The perfect matching reconfiguration problem

Marthe Bonamy, Nicolas Bousquet, Marc Heinrich, Takehiro Ito, Yusuke Kobayashi, Arnaud Mary, Moritz Mühlenthaler, Kunihiro Wasa

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

4 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We study the perfect matching reconfiguration problem: Given two perfect matchings of a graph, is there a sequence of flip operations that transforms one into the other? Here, a flip operation exchanges the edges in an alternating cycle of length four. We are interested in the complexity of this decision problem from the viewpoint of graph classes. We first prove that the problem is PSPACE-complete even for split graphs and for bipartite graphs of bounded bandwidth with maximum degree five. We then investigate polynomial-time solvable cases. Specifically, we prove that the problem is solvable in polynomial time for strongly orderable graphs (that include interval graphs and strongly chordal graphs), for outerplanar graphs, and for cographs (also known as P4-free graphs). Furthermore, for each yes-instance from these graph classes, we show that a linear number of flip operations is sufficient and we can exhibit a corresponding sequence of flip operations in polynomial time.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication44th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science, MFCS 2019
EditorsJoost-Pieter Katoen, Pinar Heggernes, Peter Rossmanith
PublisherSchloss Dagstuhl- Leibniz-Zentrum fur Informatik GmbH, Dagstuhl Publishing
ISBN (Electronic)9783959771177
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2019 Aug
Event44th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science, MFCS 2019 - Aachen, Germany
Duration: 2019 Aug 262019 Aug 30

Publication series

NameLeibniz International Proceedings in Informatics, LIPIcs
Volume138
ISSN (Print)1868-8969

Conference

Conference44th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science, MFCS 2019
Country/TerritoryGermany
CityAachen
Period19/8/2619/8/30

Keywords

  • Combinatorial Reconfiguration
  • Graph Algorithms
  • Perfect Matching

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Software

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