Isometric embeddings in trees and their use in the diameter problem

We prove that given a discrete space with $n$ points which is either embedded in a system of $k$ trees, or the Cartesian product of $k$ trees, we can compute all eccentricities in ${\cal O}(2^{{\cal O}(k\log{k})}(N+n)^{1+o(1)})$ time, where $N$ is the cumulative total order over all these $k$ trees. This is near optimal under the Strong Exponential-Time Hypothesis, even in the very special case of an $n$-vertex graph embedded in a system of $\omega(\log{n})$ spanning trees. However, given such an embedding in the strong product of $k$ trees, there is a much faster ${\cal O}(N + kn)$-time algorithm for this problem. All our positive results can be turned into approximation algorithms for the graphs and finite spaces with a quasi isometric embedding in trees, if such embedding is given as input, where the approximation factor (resp., the approximation constant) depends on the distortion of the embedding (resp., of its stretch). The existence of embeddings in the Cartesian product of finitely many trees has been thoroughly investigated for cube-free median graphs. We give the first-known quasi linear-time algorithm for computing the diameter within this graph class. It does not require an embedding in a product of trees to be given as part of the input. On our way, being given an $n$-node tree $T$, we propose a data structure with ${\cal O}(n\log{n})$ pre-processing time in order to compute in ${\cal O}(k\log^2{n})$ time the eccentricity of any subset of $k$ nodes. We combine the latter technical contribution, of independent interest, with a recent distance-labeling scheme that was designed for cube-free median graphs.