English

Connectivity augmentation is fixed-parameter tractable

Data Structures and Algorithms 2026-05-13 v1

Abstract

In the vertex connectivity augmentation problem, we are given an undirected nn-vertex graph GG, a set of links L(V(G)2)E(G)L \subseteq \binom{V(G)}{2} \setminus E(G), and integers λ\lambda and kk. The task is to insert at most kk links from LL to GG to make GG λ\lambda-vertex-connected. We show that the problem is fixed-parameter tractable (FPT) when parameterized by λ\lambda and kk, by giving an algorithm with running time 2O(klog(k+λ))nO(1)2^{O(k \log (k + \lambda))} n^{O(1)}. This improves upon a recent result of Carmesin and Ramanujan [SODA'26], who showed that the problem is FPT parameterized by kk but only when λ4\lambda \le 4. We also consider the analogous edge connectivity augmentation problem, where the goal is to make GG λ\lambda-edge-connected. We show that the problem is FPT when parameterized by kk only, by giving an algorithm with running time 2O(klogk)nO(1)2^{O(k \log k)} n^{O(1)}. Previously, such results were known only under additional assumptions on the edge connectivity of GG.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2605.11757,
  title  = {Connectivity augmentation is fixed-parameter tractable},
  author = {Tuukka Korhonen and Mikkel Thorup},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2605.11757},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

16 pages