The longest path problem is the problem of finding a path of maximum length in a graph. Polynomial solutions for this problem are known only for small classes of graphs, while it is NP-hard on general graphs, as it is a generalization of the Hamiltonian path problem. Motivated by the work of Uehara and Uno in [20], where they left the longest path problem open for the class of interval graphs, in this paper we show that the problem can be solved in polynomial time on interval graphs. The proposed algorithm runs in O(n 4) time, where n is the number of vertices of the input graph, and bases on a dynamic programming approach.

/pdf/the-longest-path-problem-is-polynomial-on-interval-graphs-43wohjam5l.pdf

The Longest Path Problem Is Polynomial on Interval Graphs

Given a graph $G$, the longest path problem asks to compute a simple path of $G$ with the largest number of vertices. This problem is the most natural optimization version of the well-known and well-studied Hamiltonian path problem, and thus it is NP-hard on general graphs. However, in contrast to the Hamiltonian path problem, there are only a few restricted graph families, such as trees, and some small graph classes where polynomial algorithms for the longest path problem have been found. Recently it has been shown that this problem can be solved in polynomial time on interval graphs by applying dynamic programming to a characterizing ordering of the vertices of the given graph [K. Ioannidou, G. B. Mertzios, and S. D. Nikolopoulos, Algorithmica, 61 (2011), pp. 320--341], thus answering an open question. In the present paper, we provide the first polynomial algorithm for the longest path problem on a much greater class, namely on cocomparability graphs. Our algorithm uses a similar, but essentially simple...

/pdf/a-simple-polynomial-algorithm-for-the-longest-path-problem-3scnbsm17w.pdf

A simple polynomial algorithm for the longest path problem on cocomparability graphs.

The longest path problem is the problem of finding a path of maximum length in a graph. Polynomial solutions for this problem are known only for small classes of graphs, while it is NP-hard on general graphs, as it is a generalization of the Hamiltonian path problem. Motivated by the work of Uehara and Uno (Proc. of the 15th Annual International Symp. on Algorithms and Computation (ISAAC), LNCS, vol. 3341, pp. 871–883, 2004), where they left the longest path problem open for the class of interval graphs, in this paper we show that the problem can be solved in polynomial time on interval graphs. The proposed algorithm uses a dynamic programming approach and runs in O(n 4) time, where n is the number of vertices of the input graph.

/pdf/the-longest-path-problem-has-a-polynomial-solution-on-1moeq809jz.pdf

The Longest Path Problem has a Polynomial Solution on Interval Graphs

Given a graph $G$, the longest path problem asks to compute a simple path of $G$ with the largest number of vertices. This problem is the most natural optimization version of the well known and well studied Hamiltonian path problem, and thus it is NP-hard on general graphs. However, in contrast to the Hamiltonian path problem, there are only few restricted graph families such as trees and some small graph classes where polynomial algorithms for the longest path problem have been found. Recently it has been shown that this problem can be solved in polynomial time on interval graphs by applying dynamic programming to a characterizing ordering of the vertices of the given graph \cite{longest-int-algo}, thus answering an open question. In the present paper, we provide the first polynomial algorithm for the longest path problem on a much greater class, namely on cocomparability graphs. Our algorithm uses a similar - but essentially simpler - dynamic programming approach, which is applied to a Lexicographic Depth First Search (LDFS) characterizing ordering of the vertices of a cocomparability graph. Therefore, our results provide evidence that this general dynamic programming approach can be used in a more general setting, leading to efficient algorithms for the longest path problem on greater classes of graphs. LDFS has recently been introduced in \cite{Corneil-LDFS08}. Since then, a similar phenomenon of extending an existing interval graph algorithm to cocomparability graphs by using an LDFS preprocessing step has also been observed for the minimum path cover problem \cite{Corneil-MPC}. Therefore, more interestingly, our results also provide evidence that cocomparability graphs present an interval graph structure when they are considered using an LDFS ordering of their vertices, which may lead to other new and more efficient combinatorial algorithms.

A Simple Polynomial Algorithm for the Longest Path Problem on Cocomparability Graphs

The longest path problem is the problem of finding a path of maximum length in a graph. As a generalization of the Hamiltonian path problem, it is NP-complete on general graphs and, in fact, on every class of graphs that the Hamiltonian path problem is NP-complete. Polynomial solutions for the longest path problem have recently been proposed for weighted trees, Ptolemaic graphs, bipartite permutation graphs, interval graphs, and some small classes of graphs. Although the Hamiltonian path problem on cocomparability graphs was proved to be polynomial almost two decades ago, the complexity status of the longest path problem on cocomparability graphs has remained open; actually, the complexity status of the problem has remained open even on the smaller class of permutation graphs. In this paper, we present a polynomial-time algorithm for solving the longest path problem on the class of cocomparability graphs. Our result resolves the open question for the complexity of the problem on such graphs, and since cocomparability graphs form a superclass of both interval and permutation graphs, extends the polynomial solution of the longest path problem on interval graphs and provides polynomial solution to the class of permutation graphs.

/pdf/the-longest-path-problem-is-polynomial-on-cocomparability-2m7nei68dr.pdf

The Longest Path Problem Is Polynomial on Cocomparability Graphs

Longest path problem is a problem for finding a longest path in a given graph. While the graph classes in which the Hamiltonian path problem can be solved efficiently are widely investigated, there are few known graph classes such that the longest path problem can be solved efficiently. Polynomial time algorithms for finding a longest cycle and a longest path in a Ptolemaic graph are proposed. Ptolemaic graphs are the graphs that satisfy the Ptolemy inequality, and they are the intersection of chordal graphs and distance-hereditary graphs. The algorithms use the dynamic programming technique on a laminar structure of cliques, which is a recent characterization of Ptolemaic graphs.

/pdf/longest-path-problems-on-ptolemaic-graphs-3d660wsnbe.pdf

Yoshihiro Takahara

Papers

Longest Path Problems on Ptolemaic Graphs