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Questions tagged [perfect-matchings]

A perfect matching is a matching of all the vertices of a graph. In other words, a perfect matching is a set of edges such that each vertex of the graph is incident to exactly one edge in the set.

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1 answer
171 views

How to understand Chegireddy-Hamacher's algorithm for finding k-best perfect matching

I am reading Algorithms for finding K-best perfect matchings by Chegireddy and Hamacher, and I have trouble to understand their Section 2 "General algorithm for K-best perfect matchings ". ...
0 votes
0 answers
43 views

How to determine if two matchings are related by a permutation?

Let $n \geq 2$ be an integer. Let \begin{align*} V &= \{(i, j); 1 \leq i, j \leq n \text{ and } i \neq j \} \\ E &= \{ \{v_1, v_2\}; v_1, v_2 \in V \text{ and } v_1 \neq v_2 \}. \end{align*} ...
2 votes
0 answers
130 views

Does Ising partition function determine the number of $k$-matchings mod $4$ for cubic graphs?

Let $G$ be a cubic graph. It's known that the Tutte polynomial $T_G$ of $G$ on the hyperbola $(x-1)(y-1)=2$ determines the Ising partition function of $G$ and vice versa. A $k$-matching in a graph $G$ ...
1 vote
0 answers
17 views

Complexity of optimal cartesian matching

Question: what is known about the algorithmic aspects of optimally matching a set $\mathcal{P} = \prod\limits_{i=1}^n \left(1,\,\cdots,\,k_i\right)$ of grid-points to a set of $\prod\limits_{i=1}^...
2 votes
0 answers
124 views

Symmetric matching in special graphs

Let $G$ be a bipartite graph, $L$ ($R$) be the set of vertices in the left (right) part. Consider a graph $T$ with the set of vertices $R \times L$ ( $L \times R$ ) in the left (right) part. For any $...
3 votes
2 answers
726 views

The perfect matching problem of planar graph

We know that connectivity is closely related to the Hamiltonian of planar graphs. The most famous result is the Tutte theorem. Theorem (Tutte, 1956). A 4-connected planar graph has a Hamiltonian ...
0 votes
3 answers
106 views

Calculating variance-minimal perfect matchings

Question: are there any algorithms, resp. what can be recommended, for calculating perfect matchings with the property that the variance of their edge's weights is minimal?
2 votes
0 answers
337 views

Who contributed [GT13] to "Computers and Intractability"?

This is a followup to my question How does the complexity of calculating the Permanent imply the NP completeness of directed 3-cycle cover? Question: who contributed problem [GT13] PARTITION INTO ...
3 votes
1 answer
141 views

Generalizations of a theorem of Edmonds/Tutte on existence of a perfect matching in a graphs

It is well known that for a bipartite graph $G$ with bi-adjacency matrix $A$, then $\det A \neq 0$ (as a polynomial) iff $G$ has a perfect matching (there is a similar result for general graphs with ...
0 votes
0 answers
13 views

Enumerating the directed vertex-disjoint cycle covers of digraphs

A directed cycle-cover of a digraph $D$ is in the sense of this post equivalent to a perfect matching in the related undirected biadjacency graph $B$ in which the edges connect a vertex $u$ of $D$ in ...
1 vote
0 answers
34 views

Any updates on "The minimum cost perfect matching problem with conflict pair constraints"?

The subject of the paywalled article The minimum cost perfect matching problem with conflict pair constraints (MCPMPC) are perfect matchings of minimum cost that do not contain certain pairs of edges; ...
4 votes
1 answer
181 views

Algorithms to count perfect matchings in near planar graphs

It is well known that counting perfect matchings is tractable in planar graphs (due to Kastelyn). I am interested in classes of (for lack of a better word) "near" planar graphs (1-planar, ...
0 votes
0 answers
11 views

Detecting non-optimality in disjoint unions of perfect matchings

This is a follow-up question to Minimum-weight disjoint union of perfect matchings: let $G$ be a complete symmetric graph with $2n$ vertices, whose edges are mapped to their weights by $\omega()$ and ...
2 votes
0 answers
163 views

Generalizing Hall's marriage theorem to non-perfect matchings

Let $G = (X, Y, E)$ be bipartite graph such that $|X|=|Y|=n$. A matching $M \subseteq E$ is a subset of disjoint edges (i.e., there does not exist a pair of edges $(x, y) \in M$ and $(x', y') \in M$ ...
2 votes
0 answers
75 views

Optimal perfect matchings in magic squares

Question: what is known about minimum/maximum weight perfect matchings in magic squares with or without special properties like e.g. being pandiagonal? I am especially interested minimal/maximal ...
1 vote
1 answer
193 views

Curious identity involving the number of perfect matchings of the complete graph

Can you prove (preferably combinatorially) the following identity for the total number of perfect matchings of the complete graph $K_{2n}$, where the edges in the matching are ordered, i.e., $\binom{...
0 votes
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28 views

Calculation of cardinality constrained minimum weight matchings

Given a complete weighted graph $G(V,E),\ |V|=2n$, calculating a minimum weight matching with $n-k$ edges can be reduced to calculating a perfect matching in $H(V+U,E+F),\ |U|=2k,\ F=(u\in U,v\in V),\ ...
-2 votes
1 answer
174 views

What is known about iterated matching as a TSP heuristic

A fairly wellknown heuristic for TSP that is based on matching is described in the 2003 paper Match twice and stitch: a new TSP tour construction heuristic by Andrew B. Kahng and Sherief Reda. Its ...
6 votes
1 answer
252 views

Pair matching between divisors less and more than $\sqrt{N}$

Let $n$ be the positive integer. Let $A$ and $B$ be sets of divisors of $n$ less and more than $\sqrt{n}$ respectively. Consider bipartite graph $(A, B)$, where two vertices are connected when one ...
28 votes
3 answers
2k views

Is every positive integer the permanent of some 0-1 matrix?

In the course of discussing another MO question we realized that we did not know the answer to a more basic question, namely: Is it true that for every positive integer $k$ there exists a balanced ...
4 votes
1 answer
111 views

Are there decompositions of $K_{16}$ by certain 3-regular graphs?

This is inspired by the problem of the Hoffman-Singleton Decomposition of $K_{50}$. I wanted to look at smaller variants of this kind of problem, and so naturally I started wondering: Can the (edges ...
2 votes
2 answers
123 views

Existence of certain regular graphs

Question: what can be said about the existence of $2k$ regular graphs, $1\lt k$ that have a $1$-factor and a $2$-factor? Provided their existence, what is/are the smallest for $k$? The graphs must be ...
2 votes
0 answers
108 views

Counting number of perfect matchings

Counting perfect matchings in bipartite graphs is $\# P$ complete. Let $G(V,E)$ be a graph known to have $d$ number of perfect matchings. Bipartite it the obvious way by adding $E$ vertices with one ...
3 votes
0 answers
232 views

Counting matchings and perfect matchings

A matching in a graph is a subset of the edges such that no two edges share a vertex. A perfect matching is a matching where every vertex is part of exactly one edge in the matching. Counting the ...
0 votes
0 answers
35 views

Finding a bipartite graph that contains a specific elements of perfect matchings

I am a physicist who is interested in the applications of graph theory. I've been studying the bipartite graphs and perfect matching finding problems. I see there are several research works on ...
3 votes
2 answers
397 views

An "incomplete" tiling?

Given an $m\times n$ chess board, we place $p$ $2\times 1$ dominoes on the board so that they don't overlap. How many ways can we place them? When each square of the board is covered by a domino this ...
0 votes
0 answers
84 views

Bounds for smallest non-trivial designs

Given $s>t\ge 2$, let $N(s,t)$ be the smallest integer $n>s$ such that there exists an “$(n;s;t;1)$-design” (i.e., a collection of $s$-subsets $e_1,\dots,e_m$ of $[n]:=\{1,\dots,n\}$, such that ...
32 votes
0 answers
3k views

Vertex coloring inherited from perfect matchings (motivated by quantum physics)

Added (19.01.2021): Dustin Mixon wrote a blog post about the question where he reformulated and generalized the question. Added (25.12.2020): I made a youtube video to explain the question in detail. ...
4 votes
1 answer
189 views

Finding minimum weight perfect matchings in sparse bipartite graphs

Question: What can be recommended for finding optimal perfect matchings in large bipartite graphs with small vertex degree if the edge-weights are positive real values? I am looking for ...
0 votes
1 answer
38 views

Edge-length constraints from greedy matching

The subject of this question are perfect matchings of a complete undirected graph $G(V,E), n:=\mathrm{card}(V)=2k$, without self-loops or parallel edges and $n=2k$ vertices. The objective is to ...
1 vote
0 answers
129 views

Hopcroft–Karp Algorithm for a dynamic graph

As so you all know, we have Hopcroft–Karp Algorithm for maximum matching between two sides in a bipartite graph. It runs in $O(\sqrt{V} \times E)$ where $V$ is the vertex set and $E$ is the edges set. ...
0 votes
0 answers
110 views

Bound on the number of maximum matchings in a graph

It is known that the number of perfect matchings in a graph is bounded above by the integer part of the square root of the permanent of its adjacency matrix. But, suppose I take the square root of the ...
10 votes
0 answers
627 views

A rainbow perfect matching in an edge-colored graph with spanning color classes

This question is a sequel of my last question and is eventually motivated by recent advances in quantum physics. Given an even number $n\ge 6$ and a positive integer $k<n$, Claim from the linked ...
1 vote
1 answer
104 views

Symmetry of optimal solutions to symmetric assignment problems

Is there a sound proof of or a counter example to the following conjecture: if $\boldsymbol{A}^T=\boldsymbol{A}$ is the cost-matrix of a bipartite assignment problem with unique optimal assignment, ...
3 votes
1 answer
576 views

Minimum number of perfect matchings in a regular bipartite graph

Is there a lower bound on the number of perfect matchings in a $k$-regular bipartite graph? One can use Hall's marriage theorem and induction on $k$ to derive the lower bound of $k$. I can't come up ...
4 votes
2 answers
318 views

Connecting $2n$ points in $\mathbb R^2$ with line segments s.t. each point belongs to exactly one line segment

I'm trying to do a certain simulation related to the toric code and I'm looking for an algorithm that connects $2n$ points ($n \in \mathbb Z_+$) in $\mathbb R^2$ with line segments with the following ...
12 votes
2 answers
750 views

Postnikov's approach to perfect matchings of graphs

Over a decade ago Alexander Postnikov developed his own way of looking at perfect matchings of bipartite plane graphs. As I recall, he starts with a 2-coloring of the square grid and creates a new ...
7 votes
0 answers
203 views

Upper bound on the number of perfect matchings in $K_{3,3}$-free graphs

Let $G=(V,E)$ be a graph with an even number of vertices $|V|=2n$. Assume that $G$ is $K_{3,3}$-free i.e. it does not contain a graph isomorphic to biclique $K_{3,3}$. A perfect matching of $G$ is a ...
1 vote
0 answers
69 views

On perfect matchings on planar graphs - is there a linear time deterministic algorithm?

The slides here provide a way to get a pfaffian orientation from Minimum Spanning Tree. MST can be found in linear time if graph is planar and weights are $1$ and the slides give a linear time ...
1 vote
2 answers
146 views

What's the name of the graph operation of connecting two copies of a graph with a perfect matching?

Let $G=(V_1,E_1)$ be a simple graph with vertex set $\{v_1,v_2,\ldots,v_n\}$ and let $G'=(V_2,E_2)$ be another copy of $G$ with vertex set $\{u_1,u_2,\ldots,u_n\}$. Assume $V_1\cap V_2= \emptyset$. ...
3 votes
1 answer
131 views

A graph $G$ with two $K_6$ subgraphs, in which any one-factor of $G$ induces a one-factor in exactly one of the $K_6$ subgraphs?

I'm seeking a simple graph $G$ of the following type: It contains two disjoint copies of $K_6$ (the complete graph on 6 nodes), $H$ and $H'$ say. Any one-factor of $G$ must contain either (a) a one ...
6 votes
1 answer
230 views

A non-distinct system of representative edges

I have the following problem: Let $ \mathcal{G} = (G_{i})\_{i} $ be a collection of graphs on the same vertex set. I would like to find a "system of representative edges" $ f : \mathcal{G} \...
7 votes
2 answers
480 views

Are all numbers from $1$ to $n!$ the number of perfect matchings of some bipartite graph?

Let $f(G)$ give the number of perfect matchings of a graph $G$. Consider set $\mathcal N_{2n}=\{0,1,2,\dots,n!-1,n!\}$. Consider collection of all $2n$ vertex balanced bipartite graph to be $\...
2 votes
0 answers
60 views

Sum of number of perfect matchings and a constant constuction

Suppose we have two bipartite graphs $G_1$ and $G_2$ with perfect matching count $P_1$ and $P_2$ respectively then their disjoint union gives a bipartite graph with perfect matching $P_1P_2$. Is ...
8 votes
0 answers
245 views

Sum of perfect matching construction

Suppose we have two bipartite graphs $G_1$ and $G_2$ with perfect matching count $P_1$ and $P_2$ respectively then their disjoint union gives a bipartite graph with perfect matching $P_1P_2$. Is ...
7 votes
2 answers
500 views

Disjoint perfect matchings in complete bipartite graph

Let $K_{n,n}$ be a complete bipartite graph with two parts $\{u_1,u_2,\ldots,u_n\}$ and $\{v_1,v_2,\ldots,v_n\}$, and let $K^-_{n,n}$ be the graph derived from $K_{n,n}$ by delete a perfect matching $\...
3 votes
1 answer
376 views

Generalization of Marshall Hall's Theorem to non-simple bipartite graphs

Lemma 8.6.5 of the book "Matching Theory" by Lovász and Plummer states the following lemma: Lemma: Let $G$ be a simple bipartite graph with bipartition $(A,B)$, and assume that each point ...
8 votes
1 answer
384 views

Berge-Fulkerson conjecture --- the planar case

A well-known conjecture of Berge and Fulkerson says that every bridgeless cubic graph has a collection of six perfect matchings that together cover every edge exactly twice. Is this still open for ...
1 vote
1 answer
110 views

Succinct polynomial sized representation of balanced bipartite graphs whose perfect matching count is a primorial

Is there a $P$ time definable sequence of succinct polynomial sized representation of balanced bipartite graphs whose number of perfect matchings is a primorial? For factorial a complete bipartite ...
5 votes
1 answer
1k views

Bipartite graph with exactly one perfect matching

$\textbf{Problem:}$ Find all bipartite graphs $G[X,Y]$ satisfying the following properties: $1.$ $|X|=|Y|$, where $|X|\ge 2$ and $|Y|\ge 2$. $2.$ All vertices have degree three except for two vertices ...