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DOI:
URN: urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-17589
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### STCON in Directed Unique-Path Graphs

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### Abstract

We study the problem of space-efficient
polynomial-time algorithms for {\em directed
st-connectivity} (STCON).
Given a directed graph $G$, and a pair of vertices $s, t$, the STCON problem
is to decide if there exists a path from $s$ to $t$ in $G$.
For general graphs, the best polynomial-time algorithm for STCON
uses space that is only slightly sublinear.
However, for special classes of directed graphs, polynomial-time poly-logarithmic-space
algorithms are known for STCON. In this paper, we continue this thread of research
and study a class of graphs called
\emph{unique-path graphs with respect to source $s$},
where there is at most one simple path from $s$ to any vertex in the graph.
For these graphs, we give
a polynomial-time algorithm that uses
$\tilde O(n^{\varepsilon})$ space for any constant $\varepsilon \in (0,1]$.
We also give a polynomial-time, $\tilde O(n^\varepsilon)$-space
algorithm to \emph{recognize} unique-path graphs.
Unique-path graphs are related to configuration graphs of unambiguous
log-space computations, but they can have some directed cycles. Our results
may be viewed along the continuum of sublinear-space polynomial-time
algorithms for STCON in different classes of directed graphs - from
slightly sublinear-space algorithms for general graphs to $O(\log n)$ space algorithms for trees.

### BibTeX - Entry

@InProceedings{kannan_et_al:LIPIcs:2008:1758,
author =	{Sampath Kannan and Sanjeev Khanna and Sudeepa Roy},
title =	{{STCON in Directed Unique-Path Graphs}},
booktitle =	{IARCS Annual Conference on Foundations of Software Technology and Theoretical Computer Science},
pages =	{256--267},
series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
ISBN =	{978-3-939897-08-8},
ISSN =	{1868-8969},
year =	{2008},
volume =	{2},
editor =	{Ramesh Hariharan and Madhavan Mukund and V Vinay},
publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl--Leibniz-Zentrum fuer Informatik},