Related papers: Catching Rats in $H$-minor-free Graphs

We prove that there is a randomized polynomial-time algorithm that given an edge-weighted graph $G$ excluding a fixed-minor $Q$ on $n$ vertices and an accuracy parameter $\varepsilon>0$, constructs an edge-weighted graph~$H$ and an…

We prove blow-up structure theorems for graphs excluding a tree or an apex-tree as a minor. First, we show that for every $t$-vertex tree $T$ with $t\geq 3$ and radius $h$, and every graph $G$ excluding $T$ as a minor, there exists a graph…

Robertson and Seymour proved that every graph with sufficiently large treewidth contains a large grid minor. However, the best known bound on the treewidth that forces an $\ell\times\ell$ grid minor is exponential in $\ell$. It is unknown…

In the companion paper [Linear rank-width of distance-hereditary graphs I. A polynomial-time algorithm, Algorithmica 78(1):342--377, 2017], we presented a characterization of the linear rank-width of distance-hereditary graphs, from which…

In a fundamental paper in parameterized complexity theory, Marx [ToC '10] constructed $k$-vertex graphs $H$ of maximum degree $3$ such that $n^{o(k /\log k)}$ time algorithms for detecting colorful $H$-subgraphs would refute the…

Let F be a finite family of graphs. In the F-Deletion problem, one is given a graph G and an integer k, and the goal is to find k vertices whose deletion results in a graph with no minor from the family F. This may be regarded as a…

For a planar graph $H$, let $f(H)$ denote the minimum integer such that all graphs excluding $H$ as a minor have treewidth at most $f(H)$. We show that if $H$ is a disjoint union of $k$ cycles then $f(H)=O(|V(H)| + k \log k)$, which is best…

We prove that every $n$-vertex $K_t$-minor-free graph $G$ of maximum degree $\Delta$ has a set $F$ of $O(t^2(\log t)^{1/4}\sqrt{\Delta n})$ edges such that every component of $G - F$ has at most $n/2$ vertices. This is best possible up to…

Birmele [J. Graph Theory, 2003] proved that every graph with circumference t has treewidth at most t-1. Under the additional assumption of 2-connectivity, such graphs have bounded pathwidth, which is a qualitatively stronger result.…

A graph $H$ is an induced minor of a graph $G$ if $H$ can be obtained from $G$ by vertex deletions and edge contractions. We show that there is a function $f(k, d) = O(k^{10} + 2^{d^5})$ so that if a graph has treewidth at least $f(k, d)$…

A graph $H$ is said to be an induced minor of a graph $G$ if $H$ can be obtained from $G$ by a sequence of vertex deletions and edge contractions. Equivalently, $H$ is an induced minor of $G$ if there exists an induced minor model of $H$ in…

Tree-width and its linear variant path-width play a central role for the graph minor relation. In particular, Robertson and Seymour (1983) proved that for every tree~$T$, the class of graphs that do not contain $T$ as a minor has bounded…

Treewidth is an important structural graph parameter that quantifies how closely a graph resembles a tree-like structure. It has applications in many algorithmic and combinatorial problems. In this paper, we study the treewidth of outer…

Treewidth is an important graph invariant, relevant for both structural and algorithmic reasons. A necessary condition for a graph class to have bounded treewidth is the absence of large cliques. We study graph classes closed under taking…

Given a graph $H$, we denote by ${\cal M}(H)$ all graphs that can be contracted to $H$. The following extension of the Erd\H{o}s-P\'osa Theorem holds: for every $h$-vertex planar graph $H$, there exists a function $f_{H}$ such that every…

We show that for every graph $H$, there is a hereditary weakly sparse graph class $\mathcal C_H$ of unbounded treewidth such that the $H$-free (i.e., excluding $H$ as an induced subgraph) graphs of $\mathcal C_H$ have bounded treewidth.…

The F-Minor-Free Deletion problem asks, for a fixed set F and an input consisting of a graph G and integer k, whether k vertices can be removed from G such that the resulting graph does not contain any member of F as a minor. This paper…

We show that every graph $G$ excluding an apex-forest $H$ as a minor has layered pathwidth at most $|V(H)|-2$, and that every graph $G$ excluding an apex-linear forest (such as a fan) $H$ as a minor has layered treedepth at most $|V(H)|-2$.…

We study the Excluded Grid Theorem of Robertson and Seymour. This is a fundamental result in graph theory, that states that there is some function $f: Z^+\rightarrow Z^+$, such that for all integers $g>0$, every graph of treewidth at least…

A graph $G$ contains a graph $H$ as an induced minor if $H$ can be obtained from $G$ by vertex deletions and edge contractions. The class of $H$-induced-minor-free graphs generalizes the class of $H$-minor-free graphs, but unlike…