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Given a directed graph G and an arc weight function w : E(G) → R+, the maximum directed cut problem (max dicut) is that of finding a directed cut δ(X) with maximum total weight. In this paper we consider a version of max dicut--max dicut with given sizes of parts or max dicut with gsp--whose instance is that of max dicut plus a positive integer p, and it is required to find a directed cut δ(X) having maximum weight over all cuts δ(X) with |X| = p. Our main result is a 0.5-approximation algorithm for solving the problem. The algorithm is based on a tricky application of the pipage rounding technique developed in some earlier papers by two of the authors and a remarkable structural property of basic solutions to a linear relaxation. The property is that each component of any basic solution is an element of a set {0,δ, 1/2, 1 - δ, 1}, where δ is a constant that satisfies 0 < δ < 1/2 and is the same for all components. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the (k, λ)-subgraph problem, we are given an undirected graph G = (V, E) with edge costs and two positive integers k and λ, and the goal is to find a minimum cost simple λ-edge-connected subgraph of G with at least k nodes. This generalizes several classical problems, such as the minimum cost k-spanning tree problem, or k-MST (which is a (k, 1)-subgraph), and the minimum cost λ-edge-connected spanning subgraph (which is a (|V(G)|, λ-subgraph). The only previously known results on this problem [L. C. Lau, J. S. Naor, M. R. Salavatipour, and M. Singh, SIAM J. Comput., 39 (2009), pp. 1062-1087], [C. Chekuri and N. Korula, in Proceedings of the IARCS Annual Conference on Foundations of Software Technology and Theoretical Computer Science (FSTTCS), Bangalore, India, LIPIcs 2, Schloss Dagstuhl--Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik, Dagstuhl, Germany, 2008, pp. 119-130] show that the (k, 2)-subgraph problem has an O(log² n)-approximation (even for 2-node-connectivity) and that the (k, λ)-subgraph problem in general is almost as hard as the densest k-subgraph problem. In this paper we show that if the edge costs are metric (i.e., satisfy the triangle in equality), like in the k-MST problem, then there is an O(1)-approximation algorithm for the (k, λ)-subgraph problem. This essentially generalizes the k-MST constant factor approximability to higher connectivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, D. Corneil found a simple 3-sweep lexicographic breadth first search (LexBFS) algorithm for the recognition of proper interval graphs. We point out how to modify Corneil's algorithm to make it a certifying algorithm, and then describe a similar certifying 3-sweep LexBFS algorithm for the recognition of proper interval bigraphs. It follows from an earlier paper that the class of proper interval bigraphs is equal to the better known class of bipartite permutation graphs, and so we have a certifying algorithm for that class as well. All our algorithms run in time O(m+n), including the certification phase. The certificates of representability (the intervals) can be authenticated in time O(m + n). The certificates of nonrepresentability (the forbidden subgraphs) can be authenticated in time O(n). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Splitting off two edges su, sv in a graph G means deleting su, sv and adding a new edge uv. Let G = (V + s, E) be k-edge-connected in V (k ≥ 2) and let d(s) be even. Lovász proved that the edges incident to s can be split off in pairs in a such a way that the resulting graph on vertex set V is k-edge-connected. In this paper we investigate the existence of such complete splitting sequences when the set of split edges has to meet additional requirements. We prove structural properties of the set of those pairs u, v of neighbors of s for which splitting off su, sv destroys k-edge-connectivity. This leads to a new method for solving problems of this type. By applying this method we obtain a short proof for a recent result of Nagamochi and Eades on planarity-preserving complete splitting sequences and prove the following new results: let G and H be two graphs on the same set V + s of vertices and suppose that their sets of edges incident to s coincide. Let G (H) be k-edge-connected (l-edge-connected, respectively) in V (k, l ≥ 2) and let d(s) be even. Then there exists a pair su, sv which can be split off in both graphs preserving k-edge-connectivity in G (l-edge-connectivity in H, respectively), provided d(s) ≥ 6. If k and l are both even, then such a pair always exists. By using these edge-splitting results and the polymatroid intersection theorem we give a polynomial algorithm for the problem of simultaneously augmenting the edge-connectivity of two graphs by adding a (common) set of new edges of (almost) minimum size. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consider the 2n (or O(n²)) min-cut problems on a graph with n nodes and nonnegative edge weights. Gomory and Hu [J. Soc. Indust. Appl. Math., 9 (1961), pp. 551–570] showed (essentially) that there are at most n-1 different min-cuts. They also described a compact structure (the flow equivalent tree) of size O(n) with the following property: for any pair of nodes, the value of a min-cut can be obtained from this structure. Furthermore, they showed how this structure can be found by solving only n - 1 min-cut problems. This paper contains generalizations of these results. For example, consider a k-terminal cut problem on a graph: for a given set of k nodes, delete a minimum weight set of edges (called a k-cut) so that each of the k nodes is in a different component. There are kn (or O(nk)) such problems. Hassin [Math. Oper. Res., 13 (1988), pp. 535–542] showed (essentially) that there are at most k-1n-1 (or O(nk-1)) different min k-cuts. We describe a compact structure of size O(nk-1) with the following property: for any k nodes, the value of a min k-cut can be obtained from this structure. We also show how this structure can be found by solving only k-1n-1 k-terminal cut problems. This work builds upon the results of Hassin [Math. Oper. Res., 13 (1988), pp. 535–542], [Oper. Res. Lett., 9 (1990), pp. 315–318], and [Lecture Notes in Comput. Sci. 450, 1990, pp. 228–299]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we describe new constructions for de Bruijn sequences and Perfect Factors. These constructions are all based upon the idea of constructing one sequence (or set of sequences) from another. As a result of this fact, the sequences obtained from these construction methods possess simple decoding algorithms based on decoding the sequences used to construct them. Such decoding algorithms are of importance in position-location applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]