Related papers: Shellability is NP-complete
We construct families of trivial $2$-knots $K_i$ in $\mathbb{R}^4$ such that the maximal complexity of $2$-knots in any isotopy connecting $K_i$ with the standard unknot grows faster than a tower of exponentials of any fixed height of the…
We prove that every simplicial complex is the dual complex of some simple normal crossing divisor in a smooth variety. As an application, we simplify and extend the results of Kapovich--Koll\'ar (math.AG:1109.4047) on the existence of…
Associated to a simple undirected graph G is a simplicial complex whose faces correspond to the independent sets of G. We call a graph G shellable if this simplicial complex is a shellable simplicial complex in the non-pure sense of…
Optimal Morse matchings reveal essential structures of cell complexes which lead to powerful tools to study discrete geometrical objects, in particular discrete 3-manifolds. However, such matchings are known to be NP-hard to compute on…
We investigate the parameterized complexity of several problems formalizing cluster identification in graphs. In other words we ask whether a graph contains a large enough and sufficiently connected subgraph. We study here three relaxations…
The intractability of any problem and the randomness of its solutions have an obvious intuitive connection. However, the challenge till now has been that there is no practical way to firmly establish if the solution to a problem is actually…
We prove that two pushing-blocks puzzles are intractable in 2D. One of our constructions improves an earlier result that established intractability in 3D [OS99] for a puzzle inspired by the game PushPush. The second construction answers a…
A (d+1)-dimensional dispersionless PDE is said to be integrable if its n-component hydrodynamic reductions are locally parametrized by (d-1)n arbitrary functions of one variable. Given a PDE which does not pass the integrability test, the…
We investigate when the independence complex of $G[H]$, the lexicographical product of two graphs $G$ and $H$, is either vertex decomposable or shellable. As an application, we construct an infinite family of graphs with the property that…
Phase transitions in combinatorial problems have recently been shown to be useful in locating "hard" instances of combinatorial problems. The connection between computational complexity and the existence of phase transitions has been…
It is well known that solving a (non-convex) quadratic program is NP-hard. We show that the problem remains hard even if we are only looking for a Karush-Kuhn-Tucker (KKT) point, instead of a global optimum. Namely, we prove that computing…
We prove that a PL manifold admits a handle decomposition into handles of index $\le k$ if and only if $M$ is $k$-stacked, i.e., it admits a PL triangulation in which all $(d-k-1)$-faces are on $\partial M$. We use this to solve a problem…
Deciding whether two simplicial complexes are homotopy equivalent is a fundamental problem in topology, which is famously undecidable. There exists a combinatorial refinement of this concept, called simple-homotopy equivalence: two…
We show that packing axis-aligned unit squares into a simple polygon $P$ is NP-hard, even when $P$ is an orthogonal and orthogonally convex polygon with half-integer coordinates. It has been known since the early 80s that packing unit…
Motivated by description logics, we investigate what happens to the complexity of modal satisfiability problems if we only allow formulas built from literals, $\wedge$, $\Diamond$, and $\Box$. Previously, the only known result was that the…
We introduce two simplicial complexes, the noncrossing matching complex and the noncrossing bipartite complex. Both complexes are intimately related to the bubble lattice introduced in our earlier article "Bubble Lattices I: Structure"…
We classify all integrable 3-dimensional scalar discrete quasilinear equations Q=0 on an elementary cubic cell of the 3-dimensional lattice. An equation Q=0 is called integrable if it may be consistently imposed on all 3-dimensional…
(1) We show that if a presentation of the trivial group is "hard to trivialize", in the sense that lots of Tietze moves are necessary to transform it into the trivial presentation, then the associated presentation complex (which is a…
In a seminal work, Gibbons and Korach studied the complexity of deciding whether an observed sequence of reads and writes of a multi-threaded program admits a sequentially consistent interleaving. They showed the problem to be NP-hard even…
We prove that the quiver problem is NP complete.