Parameterized algorithms for $k$-Inversion

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Antony, Dhanyamol, Chandran, L. Sunil, Jacob, Dalu, Sandeep, R. B.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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author Antony, Dhanyamol
Chandran, L. Sunil
Jacob, Dalu
Sandeep, R. B.
author_facet Antony, Dhanyamol
Chandran, L. Sunil
Jacob, Dalu
Sandeep, R. B.
contents Inversion of a directed graph $D$ with respect to a vertex subset $Y$ is the directed graph obtained from $D$ by reversing the direction of every arc whose endpoints both lie in $Y$. More generally, the inversion of $D$ with respect to a tuple $(Y_1, Y_2, \ldots, Y_\ell)$ of vertex subsets is defined as the directed graph obtained by successively applying inversions with respect to $Y_1, Y_2, \ldots, Y_\ell$. Such a tuple is called a \emph{decycling family} of $D$ if the resulting graph is acyclic. In the \textsc{$k$-Inversion} problem, the input consists of a directed graph $D$ and an integer $k$, and the task is to decide whether $D$ admits a decycling family of size at most $k$. Alon et al.\ (SIAM J.\ Discrete Math., 2024) proved that the problem is NP-complete for every fixed value of $k$, thereby ruling out XP algorithms, and presented a fixed-parameter tractable (FPT) algorithm parameterized by $k$ for tournament inputs. In this paper, we generalize their algorithm to a broader variant of the problem on tournaments and subsequently use this result to obtain an FPT algorithm for \textsc{$k$-Inversion} when the underlying undirected graph of the input is a block graph. Furthermore, we obtain an algorithm for \textsc{$k$-Inversion} on general directed graphs with running time $2^{O(\mathrm{tw}(k + \mathrm{tw}))} \cdot n^{O(1)}$, where $\mathrm{tw}$ denotes the treewidth of the underlying graph.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_05528
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Parameterized algorithms for $k$-Inversion
Antony, Dhanyamol
Chandran, L. Sunil
Jacob, Dalu
Sandeep, R. B.
Data Structures and Algorithms
Inversion of a directed graph $D$ with respect to a vertex subset $Y$ is the directed graph obtained from $D$ by reversing the direction of every arc whose endpoints both lie in $Y$. More generally, the inversion of $D$ with respect to a tuple $(Y_1, Y_2, \ldots, Y_\ell)$ of vertex subsets is defined as the directed graph obtained by successively applying inversions with respect to $Y_1, Y_2, \ldots, Y_\ell$. Such a tuple is called a \emph{decycling family} of $D$ if the resulting graph is acyclic. In the \textsc{$k$-Inversion} problem, the input consists of a directed graph $D$ and an integer $k$, and the task is to decide whether $D$ admits a decycling family of size at most $k$. Alon et al.\ (SIAM J.\ Discrete Math., 2024) proved that the problem is NP-complete for every fixed value of $k$, thereby ruling out XP algorithms, and presented a fixed-parameter tractable (FPT) algorithm parameterized by $k$ for tournament inputs. In this paper, we generalize their algorithm to a broader variant of the problem on tournaments and subsequently use this result to obtain an FPT algorithm for \textsc{$k$-Inversion} when the underlying undirected graph of the input is a block graph. Furthermore, we obtain an algorithm for \textsc{$k$-Inversion} on general directed graphs with running time $2^{O(\mathrm{tw}(k + \mathrm{tw}))} \cdot n^{O(1)}$, where $\mathrm{tw}$ denotes the treewidth of the underlying graph.
title Parameterized algorithms for $k$-Inversion
topic Data Structures and Algorithms
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.05528