminates in O(Max(d(n),logn)) steps.     

On a generalized family of colorings

Motivated by a question in cellular telecommunication technology, we investigate a family of graph coloring problems where several colors can be assigned to each vertex and no two colors are the same within any ball of radiusR. We find bounds and coloring algorithms for different kinds of graphs including trees,n-cycles, hypercubes and lattices. We briefly examine connections to Heawood's map color theorem and state a few conjectures and open problems.Work in part performed while the author was in the Department of Mathematics, University of California, San Diego.     

A fast algorithm for coloring Meyniel graphs

We color the nodes of a graph by first applying successive contractions to non-adjacent nodes until we get a clique; then we color the clique and decontract the graph. We show that this algorithm provides a minimum coloring and a maximum clique for any Meyniel graph by using a simple rule for choosing which nodes are to be contracted. This O(n³) algorithm is much simpler than those already existing for Meyniel graphs. Moreover, the optimality of this algorithm for Meyniel graphs provides an alternate nice proof of the following result of Hoàng: a graph G is Meyniel if and only if, for any induced subgraph of G, each node belongs to a stable set that meets all maximal cliques. Finally we give a new characterization for Meyniel graphs.     

Traversing Layered Graphs Using the Work Function Algorithm

The work function algorithm (WFA) is an on-line algorithm that has been studied mostly in connection with thek-server problem, but can actually be used on a wide variety of on-line problems. Despite being a simple algorithm, WFA has proven to be difficult to analyze, and until recently few interesting results were known. We analyze the performance of the generalized work function algorithm, denoted α-WFA, for on-line traversal of layered graphs. We show that for layered graphs of widthkand any α>1, α-WFA achieves competitive ratio (α+1)(2α/(α−1))^k−1−α. This gives anO(k2^k)-competitive ratio for appropriate choice of α, improving the previous upper bound ofO(k³2^k).     

Matching parentheses in parallel

Parallel algorithms for evaluating arithmetic expressions generally assume the computation tree form to be at hand. The computation tree form can be generated within the same resource bounds as the parenthesis matching problem can be solved. We provide a new cost optimal parallel algorithm for the latter problem, which runs in time O(log n) using O(n/log n) processors on an . We also prove that the algorithm is the fastest possible independently of the number of processors available.     

Clique coloring of binomial random graphs

A clique coloring of a graph is a coloring of the vertices so that no maximal clique is monochromatic (ignoring isolated vertices). The smallest number of colors in such a coloring is the clique chromatic number. In this paper, we study the asymptotic behavior of the clique chromatic number of the random graph ??(n,p) for a wide range of edge‐probabilities p = p(n). We see that the typical clique chromatic number, as a function of the average degree, forms an intriguing step function.     

On parallel hashing and integer sorting

The problem of sorting n integers from a restricted range [1…m], where m is a superpolynomial in n, is considered. An o(n log n) randomized algorithm is given. Our algorithm takes O(n log log m) expected time and O(n) space. (Thus, for m = n^polylog(n) we have an O(n log log n) algorithm.) The algorithm is parallelizable. The resulting parallel algorithm achieves optimal speedup. Some features of the algorithm make us believe that it is relevant for practical applications. A result of independent interest is a parallel hashing technique. The expected construction time is logarithmic using an optimal number of processors, and searching for a value takes O(1) time in the worst case. This technique enables drastic reduction of space requirements for the price of using randomness. Applicability of the technique is demonstrated for the parallel sorting algorithm and for some parallel string matching algorithms. The parallel sorting algorithm is designed for a strong and nonstandard model of parallel computation. Efficient simulations of the strong model on a CRCW PRAM are introduced. One of the simulations even achieves optimal speedup. This is probably the first optimal speedup simulation of a certain kind.     

On periodicity of perfect colorings of the infinite hexagonal and triangular grids

A coloring of vertices of a graph G is called r-perfect, if the color structure of each ball of radius r in G depends only on the color of the center of the ball. The parameters of a perfect coloring are given by the matrix A = (a _ij ) _i,j=1 ⁿ , where n is the number of colors and a _ij is the number of vertices of color j in a ball centered at a vertex of color i. We study the periodicity of perfect colorings of the graphs of the infinite hexagonal and triangular grids. We prove that for every 1-perfect coloring of the infinite triangular and every 1- and 2-perfect coloring of the infinite hexagonal grid there exists a periodic perfect coloring with the same matrix. The periodicity of perfect colorings of big radii have been studied earlier.     

Rainbow and orthogonal paths in factorizations of Kn

For n even, a factorization of a complete graph K_n is a partition of the edges into n?1 perfect matchings, called the factors of the factorization. With respect to a factorization, a path is called rainbow if its edges are from distinct factors. A rainbow Hamiltonian path takes exactly one edge from each factor and is called orthogonal to the factorization. It is known that not all factorizations have orthogonal paths. Assisted by a simple edge‐switching algorithm, here we show that for n?8, the rotational factorization of K_n, GK_n has orthogonal paths. We prove that this algorithm finds a rainbow path with at least (2n+1)/3 vertices in any factorization of K_n (in fact, in any proper coloring of K_n). We also give some problems and conjectures about the properties of the algorithm. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Combin Designs 18: 167–176, 2010