English

The 2-colouring problem for $(m,n)$-mixed graphs with switching is polynomial

Combinatorics 2023-06-22 v3

Abstract

A mixed graph is a set of vertices together with an edge set and an arc set. An (m,n)(m,n)-mixed graph GG is a mixed graph whose edges are each assigned one of mm colours, and whose arcs are each assigned one of nn colours. A \emph{switch} at a vertex vv of GG permutes the edge colours, the arc colours, and the arc directions of edges and arcs incident with vv. The group of all allowed switches is Γ\Gamma. Let k1k \geq 1 be a fixed integer and Γ\Gamma a fixed permutation group. We consider the problem that takes as input an (m,n)(m,n)-mixed graph GG and asks if there a sequence of switches at vertices of GG with respect to Γ\Gamma so that the resulting (m,n)(m,n)-mixed graph admits a homomorphism to an (m,n)(m,n)-mixed graph on kk vertices. Our main result establishes this problem can be solved in polynomial time for k2k \leq 2, and is NP-hard for k3k \geq 3. This provides a step towards a general dichotomy theorem for the Γ\Gamma-switchable homomorphism decision problem.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2203.08070,
  title  = {The 2-colouring problem for $(m,n)$-mixed graphs with switching is polynomial},
  author = {Richard C Brewster and Arnott Kidner and Gary MacGillivray},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2203.08070},
  year   = {2023}
}

Comments

Accepted version Discrete Mathematics and Theoretical Computing Science. 13 page, 1 figure,

R2 v1 2026-06-24T10:14:23.864Z