Tereza Klimošová

We show that for any natural number $k \ge 1$, any oriented graph $D$ of minimum semidegree at least $(3k- 2)/4$ contains an antidirected path of length $k$. In fact, a slightly weaker condition on the semidegree sequence of $D$ suffices, and as a consequence, we confirm a weakened antidirected path version of a conjecture of Addario-Berry, Havet, Linhares Sales, Thomass\'e and Reed.

The question of whether 3-Coloring can be solved in polynomial-time for the diameter two graphs is a well-known open problem in the area of algorithmic graph theory. We study the problem restricted to graph classes that avoid cycles of given lengths as induced subgraphs. Martin et. al. [CIAC 2021] showed that the problem is polynomial-time solvable for $C_5$-free or $C_6$-free graphs, and, $(C_4,C_s)$-free graphs where $s \in \{3,7,8,9\}$. We extend their result proving that it is polynomial-time solvable for $(C_4,C_s)$-free graphs, for any constant $s$, and for $(C_3,C_7)$-free graphs. Our results also hold for the more general problem List 3-Colouring.

Let ${\mathbb{G}(n_1,n_2,m)}$ be a uniformly random m-edge subgraph of the complete bipartite graph ${K_{n_1,n_2}}$ with bipartition $(V_1, V_2)$ , where $n_i = |V_i|$ , $i=1,2$ . Given a real number $p \in [0,1]$ such that $d_1 \,{:\!=}\, pn_2$ and $d_2 \,{:\!=}\, pn_1$ are integers, let $\mathbb{R}(n_1,n_2,p)$ be a random subgraph of ${K_{n_1,n_2}}$ with every vertex $v \in V_i$ of degree $d_i$ , $i = 1, 2$ . In this paper we determine sufficient conditions on $n_1,n_2,p$ and m under which one can embed ${\mathbb{G}(n_1,n_2,m)}$ into $\mathbb{R}(n_1,n_2,p)$ and vice versa with probability tending to 1. In particular, in the balanced case $n_1=n_2$ , we show that if $p\gg\log n/n$ and $1 - p \gg \left(\log n/n \right)^{1/4}$ , then for some $m\sim pn^2$ , asymptotically almost surely one can embed ${\mathbb{G}(n_1,n_2,m)}$ into $\mathbb{R}(n_1,n_2,p)$ , while for $p\gg\left(\log^{3} n/n\right)^{1/4}$ and $1-p\gg\log n/n$ the opposite embedding holds. As an extension, we confirm the Kim–Vu Sandwich Conjecture for degrees growing faster than $(n \log n)^{3/4}$ .

The 3-coloring of hereditary graph classes has been a deeply-researched problem in the last decade. A hereditary graph class is characterized by a (possibly infinite) list of minimal forbidden induced subgraphs $$H_1,H_2,\ldots $$H 1 , H 2 , … ; the graphs in the class are called $$(H_1,H_2,\ldots )$$( H 1 , H 2 , … ) -free. The complexity of 3-coloring is far from being understood, even for classes defined by a few small forbidden induced subgraphs. For H-free graphs, the complexity is settled for any H on up to seven vertices. There are only two unsolved cases on eight vertices, namely $$2P_4$$2 P 4 and $$P_8$$P 8 . For $$P_8$$P 8 -free graphs, some partial results are known, but to the best of our knowledge, $$2P_4$$2 P 4 -free graphs have not been explored yet. In this paper, we show that the 3-coloring problem is polynomial-time solvable on $$(2P_4,C_5)$$( 2 P 4 , C 5 ) -free graphs.

Let $G(n,n,m)$ be a uniformly random $m$-edge subgraph of the complete bipartite graph $K_{n,n}$ with bipartition $(V_1, V_2)$, where $n_i = |V_i|$. Given a real number $p \in [0,1]$ such that $d_1 := pn_2$ and $d_2 := pn_1$ are integers, let $R(n,n,p)$ be a random subgraph of $K_{n,n}$ such that every $v \in V_i$ has degree $d_i$, for $i = 1, 2$. In this paper we determine sufficient conditions on $n_1,n_2,p$, and $m$ under which one can embed $G(n,n,m)$ into $R(n,n,p)$ and vice versa with probability tending to $1$. In particular, in the balanced case $n_1 = n_2$, we show that if $p \gg \log n/n$ and $1 - p \gg \left(\log n/n \right)^{1/4}$, then for some $m \sim pn^2$, asymptotically almost surely one can embed $G(n,n,m)$ into $R(n,n,p)$, while for $p \gg \left(\log^{3} n/n\right)^{1/4}$ and $1-p \gg \log n/n$ we have the opposite embedding. As an extension, we confirm the Kim--Vu Sandwich Conjecture for degrees growing faster than $(n \log n)^{3/4}$.

A graph is called $P_t$-free} if it does not contain a $t$-vertex path as an induced subgraph. While $P_4$-free graphs are exactly cographs, the structure of $P_t$-free graphs for $t \geq 5$ remains little understood. On one hand, classic computational problems such as Maximum Weight Independent Set (MWIS) and $3$-Coloring are not known to be NP-hard on $P_t$-free graphs for any fixed $t$. On the other hand, despite significant effort, polynomial-time algorithms for MWIS in $P_6$-free graphs~[SODA 2019] and $3$-Coloring in $P_7$-free graphs~[Combinatorica 2018] have been found only recently. In both cases, the algorithms rely on deep structural insights into the considered graph classes. One of the main tools in the algorithms for MWIS in $P_5$-free graphs~[SODA 2014] and in $P_6$-free graphs~[SODA 2019] is the so-called Separator Covering Lemma that asserts that every minimal separator in the graph can be covered by the union of neighborhoods of a constant number of vertices. In this note we show that such a statement generalizes to $P_7$-free graphs and is false in $P_8$-free graphs. We also discuss analogues of such a statement for covering potential maximal cliques with unions of neighborhoods.

In the classic Maximum Weight Independent Set problem we are given a graph $G$ with a nonnegative weight function on vertices, and the goal is to find an independent set in $G$ of maximum possible weight. While the problem is NP-hard in general, we give a polynomial-time algorithm working on any $P_6$-free graph, that is, a graph that has no path on $6$ vertices as an induced subgraph. This improves the polynomial-time algorithm on $P_5$-free graphs of Lokshtanov et al. (SODA 2014), and the quasipolynomial-time algorithm on $P_6$-free graphs of Lokshtanov et al (SODA 2016). The main technical contribution leading to our main result is enumeration of a polynomial-size family $\mathcal{F}$ of vertex subsets with the following property: for every maximal independent set $I$ in the graph, $\mathcal{F}$ contains all maximal cliques of some minimal chordal completion of $G$ that does not add any edge incident to a vertex of $I$.