Papers for

network analysis engineers

Papers whose findings have a practical use for this group, as judged from the abstract. Open a paper to read what it means in practice.

Weisfeiler-Leman dimension linked to graph rank width improves isomorphism tests

Decomposition Profiles and Weisfeiler-Leman Dimension for Graphs of Bounded Rank Width

Abstract: The Weisfeiler-Leman (WL) algorithm tests graph isomorphism by assigning colours to $d$-tuples of vertices and iteratively refining the colouring according to neighbourhood configurations until it stabilizes. Increasing $d$ allows the test to detect finer structural differences between graphs, but the computational cost grows exponentially with $d$. The central question is which dimension allows us to distinguish nonisomorphic graphs. We relate a sufficient such dimension to the structure of a graph $G$ through a rank decomposition over $\mathbb F_2$. The two parameters governing the bound are the maximum cut rank $w$ and the fork load $\ell$, which is the largest sum of the parent and two child cut ranks at a fork in the decomposition tree. We prove that WL in dimension $\max\{\ell+1,2w+2\}$ distinguishes every finite nonempty vertex-coloured graph $G$ with such a decomposition from every graph not isomorphic to $G$. Consequently, for $k\geq1$, graphs of rank width at most $k$ can be distinguished from every nonisomorphic graph in dimension $3k+1$, graphs of linear rank width at most $k$ in dimension $2k+2$, and edgeless graphs in dimension one. Uncoloured Cai-Fürer-Immerman (CFI) constructions give linear lower bounds for both width parameters, so the upper bounds are tight up to constant factors.

Wed 7 OctDiscrete MathematicsLogic in Computer Science
The gist
Graphs are mathematical objects made of points connected by lines, and checking if two graphs are the same is often difficult. The Weisfeiler-Leman (WL) algorithm tries to tell graphs apart by coloring groups of points based on their connections, but using more groups gets slow. The authors connect how complicated a graph is, measured by something called rank width, to the number of groups the WL algorithm needs. They show that by looking at certain structural features, you can know the exact WL dimension needed to distinguish a graph from any other, which helps understand when the test works well.
Open → 2610.10800v1

Faster ways to find small patterns in big sparse networks

Faster Algorithms for Finding Small Induced Patterns in Sparse Host Graphs

Abstract: We study algorithms for detecting induced subgraphs corresponding to fixed pattern graphs in host graphs. We show that at least five of the 21 connected graphs on five vertices can be detected in time roughly the product of the number of vertices and the number of edges, and that at least 65 of the 112 connected graphs on six vertices can be detected in time nearly quadratic in the number of edges. We also give algorithms for detecting induced paths and cycles on seven vertices, running in time roughly the number of vertices times the square of the number of edges. Our main technical tool is a generalized notion of tree decomposition width, called (p, q)-width. It yields algorithms whose running times depend on both the number of vertices and the number of edges, and are never worse than existing bounds. Whenever the host graph has fewer than roughly quadratically many edges in its number of vertices, our bounds are strictly faster. For some patterns, including the seven-vertex cycle, our algorithms are optimal under standard complexity-theoretic assumptions. We further develop this approach using pattern-based polynomials that exploit the structure of tree decompositions, not just their width. This gives algorithms for detecting induced paths and cycles on an even number of vertices in bipartite graphs, running in time roughly the (k-1)-th power of the number of edges for paths on 2k vertices, and that same bound times the number of vertices for cycles on 2k vertices. These are faster than the best known algorithms for general graphs.

Wed 30 SeptData Structures and Algorithms
The gist
Finding small connected patterns inside large complex networks is a common problem in computer science. The authors show new algorithms that find certain small patterns much faster when the larger network is not densely connected. They introduce a new general measure called (p, q)-width to guide these faster searches and improve on existing methods. These algorithms work well especially for patterns like cycles and paths of specific sizes and are sometimes provably optimal. They also extend their approach to handle special networks called bipartite graphs, speeding up detection of even longer paths and cycles.
Open → 2610.00567v1