English

Maximum Edge Open Packing in Permutation, Interval, and Well-Partitioned Chordal Graphs

Discrete Mathematics 2026-08-05 v1 Combinatorics

Abstract

Edge open packing is a relaxation of induced matching in which the selected edges may induce disjoint stars. We study the \textsc{Maximum Edge Open Packing} problem on permutation graphs, interval graphs, and well-partitioned chordal graphs. For the first two classes, we introduce an oriented star-conflict graph whose vertices are ordered edges. We prove that its compatibility graph admits a natural transitive orientation: a product-order orientation for permutation graphs and a left-to-right orientation for interval graphs. In each case, a maximum edge open packing is obtained from a maximum clique, equivalently a longest directed path, in the compatibility graph. Given the corresponding representation, both algorithms run in O(n2+m2)O(n4)O(n^2+m^2)\leq O(n^4) time, where n=V(G)n=|V(G)| and m=E(G)m=|E(G)|. For well-partitioned chordal graphs, we give a dynamic program over a partition tree. Its states use the fact that the endpoint set of an edge open packing meets each clique bag in at most two vertices. Given a partition-tree representation, the edge open packing number is computed in O(n4)O(n^4) time, and an optimal packing can be reconstructed within the same time bound.

Cite

@article{arxiv.2608.05310,
  title  = {Maximum Edge Open Packing in Permutation, Interval, and Well-Partitioned Chordal Graphs},
  author = {Gautam K. Das and Kamal Santra},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2608.05310},
  year   = {2026}
}