Martin Töpfer

Simultaneous Embedding with Fixed Edges (SEFE) is a problem where given $k$ planar graphs we ask whether they can be simultaneously embedded so that the embedding of each graph is planar and common edges are drawn the same. Problems of SEFE type have inspired questions of Simultaneous Geometrical Representations and further derivations. Based on this motivation we investigate the generalization of the simultaneous paradigm on the classical combinatorial problem of minimum spanning trees. Given $k$ graphs with weighted edges, such that they have a common intersection, are there minimum spanning trees of the respective graphs such that they agree on the intersection? We show that the unweighted case is polynomial-time solvable while the weighted case is only polynomial-time solvable for $k=2$ and it is NP-complete for $k\geq 3$.

We study when an arrangement of axis-aligned rectangles can be transformed into an arrangement of axis-aligned squares in $\mathbb{R}^2$ while preserving its structure. We found a counterexample to the conjecture of J. Klawitter, M. N\"ollenburg and T. Ueckerdt whether all arrangements without crossing and side-piercing can be squared. Our counterexample also works in a more general case when we only need to preserve the intersection graph and we forbid side-piercing between squares. We also show counterexamples for transforming box arrangements into combinatorially equivalent hypercube arrangements. Finally, we introduce a linear program deciding whether an arrangement of rectangles can be squared in a more restrictive version where the order of all sides is preserved.