Related papers: The Complexity of Change
Color coding is an algorithmic technique used in parameterized complexity theory to detect "small" structures inside graphs. The idea is to derandomize algorithms that first randomly color a graph and then search for an easily-detectable,…
We study how the complexity of the graph colouring problems star colouring and restricted star colouring vary with the maximum degree of the graph. Restricted star colouring (in short, rs colouring) is a variant of star colouring. For $k\in…
We study the complexity of the model checking problem, for fixed model A, over certain fragments L of first-order logic. These are sometimes known as the expression complexities of L. We obtain various complexity classification theorems for…
Heuristic methods for solution of problems in the NP-Complete class of decision problems often reach exact solutions, but fail badly at "phase boundaries", across which the decision to be reached changes from almost always having one value…
Many popular puzzle and matching games have been analyzed through the lens of computational complexity. Prominent examples include Sudoku, Candy Crush, and Flood-It. A common theme among these widely played games is that their generalized…
In the Selective Coloring problem, we are given an integer $k$, a graph $G$, and a partition of $V(G)$ into $p$ parts, and the goal is to decide whether or not we can pick exactly one vertex of each part and obtain a $k$-colorable induced…
We describe an effective landscape introduced in [1] for the analysis of Constraint Satisfaction problems, such as Sphere Packing, K-SAT and Graph Coloring. This geometric construction reexpresses these problems in the more familiar terms…
The paper focuses on a new class of combinatorial problems which consists in restructuring of solutions (as sets/structures) in combinatorial optimization. Two main features of the restructuring process are examined: (i) a cost of the…
The problem 2-Xor-Sat asks for the probability that a random expression, built as a conjunction of clauses $x \oplus y$, is satisfiable. We revisit this classical problem by giving an alternative, explicit expression of this probability. We…
The question if a given partial solution to a problem can be extended reasonably occurs in many algorithmic approaches for optimization problems. For instance, when enumerating minimal dominating sets of a graph $G=(V,E)$, one usually…
Multidimensional combinatorial substitutions are rules that replace symbols by finite patterns of symbols in $\mathbb Z^d$. We focus on the case where the patterns are not necessarily rectangular, which requires a specific description of…
The conjugacy problem for a finitely generated group $G$ is the two-variable problem of deciding for an arbitrary pair $(u,v)$ of elements of $G$, whether or not $u$ is conjugate to $v$ in $G$. We construct examples of finitely generated,…
Given a loop-free graph $H$, the reconfiguration problem for homomorphisms to $H$ (also called $H$-colourings) asks: given two $H$-colourings $f$ of $g$ of a graph $G$, is it possible to transform $f$ into $g$ by a sequence of single-vertex…
For a fixed integer, the $k$-Colouring problem is to decide if the vertices of a graph can be coloured with at most $k$ colours for an integer $k$, such that no two adjacent vertices are coloured alike. A graph $G$ is $H$-free if $G$ does…
This work investigates structural and computational aspects of list-based graph coloring under interval constraints. Building on the framework of analogous and p-analogous problems, we show that classical List Coloring, $\mu$-coloring, and…
The computational complexity of the Vertex Coloring problem is known for all hereditary classes of graphs defined by forbidding two connected five-vertex induced subgraphs, except for seven cases. We prove the polynomial-time solvability of…
Graphs are a powerful tool for analyzing large data sets, but many real-world phenomena involve interactions that go beyond the simple pairwise relationships captured by a graph. In this paper we introduce and study a simple combinatorial…
List colouring is an influential and classic topic in graph theory. We initiate the study of a natural strengthening of this problem, where instead of one list-colouring, we seek many in parallel. Our explorations have uncovered a…
We investigate the computational complexity of the following problem. We are given a graph in which each vertex has an initial and a target color. Each pair of adjacent vertices can swap their current colors. Our goal is to perform the…
We study a general family of problems that form a common generalization of classic hitting (also referred to as covering or transversal) and packing problems. An instance of X-HitPack asks: Can removing k (deletable) vertices of a graph G…