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Minimum Path Cover
Given a directed graph ''G'' = (''V'', ''E''), a path cover is a set of directed paths such that every vertex ''v'' ∈ ''V'' belongs to at least one path. Note that a path cover may include paths of length 0 (a single vertex). A ''path cover'' may also refer to a vertex-disjoint path cover, i.e., a set of paths such that every vertex ''v'' ∈ ''V'' belongs to ''exactly'' one path. Properties A theorem by Gallai and Milgram shows that the number of paths in a smallest path cover cannot be larger than the number of vertices in the largest independent set. In particular, for any graph ''G'', there is a path cover ''P'' and an independent set ''I'' such that ''I'' contains exactly one vertex from each path in ''P''. Dilworth's theorem follows as a corollary of this result. Computational complexity Given a directed graph ''G'', the minimum path cover problem consists of finding a path cover for ''G'' having the fewest paths. A minimum path co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Directed Path
In graph theory, a path in a graph is a finite or infinite sequence of edges which joins a sequence of vertices which, by most definitions, are all distinct (and since the vertices are distinct, so are the edges). A directed path (sometimes called dipath) in a directed graph is a finite or infinite sequence of edges which joins a sequence of distinct vertices, but with the added restriction that the edges be all directed in the same direction. Paths are fundamental concepts of graph theory, described in the introductory sections of most graph theory texts. See e.g. , , or . cover more advanced algorithmic topics concerning paths in graphs. Definitions Walk, trail, and path * A walk is a finite or infinite sequence of edges which joins a sequence of vertices. : Let be a graph. A finite walk is a sequence of edges for which there is a sequence of vertices such that ''Φ''(''e''''i'') = for . is the ''vertex sequence'' of the walk. The walk is ''closed'' if ''v'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Path Cover
Given a directed graph ''G'' = (''V'', ''E''), a path cover is a set of directed paths such that every vertex ''v'' ∈ ''V'' belongs to at least one path. Note that a path cover may include paths of length 0 (a single vertex). A ''path cover'' may also refer to a vertex-disjoint path cover, i.e., a set of paths such that every vertex ''v'' ∈ ''V'' belongs to ''exactly'' one path. Properties A theorem by Gallai and Milgram shows that the number of paths in a smallest path cover cannot be larger than the number of vertices in the largest independent set. In particular, for any graph ''G'', there is a path cover ''P'' and an independent set ''I'' such that ''I'' contains exactly one vertex from each path in ''P''. Dilworth's theorem follows as a corollary of this result. Computational complexity Given a directed graph ''G'', the minimum path cover problem consists of finding a path cover for ''G'' having the fewest paths. A minimum path co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Independent Set (graph Theory)
In graph theory, an independent set, stable set, coclique or anticlique is a set of vertices in a graph, no two of which are adjacent. That is, it is a set S of vertices such that for every two vertices in S, there is no edge connecting the two. Equivalently, each edge in the graph has at most one endpoint in S. A set is independent if and only if it is a clique in the graph's complement. The size of an independent set is the number of vertices it contains. Independent sets have also been called "internally stable sets", of which "stable set" is a shortening. A maximal independent set is an independent set that is not a proper subset of any other independent set. A maximum independent set is an independent set of largest possible size for a given graph G. This size is called the independence number of ''G'' and is usually denoted by \alpha(G). The optimization problem of finding such a set is called the maximum independent set problem. It is a strongly NP-hard problem. As ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dilworth's Theorem
In mathematics, in the areas of order theory and combinatorics, Dilworth's theorem states that, in any finite partially ordered set, the maximum size of an antichain of incomparable elements equals the minimum number of chains needed to cover all elements. This number is called the width of the partial order. The theorem is named for the mathematician Robert P. Dilworth, who published it in 1950. A version of the theorem for infinite partially ordered sets states that, when there exists a decomposition into finitely many chains, or when there exists a finite upper bound on the size of an antichain, the sizes of the largest antichain and of the smallest chain decomposition are again equal. Statement An antichain in a partially ordered set is a set of elements no two of which are comparable to each other, and a chain is a set of elements every two of which are comparable. A chain decomposition is a partition of the elements of the order into disjoint chains. Dilworth's theorem st ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
If And Only If
In logic and related fields such as mathematics and philosophy, "if and only if" (often shortened as "iff") is paraphrased by the biconditional, a logical connective between statements. The biconditional is true in two cases, where either both statements are true or both are false. The connective is biconditional (a statement of material equivalence), and can be likened to the standard material conditional ("only if", equal to "if ... then") combined with its reverse ("if"); hence the name. The result is that the truth of either one of the connected statements requires the truth of the other (i.e. either both statements are true, or both are false), though it is controversial whether the connective thus defined is properly rendered by the English "if and only if"—with its pre-existing meaning. For example, ''P if and only if Q'' means that ''P'' is true whenever ''Q'' is true, and the only case in which ''P'' is true is if ''Q'' is also true, whereas in the case of ''P if Q ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hamiltonian Path
In the mathematical field of graph theory, a Hamiltonian path (or traceable path) is a path in an undirected or directed graph that visits each vertex exactly once. A Hamiltonian cycle (or Hamiltonian circuit) is a cycle that visits each vertex exactly once. A Hamiltonian path that starts and ends at adjacent vertices can be completed by adding one more edge to form a Hamiltonian cycle, and removing any edge from a Hamiltonian cycle produces a Hamiltonian path. The computational problems of determining whether such paths and cycles exist in graphs are NP-complete; see Hamiltonian path problem for details. Hamiltonian paths and cycles are named after William Rowan Hamilton, who invented the icosian game, now also known as ''Hamilton's puzzle'', which involves finding a Hamiltonian cycle in the edge graph of the dodecahedron. Hamilton solved this problem using the icosian calculus, an algebraic structure based on roots of unity with many similarities to the quaternions (also ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hamiltonian Path Problem
The Hamiltonian path problem is a topic discussed in the fields of complexity theory and graph theory. It decides if a directed or undirected graph, ''G'', contains a Hamiltonian path, a path that visits every vertex in the graph exactly once. The problem may specify the start and end of the path, in which case the starting vertex ''s'' and ending vertex ''t'' must be identified. The Hamiltonian cycle problem is similar to the Hamiltonian path problem, except it asks if a given graph contains a Hamiltonian cycle. This problem may also specify the start of the cycle. The Hamiltonian cycle problem is a special case of the travelling salesman problem, obtained by setting the distance between two cities to one if they are adjacent and two otherwise, and verifying that the total distance travelled is equal to ''n.'' If so, the route is a Hamiltonian cycle. The Hamiltonian path problem and the Hamiltonian cycle problem belong to the class of NP-complete problems, as shown in Michael ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
NP-complete
In computational complexity theory, NP-complete problems are the hardest of the problems to which ''solutions'' can be verified ''quickly''. Somewhat more precisely, a problem is NP-complete when: # It is a decision problem, meaning that for any input to the problem, the output is either "yes" or "no". # When the answer is "yes", this can be demonstrated through the existence of a short (polynomial length) ''solution''. # The correctness of each solution can be verified quickly (namely, in polynomial time) and a brute-force search algorithm can find a solution by trying all possible solutions. # The problem can be used to simulate every other problem for which we can verify quickly that a solution is correct. Hence, if we could find solutions of some NP-complete problem quickly, we could quickly find the solutions of every other problem to which a given solution can be easily verified. The name "NP-complete" is short for "nondeterministic polynomial-time complete". In this name, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
NP-hard
In computational complexity theory, a computational problem ''H'' is called NP-hard if, for every problem ''L'' which can be solved in non-deterministic polynomial-time, there is a polynomial-time reduction from ''L'' to ''H''. That is, assuming a solution for ''H'' takes 1 unit time, ''H''s solution can be used to solve ''L'' in polynomial time. As a consequence, finding a polynomial time algorithm to solve a single NP-hard problem would give polynomial time algorithms for all the problems in the complexity class NP. As it is suspected, but unproven, that P≠NP, it is unlikely that any polynomial-time algorithms for NP-hard problems exist. A simple example of an NP-hard problem is the subset sum problem. Informally, if ''H'' is NP-hard, then it is at least as difficult to solve as the problems in NP. However, the opposite direction is not true: some problems are undecidable, and therefore even more difficult to solve than all problems in NP, but they are probably not NP- ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
P (complexity)
In computational complexity theory, P, also known as PTIME or DTIME(''n''O(1)), is a fundamental complexity class. It contains all decision problems that can be solved by a deterministic Turing machine using a polynomial amount of computation time, or polynomial time. Cobham's thesis holds that P is the class of computational problems that are "efficiently solvable" or " tractable". This is inexact: in practice, some problems not known to be in P have practical solutions, and some that are in P do not, but this is a useful rule of thumb. Definition A language ''L'' is in P if and only if there exists a deterministic Turing machine ''M'', such that * ''M'' runs for polynomial time on all inputs * For all ''x'' in ''L'', ''M'' outputs 1 * For all ''x'' not in ''L'', ''M'' outputs 0 P can also be viewed as a uniform family of Boolean circuits. A language ''L'' is in P if and only if there exists a polynomial-time uniform family of Boolean circuits \, such that * For all n \in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Matching (graph Theory)
In the mathematical discipline of graph theory, a matching or independent edge set in an undirected Graph (discrete mathematics), graph is a set of Edge (graph theory), edges without common vertex (graph theory), vertices. In other words, a subset of the edges is a matching if each vertex appears in at most one edge of that matching. Finding a matching in a bipartite graph can be treated as a Flow network, network flow problem. Definitions Given a Graph (discrete mathematics), graph a matching ''M'' in ''G'' is a set of pairwise non-adjacent edges, none of which are loop (graph theory), loops; that is, no two edges share common vertices. A vertex is matched (or saturated) if it is an endpoint of one of the edges in the matching. Otherwise the vertex is unmatched (or unsaturated). A maximal matching is a matching ''M'' of a graph ''G'' that is not a subset of any other matching. A matching ''M'' of a graph ''G'' is maximal if every edge in ''G'' has a non-empty intersectio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
