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Let G be a minor-closed graph class and let G be an n-vertex graph. We say that G is a k-apex of G if G contains a set S of at most k vertices such that G⧵S belongs to G. Our first result is an algorithm that decides whether G is a k-apex of G in time 2^poly(k)⋅n². This algorithm improves the previous one, given by Sau, Stamoulis, and Thilikos [ICALP 2020, TALG 2022], whose running time was 2^poly(k)⋅n³. The elimination distance of G to G, denoted by ed_G(G), is the minimum number of rounds required to reduce each connected component of G to a graph in G by removing one vertex from each connected component in each round. Bulian and Dawar [Algorithmica 2017] proved the existence of an FPT-algorithm, with parameter k, to decide whether ed_G(G) ≤ k. This algorithm is based on the computability of the minor-obstructions and its dependence on k is not explicit. We extend the techniques used in the first algorithm to decide whether ed_G(G) ≤ k in time 2^{2^{2^poly(k)}}⋅n². This is the first algorithm for this problem with an explicit parametric dependence in k. In the special case where G excludes some apex-graph as a minor, we give two alternative algorithms, one running in time 2^{2^O(k²log k)}⋅n² and one running in time 2^{poly(k)}⋅n³. As a stepping stone for these algorithms, we provide an algorithm that decides whether ed_G(G) ≤ k in time 2^O(tw⋅ k + tw log tw)⋅n, where tw is the treewidth of G. This algorithm combines the dynamic programming framework of Reidl, Rossmanith, Villaamil, and Sikdar [ICALP 2014] for the particular case where G contains only the empty graph (i.e., for treedepth) with the representative-based techniques introduced by Baste, Sau, and Thilikos [SODA 2020]. In all the algorithmic complexities above, poly is a polynomial function whose degree depends on G, while the hidden constants also depend on G. Finally, we provide explicit upper bounds on the size of the graphs in the minor-obstruction set of the class of graphs E_k(G) = {G ∣ ed_G(G) ≤ k}., LIPIcs, Vol. 261, 50th International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2023), pages 93:1-93:19

We introduce the following submodular generalization of the Shortest Cycle problem. For a nonnegative monotone submodular cost function $f$ defined on the edges (or the vertices) of an undirected graph $G$, we seek for a cycle $C$ in $G$ of minimum cost $\textsf{OPT}=f(C)$. We give an algorithm that given an $n$-vertex graph $G$, parameter $\varepsilon > 0$, and the function $f$ represented by an oracle, in time $n^{\mathcal{O}(\log 1/\varepsilon)}$ finds a cycle $C$ in $G$ with $f(C)\leq (1+\varepsilon)\cdot \textsf{OPT}$. This is in sharp contrast with the non-approximability of the closely related Monotone Submodular Shortest $(s,t)$-Path problem, which requires exponentially many queries to the oracle for finding an $n^{2/3-\varepsilon}$-approximation [Goel et al., FOCS 2009]. We complement our algorithm with a matching lower bound. We show that for every $\varepsilon > 0$, obtaining a $(1+\varepsilon)$-approximation requires at least $n^{Ω(\log 1/ \varepsilon)}$ queries to the oracle. When the function $f$ is integer-valued, our algorithm yields that a cycle of cost $\textsf{OPT}$ can be found in time $n^{\mathcal{O}(\log \textsf{OPT})}$. In particular, for $\textsf{OPT}=n^{\mathcal{O}(1)}$ this gives a quasipolynomial-time algorithm computing a cycle of minimum submodular cost. Interestingly, while a quasipolynomial-time algorithm often serves as a good indication that a polynomial time complexity could be achieved, we show a lower bound that $n^{\mathcal{O}(\log n)}$ queries are required even when $\textsf{OPT} = \mathcal{O}(n)$., 17 pages, 1 figure. Accepted to SODA 2023

A linkage in a graph $G$ of size $k$ is a subgraph $L$ of $G$ whose connected components are $k$ paths. The pattern of a linkage of size $k$ is the set of $k$ pairs formed by the endpoints of these paths. A consequence of the Unique Linkage Theorem is the following: there exists a function $f:\mathbb{N}\to\mathbb{N}$ such that if a plane graph $G$ contains a sequence $\mathcal{C}$ of at least $f(k)$ nested cycles and a linkage of size at most $k$ whose pattern vertices lay outside the outer cycle of $\mathcal{C},$ then $G$ contains a linkage with the same pattern avoiding the inner cycle of $\mathcal{C}$. In this paper we prove the following variant of this result: Assume that all the cycles in $\mathcal{C}$ are "orthogonally" traversed by a linkage $P$ and $L$ is a linkage whose pattern vertices may lay either outside the outer cycle or inside the inner cycle of $\mathcal{C}:=[C_{1},\ldots,C_{p},\ldots,C_{2p-1}]$. We prove that there are two functions $g,f:\mathbb{N}\to\mathbb{N}$, such that if $L$ has size at most $k$, $P$ has size at least $f(k),$ and $|\mathcal{C}|\geq g(k)$, then there is a linkage with the same pattern as $L$ that is "internally combed" by $P$, in the sense that $L\cap C_{p}\subseteq P\cap C_{p}$. In fact, we prove this result in the most general version where the linkage $L$ is $s$-scattered: no two vertices of distinct paths of $L$ are within distance at most $s$. We deduce several variants of this result in the cases where $s=0$ and $s>0$. These variants permit the application of the unique linkage theorem on several path routing problems on embedded graphs., This is an extension of the combinatorial results appeared in [Petr A. Golovach, Giannos Stamoulis, Dimitrios M. Thilikos: Hitting Topological Minor Models in Planar Graphs is Fixed Parameter Tractable. SODA 2020: 931-950]. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1907.02919

We introduce a novel model-theoretic framework inspired from graph modification and based on the interplay between model theory and algorithmic graph minors. The core of our framework is a new compound logic operating with two types of sentences, expressing graph modification: the modulator sentence, defining some property of the modified part of the graph, and the target sentence, defining some property of the resulting graph. In our framework, modulator sentences are in counting monadic second-order logic (CMSOL) and have models of bounded treewidth, while target sentences express first-order logic (FOL) properties along with minor-exclusion. Our logic captures problems that are not definable in first-order logic and, moreover, may have instances of unbounded treewidth. Also, it permits the modeling of wide families of problems involving vertex/edge removals, alternative modulator measures (such as elimination distance or G-treewidth), multistage modifications, and various cut problems. Our main result is that, for this compound logic, model-checking can be done in quadratic time. All derived algorithms are constructive and this, as a byproduct, extends the constructibility horizon of the algorithmic applications of the Graph Minors theorem of Robertson and Seymour. The proposed logic can be seen as a general framework to capitalize on the potential of the irrelevant vertex technique. It gives a way to deal with problem instances of unbounded treewidth, for which Courcelle’s theorem does not apply., LIPIcs, Vol. 261, 50th International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2023), pages 61:1-61:21

We introduce a supporting combinatorial framework for the Flat Wall Theorem. In particular, we suggest two variants of the theorem and we introduce a new, more versatile, concept of wall homogeneity as well as the notion of regularity in flat walls. All proposed concepts and results aim at facilitating the use of the irrelevant vertex technique in future algorithmic applications., arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2004.12692

A graph is called a pseudoforest if none of its connected components contains more than one cycle. A graph is an apex-pseudoforest if it can become a pseudoforest by removing one of its vertices. We identify 33 graphs that form the minor obstruction set of the class of apex-pseudoforests, i.e., the set of all minor-minimal graphs that are not apex-pseudoforests. (C) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

International audience; Let G be a graph class. We say that a graph G is a k-apex of G if G contains a set S of at most k vertices such that G \ S belongs to G. We prove that if G is minor-closed, then there is an algorithm that either returns a set S certifying that G is a k-apex of G or reports that such a set does not exist, in 2 poly(k) n 3 time. Here poly is a polynomial function whose degree depends on the maximum size of a minor-obstruction of G, i.e., the minor-minimal set of graphs not belonging to G. In the special case where G excludes some apex graph as a minor, we give an alternative algorithm running in 2 poly(k) n 2 time.

The Disjoint Paths problem asks whether a fixed number of pairs of terminals in a graph $G$ can be linked by pairwise disjoint paths. In the context of this problem, Robertson and Seymour introduced the celebrated irrelevant vertex technique that has since become standard in graph algorithms. The technique consists of detecting a vertex that is irrelevant in the sense that its removal creates an equivalent instance of the problem. That way, one may solve the problem in $O(n^2)$ steps, as the detection of an irrelevant vertex takes $O(n)$ time and at most $n$ vertices may need to be removed. In this paper we study the Planar Disjoint Paths problem where the input graph is planar. We introduce an extension of the irrelevant vertex technique where all the irrelevant vertices are removed simultaneously so that an instance of the Planar Disjoint Paths problem can be transformed in a linear number of steps to an equivalent one that has bounded treewidth. As a consequence, the Planar Disjoint Paths problem can be solved in linear time for every fixed number of terminals., These results are subsumed to a large extent by existing literature

A graph is called a pseudoforest if none of its connected components contains more than one cycle. A graph is an apex-pseudoforest if it can become a pseudoforest by removing one of its vertices. We identify 33 graphs that form the minor-obstruction set of the class of apex-pseudoforests, i.e., the set of all minor-minimal graphs that are not apex-pseudoforests.