We present an algorithm that computes a shortest non-contractible and a shortest nonseparating cycle on an orientable combinatorial surface of bounded genus in O(n log n) time, where n denotes the complexity of the surface. This solves a central open problem in computational topology, improving upon the current-best O(n )-time algorithm by Cabello and Mohar (ESA 2005). Our algorithm uses universal-cover constructions to find short cycles and makes extensive use of existing tools from the field.

We prove that the edges of every graph of bounded (Euler) genus can be partitioned into any prescribed number k of pieces such that contracting any piece results in a graph of bounded treewidth (where the bound depends on k). This decomposition result parallels an analogous, simpler result for edge deletions instead of contractions, obtained in [Bak94, Epp00, DDO + 04, DHK05], and it generalizes a similar result for “compression ” (a variant of contraction) in planar graphs [Kle05]. Our decomposition result is a powerful tool for obtaining PTASs for contraction-closed problems (whose optimal solution only improves under contraction), a much more general class than minor-closed problems. We prove that any contraction-closed problem satisfying just a few simple conditions has a PTAS in bounded-genus graphs. In particular, our framework yields PTASs for the weighted Traveling Salesman Problem and for minimum-weight c-edge-connected submultigraph on bounded-genus graphs, improving and generalizing previous algorithms of [GKP95, AGK + 98, Kle05, Gri00, CGSZ04, BCGZ05]. We also highlight the only main difficulty in extending our results to general H-minor-free graphs.

Let M be an orientable surface without boundary. A cycle on M is splitting if it has no self-intersections and it partitions M into two components, neither homeomorphic to a disk. In other words, splitting cycles are simple, separating, and non-contractible. We prove that finding the shortest splitting cycle on a combinatorial surface is NP-hard but fixed-parameter tractable with respect to the surface genus. Specifically, we describe an algorithm to compute the shortest splitting cycle in g^O(g) n log n time.

We describe algorithms to compute the shortest path homotopic to a given path, or the shortest cycle freely homotopic to a given cycle, on an orientable combinatorial surface. Unlike earlier results, our algorithms do not require the input path or cycle to be simple. Given a surface with complexity n, genus g ≥ 2, and no boundary, we construct in O(gn log n) time a tight octagonal decomposition of the surface—a set of simple cycles, each as short as possible in its free homotopy class, that decompose the surface into a complex of octagons meeting four at a vertex. After the surface is preprocessed, we can compute the shortest path homotopic to a given path of complexity k in O(gnk) time, or the shortest cycle homotopic to a given cycle of complexity k in O(gnk log(nk)) time. A similar algorithm computes shortest homotopic curves on surfaces with boundary or with genus 1. We also prove that the recent algorithms of Colin de Verdière and Lazarus for shortening embedded graphs and sets of cycles have running times polynomial in the complexity of the surface and the input curves, regardless of the surface geometry.

We describe the first algorithms to compute minimum cuts in surface-embedded graphs in nearlinear time. Given an undirected graph embedded on an orientable surface of genus g, with two specified vertices s and t, our algorithm computes a minimum (s, t)-cut in g O(g) n log n time. Except for the special case of planar graphs, for which O(n log n)-time algorithms have been known for more than 20 years, the best previous time bounds for finding minimum cuts in embedded graphs follow from algorithms for general sparse graphs. A slight generalization of our minimum-cut algorithm computes a minimum-cost subgraph in every Z2-homology class. We also prove that finding a minimum-cost subgraph homologous to a single input cycle is NP-hard.

A cycle on a combinatorial surface is tight if it as short as possible in its (free) homotopy class. We describe an algorithm to compute a single tight, non-contractible, essentially simple cycle on a given orientable combinatorial surface in O(n log n) time. The only method previously known for this problem was to compute the globally shortest non-contractible or non-separating cycle in O(min{g 3, n} nlog n) time, where g is the genus of the surface. As a consequence, we can compute the shortest cycle freely homotopic to a chosen boundary cycle in O(n log n) time, a tight octagonal decomposition in O(gn log n) time, and a shortest contractible cycle enclosing a non-empty set of faces in O(nlog 2 n) time.

An essential cycle on a surface is a simple cycle that cannot be continuously deformed to a point or a single boundary. We describe algorithms to compute the shortest essential cycle in an orientable combinatorial surface in O(n 2 log n) time, or in O(n log n) time when both the genus and number of boundaries are fixed. Our result corrects an error in a paper of Erickson and Har-Peled.

Let G be a directed graph with weighted edges, embedded on a surface of genus g with b boundaries. We describe an algorithm to compute the shortest directed cycle in G in any given � 2-homology class in 2 O(g+b) n log n time; this problem is NP-hard even for undirected graphs. We also present two applications of our algorithm. The first is an algorithm to compute the shortest non-separating directed cycle in G in 2 O(g) n log n time, improving the recent algorithm of Cabello et al. [SOCG 2010] for all g = o(log n). The second is a combinatorial algorithm to compute minimum (s, t)-cuts in undirected surface graphs in 2 O(g) n log n time, improving an algorithm of Chambers et al. [SOCG 2009] for all positive g. Unlike earlier algorithms for surface graphs that construct and search finite portions of the universal cover, our algorithms use another canonical covering space, called the Z 2-homology cover.

Abstract not found

Let G be a directed graph with n vertices and non-negative weights in its directed edges, embedded on a surface of genus g, and let f be an arbitrary face of G. We describe an algorithm to preprocess the graph in O(gn log n) time, so that the shortest-path distance from any vertex on the boundary of f to any other vertex in G can be retrieved in O(log n) time. Our result directly generalizes the O(n log n)-time algorithm of Klein [Multiple-source shortest paths in planar graphs. In Proc. 16th Ann. ACM-SIAM Symp. Discrete Algorithms, 2005] for multiple-source shortest paths in planar graphs. Intuitively, our preprocessing algorithm maintains a shortest-path tree as its source point moves continuously around the boundary of f. As an application of our algorithm, we describe algorithms to compute a shortest non-contractible or non-separating cycle in embedded, undirected graphs in O(g² n log n) time.