\section{Algorithm description} \label{sec:algorithm} \subsection{Basic structure} \label{sec:algorithm:basic-structure} The basic structure of the algorithm is fairly simple. For any graph $G=(V,E)$, we pick a vertex $v\in V$. Either that vertex is in an m.i.s. (and none of its neighbours), or it is not. This gives the recurrence: \refeq[basic-structure]{\ms(G) = \max(1 + \ms(G\ex \iN(v)), \ms(G\ex v)).} Every recursive algorithm needs a base case. \begin{thmproof}[base-case]{lemma}{For a graph $G$ with $|G|\leq1$, we have $\ms(G)=|G|$.} For both the cases $|G|=0$ and $|G|=1$, $G$ is an m.i.s. of itself. \end{thmproof} The rest of this section is devoted to optimising this basic structure by cleverly choosing $v$ and pruning the search tree. \begin{thmproof}[one-neighbour]{lemma}{For a graph $G=(V,E)$ and vertex $v\in V$, if $v$ is not in an m.i.s. there is a neighbour $w\in N(v)$ which is in an m.i.s.} By contradiction. Suppose there were an m.i.s. $ms_1$ that does not contain $v$ or one of its neighbours. Then we may create a new m.i.s. $ms_2=ms_1\with v$. We then have $|ms_2| = |ms_1|+1 > |ms_1|$. Therefore, $ms_1$ was not maximal. \end{thmproof} \begin{thmproof}[two-neighbours]{lemma}{For a graph $G=(V,E)$ and vertex $v\in V$, there is an m.i.s. with $v$, or there is an m.i.s. with two distinct elements $w_1,w_2\in N(v)$.} By contradiction. If $v$ is in an m.i.s., we're done. If $v$ is not in an m.i.s., we know by \autoref{lem:one-neighbour} that there is a $w_1\in N(v)$ that is in an m.i.s., say $ms$. Suppose there were no other neighbour $w_2\in N(v), w_2\neq w_1$ with $w_2\in ms$. Then $ms\ex w_1\with v$ is also an m.i.s., and it does contain $v$. \end{thmproof} At this point we define, as Robson \cite{robson}, the function $\ms^n(G,S)$ as the $\ms(G)$ given that the m.i.s. should contain at least $n$ elements of $S$. Based on \autoref{lem:one-neighbour} and \ref{lem:two-neighbours} we may then rewrite \autoref{eq:basic-structure} to \refeq[with-two-neighbours]{\ms(G) = \max(1+\ms(G\ex\iN(v)), \ms^2(G\ex v, N(v))).} \subsection{Picking a good $v$} \label{sec:algorithm:good-v} Until now, we have assumed that we have some vertex $v$. Let us now discuss how to pick a `good' $v$, i.e. one that allows for the most efficient use of \autoref{eq:basic-structure} and \ref{eq:with-two-neighbours}. \begin{thmproof}[basic-structure-high-degree]{lemma}{It is most efficient to use \autoref{eq:basic-structure} with a $v$ with large $d(v)$.} The left-hand side, $\ms(G\ex\iN(v))$, will run faster with large $d(v)$, because it will run on a smaller graph. For the right-hand side it doesn't matter. \end{thmproof} \begin{thmproof}[two-neighbours-low-degree]{lemma}{It is most efficient to use \autoref{eq:with-two-neighbours} with a $v$ with small $d(v)$.} A straightforward implementation of $\ms^2(G\ex v,N(v))$ will consider all pairs of vertices in $N(v)$, which is quadratic. In the left-hand side, $\ms(G\ex\iN(v))$ is only linearly faster with large $d(v)$. Therefore, we should prefer small $d(v)$. \end{thmproof} In general, we'd like to use \autoref{eq:with-two-neighbours}, because the right-hand side of the $\max$ is more restricted than in \autoref{eq:basic-structure}. However, if we have a $v$ with large $d(v)$, \ref{eq:basic-structure} may be more efficient. So, we should try to pick a $v$ with small $d(v)$. We apply \autoref{eq:with-two-neighbours} if $d(v)$ is small enough. If $d(v)$ is too large to ensure efficient usage of \autoref{eq:with-two-neighbours}, we apply \autoref{eq:basic-structure}. But this latter recurrence is clearly more efficient for \emph{large} $d(v)$. Therefore, if $d(v)$ is too large to use $v$ in \autoref{eq:with-two-neighbours}, we find one of its neighbours, say $w\in N(v)$, with the largest $d(w)$, and apply \autoref{eq:basic-structure} to that vertex. In the next recurrence, $d(v)$ will be at least one smaller, because $w$ has been removed, but in the case of a graph with many three-cycles, $d(v)$ may be much smaller. So, after at most a few applications of \autoref{eq:basic-structure} we may use the more efficient \autoref{eq:with-two-neighbours} again. \subsubsection{Dominance} \label{sec:algorithm:good-v:dominance} \begin{thmproof}[dominance]{lemma}{If for a graph $G=(V,E)$ with vertices $v,w\in V$ we know $v>w$, we have $\ms(G)=\ms(G\ex w)$.} If there is an m.i.s. $ms$ with $w\in ms$, $ms\ex w\with v$ is an m.i.s. as well. \end{thmproof} If we then take $w$ instead of $v$ and use \autoref{eq:basic-structure}, it may be the case that $v>w$. In this case, we may bypass \autoref{eq:basic-structure} by applying the recurrence $\ms(G)=\ms(G\ex w)$ of \autoref{lem:dominance}. After this, since the maximum degree of any vertex in our graph is $4$, we will be able to apply \autoref{eq:with-two-neighbours} instead, since $d(v)$ will have been decreased by one to at most $3$. This gives us \autoref{alg:with-best-vertex}, which combines \autoref{eq:basic-structure} and \ref{eq:with-two-neighbours}. \begin{algorithm}[h] \caption{Finding the size of the m.i.s. of a graph} \label{alg:with-best-vertex} \begin{algorithmic}[1] \REQUIRE $G=(V,E)$ \IF{$|G|\le1$} \RETURN $|G|$ \COMMENT{\autoref{lem:base-case}} \ELSE \STATE $v\gets v\in V$ with minimal $d(v)$ \IF{$d(v)$ is small enough} \RETURN $\max(1+\ms(G\ex\iN(v)), \ms^2(G\ex v,N(v)))$ \COMMENT{\autoref{eq:with-two-neighbours}} \ELSIF{$v>w$} \RETURN $\ms(G\ex w)$ \COMMENT{\autoref{lem:dominance}} \ELSE \STATE $w\gets w\in N(v)$ with maximal $d(w)$ \RETURN $\max(1+\ms(G\ex\iN(w)), \ms(G\ex w))$ \COMMENT{\autoref{eq:basic-structure}} \ENDIF \ENDIF \end{algorithmic} \end{algorithm} \begin{thmproof}[first-ms-correct]{theorem}{\autoref{alg:with-best-vertex} is a correct implementation of the $\ms$ function.} This follows from \autoref{lem:base-case} and \ref{lem:dominance} and \autoref{eq:basic-structure} and \ref{eq:with-two-neighbours}. \end{thmproof} \subsection{Strongly connected components} \label{sec:algorithm:components} \begin{thmproof}[components]{lemma}{The size of the m.i.s. of a graph is equal to the sum of the sizes of the m.i.s. of all its strongly connected components.} The union of the m.i.s. of the strongly connected components is an m.i.s. of the graph. If there were a larger m.i.s. in the graph, there has to be a $v$ in a strongly connected component $C$ in that m.i.s. which is not in the m.i.s. of $C$. If we can add $v$ to the m.i.s. of $C$, that m.i.s. wasn't maximal. If we cannot, then the larger m.i.s. of the whole graph cannot be an independent set. \end{thmproof} It is not difficult to see that in case a graph has multiple strongly connected components, this recurrence is more efficient than \autoref{alg:with-best-vertex}. \subsection{Further optimisations} \label{sec:algorithm:further-optimisations} Although I have referred to Robson \cite{robson} and used his notation already, this is how far I got without his help. Robson then introduces a number of further optimisations. In this section, we use $G$ for the graph at hand and $v,w$ for the vertex with the lowest degree, and its neighbour with the highest degree, respectively. \begin{thmproof}[robson-ms-d1]{lemma}{If $d(v)=1$, we have $\ms(G)=1+\ms(G\ex\iN(v))$.} By contradiction. By \autoref{lem:one-neighbour} we know that if $v$ is not in any m.i.s., then $w$ is in an m.i.s., say $ms$. But then $ms\ex w\with v$ is also independent, and has the same size. \end{thmproof} For the case that $d(v)=2$ we write $w,w'$ for the neighbours of $v$. \begin{thmproof}[robson-ms-d2-edge]{lemma}{If $d(v)=2$ and $e(w,w')$, we have $\ms(G)=1+\ms(G\ex\iN(v))$.} By \autoref{lem:two-neighbours} we know that an m.i.s. will either contain $v$ or both $w$ and $w'$. But since $e(w,w')$, the latter cannot happen. Therefore, it must contain $v$ and neither of its neighbours. \end{thmproof} \begin{thmproof}[robson-ms-d2-noedge]{lemma}{If $d(v)=2$ and $\lnot e(w,w')$, we know $$\ms(G) = \max(2+\ms(G\ex\iN(w)\ex\iN(w')), 1 + \ms^2(G\ex\iN(v), N^2(v))).$$} By \autoref{lem:two-neighbours}, an m.i.s. contains either $v$ or both $w$ and $w'$. In the second case, we remove $w$ and $w'$ and their neighbourhoods from the graph (the left-hand side of $\max$). In the first case, the m.i.s. cannot contain $w$ or $w'$ but must contain two of their neighbours other than $v$. If not, and there is an m.i.s. $ms$ with at most one such neighbour, $u$, then $ms\ex v\ex u\with w\with w'$ is also independent, and has the same size. This gives the right-hand side. \end{thmproof} \autoref{alg:with-best-vertex} combined with \autoref{lem:components}, \ref{lem:robson-ms-d1}, \ref{lem:robson-ms-d2-edge} and \ref{lem:robson-ms-d2-noedge} gives us \autoref{alg:with-robsons-optimisations}. \begin{algorithm}[h] \caption{Finding the size of the m.i.s. of a graph} \label{alg:with-robsons-optimisations} \label{alg:ms} \begin{algorithmic}[1] \REQUIRE $G=(V,E)$ \IF{$G$ has multiple strongly connected components} \STATE $C\gets$ some strongly connected component \RETURN $\ms(C) + \ms(G\ex C)$ \COMMENT{\autoref{lem:components}}\label{alg:ms:case-component} \ELSIF{$|G|\le1$} \RETURN $|G|$ \COMMENT{\autoref{lem:base-case}}\label{alg:ms:case-g1} \ELSE \STATE $v\gets v\in V$ with minimal $d(v)$ \STATE $w\gets w\in N(v)$ with maximal $d(w)$ \IF{$d(v)=1$} \RETURN $1+\ms(G\ex\iN(v))$ \COMMENT{\autoref{lem:robson-ms-d1}}\label{alg:ms:case-d1} \ELSIF{$d(v)=2$} \STATE $\{w'\}\gets N(v)\ex w$ \IF{$e(w,w')$} \RETURN $1+\ms(G\ex\iN(v))$ \COMMENT{\autoref{lem:robson-ms-d2-edge}}\label{alg:ms:case-d2-edge} \ELSE \RETURN $\max(2+\ms(G\ex\iN(w)\ex\iN(w')), 1+\ms^2(G\ex\iN(v),N^2(v)))$ \COMMENT{\autoref{lem:robson-ms-d2-noedge}}\label{alg:ms:case-d2-noedge} \ENDIF \ELSIF{$d(v)=3$} \RETURN $\max(\ms^2(G\ex v,N(v)), 1+\ms(G\ex\iN(v)))$ \COMMENT{\autoref{eq:with-two-neighbours}}\label{alg:ms:case-d3} \ELSIF{$v>w$} \RETURN $\ms(G\ex w)$ \COMMENT{\autoref{lem:dominance}}\label{alg:ms:case-dominance} \ELSE \RETURN $\max(\ms(G\ex w), 1+\ms(G\ex\iN(w)))$ \COMMENT{\autoref{eq:basic-structure}}\label{alg:ms:case-otherwise} \ENDIF \ENDIF \end{algorithmic} \end{algorithm} \begin{thmproof}[ms-correct]{theorem}{\autoref{alg:ms} is a correct implementation of the $\ms$ function.} This follows from \autoref{lem:base-case}, \ref{lem:dominance}, \ref{lem:components}, \ref{lem:robson-ms-d1}, \ref{lem:robson-ms-d2-edge} and \ref{lem:robson-ms-d2-noedge} and \autoref{eq:basic-structure} and \ref{eq:with-two-neighbours}. \end{thmproof} \begin{thmproof}[ms-efficiency]{theorem}{\autoref{alg:ms} is more efficient than \autoref{alg:with-best-vertex}, assuming that conditions are evaluated efficiently.} The algorithm follows the same basic structure. In any case that \autoref{alg:ms} is different, it considers less cases or smaller graphs (yet it is still correct by \autoref{thm:ms-correct}). Therefore, it can only be more efficient. \end{thmproof} \begin{thmproof}[ms-terminates]{theorem}{\autoref{alg:ms} terminates with every input, if $\ms^2$ terminates with a smaller input.} There is a base case on line \ref{alg:ms:case-g1} which is not recursive that handles the graphs with the lowest $k$ possible orders ($k=2$). In every other case, the same algorithm or $\ms^2$ is run on a smaller input, so inductively the algorithm terminates with any input. \end{thmproof} \subsection{The helper function $\ms^n$} \label{sec:algorithm:helper-function} So far we have been using $\ms^n(G,S)$ as the size of the maximum independent set of $G$ given that it contains at least $n$ vertices in $S$. This section is devoted to arguing an efficient implementation of this helper function. In the above, we have only used $\ms^2$. Therefore, we do not need to go into details about the case $n\neq2$. We will write $s_1,s_2,\dots$ for the elements of $S$. \begin{thmproof}[helper-general]{lemma}{In our algorithm, it always holds that $\ms^n(G,S)=\ms(G)$.} We only call $\ms^n$ when we know for sure that $n$ elements of $S$ are in an m.i.s. of $G$. \end{thmproof} \autoref{lem:helper-general} may be used as a default case, when no clever optimisation can be found. \begin{thmproof}[helper-1]{lemma}{If $|S|3$} \RETURN $1 + \max(\ms(G\ex\iN(s_1)), \ms(G\ex\iN(s_2)))$ \COMMENT{An m.i.s. contains either $s_1$ or $s_2$, but not both} \label{alg:ms1:case-edge-d4} \ELSE \RETURN $\ms(G)$ \COMMENT{More efficient than the $\max$ in this case; \autoref{lem:helper-general}}\label{alg:ms1:case-edge-d3} \ENDIF \ELSIF{$N(s_1)\cap N(s_2)\neq\emptyset$} \RETURN $\ms^1(G\ex(N(s_1)\cap N(s_2)), S)$ \COMMENT{m.i.s. contains $s_1$ or $s_2$, so not their common neighbours}\label{alg:ms1:intersection} \ELSIF{$d(s_1)=d(s_2)=2$} \STATE $\{w_1,w_2\} \gets N(s_1)$ \IF{$e(w_1,w_2)$} \RETURN $1+\ms(G\ex\iN(s_1))$ \COMMENT{\autoref{lem:helper-ms1-2-2-edge}}\label{alg:ms1:case-2-2-edge} \ELSIF{$N^2(s_1)\subset N(s_2)$} \RETURN $3 + \ms(G\ex\iN(s_1)\ex\iN(s_2))$ \COMMENT{\autoref{lem:helper-ms1-2-2-dominance}}\label{alg:ms1:case-2-2-dominance} \ELSE \RETURN $\max(1+\ms(G\ex\iN(s_1)), 3+\ms(G\ex\iN(w_1)\ex\iN(w_2)\ex\iN(s_2)))$ \COMMENT{\autoref{lem:helper-ms1-2-2}}\label{alg:ms1:case-2-2-else} \ENDIF \ELSE \RETURN $1+\max(\ms(G\ex\iN(s_2)), \ms^2(G\ex\iN(s_1)\ex s_2, N(s_2)))$ \COMMENT{An m.i.s. contains either $s_2$ or $s_1$ and two of $s_2$'s neighbours. If an m.i.s. $ms$ would contain $s_1$ and at most one of $s_2$'s neighbours, say $w$, then there is another independent set $ms\ex w\with s_2$, which is at least as large.}\label{alg:ms1:case-general} \ENDIF \end{algorithmic} \end{algorithm} \begin{thmproof}[ms1-correct]{theorem}{\autoref{alg:ms1} is a correct implementation of the $\ms^1$ function if the second argument has size $2$.} This follows from \autoref{lem:helper-general} and \autoref{lem:helper-ms1-2-2} through \ref{lem:helper-ms1-2-2-dominance}. We have only made enhancements that are clearly correct and furthermore argued in the definition of the algorithm. \end{thmproof} \begin{thmproof}[ms1-terminates]{theorem}{\autoref{alg:ms1} terminates with any input if the second argument has size $2$.} Inductively by \autoref{thm:ms-terminates} and \ref{thm:ms2-terminates}. \end{thmproof} \begin{thmproof}[everything-correct]{theorem}{\autoref{alg:ms}, \ref{alg:ms2} and \ref{alg:ms1} form a correct and total algorithm for the maximum independent set problem.} The algorithm is total by \autoref{thm:ms-terminates}, \ref{thm:ms2-terminates} and \ref{thm:ms1-terminates}. It is correct by \autoref{thm:ms-correct}, \ref{thm:ms2-correct} and \ref{thm:ms1-correct}. \end{thmproof}