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In this paper we consider a colouring version of the general position problem. The \emph{$\gp $-chromatic number} is the smallest number of colours needed to colour $V(G)$ such that each colour class has the no-three-in-line property. We determine bounds on this colouring number in terms of the diameter, general position number, size, chromatic number, cochromatic number and total domination number and prove realisation results. We also determine it for several graph classes, including Kneser graphs $K(n,2)$, line graphs of complete graphs, complete multipartite graphs, block graphs and Cartesian products. We also show that the $\gp $-colouring problem is NP-complete.

Visibility problems have been investigated for a long time under different assumptions as they pose challenging combinatorial problems and are connected to robot navigation problems. The mutual-visibility problem in a graph $G$ of $n$ vertices asks to find the largest set of vertices $X\subseteq V(G)$, also called $\mu$-set, such that for any two vertices $u,v\in X$, there is a shortest $u,v$-path $P$ where all internal vertices of $P$ are not in $X$. This means that $u$ and $v$ are visible w.r.t. $X$. Variations of this problem are known as total, outer, and dual mutual-visibility problems, depending on the visibility property of vertices inside and/or outside $X$. The mutual-visibility problem and all its variations are known to be $\mathsf{NP}$-complete on graphs of diameter $4$. In this paper, we design a polynomial-time algorithm that finds a $\mu$-set with size $\Omega\left( \sqrt{n/ \overline{D}} \right)$, where $\overline D$ is the average distance between any two vertices of $G$. Moreover, we show inapproximability results for all visibility problems on graphs of diameter $2$ and strengthen the inapproximability ratios for graphs of diameter $3$ or larger. More precisely, for graphs of diameter at least $3$ and for every constant $\varepsilon > 0$, we show that mutual-visibility and dual mutual-visibility problems are not approximable within a factor of $n^{1/3-\varepsilon}$, while outer and total mutual-visibility problems are not approximable within a factor of $n^{1/2 - \varepsilon}$, unless $\mathsf{P}=\mathsf{NP}$. Furthermore we study the relationship between the mutual-visibility number and the general position number in which no three distinct vertices $u,v,w$ of $X$ belong to any shortest path of $G$.

For a set of robots (or agents) moving in a graph, two properties are highly desirable: confidentiality (i.e., a message between two agents must not pass through any intermediate agent) and efficiency (i.e., messages are delivered through shortest paths). These properties can be obtained if the \textsc{Geodesic Mutual Visibility} (GMV, for short) problem is solved: oblivious robots move along the edges of the graph, without collisions, to occupy some vertices that guarantee they become pairwise geodesic mutually visible. This means there is a shortest path (i.e., a ``geodesic'') between each pair of robots along which no other robots reside. In this work, we optimally solve GMV on finite hexagonal grids $G_k$. This, in turn, requires first solving a graph combinatorial problem, i.e. determining the maximum number of mutually visible vertices in $G_k$., Comment: 24 pages, 13 figures

The mutual-visibility problem in a graph $G$ asks for the cardinality of a largest set of vertices $S\subseteq V(G)$ so that for any two vertices $x,y\in S$ there is a shortest $x,y$-path $P$ so that all internal vertices of $P$ are not in $S$. This is also said as $x,y$ are visible with respect to $S$, or $S$-visible for short. Variations of this problem are known, based on the extension of the visibility property of vertices that are in and/or outside $S$. Such variations are called total, outer and dual mutual-visibility problems. This work is focused on studying the corresponding four visibility parameters in graphs of diameter two, throughout showing bounds and/or closed formulae for these parameters. The mutual-visibility problem in the Cartesian product of two complete graphs is equivalent to (an instance of) the celebrated Zarankievicz's problem. Here we study the dual and outer mutual-visibility problem for the Cartesian product of two complete graphs and all the mutual-visibility problems for the direct product of such graphs as well. We also study all the mutual-visibility problems for the line graphs of complete and complete bipartite graphs. As a consequence of this study, we present several relationships between the mentioned problems and some instances of the classical Tur\'an problem. Moreover, we study the visibility problems for cographs and several non-trivial diameter-two graphs of minimum size., Comment: 23 pages, 4 figures

Let $G$ be a graph and $X\subseteq V(G)$. Then, vertices $x$ and $y$ of $G$ are $X$-visible if there exists a shortest $u,v$-path where no internal vertices belong to $X$. The set $X$ is a mutual-visibility set of $G$ if every two vertices of $X$ are $X$-visible, while $X$ is a total mutual-visibility set if any two vertices from $V(G)$ are $X$-visible. The cardinality of a largest mutual-visibility set (resp. total mutual-visibility set) is the mutual-visibility number (resp. total mutual-visibility number) $\mu(G)$ (resp. $\mu_t(G)$) of $G$. It is known that computing $\mu(G)$ is an NP-complete problem, as well as $\mu_t(G)$. In this paper, we study the (total) mutual-visibility in hypercube-like networks (namely, hypercubes, cube-connected cycles, and butterflies). Concerning computing $\mu(G)$, we provide approximation algorithms for both hypercubes and cube-connected cycles, while we give an exact formula for butterflies. Concerning computing $\mu_t(G)$ (in the literature, already studied in hypercubes), we provide exact formulae for both cube-connected cycles and butterflies., Comment: 19 pages, 8 figures

The \textsc{Mutual Visibility} is a well-known problem in the context of mobile robots. For a set of $n$ robots disposed in the Euclidean plane, it asks for moving the robots without collisions so as to achieve a placement ensuring that no three robots are collinear. For robots moving on graphs, we consider the \textsc{Geodesic Mutual Visibility} ($\GMV$) problem. Robots move along the edges of the graph, without collisions, so as to occupy some vertices that guarantee they become pairwise geodesic mutually visible. This means that there is a shortest path (i.e., a "geodesic") between each pair of robots along which no other robots reside. We study this problem in the context of finite and infinite square grids, for robots operating under the standard Look-Compute-Move model. In both scenarios, we provide resolution algorithms along with formal correctness proofs, highlighting the most relevant peculiarities arising within the different contexts, while optimizing the time complexity., Comment: 28 pages, 9 figures. To appear in the proceedings of the 25th International Symposium on Stabilization, Safety, and Security of Distributed Systems (SSS 2023), Institute for Future Technologies, Jersey City, New Jersey, USA, October 2-4, 2023

The concept of mutual-visibility in graphs has been recently introduced. If $X$ is a subset of vertices of a graph $G$, then vertices $u$ and $v$ are $X$-visible if there exists a shortest $u,v$-path $P$ such that $V(P)\cap X \subseteq \{u, v\}$. If every two vertices from $X$ are $X$-visible, then $X$ is a mutual-visibility set. The mutual-visibility number of $G$ is the cardinality of a largest mutual-visibility set of $G$. It is known that computing the mutual-visibility number of a graph is NP-complete, whereas it has been shown that there are exact formulas for special graph classes like paths, cycles, blocks, cographs, and grids. In this paper, we study the mutual-visibility in distance-hereditary graphs and show that the mutual-visibility number can be computed in linear time for this class., Comment: 16 pages, 5 figures, a preliminary version will appear on the proc. of the XII Latin and American Algorithms, Graphs and Optimization Symposium, {LAGOS} 2023, Huatulco, Mexico, September 18-22, 2023. Procedia Computer Science, Elsevier

A subset $S$ of vertices of a graph $G$ is a \emph{general position set} if no shortest path in $G$ contains three or more vertices of $S$. In this paper, we generalise a problem of M. Gardner to graph theory by introducing the \emph{lower general position number} $\gp ^-(G)$ of $G$, which is the number of vertices in a smallest maximal general position set of $G$. We show that ${\rm gp}^-(G) = 2$ if and only if $G$ contains a universal line and determine this number for several classes of graphs, including Kneser graphs $K(n,2)$, line graphs of complete graphs, and Cartesian and direct products of two complete graphs. We also prove several realisation results involving the lower general position number, the general position number and the geodetic number, and compare it with the lower version of the monophonic position number. We provide a sharp upper bound on the size of graphs with given lower general position number. Finally we demonstrate that the decision version of the lower general position problem is NP-complete.

If $X$ is a subset of vertices of a graph $G$, then vertices $u$ and $v$ are $X$-visible if there exists a shortest $u,v$-path $P$ such that $V(P)\cap X \subseteq \{u,v\}$. If each two vertices from $X$ are $X$-visible, then $X$ is a mutual-visibility set. The mutual-visibility number of $G$ is the cardinality of a largest mutual-visibility set of $G$ and has been already investigated. In this paper a variety of mutual-visibility problems is introduced based on which natural pairs of vertices are required to be $X$-visible. This yields the total, the dual, and the outer mutual-visibility numbers. We first show that these graph invariants are related to each other and to the classical mutual-visibility number, and then we prove that the three newly introduced mutual-visibility problems are computationally difficult. According to this result, we compute or bound their values for several graphs classes that include for instance grid graphs and tori. We conclude the study by presenting some inter-comparison between the values of such parameters, which is based on the computations we made for some specific families., Comment: 23 pages, 4 figures, original paper

Let $G$ be a graph and $X\subseteq V(G)$. Then $X$ is a mutual-visibility set if each pair of vertices from $X$ is connected by a geodesic with no internal vertex in $X$. The mutual-visibility number $\mu(G)$ of $G$ is the cardinality of a largest mutual-visibility set. In this paper, the mutual-visibility number of strong product graphs is investigated. As a tool for this, total mutual-visibility sets are introduced. Along the way, basic properties of such sets are presented. The (total) mutual-visibility number of strong products is bounded from below in two ways, and determined exactly for strong grids of arbitrary dimension. Strong prisms are studied separately and a couple of tight bounds for their mutual-visibility number are given.

In this paper we generalise the notion of visibility from a point in an integer lattice to the setting of graph theory. For a vertex $x$ of a connected graph $G$, we say that a set $S \subseteq V(G)$ is an \emph{$x$-position set} if for any $y \in S$ the shortest $x,y$-paths in $G$ contain no point of $S\setminus \{ y\}$. We investigate the largest and smallest orders of maximum $x$-position sets in graphs, determining these numbers for common classes of graphs and giving bounds in terms of the girth, vertex degrees, diameter and radius. Finally we discuss the complexity of finding maximum vertex position sets in graphs., Comment: A new author added. A result on Kneser graphs has been inserted and the bound for vp^- for triangle-free graphs corrected

The severity of wildfires can be mitigated adopting preventive measures like the construction of firebreaks that are strips of land from which the vegetation is completely removed. In this paper, we model the problem of wildfire containment as an optimization problem on infinite graphs called Infinite Windy Firebreak Location. A land of unknown extension is modeled as an infinite undirected graph in which the vertices correspond to areas subject to fire and edges represent the propagation of fire from an area to another. The construction of a firebreak on the territory is modeled as the removal of edges in both directions between two vertices. The number of firebreaks that can be installed depends on budget constraints. We assume that fire ignites in a subset of vertices and propagates to the neighbours. The goal is to select a subset of edges to remove in order to contain the fire and avoid burning an infinite part of the graph. We prove that Infinite Windy Firebreak Location is coNP-complete in restricted cases and we address some polynomial cases. We show that Infinite Windy Firebreak Location polynomially reduces to Min Cut for certain classes of graphs like infinite grid graphs and polyomino-grids., Comment: 18 pages

The general position problem for graphs was inspired by the no-three-in-line problem from discrete geometry. A set $S$ of vertices of a graph $G$ is a \emph{general position set} if no shortest path in $G$ contains three or more vertices of $S$. The \emph{general position number} of $G$ is the number of vertices in a largest general position set. In this paper we investigate the general position numbers of the Mycielskian of graphs. We give tight upper and lower bounds on the general position number of the Mycielskian of a graph $G$ and investigate the structure of the graphs meeting these bounds. We determine this number exactly for common classes of graphs, including cubic graphs and a wide range of trees., Comment: To appear in Discrete Applied Mathematics

Given a graph $G=(V(G), E(G))$ and a set $P\subseteq V(G)$, the following concepts have been recently introduced: $(i)$ two elements of $P$ are \emph{mutually visible} if there is a shortest path between them without further elements of $P$; $(ii)$ $P$ is a \emph{mutual-visibility set} if its elements are pairwise mutually visible; $(iii)$ the \emph{mutual-visibility number} of $G$ is the size of any largest mutual-visibility set. % In this work we continue to investigate about these concepts. We first focus on mutual-visibility in Cartesian products. For this purpose, too, we introduce and investigate independent mutual-visibility sets. In the very special case of the Cartesian product of two complete graphs the problem is shown to be equivalent to the well-known Zarenkiewicz's problem. We also characterize the triangle-free graphs with the mutual-visibility number equal to $3$., Comment: 17 pages, 3 figures

Let $G=(V,E)$ be a graph and $P\subseteq V$ a set of points. Two points are mutually visible if there is a shortest path between them without further points. $P$ is a mutual-visibility set if its points are pairwise mutually visible. The mutual-visibility number of $G$ is the size of any largest mutual-visibility set. In this paper we start the study about this new invariant and the mutual-visibility sets in undirected graphs. We introduce the mutual-visibility problem which asks to find a mutual-visibility set with a size larger than a given number. We show that this problem is NP-complete, whereas, to check whether a given set of points is a mutual-visibility set is solvable in polynomial time. Then we study mutual-visibility sets and mutual-visibility numbers on special classes of graphs, such as block graphs, trees, grids, tori, complete bipartite graphs, cographs. We also provide some relations of the mutual-visibility number of a graph with other invariants., Comment: Added comparisons with general position set and general position number concepts. Results achieved in the first version are still valid, but sometime refined. Added new references. 23 pages, 6 figures

In the last decade, wildfires have become wider and more destructive. The climate change and the growth of urban areas may further increase the probability of incidence of large-scale fires. The risk of fire can be lowered with preventive measures. Among them, firefighting lines are used to stop the fire from spreading beyond them. Due to high costs of installation and maintenance, their placement must be carefully planned. In this work, we address the wildfire management problem from a theoretical point of view and define a risk function to model the fire diffusion phenomena. The land is modeled by a mixed graph in which vertices are areas subject to fire with a certain probability while edges model the probability of fire spreading from one area to another. To reduce the risk, we introduce the {\sc Windy Firebreak Location} problem that addresses the optimal positioning of firefighting lines under budget constraints. We study the complexity of the problem and prove its hardness even when the graph is planar, bipartite, with maximum degree four and the propagation probabilities are equal to one. We also show an efficient polynomial time algorithm for particular instances on trees., Comment: 37 pages, 10 figures, 2 algorithms

The general position problem in graph theory asks for the largest set $S$ of vertices of a graph $G$ such that no shortest path of $G$ contains more than two vertices of $S$. In this paper we consider a variant of the general position problem called the \emph{monophonic position problem}, obtained by replacing `shortest path' by `induced path'. We prove some basic properties and bounds for the monophonic position number of a graph and determine the monophonic position number of some graph families, including unicyclic graphs, complements of bipartite graphs and split graphs. We show that the monophonic position number of triangle-free graphs is bounded above by the independence number. We present realisation results for the general position number, monophonic position number and monophonic hull number. Finally we discuss the complexity of the monophonic position problem., Comment: Revised version. Arguments simplified and improved. Some corrections, including the result on split graphs

Given a set R of robots, each one located at different vertices of an infinite regular tessellation graph, we aim to explore the Arbitrary Pattern Formation (APF) problem. Given a multiset F of grid vertices such that |R|=|F|, APF asks for a distributed algorithm that moves robots so as to reach a configuration similar to F. Similarity means that robots must be disposed as F regardless of translations, rotations, reflections. So far, as possible graph discretizing the Euclidean plane only the standard square grid has been considered in the context of the classical Look-Compute-Move model. However, it is natural to consider also the other regular tessellation graphs, that are triangular and hexagonal grids. We provide a resolution algorithm for APF when the initial configuration is asymmetric and the considered topology is any regular tessellation graph.

Following the wide investigation in distributed computing issues by mobile entities of the last two decades, we consider the need of a structured methodology to tackle the arisen problems. The aim is to simplify both the design of the resolution algorithms and the writing of the required correctness proofs. We would encourage the usage of a common framework in order to help both algorithm designer and reviewers in the intricate work of analyzing the proposed resolution strategies. In order to better understand the potentials of our methodology, we consider the Pattern Formation (PF) problem approached in [Fujinaga et al. SIAM J. Comput., 2015] as case study. Since the proposed resolution algorithm has turned out to be inaccurate and also of difficult fixing, we design a new algorithm guided by the proposed methodology, hence fully characterizing the problem.

Given any multiset F of points in the Euclidean plane and a set R of robots such that |R|=|F|, the Arbitrary Pattern Formation (APF) problem asks for a distributed algorithm that moves robots so as to reach a configuration similar to F. Similarity means that robots must be disposed as F regardless of translations, rotations, reflections, uniform scalings. Initially, each robot occupies a distinct position. When active, a robot operates in standard LCM cycles. Robots are asynchronous, oblivious, anonymous, silent and execute the same distributed algorithm. So far, the problem has been mainly addressed by assuming chirality, that is robots share a common left-right orientation. We are interested in removing such a restriction. While working on the subject, we faced several issues that required close attention. We deeply investigated how such difficulties were overcome in the literature, revealing that crucial arguments for the correctness proof of the existing algorithms have been neglected. The systematic lack of rigorous arguments with respect to necessary conditions required for providing correctness proofs deeply affects the validity as well as the relevance of strategies proposed in the literature. Here we design a new deterministic distributed algorithm that fully characterizes APF showing its equivalence with the well-known Leader Election problem in the asynchronous model without chirality. Our approach is characterized by the use of logical predicates in order to formally describe our algorithm as well as its correctness. In addition to the relevance of our achievements, our techniques might help in revising previous results. In fact, it comes out that well-established results like [Fujinaga et al, SIAM J. Comp. 44(3) 2015], more recent approaches like [Bramas et al, PODC and SSS 2016] and 'unofficial' results like [Dieudonne et al, arXiv:0902.2851] revealed to be not correct., Comment: To appear in Distributed Computing