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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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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. ...
Mario Krenn's user avatar
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 ...
Timothy Chow's user avatar
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22 votes
2 answers
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Cubic graphs without a perfect matching and a vertex incident to three bridges

The example shown below (courtesy of David Eppstein) is a common example of a cubic graph that admits no perfect matching: (source: uci.edu) Are there other examples of cubic graphs that do not ...
Anthony Labarre's user avatar
21 votes
2 answers
4k views

Graphs with only disjoint perfect matchings

Let $G(V,E)$ be a graph. I am searching for graphs with only disjoint perfect matchings (i.e. every edge only appears in at most one of the perfect matchings). Examples: Cyclic graph $C_n$ with even ...
Mario Krenn's user avatar
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 ...
James Propp's user avatar
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11 votes
2 answers
1k views

Densest Graphs with Unique Perfect Matching

Given a graph $G$ with $n$ vertices, that has a perfect matching $M$, what is the maximal number of edges that $G$ can have without contradicting the uniqueness of $M$? Are examples of such extremal ...
Manfred Weis's user avatar
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11 votes
1 answer
820 views

Graphs with only disjoint perfect matchings, with coloring

The following purely graph-theoretic question is motivated by quantum mechanics. Definitions: A bi-colored graph $G$ is an undirected graph where every edge is colored. An edge can either be ...
Mario Krenn's user avatar
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 ...
Alex Ravsky's user avatar
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10 votes
0 answers
750 views

Has this notion of vertex-coloring of graphs been studied?

In a study of a quantum physics problem, I came about an apparently very natural type of vertex colorings of a graph. The colors of the vertex $v_i$ is inherited from perfect matchings $PM$ of an edge-...
Mario Krenn's user avatar
9 votes
1 answer
382 views

Why is the number of Perfect Matchings in a triangular grid equivalent to the number of Royal Paths?

The sequence A006318 at OEIS stands for the Schröder numbers. They describes the number of lattice paths from the southwest corner $(0,0)$ of an $n\times n$ grid to the northeast corner $(n,n)$, ...
Mario Krenn's user avatar
9 votes
2 answers
454 views

How to characterize "matching-transitive" regular graphs?

I am interested in regular graphs $G$ such that for each pair of 1-factors (=perfect matchings) $F$ and $F'$ there is an automorphism of $G$ that takes $F$ to $F'$. Let's call this property matching ...
Wolfgang's user avatar
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8 votes
2 answers
761 views

Maximum number of perfect matchings in a planar graph?

What is the maximum number of perfect matchings a planar $k$-partite $|V|$ number of vertices simple graph can have where $k=2,3,4$ ($k>4$ is impossible for a planar graph)? Since number of ...
Turbo's user avatar
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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 ...
Xin Zhang's user avatar
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8 votes
1 answer
537 views

Fastest algorithm for counting perfect matchings in a general graph

Let $G(V,E)$ be a undirected graph. I am interested in the fastest known algorithm for counting the number of perfect matchings in $G(V,E)$ (which is known to be in $\#P$). In particular, what is the ...
Mario Krenn's user avatar
8 votes
1 answer
2k views

Condition on a bipartite graph to have an $m$-factor

This might be the most stupid question I am ever posting here: I am asking for a proof or a counterexample to a problem I proposed on MathLinks long ago. Let $G$ be a bipartite graph, i. e., a graph ...
darij grinberg's user avatar
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 ...
Turbo's user avatar
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7 votes
5 answers
4k views

Applications of Perfect Matching

I'm exploring some applications of perfect matching and I would like some input. I have found many applications in chemistry (storing information, estimating bond lengths, estimating resonance energy, ...
Aidan Kehoe's user avatar
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 $\...
Turbo's user avatar
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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 $\...
Xin Zhang's user avatar
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7 votes
1 answer
974 views

Algorithm to count the number of perfect matchings in non planar graph

I need to count the number of perfect matchings of a certain family of graphs. This family of graph is non planar and a type of snark. For the initial cases, it seems that this number is growing ...
Sandeep Silwal's user avatar
7 votes
2 answers
571 views

Perfect matchings in certain classes of hypergraphs

While doing research I came unto the following problem: Given a hypergraph $H$ which is $r$-partite, $r$-uniform (each edge contains exactly $r$ vertices), $k$-regular (each vertex is contained in ...
Pedro T. Lima's user avatar
7 votes
1 answer
969 views

Graph to Bipartite conversion preserving number of perfect matchings

Given a graph $G$ on $n$ vertices is there a technique to convert to a balanced bipartite graph $B$ with $O(n^c)$ vertices at some fixed $0<c$ in $O(n^{c'})$ time at some fixed $0<c'$ such that ...
Turbo's user avatar
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7 votes
1 answer
696 views

Perfect matching in a vertex-transitive hypergraph

In connection with this MO problem, I wonder whether the hypergraph in question was actually vertex-transitive. And so, as a natural variation (and, perhaps, a refinement): If the vertex set of a ...
Seva's user avatar
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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 ...
Michał Oszmaniec's user avatar
7 votes
0 answers
349 views

Missing count in number of perfect matchings

Let $f(G)$ give number of perfect matchings of a graph $G$. Denote $\mathcal N_{2n}=\{0,1,2,\dots,n!-1,n!\}$. Denote collection of all $2n$ vertex balanced bipartite graph to be $\mathcal G_{2n}$. ...
Turbo's user avatar
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6 votes
1 answer
299 views

Why is the number of Hamiltonian Cycles of n-octahedron equivalent to the number of Perfect Matching in specific family of Graphs?

In OEIS A003436, it is written that the number of inequivalent labeled Hamilton Cycles of an n-dimesnional Octahedron is the same as the number of Perfect Matchings in a the complement of the Cycle ...
Mario Krenn's user avatar
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 ...
thematdev's user avatar
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6 votes
1 answer
526 views

Complexity for calculating number of Perfect Matchings in k-regular hypergraph

Let $G(V,E)$ be a unweighted, k-regular hypergraph, with vertices $V=(v_1, ... v_n)$ and edges $E=(e_1, ... e_m)$. The k-regularity leads to $|e_i|=k$ (i.e. every edge contains exactly $k$ vertices). ...
Mario Krenn's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
276 views

Matching on sphere to create cycle with chords

Imagine a number of chords of a sphere $S$ which nearly, but not quite, pass through the center of $S$, in such a way that no pair of chords intersect:       I would like to ...
Joseph O'Rourke's user avatar
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} \...
julkiewicz's user avatar
6 votes
0 answers
375 views

Kasteleyn, Gessel-Viennot and eigenvalues

The Kasteleyn matrix (for counting perfect matchings) and the Lindström-Gessel-Viennot matrix (for counting families of nonintersecting lattice paths) are tightly related, as observed many times by ...
Benjamin Young's user avatar
6 votes
0 answers
154 views

Complexity of finding three perfect matchings with no edge in common in a bridgeless cubic graph

According to a conjecture: Conjecture (Fan & Raspaud, 1994) Every bridgeless cubic graph contains three perfect matchings with no edge in common. Equivalent statement here Main question: ...
joro's user avatar
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5 votes
6 answers
1k views

Algorithm to find all (up to isomorphism) perfect matchings of quartic plane graphs

I need to find all (up to isomorphism) perfect matchings of some quartic plane graphs. I haven't found any specific algorithm to give me all the perfect matchings. Does anybody know about such an ...
nvcleemp's user avatar
  • 563
5 votes
2 answers
579 views

Smallest $3$-regular graph with a unique perfect matching

What is the smallest 3-regular graph to have a unique perfect matching? With a large enough number of nodes, it is possible for a 3-regular graph to have no perfect matching (example can be seen in ...
PickupSticks's user avatar
5 votes
2 answers
4k views

A k-1 edge connected k regular graph is matching covered

As the title says, let $k \geq 2$ be a positive integer and let $G$ be a $(k-1)$-edge-connected $k$-regular graph with an even number of vertices. Then, for every edge $e$ of the graph there is a ...
Cosmin Pohoata's user avatar
5 votes
3 answers
434 views

Can local flip moves connect dimer matchings on 'quadrangulated' planar bipartite graphs? (perfect matching reconfiguration problem)

I'm interested in the structure of dimer matchings on planar graphs with a bipartite structure. In particular, I'm interested in whether any two perfect matchings can be connected, i.e. transformed ...
Joe's user avatar
  • 545
5 votes
3 answers
876 views

On number of perfect matchings

Consider $2n$ vertex balanced bipartite graph. If total number of edges is $n^2$ then we have $n!$ perfect matchings. Fix $c\in(0,\frac12)$ and consider collection of $2n$ vertex balanced bipartite ...
Turbo's user avatar
  • 13.9k
5 votes
1 answer
281 views

Unique matching completion

Assume we have bridgeless cubic graph $G(V, E)$, $n=|V|$. By Petersen's theorem, every such graph has a perfect matching. Moreover, given any edge in $G$ there exists a perfect matching containing ...
Mohammad Al-Turkistany's user avatar
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 ...
Sanket Biswas's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
315 views

On optimal dual solutions for the minimum weight perfect matching problems in the case of metric weights

Following Lovasz-Plummer (Matching theory, North-Holland 1986, Theorem 9.2.1), the minimum weight perfect matching problem on a complete graph $G$ with even number of vertices and weight $w:E(G)\to \...
Mikhail Ostrovskii's user avatar
5 votes
0 answers
115 views

Hypergraphs with only disjoint perfect matchings

Let $H(n,r)$ be the set of $r$-uniform hypergraph with $n$ vertices that have only disjoint perfect matchings (i.e. every hyperedge only appears in at most one of the perfect matchings). Let $m(h(n,r))...
Mario Krenn's user avatar
5 votes
0 answers
249 views

Counting perfect matchings with integrals

Has anyone used the Joni-Rota-Godsil integral formula (see details below) to count perfect matchings of square-grid graphs, Aztec diamond graphs, hexagon-honeycomb graphs, etc.? (Or even just to ...
James Propp's user avatar
  • 19.7k
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 ...
Sanchayan Dutta's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
987 views

Applications of Hafnians

I am learning about Hafnians but I am struggling to find real-world applications of them. I understand the applications of determinants, permanents, and even pfaffians but I am at a loss for Hafnians. ...
Aidan Kehoe's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
2k views

Edmond's blossom algorithm for Max weight perfect matchings

Edmond's blossom algorithm computes a maximum weight matching in a general graph (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blossom_algorithm). Many papers also reference to Edmond's blossom algorithm to compute ...
Joris Kinable's user avatar
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, ...
Agile_Eagle's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
592 views

Probability bound for perfect matching

Let $p<1$ be a constant. Consider two sets $A,B$, each with $n$ vertices. For each pair $(a,b)\in A\times B$, the edge between $a$ and $b$ appears with probability $p$, independently of the ...
Alexi's user avatar
  • 239
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 ...
Wolfgang's user avatar
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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 ...
Manfred Weis's user avatar
  • 13.2k
4 votes
0 answers
187 views

Dyadic distribution of $0/1$ permanents

Fix reals $a,b\in(1,2)$ satisfying $1<b<a<ab<2$. What fraction of $0/1$ matrices of dimensions $n\times n$ have permanents in $[b2^m,a2^m]$ at some $m\in\{0,1,2,\dots,\lfloor\log_2n!\...
Turbo's user avatar
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