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DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.SWAT.2026.28

The Parameterized Complexity of Coloring Mixed Graphs

Authors: Antonio Lauerbach, Konstanty Junosza-Szaniawski, Marie Diana Sieper, and Alexander Wolff

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 370, 20th Scandinavian Symposium on Algorithm Theory (SWAT 2026)

Abstract

A mixed graph contains (undirected) edges as well as (directed) arcs, thus generalizing undirected and directed graphs. A proper coloring c of a mixed graph G assigns a positive integer to each vertex such that c(u)≠c(v) for every edge {u,v} and c(u)<c(v) for every arc (u,v) of G. As in classical coloring, the objective is to minimize the number of colors. Thus, mixed (graph) coloring generalizes classical coloring of undirected graphs and allows for more general applications, such as scheduling with precedence constraints, modeling metabolic pathways, and process management in operating systems; see a survey by Sotskov [Mathematics, 2020]. We initiate the systematic study of the parameterized complexity of mixed coloring. We focus on structural graph parameters that lie between cliquewidth and vertex cover, primarily with respect to the underlying undirected graph. Unlike classical coloring, which is fixed-parameter tractable (FPT) parameterized by treewidth or neighborhood diversity, we show that mixed coloring is W[1]-hard for treewidth and even paraNP-hard for neighborhood diversity. To utilize the directedness of arcs, we introduce and analyze natural generalizations of neighborhood diversity and cliquewidth to mixed graphs, and show that mixed coloring becomes FPT when parameterized by (the generalized) mixed neighborhood diversity. Further, we investigate how these parameters are affected if we add transitive arcs, which do not affect colorings. Finally, we provide tight bounds on the chromatic number of mixed graphs, generalizing known bounds on mixed interval graphs.

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Antonio Lauerbach, Konstanty Junosza-Szaniawski, Marie Diana Sieper, and Alexander Wolff. The Parameterized Complexity of Coloring Mixed Graphs. In 20th Scandinavian Symposium on Algorithm Theory (SWAT 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 370, pp. 28:1-28:18, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{lauerbach_et_al:LIPIcs.SWAT.2026.28,
  author =	{Lauerbach, Antonio and Junosza-Szaniawski, Konstanty and Sieper, Marie Diana and Wolff, Alexander},
  title =	{{The Parameterized Complexity of Coloring Mixed Graphs}},
  booktitle =	{20th Scandinavian Symposium on Algorithm Theory (SWAT 2026)},
  pages =	{28:1--28:18},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-421-5},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{370},
  editor =	{Fraigniaud, Pierre},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.SWAT.2026.28},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-260644},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.SWAT.2026.28},
  annote =	{Keywords: Mixed Graphs, Coloring, Parameterized Complexity, Structural Graph Parameters}
}

Document

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ISAAC.2023.36

Coloring and Recognizing Mixed Interval Graphs

Authors: Grzegorz Gutowski, Konstanty Junosza-Szaniawski, Felix Klesen, Paweł Rzążewski, Alexander Wolff, and Johannes Zink

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 283, 34th International Symposium on Algorithms and Computation (ISAAC 2023)

Abstract

A mixed interval graph is an interval graph that has, for every pair of intersecting intervals, either an arc (directed arbitrarily) or an (undirected) edge. We are particularly interested in scenarios where edges and arcs are defined by the geometry of intervals. In a proper coloring of a mixed interval graph G, an interval u receives a lower (different) color than an interval v if G contains arc (u,v) (edge {u,v}). Coloring of mixed graphs has applications, for example, in scheduling with precedence constraints; see a survey by Sotskov [Mathematics, 2020]. For coloring general mixed interval graphs, we present a min {ω(G), λ(G)+1}-approximation algorithm, where ω(G) is the size of a largest clique and λ(G) is the length of a longest directed path in G. For the subclass of bidirectional interval graphs (introduced recently for an application in graph drawing), we show that optimal coloring is NP-hard. This was known for general mixed interval graphs. We introduce a new natural class of mixed interval graphs, which we call containment interval graphs. In such a graph, there is an arc (u,v) if interval u contains interval v, and there is an edge {u,v} if u and v overlap. We show that these graphs can be recognized in polynomial time, that coloring them with the minimum number of colors is NP-hard, and that there is a 2-approximation algorithm for coloring.

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Grzegorz Gutowski, Konstanty Junosza-Szaniawski, Felix Klesen, Paweł Rzążewski, Alexander Wolff, and Johannes Zink. Coloring and Recognizing Mixed Interval Graphs. In 34th International Symposium on Algorithms and Computation (ISAAC 2023). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 283, pp. 36:1-36:14, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2023)

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@InProceedings{gutowski_et_al:LIPIcs.ISAAC.2023.36,
  author =	{Gutowski, Grzegorz and Junosza-Szaniawski, Konstanty and Klesen, Felix and Rz\k{a}\.{z}ewski, Pawe{\l} and Wolff, Alexander and Zink, Johannes},
  title =	{{Coloring and Recognizing Mixed Interval Graphs}},
  booktitle =	{34th International Symposium on Algorithms and Computation (ISAAC 2023)},
  pages =	{36:1--36:14},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-289-1},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2023},
  volume =	{283},
  editor =	{Iwata, Satoru and Kakimura, Naonori},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ISAAC.2023.36},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-193388},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ISAAC.2023.36},
  annote =	{Keywords: Interval Graphs, Mixed Graphs, Graph Coloring}
}

Document

APPROX

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.APPROX/RANDOM.2020.52

Online Coloring of Short Intervals

Authors: Joanna Chybowska-Sokół, Grzegorz Gutowski, Konstanty Junosza-Szaniawski, Patryk Mikos, and Adam Polak

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 176, Approximation, Randomization, and Combinatorial Optimization. Algorithms and Techniques (APPROX/RANDOM 2020)

Abstract

We study the online graph coloring problem restricted to the intersection graphs of intervals with lengths in [1,σ]. For σ = 1 it is the class of unit interval graphs, and for σ = ∞ the class of all interval graphs. Our focus is on intermediary classes. We present a (1+σ)-competitive algorithm, which beats the state of the art for 1 < σ < 2, and proves that the problem we study can be strictly easier than online coloring of general interval graphs. On the lower bound side, we prove that no algorithm is better than 5/3-competitive for any σ > 1, nor better than 7/4-competitive for any σ > 2, and that no algorithm beats the 5/2 asymptotic competitive ratio for all, arbitrarily large, values of σ. That last result shows that the problem we study can be strictly harder than unit interval coloring. Our main technical contribution is a recursive composition of strategies, which seems essential to prove any lower bound higher than 2.

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Joanna Chybowska-Sokół, Grzegorz Gutowski, Konstanty Junosza-Szaniawski, Patryk Mikos, and Adam Polak. Online Coloring of Short Intervals. In Approximation, Randomization, and Combinatorial Optimization. Algorithms and Techniques (APPROX/RANDOM 2020). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 176, pp. 52:1-52:18, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2020)

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@InProceedings{chybowskasokol_et_al:LIPIcs.APPROX/RANDOM.2020.52,
  author =	{Chybowska-Sok\'{o}{\l}, Joanna and Gutowski, Grzegorz and Junosza-Szaniawski, Konstanty and Mikos, Patryk and Polak, Adam},
  title =	{{Online Coloring of Short Intervals}},
  booktitle =	{Approximation, Randomization, and Combinatorial Optimization. Algorithms and Techniques (APPROX/RANDOM 2020)},
  pages =	{52:1--52:18},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-164-1},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2020},
  volume =	{176},
  editor =	{Byrka, Jaros{\l}aw and Meka, Raghu},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.APPROX/RANDOM.2020.52},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-126550},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.APPROX/RANDOM.2020.52},
  annote =	{Keywords: Online algorithms, graph coloring, interval graphs}
}

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Documents authored by Junosza-Szaniawski, Konstanty

The Parameterized Complexity of Coloring Mixed Graphs

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Coloring and Recognizing Mixed Interval Graphs

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Online Coloring of Short Intervals

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