A cutting plane algorithm for graph coloring

We present an approach based on integer programming formulations of the graph coloring problem. Our goal is to develop models that remove some symmetrical solutions obtained by color permutations. We study the problem from a polyhedral point of view and determine some families of facets of the 0/1-polytope associated with one of these integer programming formulations. The theoretical results described here are used to design an efficient Cutting Plane algorithm.     

Matching extension and minimum degree

Let G be a simple connected graph on 2n vertices with a perfect matching. For a given positive integer k, 1 k n − 1, G is k-extendable if for every matching M of size k in G, there exists a perfect matching in G containing all the edges of M. The problem that arises is that of characterizing k-extendable graphs. In this paper, we establish a necessary condition, in terms of minimum degree, for k-extendable graphs. Further, we determine the set of realizable values for minimum degree of k-extendable graphs. In addition, we establish some results on bipartite graphs including a sufficient condition for a bipartite graph to be k-extendable.     

Minimum node covers and 2-bicritical graphs

The problem of finding a minimum cardinality set of nodes in a graph which meet every edge is of considerable theoretical as well as practical interest. Because of the difficulty of this problem, a linear relaxation of an integer programming model is sometimes used as a heuristic. In fact Nemhauser and Trotter showed that any variables which receive integer values in an optimal solution to the relaxation can retain the same values in an optimal solution to the integer program. We define 2-bicritical graphs and give several characterizations of them. One characterization is that they are precisely the graphs for which an optimal solution to the linear relaxation will have no integer valued variables. Then we show that almost all graphs are 2-bicritical and hence the linear relaxation almost never helps for large random graphs.This research was supported in part by the National Research Council of Canada.     

导出匹配问题的NP-完全性以及导出匹配可扩问题的CO-NP-完全性

图Ｇ的一个匹配Ｍ是导出的,若Ｍ是图Ｇ的一个导出子图。图Ｇ是导邮匹配可扩的（简记ＩＭ－可扩的）,若图Ｇ的任一导出匹配均含于图Ｇ的一个完美匹配当中。本文我们将证明如下结果。⑴对无爪图而言,问题“给定图Ｇ以及一个正整数ｒ,确定是否存在图Ｇ的一个导出匹配Ｍ使得Ｍ≥ｒ”是ＮＰ－完全的。⑵对直径为２的图以及直径为３的偶图,问题“确定一个给定图是否为导出匹配可扩的”是ＣＯ－ＮＰ完全的;而对完全多部图而言,问题“     

A mixed integer program for partitioning graphs with supply and demand emphasizing sparse graphs

The focus of this paper is on finding optimal solutions for the problem of maximal partitioning of graphs with supply and demand (MPGSD) for arbitrary graphs. A mixed integer programming (MIP) model is developed for the problem of interest. We also present some specific constraints that can be used in the case of tree graphs. With the goal of lowering the computational cost for solving the underlying model, a preprocessing stage is included. It is used to produce additional constraints based on shortest paths in the graph. With the aim of exploring the effectiveness of the proposed MIP formulation we have performed computational experiments for general graphs and trees. The main objective of the tests is to observe the properties and sizes of supply/demand graphs that can be solved to optimality using the proposed approach in reasonable time. The conducted computational experiments have shown that the proposed method is especially suitable for sparse graphs.     

Star-Uniform Graphs

A star-factor of a graph is a spanning subgraph each of whose components is a star. A graph G is called star-uniform if all star-factors of G have the same number of components. Motivated by the minimum cost spanning tree and the optimal assignment problems, Hartnell and Rall posed an open problem to characterize all the star-uniform graphs. In this paper, we show that a graph G is star-uniform if and only if G has equal domination and matching number. From this point of view, the star-uniform graphs were characterized by Randerath and Volkmann. Unfortunately, their characterization is incomplete. By deploying Gallai–Edmonds Matching Structure Theorem, we give a clear and complete characterization of star-unform graphs.     

三种新变形的全一问题

该文研究三种新变形的全一问题及最小全一问题. 原始的全一问题可被形象的称为顶点点亮顶点问题, 而这三类新问题则分别被称为顶点点亮边问题,边点亮顶点问题,边点亮边问题. 顶点点亮顶点问题已经得到了广泛的研究. 比如,解的存在性问题和求解的有效算法已经被解决,一般图上的最小顶点点亮顶点问题已经被证明是NP- 完备的,树、单圈图和双圈图上的最小顶点点亮顶点问题的线性时间最优算法也已被给出等. 该文对于顶点点亮边问题,证明一个图有解当且仅当它是二部图,因此只可能有两组解和最优解. 对于边点亮顶点问题,证明一个图有解当且仅当它包含偶数个顶点,并通过将其最优问题多项式变换成最小权的完美匹配问题,得出一般图上的最小边点亮顶点问题可在多项式时间内求解. 边点亮边问题可归约成线图上的顶点点亮顶点问题.     

Stabilizing network bargaining games by blocking players

Cooperative matching games (Shapley and Shubik) and Network bargaining games (Kleinberg and Tardos) are games described by an undirected graph, where the vertices represent players. An important role in such games is played by stable graphs, that are graphs whose set of inessential vertices (those that are exposed by at least one maximum matching) are pairwise non adjacent. In fact, stable graphs characterize instances of such games that admit the existence of stable outcomes. In this paper, we focus on stabilizing instances of the above games by blocking as few players as possible. Formally, given a graph G we want to find a minimum cardinality set of vertices such that its removal from G yields a stable graph. We give a combinatorial polynomial-time algorithm for this problem, and develop approximation algorithms for some NP-hard weighted variants, where each vertex has an associated non-negative weight. Our approximation algorithms are LP-based, and we show that our analysis are almost tight by giving suitable lower bounds on the integrality gap of the used LP relaxations.     

线图上的团染色问题

设G=(V,E)为简单图, G的每个至少有两个顶点的极大完全子图称为G的一个团. 图的团染色定义为给图的点进行染色使得图中没有单一颜色的团, 也就是说每一个团具有至少2种颜色.图的一个k-团染色 是指用k 种颜色给图的点着色使得图G 的每一个团至少有2种颜色.图G的团染色数\chi_{C}(G)是指最小的数k使得图G 存在k-团染色. 首先指出了完全图的线图的团染色数与推广的Ramsey 数之间的一个联系, 其次对于最大度不超过7的线图给出了一个最优团染色的多项式时间算法.     

Convex Quadratic Programming Approach to the Maximum Matching Problem

The problem of determining a maximum matching or whether there exists a perfect matching, is very common in a large variety of applications and as been extensively studied in graph theory. In this paper we start to introduce a characterisation of a family of graphs for which its stability number is determined by convex quadratic programming. The main results connected with the recognition of this family of graphs are also introduced. It follows a necessary and sufficient condition which characterise a graph with a perfect matching and an algorithmic strategy, based on the determination of the stability number of line graphs, by convex quadratic programming, applied to the determination of a perfect matching. A numerical example for the recognition of graphs with a perfect matching is described. Finally, the above algorithmic strategy is extended to the determination of a maximum matching of an arbitrary graph and some related results are presented.     

Edge-swapping algorithms for the minimum fundamental cycle basis problem

We consider the problem of finding a fundamental cycle basis with minimum total cost in an undirected graph. This problem is NP-hard and has several interesting applications. Since fundamental cycle bases correspond to spanning trees, we propose a local search algorithm, a tabu search and variable neighborhood search in which edge swaps are iteratively applied to a current spanning tree. We also present a mixed integer programming formulation of the problem whose linear relaxation yields tighter lower bounds than other known formulations. Computational results obtained with our algorithms are compared with those from the best available constructive heuristic on several types of graphs. This article extends the conference paper (Amaldi et al. 2004).     

Convex Quadratic Programming Approach to the Maximum Matching Problem

The problem of determining a maximum matching or whether there exists a perfect matching, is very common in a large variety of applications and as been extensively studied in graph theory. In this paper we start to introduce a characterisation of a family of graphs for which its stability number is determined by convex quadratic programming. The main results connected with the recognition of this family of graphs are also introduced. It follows a necessary and sufficient condition which characterise a graph with a perfect matching and an algorithmic strategy, based on the determination of the stability number of line graphs, by convex quadratic programming, applied to the determination of a perfect matching. A numerical example for the recognition of graphs with a perfect matching is described. Finally, the above algorithmic strategy is extended to the determination of a maximum matching of an arbitrary graph and some related results are presented.     

The parameterized complexity of the induced matching problem

Given a graph G and an integer k≥0, the NP-complete Induced Matching problem asks whether there exists an edge subset M of size at least k such that M is a matching and no two edges of M are joined by an edge of G. The complexity of this problem on general graphs, as well as on many restricted graph classes has been studied intensively. However, other than the fact that the problem is W[1]-hard on general graphs, little is known about the parameterized complexity of the problem in restricted graph classes. In this work, we provide first-time fixed-parameter tractability results for planar graphs, bounded-degree graphs, graphs with girth at least six, bipartite graphs, line graphs, and graphs of bounded treewidth. In particular, we give a linear-size problem kernel for planar graphs.     

Minimum cut bases in undirected networks

Given an undirected, connected network G=(V,E) with weights on the edges, the cut basis problem is asking for a maximal number of linear independent cuts such that the sum of the cut weights is minimized. Surprisingly, this problem has not attained as much attention as another graph theoretic problem closely related to it, namely, the cycle basis problem. We consider two versions of the problem: the unconstrained and the fundamental cut basis problem.For the unconstrained case, where the cuts in the basis can be of an arbitrary kind, the problem can be written as a multiterminal network flow problem, and is thus solvable in strongly polynomial time. In contrast, the fundamental cut basis problem, where all cuts in the basis are obtained by deleting an edge, each from a spanning tree T, is shown to be NP-hard. In this proof, we also show that a tree which induces the minimum fundamental cycle basis is also an optimal solution for the minimum fundamental cut basis problem in unweighted graphs.We present heuristics, integer programming formulations and summarize first experiences with numerical tests.     

Efficient Algorithms for Variants of Weighted Matching and Assignment Problems

Obtaining a matching in a graph satisfying a certain objective is an important class of graph problems. Matching algorithms have received attention for several decades. However, while there are efficient algorithms to obtain a maximum weight matching, not much is known about the maximum weight maximum cardinality, and maximum cardinality maximum weight matching problems for general graphs. Our contribution in this work is to show that for bounded weight input graphs one can obtain an algorithm for both maximum weight maximum cardinality (for real weights), and maximum cardinality maximum weight matching (for integer weights) by modifying the input and running the existing maximum weight matching algorithm. Also, given the current state of the art in maximum weight matching algorithms, we show that, for bounded weight input graphs, both maximum weight maximum cardinality, and maximum cardinality maximum weight matching have algorithms of similar complexities to that of maximum weight matching. Subsequently, we also obtain approximation algorithms for maximum weight maximum cardinality, and maximum cardinality maximum weight matching.      

An algorithm and upper bounds for the weighted maximal planar graph problem

In this paper, we investigate the weighted maximal planar graph (WMPG) problem. Given a complete, edge-weighted, simple graph, the WMPG problem involves finding a subgraph with the highest sum of edge weights that is maximal planar, namely, it can be embedded in the plane without any of its edges intersecting, and no additional edge can be added to the subgraph without violating its planarity. We present a new integer linear programming (ILP) model for this problem. We then develop a cutting-plane algorithm to solve the WMPG problem based on the proposed ILP model. This algorithm enables the problem to be solved more efficiently than previously reported algorithms. New upper bounds are also provided, which are useful in evaluating the quality of heuristic solutions or in generating initial solutions for meta-heuristics. Computational results are reported for a set of 417 test instances of size varying from 6 to 100 nodes including 105 instances from the literature and 312 randomly generated instances. The computational results indicate that instances with up to 24 nodes can be solved optimally in reasonable computational time and the new upper bounds for larger instances significantly improve existing upper bounds.     

优先序约束的排序问题：基于最大匹配的近似算法

本文研究具有加工次序约束的单位工件开放作业和流水作业排序问题,目标函数为极小化工件最大完工时间。工件之间的加工次序约束关系可以用一个被称为优先图的有向无圈图来刻画。当机器数作为输入时,两类问题在一般优先图上都是强NP-困难的,而在入树的优先图上都是可解的。我们利用工件之间的许可对数获得了问题的新下界,并基于许可工件之间的最大匹配设计近似算法,其中匹配的许可工件对均能同时在不同机器上加工。对于一般优先图的开放作业问题和脊柱型优先图的流水作业问题,我们在理论上证明了算法的近似比为$2-\frac 2m$,其中$m$是机器数目。     

优先序约束的排序问题：基于最大匹配的近似算法

本文研究具有加工次序约束的单位工件开放作业和流水作业排序问题，目标函数为极小化工件最大完工时间。工件之间的加工次序约束关系可以用一个被称为优先图的有向无圈图来刻画。当机器数作为输入时，两类问题在一般优先图上都是强NP-困难的，而在入树的优先图上都是可解的。我们利用工件之间的许可对数获得了问题的新下界，并基于许可工件之间的最大匹配设计近似算法，其中匹配的许可工件对均能同时在不同机器上加工。对于一般优先图的开放作业问题和脊柱型优先图的流水作业问题，我们在理论上证明了算法的近似比为$2-\frac 2m$，其中$m$是机器数目。     

Vertex partitions of r-edge-colored graphs

Let G be an edge-colored graph.The monochromatic tree partition problem is to find the minimum number of vertex disjoint monochromatic trees to cover the all vertices of G.In the authors' previous work,it has been proved that the problem is NP-complete and there does not exist any constant factor approximation algorithm for it unless P=NP.In this paper the authors show that for any fixed integer r≥5,if the edges of a graph G are colored by r colors,called an r-edge-colored graph,the problem remains NP-complete.Similar result holds for the monochromatic path(cycle)partition problem.Therefore,to find some classes of interesting graphs for which the problem can be solved in polynomial time seems interesting. A linear time algorithm for the monochromatic path partition problem for edge-colored trees is given.