The topic of stable matchings (marriages) in a bipartite graph has become widely popular, starting with the appearance of the classical work by Gale and Shapley. We give a detailed survey on selected known results in this field that demonstrate structural, polyhedral and algorithmic properties of such matchings and their sets, providing our description with relatively short proofs.
We give a simple proof that every $n$-vertex graph $d$-regular graph that does not contain a fixed bipartite graph as a subgraph has an induced matching of size $Ω((n/d)(\log d))$.
We study the possible values of the matching number among all trees with a given degree sequence as well as all bipartite graphs with a given bipartite degree sequence. For tree degree sequences, we obtain closed formulas for the possible values. For bipartite degree sequences, we show the existence of realizations with a restricted structure, which allows to derive an analogue of the Gale-Ryser Theorem characterizing bipartite degree sequences. More precisely, we show that a bipartite degree sequence has a realization with a certain matching number if and only if a cubic number of inequalitie…
The determinant method of Kasteleyn gives a method of computing the number of perfect matchings of a planar bipartite graph. In addition, results of Bernardi exhibit a bijection between spanning trees of a planar bipartite graph and elements of its Jacobian. In this paper, we explore an analogue of Bernardi's results, providing a canonical simply transitive group action of the Kasteleyn cokernel of a planar bipartite graph on its set of perfect matchings, when the planar bipartite graph in question is of the form $G^+$, as defined by Kenyon, Propp and Wilson.
We study the existence of perfect matchings in suitably chosen induced subgraphs of random biregular bipartite graphs. We prove a result similar to a classical theorem of Erdos and Renyi about perfect matchings in random bipartite graphs. We also present an application to commutative graphs, a class of graphs that are featured in additive number theory.
Let $g(n)$ be the least number such that every collection of $n$ matchings, each of size at least $g(n)$, in a bipartite graph, has a full rainbow matching. Aharoni and Berger \cite{AhBer} conjectured that $g(n)=n+1$ for every $n>1$. This generalizes famous conjectures of Ryser, Brualdi and Stein. Recently, Aharoni, Charbit and Howard \cite{ACH} proved that $g(n)\le\lfloor\frac{7}{4}n\rfloor$. We prove that $g(n)\le\lfloor\frac{5}{3} n\rfloor$.
We show the existence of rainbow perfect matchings in $μn$-bounded edge colourings of Dirac bipartite graphs, for a sufficiently small $μ>0$. As an application of our results, we obtain several results on the existence of rainbow $k$-factors in Dirac graphs and rainbow spanning subgraphs of bounded maximum degree on graphs with large minimum degree.
We are given a bipartite graph that contains at least one perfect matching and where each edge is colored from a set $Q=\{c_1,c_2,\ldots,c_q}\$. Let $Q_i=\set{e\in E(G):c(e)=c_i}$, where $c(e)$ denotes the color of $e$. The perfect matching color profile $mcp(G)$ is defined to be the set of vectors $(m_1,m_2,\ldots,m_q)\in [n]^q$ such that there exists a perfect matching $M$ such that $|M\cap Q_i|=m_i$. We give bounds on the matching color profile for a randomly colored random bipartite graph.
Suppose that $k$ is a non-negative integer and a bipartite multigraph $G$ is the union of $$N=\left\lfloor \frac{k+2}{k+1}n\right\rfloor -(k+1)$$ matchings $M_1,\dots,M_N$, each of size $n$. We show that $G$ has a rainbow matching of size $n-k$, i.e. a matching of size $n-k$ with all edges coming from different $M_i$'s. Several choices of parameters relate to known results and conjectures.
We show that there exist linear-time algorithms that compute the strong chromatic index and a maximum induced matching of tree-cographs when the decomposition tree is a part of the input. We also show that there exist efficient algorithms for the strong chromatic index of (bipartite) permutation graphs and of chordal bipartite graphs.
Let $f(n)$ be the smallest number such that every collection of $n$ matchings, each of size at least $f(n)$, in a bipartite graph, has a full rainbow matching. Generalizing famous conjectures of Ryser, Brualdi and Stein, Aharoni and Berger conjectured that $f(n)=n+1$ for every $n>1$. Clemens and Ehrenm{ü}ller proved that $f(n) \le \frac{3}{2}n +o(n)$. We show that the $o(n)$ term can be reduced to a constant, namely $f(n) \le \lceil \frac{3}{2}n \rceil+1$.
Consider the random process in which the edges of a graph $G$ are added one by one in a random order. A classical result states that if $G$ is the complete graph $K_{2n}$ or the complete bipartite graph $K_{n,n}$, then typically a perfect matching appears at the moment at which the last isolated vertex disappears. We extend this result to arbitrary $k$-regular bipartite graphs $G$ on $2n$ vertices for all $k = ω\left( \frac{n}{\log^{1/3} n} \right)$. Surprisingly, this is not the case for smaller values of $k$. Using a construction due to Goel, Kapralov and Khanna, we show that there exist bip…
In this paper, we introduce a corresponding between bipartite graphs with a perfect matching and digraphs, which implicates an equivalent relation between the extendibility of bipartite graphs and the strongly connectivity of digraphs. Such an equivalent relation explains the similar results on $k$-extendable bipartite graphs and $k$-strong digraphs. We also study the relation among $k$-extendable bipartite graphs, $k$-strong digraphs and combinatorial matrices. For bipartite graphs that are not 1-extendable and digraphs that are not strong, we prove that the elementary components and strong c…
We provide a canonical decomposition for a class of bipartite grafts known as combs. As every bipartite graft is a recursive combination of combs, our results provides a canonical decomposition for general bipartite grafts. Our new decomposition is by definition a generalization of the classical canonical decomposition in matching theory, that is, the Dulmage-Mendelsohn decomposition for bipartite graphs with perfect matchings. However, it exhibits much more complicated structure than its classical counterpart. It is revealed from our results that bipartite grafts has a canonical structure tha…
Let $G$ be a connected graph. If $G$ contains a matching of size $k$, and every matching of size $k$ is contained in a perfect matching of $G$, then $G$ is said to be \emph{$k$-extendable}. A $k$-regular spanning subgraph of $G$ is called a \textit{$k$-factor}. In this paper, we provide spectral conditions for a (balanced bipartite) graph with minimum degree $δ$ to be $k$-extendable, and for the existence of a $k$-factor in a balanced bipartite graph, respectively. Our results generalize some previous results on perfect matchings of graphs, and extend the results in \cite{D.F} and \cite{W.L} t…
Let $k,l,m$ be integers and $r(k,l,m)$ be the minimum integer $N$ such that for any red-blue-green coloring of $K_{N,N}$, there is a red matching of size at least $k$ in a component, or a blue matching of at least size $l$ in a component, or a green matching of size at least $m$ in a component. In this paper, we determine the exact value of $r(k,l,m)$ completely. Applying a technique originated by Łuczak that applies Szemerédi's Regularity Lemma to reduce the problem of showing the existence of a monochromatic cycle to show the existence of a monochromatic matching in a component, we obtain th…
We provide an analogue of the Dulmage-Mendelsohn decomposition for a class of grafts known as comb-bipartite grafts. The Dulmage-Mendelsohn decomposition in matching theory is a classical canonical structure theorem for bipartite graphs. The substantial part of this classical theorem resides in bipartite graphs that are factorizable, that is, those with a perfect matching. Minimum joins in grafts, also known as minimum $T$-joins in graphs, is a generalization of perfect matchings in factorizable graphs. Sebö revealed in his paper that comb-bipartite grafts form one of the two fundamental class…
Let $G$ be a bipartite graph and its adjacency matrix $\mathbb A$. If $G$ has a unique perfect matching, then $\mathbb A$ has an inverse $\mathbb A^{-1}$ which is a symmetric integral matrix, and hence the adjacency matrix of a multigraph. The inverses of bipartite graphs with unique perfect matchings have a strong connection to Möbius functions of posets. In this note, we characterize all bipartite graphs with a unique perfect matching whose adjacency matrices have inverses diagonally similar to non-negative matrices, which settles an open problem of Godsil on inverses of bipartite graphs in …
A theorem of A. Schrijver asserts that a $d$-regular bipartite graph on $2n$ vertices has at least $$\left(\frac{(d-1)^{d-1}}{d^{d-2}}\right)^n$$ perfect matchings. L. Gurvits gave an extension of Schrijver's theorem for matchings of density $p$. In this paper we give a stronger version of Gurvits's theorem in the case of vertex-transitive bipartite graphs. This stronger version in particular implies that for every positive integer $k$, there exists a positive constant $c(k)$ such that if a $d$-regular vertex-transitive bipartite graph on $2n$ vertices contains a cycle of length at most $k$, t…
We study the minimum number of maximum matchings in a bipartite multigraph G with parts $X$ and $Y$ under various conditions, refining the well-known lower bound due to M. Hall. When $|X|=n$, every vertex in $X$ has degree at least $k$, and every vertex in $X$ has at least $r$ distinct neighbors, the minimum is $r!(k-r+1)$ when $n\ge r$ and is $[r+n(k-r)]\prod_{i=1}^{n-1}(r-i)$ when $n<r$. When every vertex has at least two neighbors and $|Y|-|X|=t\ge 0$, the minimum is $[(n-1)t+2+b](t+1)$, where $b=|E(G)|-2(n+t)$. We also determine the minimum number of maximum matchings in several other situ…
Matching minors are a specialisation of minors fit for the study of graph with perfect matchings. The notion of matching minors has been used to give a structural description of bipartite graphs on which the number of perfect matchings can becomputed efficiently, based on a result of Little, by McCuaig et al. in 1999.In this paper we generalise basic ideas from the graph minor series by Robertson and Seymour to the setting of bipartite graphs with perfect matchings. We introducea version of Erdos-Posa property for matching minors and find a direct link between this property and planarity. From…
A perfect matching in a bipartite graph embedded on a torus defines a height function on the graph's faces and an associated height change vector in $\Z^2$. These matchings are enumerated by a combination of four evaluations of a bivariate Laurent polynomial, called Kasteleyn operator, whose coefficient of bidegree (i,j) is, up to the sign, the number of perfect matchings with height change (i,j). Therefore the Newton polygon of the Kasteleyn operator is the convex hull of the height change vectors. In this article, we prove that any point with integer coordinates in that polygon is realized b…
Perfect Matching-Cut is the problem of deciding whether a graph has a perfect matching that contains an edge-cut. We show that this problem is NP-complete for planar graphs with maximum degree four, for planar graphs with girth five, for bipartite five-regular graphs, for graphs of diameter three and for bipartite graphs of diameter four. We show that there exist polynomial time algorithms for the following classes of graphs: claw-free, $P_5$-free, diameter two, bipartite with diameter three and graphs with bounded tree-width.
A {\em brick} is a non-bipartite matching covered graph without non-trivial tight cuts. Bricks are building blocks of matching covered graphs. We say that an edge $e$ in a brick $G$ is {\em $b$-invariant} if $G-e$ is matching covered and a tight cut decomposition of $G-e$ contains exactly one brick. A 2-edge-connected cubic graph is {\em essentially 4-edge-connected} if it does not contain nontrivial 3-cuts. A brick $G$ is {\em near-bipartite} if it has a pair of edges $\{e_1, e_2\}$ such that $G-\{e_1,e_2\}$ is bipartite and matching covered. Kothari, de Carvalho, Lucchesi and Little proved t…
The Total Matching Polytope generalizes the Stable Set Polytope and the Matching Polytope. In this paper, we give the perfect formulation for Trees and we derive two new families of valid inequalities, the balanced biclique inequalities which are always facet-defining and the non-balanced lifted biclique inequalities obtained by a lifting procedure, which are facet-defining for bipartite graphs. Finally, we give a complete description for Complete Bipartite Graphs.
The book embedding of a graph $G$ is to place the vertices of $G$ on the spine and draw the edges to the pages so that the edges in the same page do not cross with each other. A book embedding is matching if the vertices in the same page have maximum degree at most 1. The matching book thickness is the minimum number of pages in which a graph can be matching book embedded. A graph $G$ is dispersable if and only if $mbt(G)=Δ(G)$. In this paper, we prove that bipartite cubic planar graphs are dispersable.
The distance matrix $\mathcal{D}$ of a connected graph $G$ is the matrix indexed by the vertices of $G$ which entry $\mathcal{D}_{i,j}$ equals the distance between the vertices $v_i$ and $v_j$. The distance signless Laplacian matrix $\mathcal{Q}(G)$ of graph $G$ is defined as $\mathcal{Q}(G)=Diag(Tr)+\mathcal{D}(G)$, where $Diag(Tr)$ is the diagonal matrix of the vertex transmissions in $G$. The largest eigenvalue of $\mathcal{Q}(G)$ is called the distance signless Laplacian spectral radius of $G$, written as $η_1(G)$. And a perfect matching in a graph is a set of disadjacent edges covering ev…
Existence of a perfect matching in a random bipartite digraph with bipartition $(V_1, V_2)$, $|V_i|=n$, is studied. The graph is generated in two rounds of random selections of a potential matching partner such that the average number of selections made by each vertex overall is below $2$. More precisely, in the first round each vertex chooses a potential mate uniformly at random, and independently of all vertices. Given a fixed integer $m$, a vertex is classified as unpopular if it has been chosen by at most $m$ vertices from the other side. Each unpopular vertex makes yet another uniform/ind…
We show that the ratio of the number of near perfect matchings to the number of perfect matchings in $d$-regular strong expander (non-bipartite) graphs, with $2n$ vertices, is a polynomial in $n$, thus the Jerrum and Sinclair Markov chain [JS89] mixes in polynomial time and generates an (almost) uniformly random perfect matching. Furthermore, we prove that such graphs have at least $Ω(d)^n$ any perfect matchings, thus proving the Lovasz-Plummer conjecture [LP86] for this family of graphs.
In this note we study inhomogeneous random bipartite graphs in random environment. These graphs can be thought of as an extension of the classical Erdös-Rényi random graphs in a random environment. We show that the expected number of perfect matchings obeys a precise quenched asymptotic and that it can be approximated using an iterative process that converges exponentially fast.
We consider, for complete bipartite graphs, the convex hulls of characteristic vectors of all matchings, extended by a binary entry indicating whether the matching contains two specific edges. These polytopes are associated to the quadratic matching problems with a single linearized quadratic term. We provide a complete irredundant inequality description, which settles a conjecture by Klein (Ph.D. thesis, TU Dortmund, 2015). In addition, we also derive facetness and separation results for the polytopes. The completeness proof is based on a geometric relationship to a matching polytope of a non…
A connected graph G is called matching covered if every edge of G is contained in a perfect matching. Perfect matching width is a width parameter for matching covered graphs based on a branch decomposition. It was introduced by Norine and intended as a tool for the structural study of matching covered graphs, especially in the context of Pfaffian orientations. Norine conjectured that graphs of high perfect matching width would contain a large grid as a matching minor, similar to the result on treewidth by Robertson and Seymour. In this paper we obtain the first results on perfect matching widt…
\noindent By a seminal result of Valiant, computing the permanent of $(0,1)$-matrices is, in general, $\#\mathsf{P}$-hard. In 1913 Pólya asked for which $(0,1)$-matrices $A$ it is possible to change some signs such that the permanent of $A$ equals the determinant of the resulting matrix. In 1975, Little showed these matrices to be exactly the biadjacency matrices of bipartite graphs excluding $K_{3,3}$ as a \{matching minor}. This was turned into a polynomial time algorithm by McCuaig, Robertson, Seymour, and Thomas in 1999. However, the relation between the exclusion of some matching minor in…
We study the classical weighted perfect matchings problem for bipartite graphs or sometimes referred to as the assignment problem, i.e., given a weighted bipartite graph $G = (U\cup V,E)$ with weights $w : E \rightarrow \mathcal{R}$ we are interested to find the maximum matching in $G$ with the minimum/maximum weight. In this work we present a new and arguably simpler analysis of one of the earliest techniques developed for solving the assignment problem, namely the auction algorithm. Using our analysis technique we present tighter and improved bounds on the runtime complexity for finding an a…
In a recent paper, Beniamini and Nisan gave a closed-form formula for the unique multilinear polynomial for the Boolean function determining whether a given bipartite graph $G \subseteq K_{n,n}$ has a perfect matching, together with an efficient algorithm for computing the coefficients of the monomials of this polynomial. We give the following generalization: Given an arbitrary non-negative weight function $w$ on the edges of $K_{n,n}$, consider its set of minimum weight perfect matchings. We give the real multilinear polynomial for the Boolean function which determines if a graph $G \subseteq…
In this paper, we study two problems related to planar matchings in random bipartite graphs. First, we colour each edge of the complete bipartite graph $K_{n,n}$ uniformly randomly from amongst ${r}$ colours and show that if ${r}$ grows linearly with ${n}$ then the maximum rainbow matching is a non-trivial fraction of ${r}$ with high probability, i.e. with probability converging to one as ${n \rightarrow \infty}$ Next we consider planar matchings in a dependent setting where each vertex is forced to choose exactly one neighbour from amongst all possible choices. We obtain estimates for the lar…
Deterministically Isolating a Perfect Matching in Bipartite Planar Graphs
我们提出了一个确定性的方式分配小(日志位)的权重的二分平面图的边缘,使最小重量完美匹配成为唯一的。隔离引理(Mulmuley et al. 1987)中所描述的实现了相同的一般图使用随机加权方案,而我们可以做到这一点时,确定性限制到二分平面图。因此,我们减少了决策和建设版本的匹配问题,以测试是否矩阵是奇异的,根据承诺,其行列式是0或1,从而获得一个高度并行的SPL算法的二分平面图。这改进了先前已知的非均匀SPL的界限(Allender et al. 1999)和$NC^2$的界限(Miller and Naor 1995,Mahajan and Varadarajan 2000)。这也重新点燃了希望,获得一个确定性的并行算法,构造一个完美的匹配在非二部平面图,这已经开放了很长一段时间。我们的技术是基本和简单的。
A major step in the graph minors theory of Robertson and Seymour is the transition from the Grid Theorem which, in some sense uniquely, describes areas of large treewidth within a graph, to a notion of local flatness of these areas in form of the existence of a large flat wall within any huge grid of an H-minor free graph. In this paper, we prove a matching theoretic analogue of the Flat Wall Theorem for bipartite graphs excluding a fixed matching minor. Our result builds on a a tight relationship between structural digraph theory and matching theory and allows us to deduce a Flat Wall Theorem…
For $r\geq 1$, the $r$-matching complex of a graph $G$, denoted $M_r(G)$, is a simplicial complex whose faces are the subsets $H \subseteq E(G)$ of the edge set of $G$ such that the degree of any vertex in the induced subgraph $G[H]$ is at most $r$. In this article, we give a closed form formula for the homotopy type of the $(n-2)$-matching complex of complete graph on $n$ vertices. We also prove that the $(n-1)$-matching complex of complete bipartite graph $K_{n,n}$ is homotopy equivalent to a sphere of dimension $(n-1)^2-1$.
A bipartite graph B is called a brace if it is connected and every matching of size at most two in B is contained in some perfect matching of B and a cycle C in B is called conformal if B-V(C) has a perfect matching. We show that there do not exist two disjoint alternating paths that form a cross over a conformal cycle C in a brace B if and only if one can reduce B, by an application of a matching theoretic analogue of small clique sums, to a planar brace H in which C bounds a face. We then utilise this result and provide a polynomial time algorithm which solves the 2-linkage problem for alter…