English

Computing all $s$-$t$ bridges and articulation points simplified

Data Structures and Algorithms 2020-06-29 v1

Abstract

Given a directed graph GG and a pair of nodes ss and tt, an ss-tt bridge of GG is an edge whose removal breaks all ss-tt paths of GG. Similarly, an ss-tt articulation point of GG is a node whose removal breaks all ss-tt paths of GG. Computing the sequence of all ss-tt bridges of GG (as well as the ss-tt articulation points) is a basic graph problem, solvable in linear time using the classical min-cut algorithm. When dealing with cuts of unit size (ss-tt bridges) this algorithm can be simplified to a single graph traversal from ss to tt avoiding an arbitrary ss-tt path, which is interrupted at the ss-tt bridges. Further, the corresponding proof is also simplified making it independent of the theory of network flows.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2006.15024,
  title  = {Computing all $s$-$t$ bridges and articulation points simplified},
  author = {Massimo Cairo and Shahbaz Khan and Romeo Rizzi and Sebastian Schmidt and Alexandru I. Tomescu and Elia Zirondelli},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2006.15024},
  year   = {2020}
}

Comments

5 pages, 5 figures

R2 v1 2026-06-23T16:39:10.829Z