Uniform Sampling of Proper Graph Colorings via Soft Coloring and Partial Rejection Sampling

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteurs principaux: Moka, Sarat, Vahedi, Ava
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2026
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author Moka, Sarat
Vahedi, Ava
author_facet Moka, Sarat
Vahedi, Ava
contents We present a new algorithm for the exact uniform sampling of proper \(k\)-colorings of a graph on \(n\) vertices with maximum degree~\(Δ\). The algorithm is based on partial rejection sampling (PRS) and introduces a soft relaxation of the proper coloring constraint that is progressively tightened until an exact sample is obtained. Unlike coupling from the past (CFTP), the method is inherently parallelizable. We propose a hybrid variant that decomposes the global sampling problem into independent subproblems of size \(O(\log n)\), each solved by any existing exact sampler. This decomposition acts as a {\em complexity reducer}: it replaces the input size~\(n\) with \(O(\log n)\) in the component solver's runtime, so that any improvement in direct methods automatically yields a stronger result. Using an existing CFTP method as the component solver, this improves upon the best known exact sampling runtime for \(k>3Δ\). Recursive application of the hybrid drives the runtime to \(O(L^{\log^* n}\cdot nΔ)\), where \(L\) is the number of relaxation levels. We conjecture that \(L\) is bounded independently of~\(n\), which would yield a linear-time parallelizable algorithm for general graphs. Our simulations strongly support this conjecture.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_03947
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Uniform Sampling of Proper Graph Colorings via Soft Coloring and Partial Rejection Sampling
Moka, Sarat
Vahedi, Ava
Data Structures and Algorithms
Computational Complexity
Probability
We present a new algorithm for the exact uniform sampling of proper \(k\)-colorings of a graph on \(n\) vertices with maximum degree~\(Δ\). The algorithm is based on partial rejection sampling (PRS) and introduces a soft relaxation of the proper coloring constraint that is progressively tightened until an exact sample is obtained. Unlike coupling from the past (CFTP), the method is inherently parallelizable. We propose a hybrid variant that decomposes the global sampling problem into independent subproblems of size \(O(\log n)\), each solved by any existing exact sampler. This decomposition acts as a {\em complexity reducer}: it replaces the input size~\(n\) with \(O(\log n)\) in the component solver's runtime, so that any improvement in direct methods automatically yields a stronger result. Using an existing CFTP method as the component solver, this improves upon the best known exact sampling runtime for \(k>3Δ\). Recursive application of the hybrid drives the runtime to \(O(L^{\log^* n}\cdot nΔ)\), where \(L\) is the number of relaxation levels. We conjecture that \(L\) is bounded independently of~\(n\), which would yield a linear-time parallelizable algorithm for general graphs. Our simulations strongly support this conjecture.
title Uniform Sampling of Proper Graph Colorings via Soft Coloring and Partial Rejection Sampling
topic Data Structures and Algorithms
Computational Complexity
Probability
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.03947