On Computing Homological Hitting Sets

Ulrich Bauer, Abhishek Rathod, Meirav Zehavi

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

Cut problems form one of the most fundamental classes of problems in algorithmic graph theory. In this paper, we initiate the algorithmic study of a high-dimensional cut problem. The problem we study, namely, Homological Hitting Set (HHS), is defined as follows: Given a nontrivial r-cycle z in a simplicial complex, find a set S of r-dimensional simplices of minimum cardinality so that S meets every cycle homologous to z. Our first result is that HHS admits a polynomial-time solution on triangulations of closed surfaces. Interestingly, the minimal solution is given in terms of the cocycles of the surface. Next, we provide an example of a 2-complex for which the (unique) minimal hitting set is not a cocycle. Furthermore, for general complexes, we show that HHS is W[1]-hard with respect to the solution size p. In contrast, on the positive side, we show that HHS admits an FPT algorithm with respect to p + ∆, where ∆ is the maximum degree of the Hasse graph of the complex K.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication14th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference, ITCS 2023
EditorsYael Tauman Kalai
PublisherSchloss Dagstuhl- Leibniz-Zentrum fur Informatik GmbH, Dagstuhl Publishing
ISBN (Electronic)9783959772631
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jan 2023
Event14th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference, ITCS 2023 - Cambridge, United States
Duration: 10 Jan 202313 Jan 2023

Publication series

NameLeibniz International Proceedings in Informatics, LIPIcs
Volume251
ISSN (Print)1868-8969

Conference

Conference14th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference, ITCS 2023
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityCambridge
Period10/01/2313/01/23

Keywords

  • Algorithmic topology
  • Cut problems
  • Parameterized complexity
  • Surfaces

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