Independence and Domination on Bounded-Treewidth Graphs: Integer, Rational, and Irrational Distances

Abstract

The distance-d variants of Independent Set and Dominating Set problems have been extensively studied from different algorithmic viewpoints. In particular, the complexity of these problems are well understood on bounded-treewidth graphs [Katsikarelis, Lampis, and Paschos, Discret. Appl. Math 2022][Borradaile and Le, IPEC 2016]: given a tree decomposition of width t, the two problems can be solved in time d^t⋅ n^O(1) and (2d+1)^t⋅ n^O(1), respectively. Furthermore, assuming the Strong Exponential-Time Hypothesis (SETH), the base constants are best possible in these running times: they cannot be improved to d-ε and 2d+1-ε, respectively, for any ε > 0. We investigate continuous versions of these problems in a setting introduced by Megiddo and Tamir [SICOMP 1983], where every edge is modeled by a unit-length interval of points. In the δ-Dispersion problem, the task is to find a maximum number of points (possibly inside edges) that are pairwise at distance at least δ from each other. Similarly, in the δ-Covering problem, the task is to find a minimum number of points (possibly inside edges) such that every point of the graph (including those inside edges) is at distance at most δ from the selected point set. We provide a comprehensive understanding of these two problems on bounded-treewidth graphs.  
1) Let δ = a/b with a and b being coprime. If a ≤ 2, then δ-Dispersion is polynomial-time solvable. For a ≥ 3, given a tree decomposition of width t, the problem can be solved in time (2a)^t⋅ n^O(1), and, assuming SETH, there is no (2a-ε)^t⋅n^{O(1)} time algorithm for any ε > 0. 
2) Let δ = a/b with a and b being coprime. If a = 1, then δ-Covering is polynomial-time solvable. For a ≥ 2, given a tree decomposition of width t, the problem can be solved in time ((2+2(bod 2)) a)^t⋅ n^O(1), and, assuming SETH, there is no ((2+2(bod 2))a -ε)^t⋅n^O(1) time algorithm for any ε > 0. 
3) For every fixed irrational number δ > 0 satisfying some mild computability condition, both δ-Dispersion and δ-Covering can be solved in time n^O(t) on graphs of treewidth t. We show a very explicitly defined irrational number δ = (4∑_{j=1}^∞ 2^{-2^j})^{-1} ≈ 0.790085 such that δ-Dispersion and δ/2-Covering are W[1]-hard parameterized by the treewidth t of the input graph, and, assuming ETH, cannot be solved in time f(t)⋅n^o(t). 
As a key step in obtaining these results, we extend earlier results on distance-d versions of Independent Set and Dominating Set: We determine the exact complexity of these problems in the special case when the input graph arises from some graph G' by subdividing every edge exactly b times.