On the inverse problem of minimum spanning tree with partition constraints

In this paper we first discuss the properties of minimum spanning tree and minimum spanning tree with partition constraints. We then concentrate on the inverse problem of minimum spanning tree with partition constraints in which we need to adjust the weights of the edges in a network as less as possible so that a given spanning tree becomes the minimum one among all spanning trees that satisfy the partition restriction. Based on the calculation of maximum cost flow in networks, we propose a strongly polynomial algorithm for solving the problem.The author gratefully acknowledges the partial support of Croucher Foundation.     

A Benders decomposition approach for the robust spanning tree problem with interval data

The robust spanning tree problem is a variation, motivated by telecommunications applications, of the classic minimum spanning tree problem. In the robust spanning tree problem edge costs lie in an interval instead of having a fixed value.Interval numbers model uncertainty about the exact cost values. A robust spanning tree is a spanning tree whose total cost minimizes the maximum deviation from the optimal spanning tree over all realizations of the edge costs. This robustness concept is formalized in mathematical terms and is used to drive optimization.This paper describes a new exact method, based on Benders decomposition, for the robust spanning tree problem with interval data. Computational results highlight the efficiency of the new method, which is shown to be very fast on all the benchmarks considered, and in particular on those that were harder to solve for the methods previously known.     

A branch and bound algorithm for the robust spanning tree problem with interval data

The robust spanning tree problem is a variation, motivated by telecommunications applications, of the classic minimum spanning tree problem. In the robust spanning tree problem edge costs lie in an interval instead of having a fixed value.Interval numbers model uncertainty about the exact cost values. A robust spanning tree is a spanning tree whose total cost minimizes the maximum deviation from the optimal spanning tree over all realizations of the edge costs. This robustness concept is formalized in mathematical terms and is used to drive optimization.In this paper a branch and bound algorithm for the robust spanning tree problem is proposed. The method embeds the extension of some results previously presented in the literature and some new elements, such as a new lower bound and some new reduction rules, all based on the exploitation of some peculiarities of the branching strategy adopted.Computational results obtained by the algorithm are presented. The technique we propose is up to 210 faster than methods recently appeared in the literature.     

On Minimum Edge Ranking Spanning Trees

In this paper, we introduce the problem of computing a minimum edge ranking spanning tree (MERST); i.e., find a spanning tree of a given graph G whose edge ranking is minimum. Although the minimum edge ranking of a given tree can be computed in polynomial time, we show that problem MERST is NP-hard. Furthermore, we present an approximation algorithm for MERST, which realizes its worst case performance ratio where n is the number of vertices in G and Δ* is the maximum degree of a spanning tree whose maximum degree is minimum. Although the approximation algorithm is a combination of two existing algorithms for the restricted spanning tree problem and for the minimum edge ranking problem of trees, the analysis is based on novel properties of the edge ranking of trees.     

一些图的生成树数

图 G 的生成树是它的连通子图(子树).本文精确地计算出了一些图的生成树的数目, 例如双心轮图、双柄扇图等等.     

Three-person spanning tree games

There are many situations where allocation of costs among the users of a minimum spanning tree network is a problem of concern. In [1], formulation of this problem as a game theoretic model, spanning tree games, has been considered. It is well known that st games have nonempty cores. Many researchers have studied other solutions related to st games. In this paper, we study three-person st games. Various properties connected to the convexity or no-convexity, and τ-value is studied. A characterization of the core and geometric interpretation is given. In special cases, the nucleolus of the game is given.     

Optimality conditions in preference-based spanning tree problems

Spanning tree problems defined in a preference-based environment are addressed. In this approach, optimality conditions for the minimum-weight spanning tree problem (MST) are generalized for use with other, more general preference orders. The main goal of this paper is to determine which properties of the preference relations are sufficient to assure that the set of ‘most-preferred’ trees is the set of spanning trees verifying the optimality conditions. Finally, algorithms for the construction of the set of spanning trees fulfilling the optimality conditions are designed, improving the methods in previous papers.     

Spanning trees in hyperbolic graphs

We construct spanning trees in locally finite hyperbolic graphs that represent their hyperbolic compactification in a good way: so that the tree has at least one but at most a bounded number of disjoint rays to each boundary point. As a corollary we extend a result of Gromov which says that from every hyperbolic graph with bounded degrees one can construct a tree (disjoint from the graph) with a continuous surjection from the ends of the tree onto the hyperbolic boundary such that the surjection is finite-to-one. We shall construct a tree with these properties as a subgraph of the hyperbolic graph, which in addition is also a spanning tree of that graph.     

几乎无爪图的叶子数较少的生成树

A spanning tree with no more than 3 leaves is called a spanning 3-ended tree.In this paper, we prove that if G is a k-connected(k ≥ 2) almost claw-free graph of order n and σ_(k+3)(G) ≥ n + k + 2, then G contains a spanning 3-ended tree, where σk(G) =min{∑_(v∈S)deg(v) : S is an independent set of G with |S| = k}.     

Spanning Trees with a Bounded Number of Branch Vertices in a Claw-Free Graph

Let k be a non-negative integer. A branch vertex of a tree is a vertex of degree at least three. We show two sufficient conditions for a connected claw-free graph to have a spanning tree with a bounded number of branch vertices: (i) A connected claw-free graph has a spanning tree with at most k branch vertices if its independence number is at most 2k + 2. (ii) A connected claw-free graph of order n has a spanning tree with at most one branch vertex if the degree sum of any five independent vertices is at least n ? 2. These conditions are best possible. A related conjecture also is proposed.     

The spanning trees forced by the path and the star

A set S of trees of order n forces a tree T if every graph having each tree in S as a spanning tree must also have T as a spanning tree. A spanning tree forcing set for order n that forces every tree of order n. A spanning-tree forcing set S is a test set for panarboreal graphs, since a graph of order n is panarboreal if and only if it has all of the trees in S as spanning trees. For each positive integer n ≠ 1, the star belongs to every spanning tree forcing set for order n. The main results of this paper are a proof that the path belongs to every spanning-tree forcing set for each order n ∉ {1, 6, 7, 8} and a computationally tractable characterization of the trees of order n ≥ 15 forced by the path and the star. Corollaries of those results include a construction of many trees that do not belong to any minimal spanning tree forcing set for orders n ≥ 15 and a proof that the following related decision problem is NP-complete: an instance is a pair (G, T) consisting of a graph G of order n and maximum degree n - 1 with a hamiltonian path, and a tree T of order n; the problem is to determine whether T is a spanning tree of G. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

A new rule for source connection problems

In this paper we study situations where a group of agents require a service that can only be provided from a source, the so-called source connection problems. These problems contain the standard fixed tree, the classical minimum spanning tree and some other related problems such as the k-hop, the degree constrained and the generalized minimum spanning tree problems among others. Our goal is to divide the cost of a network among the agents. To this end, we introduce a rule which will be referred to as a painting rule because it can be interpreted by means of a story about painting. Some meaningful properties in this context and a characterization of the rule are provided.     

Greedy Randomized Adaptive Search and Variable Neighbourhood Search for the minimum labelling spanning tree problem

This paper studies heuristics for the minimum labelling spanning tree (MLST) problem. The purpose is to find a spanning tree using edges that are as similar as possible. Given an undirected labelled connected graph, the minimum labelling spanning tree problem seeks a spanning tree whose edges have the smallest number of distinct labels. This problem has been shown to be NP-hard. A Greedy Randomized Adaptive Search Procedure (GRASP) and a Variable Neighbourhood Search (VNS) are proposed in this paper. They are compared with other algorithms recommended in the literature: the Modified Genetic Algorithm and the Pilot Method. Nonparametric statistical tests show that the heuristics based on GRASP and VNS outperform the other algorithms tested. Furthermore, a comparison with the results provided by an exact approach shows that we may quickly obtain optimal or near-optimal solutions with the proposed heuristics.     

“Optimistic” weighted Shapley rules in minimum cost spanning tree problems

We introduce optimistic weighted Shapley rules in minimum cost spanning tree problems. We define them as the weighted Shapley values of the optimistic game v⁺ introduced in Bergantiños and Vidal-Puga [Bergantiños, G., Vidal-Puga, J.J., forthcoming. The optimistic TU game in minimum cost spanning tree problems. International Journal of Game Theory. Available from: <http://webs.uvigo.es/gbergant/papers/cstShapley.pdf>]. We prove that they are obligation rules [Tijs, S., Branzei, R., Moretti, S., Norde, H., 2006. Obligation rules for minimum cost spanning tree situations and their monotonicity properties. European Journal of Operational Research 175, 121–134].     

A vertex oriented approach to the equal remaining obligations rule for minimum cost spanning tree situations

In this paper, we consider spanning tree situations, where players want to be connected to a source as cheap as possible. These situations involve the construction of a spanning tree with the minimum cost as well as the allocation of the cost of this minimum cost spanning tree among its users in a fair way. Feltkamp, Muto and Tijs 1994 introduced the equal remaining obligations rule to solve the cost allocation problem in these situations. Recently, it has been shown that the equal remaining obligations rule satisfies many appealing properties and can be obtained with different approaches. In this paper, we provide a new approach to obtain the equal remaining obligations rule. Specifically, we show that the equal remaining obligations rule can be obtained as the average of the cost allocations provided by a vertex oriented construct-and-charge procedure for each order of players.     

Minimum congestion spanning trees in bipartite and random graphs

The first problem considered in this article reads: is it possible to find upper estimates for the spanning tree congestion in bipartite graphs, which are better than those for general graphs? It is proved that there exists a bipartite version of the known graph with spanning tree congestion of order n 3 2 , where n is the number of vertices. The second problem is to estimate spanning tree congestion of random graphs. It is proved that the standard model of random graphs cannot be used to find graphs whose spanning tree congestion has order greater than n 3 2 .     

On homeomorphically irreducible spanning trees in cubic graphs

A spanning tree without a vertex of degree two is called a HIST, which is an abbreviation for homeomorphically irreducible spanning tree. We provide a necessary condition for the existence of a HIST in a cubic graph. As one consequence, we answer affirmatively an open question on HISTs by Albertson, Berman, Hutchinson, and Thomassen. We also show several results on the existence of HISTs in plane and toroidal cubic graphs.     

Minimum Spanning Table and Optimal Expansion of Competence Set

Each directed graph with asymmetric costs defined over its arcs can be represented by a matrix or table, called an expansion table. We explore first the basic properties of cycles and spanning tables of expansion tables, which correspond to the cycles and spanning trees of the directed graph. Then, we derive an algorithm to find a minimum spanning table which corresponds to a minimum spanning tree in the directed graph. Finally, we discuss how to use the algorithm to find the optimal competence set expansion and also discuss related problems.     

Spanning trees of extended graphs

A generalization of the Prüfer coding of trees is given providing a natural correspondence between the set of codes of spanning trees of a graph and the set of codes of spanning trees of theextension of the graph. This correspondence prompts us to introduce and to investigate a notion ofthe spanning tree volume of a graph and provides a simple relation between the volumes of a graph and its extension (and in particular a simple relation between the spanning tree numbers of a graph and its uniform extension). These results can be used to obtain simple purely combinatorial proofs of many previous results obtained by the Matrix-tree theorem on the number of spanning trees of a graph. The results also make it possible to construct graphs with the maximal number of spanning trees in some classes of graphs.     

Spanning Trees Crossing Few Barriers

We consider the problem of finding low-cost spanning trees for sets of $n$ points in the plane, where the cost of a spanning tree is defined as the total number of intersections of tree edges with a given set of $m$ barriers. We obtain the following results: (i) if the barriers are possibly intersecting line segments, then there is always a spanning tree of cost $O(\min(m^2,m\sqrt{n}))$; (ii) if the barriers are disjoint line segments, then there is always a spanning tree of cost $O(m)$; (iii) ] if the barriers are disjoint convex objects, then there is always a spanning tree of cost $O(n+m)$. All our bounds are worst-case optimal, up to multiplicative constants.