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1. Near-Linear Time Homomorphism Counting in Bounded Degeneracy Graphs: The Barrier of Long Induced Cycles

   Suman K. Bera, Noujan Pashanasangi ( January 2021 , Symposium on Discrete Algorithms (SODA))

   null (Ed.)

   Counting homomorphisms of a constant sized pattern graph H in an input graph G is a fundamental computational problem. There is a rich history of studying the complexity of this problem, under various constraints on the input G and the pattern H. Given the significance of this problem and the large sizes of modern inputs, we investigate when near-linear time algorithms are possible. We focus on the case when the input graph has bounded degeneracy, a commonly studied and practically relevant class for homomorphism counting. It is known from previous work that for certain classes of H, H-homomorphisms can be counted exactly in near-linear time in bounded degeneracy graphs. Can we precisely characterize the patterns H for which near-linear time algorithms are possible? We completely resolve this problem, discovering a clean dichotomy using fine-grained complexity. Let m denote the number of edges in G. We prove the following: if the largest induced cycle in H has length at most 5, then there is an O(mlogm) algorithm for counting H-homomorphisms in bounded degeneracy graphs. If the largest induced cycle in H has length at least 6, then (assuming standard fine-grained complexity conjectures) there is a constant γ>0, such that there is no o(m1+γ) time algorithm for counting H-homomorphisms. 

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2. A Dichotomy Theorem for Linear Time Homomorphism Orbit Counting in Bounded Degeneracy Graphs

   https://doi.org/10.4230/LIPICS.ISAAC.2024.54  

   Paul-Pena, Daniel ; Seshadhri, C ( January 2024 , Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik)

   Mestre, Julián ; Wirth, Anthony (Ed.)

   Counting the number of homomorphisms of a pattern graph H in a large input graph G is a fundamental problem in computer science. In many applications in databases, bioinformatics, and network science, we need more than just the total count. We wish to compute, for each vertex v of G, the number of H-homomorphisms that v participates in. This problem is referred to as homomorphism orbit counting, as it relates to the orbits of vertices of H under its automorphisms. Given the need for fast algorithms for this problem, we study when near-linear time algorithms are possible. A natural restriction is to assume that the input graph G has bounded degeneracy, a commonly observed property in modern massive networks. Can we characterize the patterns H for which homomorphism orbit counting can be done in near-linear time? We discover a dichotomy theorem that resolves this problem. For pattern H, let 𝓁 be the length of the longest induced path between any two vertices of the same orbit (under the automorphisms of H). If 𝓁 ≤ 5, then H-homomorphism orbit counting can be done in near-linear time for bounded degeneracy graphs. If 𝓁 > 5, then (assuming fine-grained complexity conjectures) there is no near-linear time algorithm for this problem. We build on existing work on dichotomy theorems for counting the total H-homomorphism count. Surprisingly, there exist (and we characterize) patterns H for which the total homomorphism count can be computed in near-linear time, but the corresponding orbit counting problem cannot be done in near-linear time. 

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3. A Dichotomy for Bounded Degree Graph Homomorphisms with Nonnegative Weights

   Govorov, Artem Cai ( July 2020 , 47th International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming)

   Czumaj, Artur Dawar (Ed.)

   We consider the complexity of counting weighted graph homomorphisms defined by a symmetric matrix A. Each symmetric matrix A defines a graph homomorphism function Z A (·), also known as the partition function. Dyer and Greenhill [10] established a complexity dichotomy of Z A (·) for symmetric {0, 1}-matrices A, and they further proved that its #P-hardness part also holds for bounded degree graphs. Bulatov and Grohe [4] extended the Dyer-Greenhill dichotomy to nonnegative symmetric matrices A. However, their hardness proof requires graphs of arbitrarily large degree, and whether the bounded degree part of the Dyer-Greenhill dichotomy can be extended has been an open problem for 15 years. We resolve this open problem and prove that for nonnegative symmetric A, either Z A (G) is in polynomial time for all graphs G, or it is #P-hard for bounded degree (and simple) graphs G. We further extend the complexity dichotomy to include nonnegative vertex weights. Additionally, we prove that the #P-hardness part of the dichotomy by Goldberg et al. [12] for Z A (·) also holds for simple graphs, where A is any real symmetric matrix. 

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4. Complexity of Ck-Coloring in Hereditary Classes of Graphs

   Chudnovsky, M. ; Huang, S. ; Rzazewski, P. ; Spirkl, S. ; and Zhong, M. ( September 2019 , European Symposium on Algorithms)

   For a graph F, a graph G is F-free if it does not contain an induced subgraph isomorphic to F. For two graphs G and H, an H-coloring of G is a mapping f : V (G) → V (H) such that for every edge uv ∈ E(G) it holds that f(u)f(v) ∈ E(H). We are interested in the complexity of the problem H-Coloring, which asks for the existence of an H-coloring of an input graph G. In particular, we consider H-Coloring of F-free graphs, where F is a fixed graph and H is an odd cycle of length at least 5. This problem is closely related to the well known open problem of determining the complexity of 3-Coloring of Pt-free graphs. We show that for every odd k ≥ 5 the Ck-Coloring problem, even in the precoloring-extension variant, can be solved in polynomial time in P9-free graphs. On the other hand, we prove that the extension version of Ck-Coloring is NP-complete for F-free graphs whenever some component of F is not a subgraph of a subdivided claw. 

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5. On edge‐ordered Ramsey numbers

   https://doi.org/10.1002/rsa.20954  

   Fox, Jacob ; Li, Ray ( September 2020 , Random Structures & Algorithms)

   An edge‐ordered graph is a graph with a linear ordering of its edges. Two edge‐ordered graphs areequivalentif there is an isomorphism between them preserving the edge‐ordering. Theedge‐ordered Ramsey number r_edge(H; q) of an edge‐ordered graphHis the smallestNsuch that there exists an edge‐ordered graphGonNvertices such that, for everyq‐coloring of the edges ofG, there is a monochromatic subgraph ofGequivalent toH. Recently, Balko and Vizer proved thatr_edge(H; q) exists, but their proof gave enormous upper bounds on these numbers. We give a new proof with a much better bound, showing there exists a constantcsuch thatfor every edge‐ordered graphHonnvertices. We also prove a polynomial bound for the edge‐ordered Ramsey number of graphs of bounded degeneracy. Finally, we prove a strengthening for graphs where every edge has a label and the labels do not necessarily have an ordering.

    

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