21 Search Results for "Steiner, Raphael"


Document
Lower Bounds for Ranking-Based Pivot Rules

Authors: Yann Disser, Georg Loho, Matthew Maat, and Nils Mosis

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 364, 43rd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2026)


Abstract
The existence of a polynomial pivot rule for the simplex method for linear programming, policy iteration for Markov decision processes, and strategy improvement for parity games each are prominent open problems in their respective fields. While numerous natural candidates for efficient rules have been eliminated, all existing lower bound constructions are tailored to individual or small sets of pivot rules. We introduce a unified framework for formalizing classes of rules according to the information about the input that they rely on. Within this framework, we show lower bounds for ranking-based classes of rules that base their decisions on orderings of the improving pivot steps induced by the underlying data. Our first result is a superpolynomial lower bound for strategy improvement, obtained via a family of sink parity games, which applies to memory-based generalizations of Bland’s rule that only access the input by comparing the ranks of improving edges in some global order. Our second result is a subexponential lower bound for policy iteration, obtained via a family of Markov decision processes, which applies to memoryless rules that only access the input by comparing improving actions according to their ranks in a global order, their reduced costs, and the associated improvements in objective value. Both results carry over to the simplex method for linear programming.

Cite as

Yann Disser, Georg Loho, Matthew Maat, and Nils Mosis. Lower Bounds for Ranking-Based Pivot Rules. In 43rd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 364, pp. 31:1-31:19, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)


Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{disser_et_al:LIPIcs.STACS.2026.31,
  author =	{Disser, Yann and Loho, Georg and Maat, Matthew and Mosis, Nils},
  title =	{{Lower Bounds for Ranking-Based Pivot Rules}},
  booktitle =	{43rd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2026)},
  pages =	{31:1--31:19},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-412-3},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{364},
  editor =	{Mahajan, Meena and Manea, Florin and McIver, Annabelle and Thắng, Nguy\~{ê}n Kim},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2026.31},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-255207},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2026.31},
  annote =	{Keywords: lower bounds, Markov decision processes, parity games, pivot rules, policy iteration, simplex method}
}
Document
Higher Hardness Results for the Reconfiguration of Odd Matchings

Authors: Joseph Dorfer

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 364, 43rd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2026)


Abstract
We study the reconfiguration of odd matchings of combinatorial graphs. Odd matchings are matchings that cover all but one vertex of a graph. A reconfiguration step, or flip, is an operation that matches the isolated vertex and, consequently, isolates another vertex. The flip graph of odd matchings is a graph that has all odd matchings of a graph as vertices and an edge between two vertices if their corresponding matchings can be transformed into one another via a single flip. We show that computing the diameter of the flip graph of odd matchings is Π₂^p-hard. This complements a recent result by Wulf [FOCS25] that it is Π₂^p-hard to compute the diameter of the flip graph of perfect matchings where a flip swaps matching edges along a single cycle of unbounded size. Further, we show that computing the radius of the flip graph of odd matchings is Σ₃^p-hard. The respective decision problems for the diameter and the radius are also complete in the respective level of the polynomial hierarchy. This shows that computing the radius of the flip graph of odd matchings is provably harder than computing its diameter, unless the polynomial hierarchy collapses. Finally, we reduce set cover to the problem of finding shortest flip sequences. As a consequence, we show APX-hardness and that the problem cannot be approximated by a sublogarithmic factor. By doing so, we answer a question asked by Aichholzer, Brenner, Dorfer, Hoang, Perz, Rieck, and Verciani [GD25].

Cite as

Joseph Dorfer. Higher Hardness Results for the Reconfiguration of Odd Matchings. In 43rd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 364, pp. 33:1-33:16, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)


Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{dorfer:LIPIcs.STACS.2026.33,
  author =	{Dorfer, Joseph},
  title =	{{Higher Hardness Results for the Reconfiguration of Odd Matchings}},
  booktitle =	{43rd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2026)},
  pages =	{33:1--33:16},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-412-3},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{364},
  editor =	{Mahajan, Meena and Manea, Florin and McIver, Annabelle and Thắng, Nguy\~{ê}n Kim},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2026.33},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-255222},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2026.33},
  annote =	{Keywords: Graph Reconfiguration Problems, Flip Graphs, Polynomial Hierarchy, APX-hardness}
}
Document
Dynamic Pattern Matching with Wildcards

Authors: Arshia Ataee Naeini, Amir-Parsa Mobed, Masoud Seddighin, and Saeed Seddighin

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 364, 43rd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2026)


Abstract
We study the fully dynamic pattern matching problem where the pattern may contain up to k wildcard symbols, each matching any symbol of the alphabet. Both the text and the pattern are subject to updates (insert, delete, change). We design an algorithm with 𝒪(n log² n) preprocessing and update/query time 𝒪̃(kn^{k/{k+1}} + k² log n). The bound is truly sublinear for a constant k, and sublinear when k = o(log n). We further complement our results with a conditional lower bound: assuming subquadratic preprocessing time, achieving truly sublinear update time for the case k = Ω(log n) would contradict the Strong Exponential Time Hypothesis (SETH). Finally, we develop sublinear algorithms for two special cases: - If the pattern contains w non-wildcard symbols, we give an algorithm with preprocessing time 𝒪(nw) and update time 𝒪(w + log n), which is truly sublinear whenever w is truly sublinear. - Using FFT technique combined with block decomposition, we design a deterministic truly sublinear algorithm with preprocessing time 𝒪(n^{1.8}) and update time 𝒪(n^{0.8} log n) for the case that there are at most two non-wildcards.

Cite as

Arshia Ataee Naeini, Amir-Parsa Mobed, Masoud Seddighin, and Saeed Seddighin. Dynamic Pattern Matching with Wildcards. In 43rd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 364, pp. 68:1-68:20, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)


Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{naeini_et_al:LIPIcs.STACS.2026.68,
  author =	{Naeini, Arshia Ataee and Mobed, Amir-Parsa and Seddighin, Masoud and Seddighin, Saeed},
  title =	{{Dynamic Pattern Matching with Wildcards}},
  booktitle =	{43rd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2026)},
  pages =	{68:1--68:20},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-412-3},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{364},
  editor =	{Mahajan, Meena and Manea, Florin and McIver, Annabelle and Thắng, Nguy\~{ê}n Kim},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2026.68},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-255579},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2026.68},
  annote =	{Keywords: pattern matching, wildcards, dynamic algorithms, string algorithms, data structures}
}
Document
FPT Approximations for Connected Maximum Coverage

Authors: Tanmay Inamdar, Satyabrata Jana, Madhumita Kundu, Daniel Lokshtanov, Saket Saurabh, and Meirav Zehavi

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 362, 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)


Abstract
We revisit connectivity-constrained coverage through a unifying model, Partial Connected Red-Blue Dominating Set (PartialConRBDS). Given a bipartite graph G = (R∪ B,E) with red vertices R and blue vertices B, an auxiliary connectivity graph G_{conn} on R, and integers k,t, the task is to find a set S ⊆ R with |S| ≤ k such that G_{conn}[S] is connected and S dominates at least t blue vertices. This formulation captures connected variants of Maximum Coverage [Hochbaum-Rao, Inf. Proc. Lett., 2020; D'Angelo-Delfaraz, AAMAS 2025], Partial Vertex Cover, and Partial Dominating Set [Khuller et al., SODA 2014; Lamprou et al., TCS 2021] via standard encodings. Limits to parameterized tractability. PartialConRBDS is W[1]-hard parameterized by k even under strong restrictions: it remains hard when G_{conn} is a clique or a star and the incidence graph G is 3-degenerate, or when G is K_{2,2}-free. Inapproximability. For every ε > 0, there is no polynomial-time (1, 1-1/e+ε)-approximation unless 𝖯 = NP. Moreover, under ETH, no algorithm running in f(k)⋅ n^{o(k)} time achieves an g(k)-approximation for k for any computable function g(⋅), or for any ε > 0, a (1-1/e+ε)-approximation for t. Graphical special cases. Partial Connected Dominating Set is W[2]-hard parameterized by k and inherits the same ETH-based f(k)⋅ n^{o(k)} inapproximability bound as above; Partial Connected Vertex Cover is W[1]-hard parameterized by k. These hardness boundaries delineate a natural "sweet spot" for study: within appropriate structural restrictions on the incidence graph, one can still aim for fine-grained (FPT) approximations. Our algorithms. We solve PartialConRBDS exactly by reducing it to Relaxed Directed Steiner Out-Tree in time (2e)^t ⋅ n^{𝒪(1)}. For biclique-free incidences (i.e., when G excludes K_{d,d} as an induced subgraph), we obtain two complementary parameterized schemes: - An Efficient Parameterized Approximation Scheme (EPAS) running in time 2^{𝒪(k² d/ε)}⋅ n^{𝒪(1)} that either returns a connected solution of size at most k covering at least (1-ε)t blue vertices, or correctly reports that no connected size-k solution covers t; and - A Parameterized Approximation Scheme (PAS) running in time 2^{𝒪(kd(k²+log d))}⋅ n^{𝒪(1/ε)} that either returns a connected solution of size at most (1+ε)k covering at least t blue vertices, or correctly reports that no connected size-k solution covers t. Together, these results chart the boundary between hardness and FPT-approximability for connectivity-constrained coverage.

Cite as

Tanmay Inamdar, Satyabrata Jana, Madhumita Kundu, Daniel Lokshtanov, Saket Saurabh, and Meirav Zehavi. FPT Approximations for Connected Maximum Coverage. In 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 362, pp. 80:1-80:24, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)


Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{inamdar_et_al:LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.80,
  author =	{Inamdar, Tanmay and Jana, Satyabrata and Kundu, Madhumita and Lokshtanov, Daniel and Saurabh, Saket and Zehavi, Meirav},
  title =	{{FPT Approximations for Connected Maximum Coverage}},
  booktitle =	{17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)},
  pages =	{80:1--80:24},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-410-9},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{362},
  editor =	{Saraf, Shubhangi},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.80},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-253674},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.80},
  annote =	{Keywords: Partial Dominating Set, Connectivity, Maximum Coverage, FPT Approximation, Fixed-parameter Tractability}
}
Document
Maximum-Flow and Minimum-Cut Sensitivity Oracles for Directed Graphs

Authors: Mridul Ahi, Keerti Choudhary, Shlok Pande, Pushpraj, and Lakshay Saggi

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 362, 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)


Abstract
This paper addresses the problem of designing fault-tolerant data structures for the (s,t)-max-flow and (s,t)-min-cut problems in unweighted directed graphs. Given a directed graph G = (V, E) with a designated source s, sink t, and an (s,t)-max-flow of value λ, we present constructions for max-flow and min-cut sensitivity oracles, and introduce the concept of a fault-tolerant flow family, which may be of independent interest. Our main contributions are as follows. 1) Fault-Tolerant Flow Family: We construct a family ℬ of 2λ+1 (s,t)-flows such that for every edge e, ℬ contains an (s,t)-max-flow of G-e. This covering property is tight up to constants for single failures and provably cannot extend to comparably small families for k ≥ 2, where we show an Ω(n) lower bound on the family size, independent of λ. 2) Max-Flow Sensitivity Oracle: Using the fault-tolerant flow family, we construct a single as well as dual-edge sensitivity oracle for (s,t)-max-flow that requires only O(λ n) space. Given any set F of up to two failing edges, the oracle reports the updated max-flow value in G-F in O(n) time. Additionally, for the single-failure case, the oracle can determine in constant time whether the flow through an edge x changes when another edge e fails. 3) Min-Cut Sensitivity Oracle for Dual Failures: Recently, Baswana et al. (ICALP’22) designed an O(n²)-sized oracle for answering (s,t)-min-cut size queries under dual edge failures in constant time, along with a matching lower bound. We extend this by focusing on graphs with small min-cut values λ, and present a more compact oracle of size O(λ n) that answers such min-cut size queries in constant time and reports the corresponding (s,t)-min-cut partition in O(n) time. We also show that the space complexity of our oracle is asymptotically optimal in this setting. 4) Min-Cut Sensitivity Oracle for Multiple Failures: We extend our results to the general case of k edge failures. For any graph with (s,t)-min-cut of size λ, we construct a k-fault-tolerant min-cut oracle with space complexity O_{λ,k}(n log n) that answers min-cut size queries in O_{λ,k}(log n) time. This also leads to improved fault-tolerant (s,t)-reachability oracles, achieving O(n log n) space and O(log n) query time for up to k = O(1) edge failures.

Cite as

Mridul Ahi, Keerti Choudhary, Shlok Pande, Pushpraj, and Lakshay Saggi. Maximum-Flow and Minimum-Cut Sensitivity Oracles for Directed Graphs. In 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 362, pp. 5:1-5:24, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)


Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{ahi_et_al:LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.5,
  author =	{Ahi, Mridul and Choudhary, Keerti and Pande, Shlok and Pushpraj and Saggi, Lakshay},
  title =	{{Maximum-Flow and Minimum-Cut Sensitivity Oracles for Directed Graphs}},
  booktitle =	{17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)},
  pages =	{5:1--5:24},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-410-9},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{362},
  editor =	{Saraf, Shubhangi},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.5},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-252920},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.5},
  annote =	{Keywords: Fault tolerance, Data structures, Minimum cuts, Maximum flows}
}
Document
A Walk on the Wild Side: A Shape-First Methodology for Orthogonal Drawings

Authors: Giordano Andreola, Susanna Caroppo, Giuseppe Di Battista, Fabrizio Grosso, Maurizio Patrignani, and Allegra Strippoli

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 357, 33rd International Symposium on Graph Drawing and Network Visualization (GD 2025)


Abstract
Several algorithms for the construction of orthogonal drawings of graphs, including those based on the Topology-Shape-Metrics (TSM) paradigm, tend to prioritize the minimization of crossings. This emphasis has two notable side effects: some edges are drawn with unnecessarily long sequences of segments and bends, and the overall drawing area may become excessively large. As a result, the produced drawings often lack geometric uniformity. Moreover, orthogonal crossings are known to have a limited impact on readability, suggesting that crossing minimization may not always be the optimal goal. In this paper, we introduce a methodology that "subverts" the traditional TSM pipeline by focusing on minimizing bends. Given a graph G, we ideally seek to construct a rectilinear drawing of G, that is, an orthogonal drawing with no bends. When not possible, we incrementally subdivide the edges of G by introducing dummy vertices that will (possibly) correspond to bends in the final drawing. This process continues until a rectilinear drawing of a subdivision of the graph is found, after which the final coordinates are computed. We tackle the (NP-complete) rectilinear drawability problem by encoding it as a SAT formula and solving it with state-of-the-art SAT solvers. If the SAT formula is unsatisfiable, we use the solver’s proof to determine which edge to subdivide. Our implementation, domus, which is fairly simple, is evaluated through extensive experiments on small- to medium-sized graphs. The results show that it consistently outperforms ogdf’s TSM-based approach across most standard graph drawing metrics.

Cite as

Giordano Andreola, Susanna Caroppo, Giuseppe Di Battista, Fabrizio Grosso, Maurizio Patrignani, and Allegra Strippoli. A Walk on the Wild Side: A Shape-First Methodology for Orthogonal Drawings. In 33rd International Symposium on Graph Drawing and Network Visualization (GD 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 357, pp. 35:1-35:20, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)


Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{andreola_et_al:LIPIcs.GD.2025.35,
  author =	{Andreola, Giordano and Caroppo, Susanna and Di Battista, Giuseppe and Grosso, Fabrizio and Patrignani, Maurizio and Strippoli, Allegra},
  title =	{{A Walk on the Wild Side: A Shape-First Methodology for Orthogonal Drawings}},
  booktitle =	{33rd International Symposium on Graph Drawing and Network Visualization (GD 2025)},
  pages =	{35:1--35:20},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-403-1},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{357},
  editor =	{Dujmovi\'{c}, Vida and Montecchiani, Fabrizio},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.GD.2025.35},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-250218},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.GD.2025.35},
  annote =	{Keywords: Non-planar Orthogonal Drawings, SAT Solver, Experimental Comparison}
}
Document
Stabbing Faces by a Convex Curve

Authors: David Eppstein

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 357, 33rd International Symposium on Graph Drawing and Network Visualization (GD 2025)


Abstract
We prove that, for every plane graph G and every smooth convex curve C not on a single line, there exists a straight-line drawing of G for which every face is crossed by C.

Cite as

David Eppstein. Stabbing Faces by a Convex Curve. In 33rd International Symposium on Graph Drawing and Network Visualization (GD 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 357, pp. 29:1-29:8, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)


Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{eppstein:LIPIcs.GD.2025.29,
  author =	{Eppstein, David},
  title =	{{Stabbing Faces by a Convex Curve}},
  booktitle =	{33rd International Symposium on Graph Drawing and Network Visualization (GD 2025)},
  pages =	{29:1--29:8},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-403-1},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{357},
  editor =	{Dujmovi\'{c}, Vida and Montecchiani, Fabrizio},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.GD.2025.29},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-250155},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.GD.2025.29},
  annote =	{Keywords: planar graphs, convex curves, stabbing, transversal}
}
Document
On Finding 𝓁-Th Smallest Perfect Matchings

Authors: Nicolas El Maalouly, Sebastian Haslebacher, Adrian Taubner, and Lasse Wulf

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 351, 33rd Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2025)


Abstract
Given an undirected weighted graph G and an integer k, Exact-Weight Perfect Matching (EWPM) is the problem of finding a perfect matching of weight exactly k in G. In this paper, we study EWPM and its variants. The EWPM problem is famous, since in the case of unary encoded weights, Mulmuley, Vazirani, and Vazirani showed almost 40 years ago that the problem can be solved in randomized polynomial time. However, up to this date no derandomization is known. Our first result is a simple deterministic algorithm for EWPM that runs in time n^𝒪(𝓁), where 𝓁 is the number of distinct weights that perfect matchings in G can take. In fact, we show how to find an 𝓁-th smallest perfect matching in any weighted graph (even if the weights are encoded in binary, in which case EWPM in general is known to be NP-complete) in time n^𝒪(𝓁) for any integer 𝓁. Similar next-to-optimal variants have also been studied recently for the shortest path problem. For our second result, we extend the list of problems that are known to be equivalent to EWPM. We show that EWPM is equivalent under a weight-preserving reduction to the Exact Cycle Sum problem (ECS) in undirected graphs with a conservative (i.e. no negative cycles) weight function. To the best of our knowledge, we are the first to study this problem. As a consequence, the latter problem is contained in RP if the weights are encoded in unary. Finally, we identify a special case of EWPM, called BCPM, which was recently studied by El Maalouly, Steiner and Wulf. We show that BCPM is equivalent under a weight-preserving transformation to another problem recently studied by Schlotter and Sebő as well as Geelen and Kapadia: the Shortest Odd Cycle problem (SOC) in undirected graphs with conservative weights. Finally, our n^𝒪(𝓁) algorithm works in this setting as well, identifying a tractable special case of SOC, BCPM, and ECS.

Cite as

Nicolas El Maalouly, Sebastian Haslebacher, Adrian Taubner, and Lasse Wulf. On Finding 𝓁-Th Smallest Perfect Matchings. In 33rd Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 351, pp. 19:1-19:15, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)


Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{elmaalouly_et_al:LIPIcs.ESA.2025.19,
  author =	{El Maalouly, Nicolas and Haslebacher, Sebastian and Taubner, Adrian and Wulf, Lasse},
  title =	{{On Finding 𝓁-Th Smallest Perfect Matchings}},
  booktitle =	{33rd Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2025)},
  pages =	{19:1--19:15},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-395-9},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{351},
  editor =	{Benoit, Anne and Kaplan, Haim and Wild, Sebastian and Herman, Grzegorz},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ESA.2025.19},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-244875},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ESA.2025.19},
  annote =	{Keywords: Exact Matching, Perfect Matching, Exact-Weight Perfect Matching, Shortest Odd Cycle, Exact Cycle Sum, l-th Smallest Solution, l-th Largest Solution, k-th Best Solution, Derandomization}
}
Document
Going Beyond Surfaces in Diameter Approximation

Authors: Michał Włodarczyk

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 351, 33rd Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2025)


Abstract
Calculating the diameter of an undirected graph requires quadratic running time under the Strong Exponential Time Hypothesis and this barrier works even against any approximation better than 3/2. For planar graphs with positive edge weights, there are known (1+ε)-approximation algorithms with running time poly(1/ε, log n)⋅ n. However, these algorithms rely on shortest path separators and this technique falls short to yield efficient algorithms beyond graphs of bounded genus. In this work we depart from embedding-based arguments and obtain diameter approximations relying on VC set systems and the local treewidth property. We present two orthogonal extensions of the planar case by giving (1+ε)-approximation algorithms with the following running times: - 𝒪_h((1/ε)^𝒪(h) ⋅ nlog² n)-time algorithm for graphs excluding an apex graph of size h as a minor, - 𝒪_d((1/ε)^𝒪(d) ⋅ nlog² n)-time algorithm for the class of d-apex graphs. As a stepping stone, we obtain efficient (1+ε)-approximate distance oracles for graphs excluding an apex graph of size h as a minor. Our oracle has preprocessing time 𝒪_h((1/ε)⁸⋅ nlog nlog W) and query time 𝒪_h((1/ε)²⋅log n log W), where W is the metric stretch. Such oracles have been so far only known for bounded genus graphs. All our algorithms are deterministic.

Cite as

Michał Włodarczyk. Going Beyond Surfaces in Diameter Approximation. In 33rd Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 351, pp. 39:1-39:19, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)


Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{wlodarczyk:LIPIcs.ESA.2025.39,
  author =	{W{\l}odarczyk, Micha{\l}},
  title =	{{Going Beyond Surfaces in Diameter Approximation}},
  booktitle =	{33rd Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2025)},
  pages =	{39:1--39:19},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-395-9},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{351},
  editor =	{Benoit, Anne and Kaplan, Haim and Wild, Sebastian and Herman, Grzegorz},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ESA.2025.39},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-245076},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ESA.2025.39},
  annote =	{Keywords: diameter, approximation, distance oracles, graph minors, treewidth}
}
Document
Track A: Algorithms, Complexity and Games
Computing Distances on Graph Associahedra Is Fixed-Parameter Tractable

Authors: Luís Felipe I. Cunha, Ignasi Sau, Uéverton S. Souza, and Mario Valencia-Pabon

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 334, 52nd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2025)


Abstract
An elimination tree of a connected graph G is a rooted tree on the vertices of G obtained by choosing a root v and recursing on the connected components of G-v to obtain the subtrees of v. The graph associahedron of G is a polytope whose vertices correspond to elimination trees of G and whose edges correspond to tree rotations, a natural operation between elimination trees. These objects generalize associahedra, which correspond to the case where G is a path. Ito et al. [ICALP 2023] recently proved that the problem of computing distances on graph associahedra is NP-hard. In this paper we prove that the problem, for a general graph G, is fixed-parameter tractable parameterized by the distance k. Prior to our work, only the case where G is a path was known to be fixed-parameter tractable. To prove our result, we use a novel approach based on a marking scheme that restricts the search to a set of vertices whose size is bounded by a (large) function of k.

Cite as

Luís Felipe I. Cunha, Ignasi Sau, Uéverton S. Souza, and Mario Valencia-Pabon. Computing Distances on Graph Associahedra Is Fixed-Parameter Tractable. In 52nd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 334, pp. 63:1-63:19, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)


Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{cunha_et_al:LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.63,
  author =	{Cunha, Lu{\'\i}s Felipe I. and Sau, Ignasi and Souza, U\'{e}verton S. and Valencia-Pabon, Mario},
  title =	{{Computing Distances on Graph Associahedra Is Fixed-Parameter Tractable}},
  booktitle =	{52nd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2025)},
  pages =	{63:1--63:19},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-372-0},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{334},
  editor =	{Censor-Hillel, Keren and Grandoni, Fabrizio and Ouaknine, Jo\"{e}l and Puppis, Gabriele},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.63},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-234408},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.63},
  annote =	{Keywords: graph associahedra, elimination tree, rotation distance, parameterized complexity, fixed-parameter tractable algorithm, combinatorial shortest path, reconfiguration}
}
Document
Track A: Algorithms, Complexity and Games
Towards the Proximity Conjecture on Group-Labeled Matroids

Authors: Dániel Garamvölgyi, Ryuhei Mizutani, Taihei Oki, Tamás Schwarcz, and Yutaro Yamaguchi

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 334, 52nd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2025)


Abstract
Consider a matroid M whose ground set is equipped with a labeling to an abelian group. A basis of M is called F-avoiding if the sum of the labels of its elements is not in a forbidden label set F. Hörsch, Imolay, Mizutani, Oki, and Schwarcz (2024) conjectured that if an F-avoiding basis exists, then any basis can be transformed into an F-avoiding basis by exchanging at most |F| elements. This proximity conjecture is known to hold for certain specific groups; in the case where |F| ≤ 2; or when the matroid is subsequence-interchangeably base orderable (SIBO), which is a weakening of the so-called strongly base orderable (SBO) property. In this paper, we settle the proximity conjecture for sparse paving matroids or in the case where |F| ≤ 4. Related to the latter result, we present the first known example of a non-SIBO matroid. We further address the setting of multiple group-label constraints, showing proximity results for the cases of two labelings, SIBO matroids, matroids representable over a fixed, finite field, and sparse paving matroids.

Cite as

Dániel Garamvölgyi, Ryuhei Mizutani, Taihei Oki, Tamás Schwarcz, and Yutaro Yamaguchi. Towards the Proximity Conjecture on Group-Labeled Matroids. In 52nd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 334, pp. 85:1-85:17, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)


Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{garamvolgyi_et_al:LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.85,
  author =	{Garamv\"{o}lgyi, D\'{a}niel and Mizutani, Ryuhei and Oki, Taihei and Schwarcz, Tam\'{a}s and Yamaguchi, Yutaro},
  title =	{{Towards the Proximity Conjecture on Group-Labeled Matroids}},
  booktitle =	{52nd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2025)},
  pages =	{85:1--85:17},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-372-0},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{334},
  editor =	{Censor-Hillel, Keren and Grandoni, Fabrizio and Ouaknine, Jo\"{e}l and Puppis, Gabriele},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.85},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-234628},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.85},
  annote =	{Keywords: sparse paving matroid, subsequence-interchangeable base orderability, congruency constraint, multiple labelings}
}
Document
A Sparse Multicover Bifiltration of Linear Size

Authors: Ángel Javier Alonso

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 332, 41st International Symposium on Computational Geometry (SoCG 2025)


Abstract
The k-cover of a point cloud X of ℝ^d at radius r is the set of all those points within distance r of at least k points of X. By varying r and k we obtain a two-parameter filtration known as the multicover bifiltration. This bifiltration has received attention recently due to being choice-free and robust to outliers. However, it is hard to compute: the smallest known equivalent simplicial bifiltration has O(|X|^{d+1}) simplices. In this paper we introduce a (1+ε)-approximation of the multicover bifiltration of linear size O(|X|), for fixed d and ε. The methods also apply to the subdivision Rips bifiltration on metric spaces of bounded doubling dimension yielding analogous results.

Cite as

Ángel Javier Alonso. A Sparse Multicover Bifiltration of Linear Size. In 41st International Symposium on Computational Geometry (SoCG 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 332, pp. 6:1-6:18, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)


Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{alonso:LIPIcs.SoCG.2025.6,
  author =	{Alonso, \'{A}ngel Javier},
  title =	{{A Sparse Multicover Bifiltration of Linear Size}},
  booktitle =	{41st International Symposium on Computational Geometry (SoCG 2025)},
  pages =	{6:1--6:18},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-370-6},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{332},
  editor =	{Aichholzer, Oswin and Wang, Haitao},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.SoCG.2025.6},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-231587},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.SoCG.2025.6},
  annote =	{Keywords: Multicover, Approximation, Sparsification, Multiparameter persistence}
}
Document
Geometric Realizations of Dichotomous Ordinal Graphs

Authors: Patrizio Angelini, Sabine Cornelsen, Carolina Haase, Michael Hoffmann, Eleni Katsanou, Fabrizio Montecchiani, Raphael Steiner, and Antonios Symvonis

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 332, 41st International Symposium on Computational Geometry (SoCG 2025)


Abstract
A dichotomous ordinal graph consists of an undirected graph with a partition of the edges into short and long edges. A geometric realization of a dichotomous ordinal graph G in a metric space X is a drawing of G in X in which every long edge is strictly longer than every short edge. We call a graph G pandichotomous in X if G admits a geometric realization in X for every partition of its edge set into short and long edges. We exhibit a very close relationship between the degeneracy of a graph G and its pandichotomic Euclidean or spherical dimension, that is, the smallest dimension k such that G is pandichotomous in ℝ^k or the sphere 𝒮^k, respectively. First, every d-degenerate graph is pandichotomous in ℝ^d and 𝒮^{d-1} and these bounds are tight for the sphere and for ℝ² and almost tight for ℝ^d, for d ≥ 3. Second, every n-vertex graph that is pandichotomous in ℝ^k has at most μ kn edges, for some absolute constant μ < 7.23. This shows that the pandichotomic Euclidean dimension of any graph is linearly tied to its degeneracy and in the special case k ∈ {1,2} resolves open problems posed by Alam, Kobourov, Pupyrev, and Toeniskoetter. Further, we characterize which complete bipartite graphs are pandichotomous in ℝ²: These are exactly the K_{m,n} with m ≤ 3 or m = 4 and n ≤ 6. For general bipartite graphs, we can guarantee realizations in ℝ² if the short or the long subgraph is constrained: namely if the short subgraph is outerplanar or a subgraph of a rectangular grid, or if the long subgraph forms a caterpillar.

Cite as

Patrizio Angelini, Sabine Cornelsen, Carolina Haase, Michael Hoffmann, Eleni Katsanou, Fabrizio Montecchiani, Raphael Steiner, and Antonios Symvonis. Geometric Realizations of Dichotomous Ordinal Graphs. In 41st International Symposium on Computational Geometry (SoCG 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 332, pp. 9:1-9:16, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)


Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{angelini_et_al:LIPIcs.SoCG.2025.9,
  author =	{Angelini, Patrizio and Cornelsen, Sabine and Haase, Carolina and Hoffmann, Michael and Katsanou, Eleni and Montecchiani, Fabrizio and Steiner, Raphael and Symvonis, Antonios},
  title =	{{Geometric Realizations of Dichotomous Ordinal Graphs}},
  booktitle =	{41st International Symposium on Computational Geometry (SoCG 2025)},
  pages =	{9:1--9:16},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-370-6},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{332},
  editor =	{Aichholzer, Oswin and Wang, Haitao},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.SoCG.2025.9},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-231616},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.SoCG.2025.9},
  annote =	{Keywords: Ordinal embeddings, geometric graphs, graph representations}
}
Document
Recognizing 2-Layer and Outer k-Planar Graphs

Authors: Yasuaki Kobayashi, Yuto Okada, and Alexander Wolff

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 332, 41st International Symposium on Computational Geometry (SoCG 2025)


Abstract
The crossing number of a graph is the least number of crossings over all drawings of the graph in the plane. Computing the crossing number of a given graph is NP-hard, but fixed-parameter tractable (FPT) with respect to the natural parameter. Two well-known variants of the problem are 2-layer crossing minimization and circular crossing minimization, where every vertex must lie on one of two layers, namely two parallel lines, or a circle, respectively. In both cases, edges are drawn as straight-line segments. Both variants are NP-hard, but admit FPT-algorithms with respect to the natural parameter. In recent years, in the context of beyond-planar graphs, a local version of the crossing number has also received considerable attention. A graph is k-planar if it admits a drawing with at most k crossings per edge. In contrast to the crossing number, recognizing k-planar graphs is NP-hard even if k = 1 and hence not likely to be FPT with respect to the natural parameter k. In this paper, we consider the two above variants in the local setting. The k-planar graphs that admit a straight-line drawing with vertices on two layers or on a circle are called 2-layer k-planar and outer k-planar graphs, respectively. We study the parameterized complexity of the two recognition problems with respect to the natural parameter k. For k = 0, the two classes of graphs are exactly the caterpillars and outerplanar graphs, respectively, which can be recognized in linear time. Two groups of researchers independently showed that outer 1-planar graphs can also be recognized in linear time [Hong et al., Algorithmica 2015; Auer et al., Algorithmica 2016]. One group asked explicitly whether outer 2-planar graphs can be recognized in polynomial time. Our main contribution consists of XP-algorithms for recognizing 2-layer k-planar graphs and outer k-planar graphs, which implies that both recognition problems can be solved in polynomial time for every fixed k. We complement these results by showing that recognizing 2-layer k-planar graphs is XNLP-complete and that recognizing outer k-planar graphs is XNLP-hard. This implies that both problems are W[t]-hard for every t and that it is unlikely that they admit FPT-algorithms. On the other hand, we present an FPT-algorithm for recognizing 2-layer k-planar graphs where the order of the vertices on one layer is specified.

Cite as

Yasuaki Kobayashi, Yuto Okada, and Alexander Wolff. Recognizing 2-Layer and Outer k-Planar Graphs. In 41st International Symposium on Computational Geometry (SoCG 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 332, pp. 65:1-65:16, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)


Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{kobayashi_et_al:LIPIcs.SoCG.2025.65,
  author =	{Kobayashi, Yasuaki and Okada, Yuto and Wolff, Alexander},
  title =	{{Recognizing 2-Layer and Outer k-Planar Graphs}},
  booktitle =	{41st International Symposium on Computational Geometry (SoCG 2025)},
  pages =	{65:1--65:16},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-370-6},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{332},
  editor =	{Aichholzer, Oswin and Wang, Haitao},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.SoCG.2025.65},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-232170},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.SoCG.2025.65},
  annote =	{Keywords: 2-layer k-planar graphs, outer k-planar graphs, recognition algorithms, local crossing number, bandwidth, FPT, XNLP, XP, W\lbrackt\rbrack}
}
Document
Edge-Minimum Walk of Modular Length in Polynomial Time

Authors: Antoine Amarilli, Benoît Groz, and Nicole Wein

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 325, 16th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2025)


Abstract
We study the problem of finding, in a directed graph, an st-walk of length r od q which is edge-minimum, i.e., uses the smallest number of distinct edges. Despite the vast literature on paths and cycles with modularity constraints, to the best of our knowledge we are the first to study this problem. Our main result is a polynomial-time algorithm that solves this task when r and q are constants. We also show how our proof technique gives an algorithm to solve a generalization of the well-known Directed Steiner Network problem, in which connections between endpoint pairs are required to satisfy modularity constraints on their length. Our algorithm is polynomial when the number of endpoint pairs and the modularity constraints on the pairs are constants. In this version of the article, proofs and examples are omitted because of space constraints. Detailed proofs are available in the full version [Antoine Amarilli et al., 2024].

Cite as

Antoine Amarilli, Benoît Groz, and Nicole Wein. Edge-Minimum Walk of Modular Length in Polynomial Time. In 16th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 325, pp. 5:1-5:23, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)


Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{amarilli_et_al:LIPIcs.ITCS.2025.5,
  author =	{Amarilli, Antoine and Groz, Beno\^{i}t and Wein, Nicole},
  title =	{{Edge-Minimum Walk of Modular Length in Polynomial Time}},
  booktitle =	{16th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2025)},
  pages =	{5:1--5:23},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-361-4},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{325},
  editor =	{Meka, Raghu},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2025.5},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-226330},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2025.5},
  annote =	{Keywords: Directed Steiner Network, Modularity}
}
  • Refine by Type
  • 21 Document/PDF
  • 16 Document/HTML

  • Refine by Publication Year
  • 5 2026
  • 11 2025
  • 3 2023
  • 2 2022

  • Refine by Author
  • 6 Steiner, Raphael
  • 3 El Maalouly, Nicolas
  • 2 Schnider, Patrick
  • 2 Wulf, Lasse
  • 1 Ahi, Mridul
  • Show More...

  • Refine by Series/Journal
  • 21 LIPIcs

  • Refine by Classification
  • 4 Mathematics of computing → Combinatorics
  • 4 Mathematics of computing → Graph theory
  • 4 Theory of computation → Computational geometry
  • 4 Theory of computation → Design and analysis of algorithms
  • 4 Theory of computation → Parameterized complexity and exact algorithms
  • Show More...

  • Refine by Keyword
  • 3 Exact Matching
  • 3 Perfect Matching
  • 2 Connectivity
  • 2 Independence Number
  • 2 Parameterized Complexity
  • Show More...

Any Issues?
X

Feedback on the Current Page

CAPTCHA

Thanks for your feedback!

Feedback submitted to Dagstuhl Publishing

Could not send message

Please try again later or send an E-mail