We give polynomial-time algorithms for obtaining hamilton circuits in random graphs, G, and random directed graphs, D. If n is finite, we assume that G or D contains a hamilton circuit. If G is an arbitrary graph containing a hamilton circuit, we conjecture that Algorithm G always obtains a hamilton circuit in polynomial time.
We give an "excluded minor" and a "structural" characterization of digraphs D that have the property that for every subdigraph H of D, the maximum number of disjoint circuits in H is equal to the minimum cardinality of a subset T of V(H) such that H\T is acyclic.
In 1960, Ghouila-Houri extended Dirac's theorem to directed graphs by proving that if D is a directed graph on n vertices with minimum out-degree and in-degree at least n/2 (i.e. minimum semi-degree at least n/2), then D contains a directed Hamiltonian cycle. Of course there are other orientations of a cycle in a directed graph and it is not clear that the semi-degree threshold for the directed Hamiltonian cycle is the same as the semi-degree threshold for some other orientation. In 1980, Grant initiated the problem of determining the minimum semi-degree threshold for the anti-directed Hamilto…
Let $\{D_M\}_{M\geq 0}$ be the $n$-vertex random directed graph process, where $D_0$ is the empty directed graph on $n$ vertices, and subsequent directed graphs in the sequence are obtained by the addition of a new directed edge uniformly at random. For each $\varepsilon>0$, we show that, almost surely, any directed graph $D_M$ with minimum in- and out-degree at least 1 is not only Hamiltonian (as shown by Frieze), but remains Hamiltonian when edges are removed, as long as at most $(1/2-\varepsilon)$ of both the in- and out-edges incident to each vertex are removed. We say such a directed grap…
A classical theorem of Ghouila-Houri from 1960 asserts that every directed graph on $n$ vertices with minimum out-degree and in-degree at least $n/2$ contains a directed Hamilton cycle. In this paper we extend this theorem to a random directed graph ${\mathcal D}(n,p)$, that is, a directed graph in which every ordered pair $(u,v)$ becomes an arc with probability $p$ independently of all other pairs. Motivated by the study of resilience of properties of random graphs, we prove that if $p \gg \log n/\sqrt{n}$, then a.a.s. every subdigraph of ${\mathcal D}(n,p)$ with minimum out-degree and in-deg…
Let D(n,p) be the random directed graph on n vertices where each of the n(n-1) possible arcs is present independently with probability p. A celebrated result of Frieze shows that if $p\ge(\log n+ω(1))/n$ then D(n,p) typically has a directed Hamilton cycle, and this is best possible. In this paper, we obtain a strengthening of this result, showing that under the same condition, the number of directed Hamilton cycles in D(n,p) is typically $n!(p(1+o(1)))^{n}$. We also prove a hitting-time version of this statement, showing that in the random directed graph process, as soon as every vertex has in…
The Directed Hamilton-Waterloo Problem asks for a directed $2$-factorization of the complete symmetric digraph $K_v^*$ where there are two non-isomorphic $2$-factors. In the uniform version of the problem, factors consist of either directed $m$-cycles or $n$-cycles. In this paper, necessary conditions for a solution of this problem are given, and the problem is solved for the factors with $(m, n)\in \{(4,6),(4,8),(4,12),(4,16),(6,12)$,$(8,16),(3,5),(3,15),(5,15)\}$.
We survey some recent results on long-standing conjectures regarding Hamilton cycles in directed graphs, oriented graphs and tournaments. We also combine some of these to prove the following approximate result towards Kelly's conjecture on Hamilton decompositions of regular tournaments: the edges of every regular tournament can be covered by a set of Hamilton cycles which are `almost' edge-disjoint. We also highlight the role that the notion of `robust expansion' plays in several of the proofs. New and old open problems are discussed.
Given a 0-1 square matrix A, when can some of the 1's be changed to -1's in such a way that the permanent of A equals the determinant of the modified matrix? When does a real square matrix have the property that every real matrix with the same sign pattern (that is, the corresponding entries either have the same sign or are both zero) is nonsingular? When is a hypergraph with n vertices and n hyperedges minimally nonbipartite? When does a bipartite graph have a "Pfaffian orientation"? Given a digraph, does it have no directed circuit of even length? Given a digraph, does it have a subdivision …
A Hamilton cycle in a digraph is a cycle that passes through all the vertices, where all the arcs are oriented in the same direction. The problem of finding Hamilton cycles in directed graphs is well studied and is known to be hard. One of the main reasons for this, is that there is no general tool for finding Hamilton cycles in directed graphs comparable to the so called Pos?a `rotation-extension' technique for the undirected analogue. Let ${\mathcal D}(n,p)$ denote the random digraph on vertex set $[n]$, obtained by adding each directed edge independently with probability $p$. Here, we prese…
Our studies are related to a special class of FASS-curves, which can be described in a node-rewriting Lindenmayer-system. These ortho-tile (or diagonal) type recursive curves inducing Hamiltonian paths. We define a special directed graph on a rectangular grid, and we enumerate all Hamiltonian paths on this graph. Our formulas are strongly related to both the Fibonacci numbers and the domino tilings of chessboards. The constructability of the regular $17$-gon with straightedge and compass is also related.
Consider a directed analogue of the random graph process on $n$ vertices, where the $n(n-1)$ edges are ordered uniformly at random and revealed one at a time. It is known that w.h.p.\@ the first digraph in this process with both in-degree and out-degree $\geq q$ has a $[q]$-edge-coloring with a Hamilton cycle in each color. We show that this coloring can be constructed online, where each edge must be irrevocably colored as soon as it appears. In a similar fashion, for the \emph{undirected} random graph process, we present an online $[n]$-edge-coloring algorithm which yields w.h.p.\@ $q$ disjoi…
In 1972, Woodall raised the following Ore type condition for directed Hamilton cycles in digraphs: Let $D$ be a digraph. If for every vertex pair $u$ and $v$, where there is no arc from $u$ to $v$, we have $d^+u)+d^-(v)\geq |D|$, then $D$ has a directed Hamilton cycle. By a correspondence between bipartite graphs and digraphs, the above result is equivalent to the following result of Las Vergnas: Let $G = (B,W)$ be a balanced bipartite graph. If for any $b \in B$ and $w \in W$, where $b$ and $w$ are nonadjacent, we have $d(w)+d(b) \geq |G|/2 + 1$, then every perfect matching of $G$ is containe…
Consider the random graph process where we start with an empty graph on n vertices, and at time t, are given an edge e_t chosen uniformly at random among the edges which have not appeared so far. A classical result in random graph theory asserts that w.h.p. the graph becomes Hamiltonian at time (1/2+o(1))n log n. On the contrary, if all the edges were directed randomly, then the graph has a directed Hamilton cycle w.h.p. only at time (1+o(1))n log n. In this paper we further study the directed case, and ask whether it is essential to have twice as many edges compared to the undirected case. Mo…
In this paper, the leading term of the asymptotics of the number of possible final positions of a random walk on a directed Hamiltonian metric graph is found. Consideration of such dynamical systems could be motivated by problems of propagation of narrow wave packets on metric graphs.
Let D be a directed graph with vertex set V and order n. An anti-directed hamiltonian cycle H in D is a hamiltonian cycle in the graph underlying D such that no pair of consecutive arcs in H form a directed path in D. An anti-directed 2-factor in D is a vertex-disjoint collection of anti-directed cycles in D that span V. It was proved in [3] that if the indegree and the outdegree of each vertex of D is greater than (9/16)n then D contains an anti-directed hamilton cycle. In this paper we prove that given a directed graph D, the problem of determining whether D has an anti-directed 2-factor is …
In this paper we generalise the even directed cycle problem, which asks whether a given digraph contains a directed cycle of even length, to orientations of regular matroids. We define non-even oriented matroids generalising non-even digraphs, which played a central role in resolving the computational complexity of the even dicycle problem. Then we show that the problem of detecting an even directed circuit in a regular matroid is polynomially equivalent to the recognition of non-even oriented matroids. Our main result is a precise characterisation of the class of non-even oriented bond matroi…
In this paper we consider the question of the existence of Hamiltonian circuits in the tope graphs of central arrangements of hyperplanes. Some of the results describe connections between the existence of Hamiltonian circuits in the arrangement and the odd-even invariant of the arrangement. In conjunction with this, we present some results concerning bounds on the odd-even invariant. The results given here can be formulated more generally for oriented matroids and are still valid in that setting.
In his seminal paper from 1952 Dirac showed that the complete graph on $n\geq 3$ vertices remains Hamiltonian even if we allow an adversary to remove $\lfloor n/2\rfloor$ edges touching each vertex. In 1960 Ghouila-Houri obtained an analogue statement for digraphs by showing that every directed graph on $n\geq 3$ vertices with minimum in- and out-degree at least $n/2$ contains a directed Hamilton cycle. Both statements quantify the robustness of complete graphs (digraphs) with respect to the property of containing a Hamilton cycle. A natural way to generalize such results to arbitrary graphs (…
A theorem of Cohn and Lempel [J. Combin. Theory Ser. A 13 (1972), 83-89] gives an equality relating the number of circuits in a directed circuit partition of a 2-in, 2-out digraph to the GF(2)-nullity of an associated matrix. This equality is essentially equivalent to the relationship between directed circuit partitions of 2-in, 2-out digraphs and vertex-nullity interlace polynomials of interlace graphs. We present an extension of the Cohn-Lempel equality that describes arbitrary circuit partitions in (undirected) 4-regular graphs. The extended equality incorporates topological results that ha…
We propose a new method for determining the elementary paths and elementary circuits in a directed graph. Also, the Hamiltonian paths and Hamiltonian circuits are enumerated.
We present an algebraic algorithm to detect the existence of and to list all indecomposable even circuits in a given graph. We also discuss an application of our work to the study of directed cycles in digraphs.
If eps > 0 and p >= n^{-1/2 + eps}, in a binomial random graph G(n,p) a.a.s. the set of cycles which can be constructed as a symmetric difference of Hamilton circuits is as large as parity by itself permits (all cycles if n is odd, all even cycles if n is even). Moreover, every p which ensures the above property a.a.s. must necessarily be such that for any constant c>0, eventually p >= (log n + 2 log log n + c)/n. So, whatever the smallest sufficient p for an a.a.s. Hamilton-generated cycle space might be, it does not coincide with the threshold for hamiltonicity of G(n,p).
We show that for each fixed $k$, the problem of finding $k$ pairwise vertex-disjoint directed paths between given source-sink pairs in a planar directed graph is solvable in polynomial time. In fact, it suffices to fix the number of faces needed to cover all sources and sinks. Moreover, the method can be extended to any fixed compact orientable surface (instead of the plane) and to rooted trees (instead of paths). Our approach is algebraic and is based on cohomology over graph (nonabelian) groups. More precisely, let $D=(V,A)$ be a directed graph and let $(G,\cdot)$ be a group. Call two functi…
The hamiltonian circuit polytope is the convex hull of feasible solutions for the circuit constraint, which provides a succinct formulation of the traveling salesman and other sequencing problems. We study the polytope by establishing its dimension, developing tools for the identification of facets, and using these tools to derive several families of facets. The tools include necessary and sufficient conditions for an inequality to be facet defining, and an algorithm for generating all undominated circuits. We use a novel approach to identifying families of facet-defining inequalities, based o…
Consider an electrical circuit $G$ each directed edge $e$ of which is a semiconductor with a monomial conductance function $y_e^* = f_e(y_e) = y_e^s / μ_e^r$ if $y_e \geq 0$ and $y_e^* = 0$ if $y_e \leq 0$. Here $e$ is a directed edge, $y_e$ is the potential difference (voltage), $y_e^*$ is the current in $e$, and $μ_e$ is the resistance of $e$; furthermore, $r$ and $s$ are two strictly positive real parameters common for all edges. In particular, case $r = s = 1$ corresponds to the Ohm law, while $r = \frac{1}{2}, s =1$ may be interpreted as the square law of resistance typical for hydraulics…
The generating function that records the sizes of directed circuit partitions of a connected 2-in, 2-out digraph D can be determined from the interlacement graph of D with respect to a directed Euler circuit; the same is true of the generating functions for other kinds of circuit partitions. The interlace polynomials of Arratia, Bollobás and Sorkin [J. Combin. Theory Ser. B 92 (2004) 199-233; Combinatorica 24 (2004) 567-584] extend the corresponding functions from interlacement graphs to arbitrary graphs. We introduce a multivariate interlace polynomial that is an analogous extension of a mult…
Let $D$ be an oriented classical or virtual link diagram with directed universe $\vec{U}$. Let $C$ denote a set of directed Euler circuits, one in each connected component of $U$. There is then an associated looped interlacement graph $L(D,C)$ whose construction involves very little geometric information about the way $D$ is drawn in the plane; consequently $L(D,C)$ is different from other combinatorial structures associated with classical link diagrams, like the checkerboard graph, which can be difficult to extend to arbitrary virtual links. $L(D,C)$ is determined by three things: the structu…
In this article we discuss the question of presence of Hamiltonian cycle in the un-directed power graph of a group. In the process we develop weighted Hamiltonian cycle concept and prove a few general results regarding the Hamiltonian question.