核心概念
This paper introduces two natural generalizations of the pairwise compatibility graph (PCG) class: k-OR-PCGs and k-AND-PCGs. These classes represent graphs that can be expressed as the union and intersection, respectively, of k PCGs.
要約
The paper starts by providing the formal definitions of PCGs and their subclasses, as well as the multi-interval-PCG class, which is another generalization of PCGs.
The authors then introduce the two new generalizations, k-OR-PCGs and k-AND-PCGs. A graph is a k-OR-PCG if it can be expressed as the union of k PCGs, and a k-AND-PCG if it can be expressed as the intersection of k PCGs.
The paper then focuses on investigating the relationships between these new classes and the existing PCG and multi-interval-PCG classes. Some key results include:
The authors show that for any integer k, there exists a bipartite graph that is not in the k-interval-PCG class, answering an open question from prior work. This implies that there is no finite k for which the k-interval-PCG class contains all graphs.
For arbitrary graphs, the authors provide upper bounds on the minimum k for which the graph is in the k-OR-PCG or k-AND-PCG classes. They also improve these bounds for particular graph classes, such as planar graphs and series-parallel graphs.
Using Ramsey-type arguments, the authors show that for any k, there exist graphs that are not in k-AND-PCG and graphs that are not in k-OR-PCG.
The paper concludes by proposing several open questions, highlighting that the new generalizations introduced here not only help in better understanding the PCG class itself, but also lead to new and challenging combinatorial problems.