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Cycle Basis Algorithms for Reducing Maximum Edge Participation

Authors Fan Wang , Sandy Irani

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Subject Classification

ACM Subject Classification
  • Theory of computation → Graph algorithms analysis
Keywords
  • Graph algorithms
  • Cycle Basis
  • Quantum fault tolerance

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Abstract

A cycle basis of a graph is a minimal set of cycles from which every cycle in the graph can be generated by symmetric difference. We study the problem of constructing cycle bases of graphs with low maximum edge participation, defined as the maximum number of cycles in the basis that share any single edge. This quantity, though less studied than total weight or length, plays a critical role in quantum fault tolerance, as it directly impacts the overhead of lattice surgery procedures used to implement an almost universal quantum gate set. Building on a recursive algorithm by Freedman and Hastings, we introduce a family of load-aware heuristics that adaptively select vertices and edges to minimize edge participation throughout the cycle basis construction. Our approach improves empirical performance on random regular graphs and on graphs derived from small quantum codes. We further analyze a simplified balls-into-bins process to establish lower bounds on edge participation. While the model differs from the cycle basis algorithm on real graphs, it captures what can be proven for our heuristics without using more complex graph theoretic properties related to the distribution of cycles in the graph. Our analysis suggests that the maximum load of all of our heuristics will be Ω(log² n). Our results indicate that careful cycle basis construction can yield significant practical benefits in the design of fault-tolerant quantum systems. Maximum edge participation has been studied in the graph theory literature under the name basis number, which is the minimum possible maximum edge participation over all cycle bases in a graph.

Cite As Get BibTex

Fan Wang and Sandy Irani. Cycle Basis Algorithms for Reducing Maximum Edge Participation. In 24th International Symposium on Experimental Algorithms (SEA 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 371, pp. 27:1-27:20, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026) https://doi.org/10.4230/LIPIcs.SEA.2026.27

Author Details

Fan Wang
  • Department of Computer Science, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA
Sandy Irani
  • Department of Computer Science, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA

Supplementary Materials

References

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