Search arXivSearch

arXiv · 2510.19763

Recognizing Leaf Powers and Pairwise Compatibility Graphs is NP-Complete

Abstract

Leaf powers and pairwise compatibility graphs were introduced over twenty years ago as simplified graph models for phylogenetic trees. Despite significant research, several properties of these graph classes remain poorly understood. In this paper, we establish that the recognition problem for both classes is NP-complete. We extend this hardness result to a broader hierarchy of graph classes, including pairwise compatibility graphs and their generalizations, multi interval pairwise compatibility graphs.

Explore related subjects

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

Max Dupré la Tour, Manuel Lafond, Ndiamé Ndiaye. 2025-10-22. Recognizing Leaf Powers and Pairwise Compatibility Graphs is NP-Complete. https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.19763

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

Rooted Spider Embeddings and the Erd\H os-Sós Conjecture

Under a local density condition, we prove that every $k$-edge spider embeds at any prescribed center of degree at least $k$, unless all legs are even and the host graph has one of two specified structures. These structures contain complete bipartite subgraphs with prescribed neighborhoods. The proof uses path rerouting and three exchange lemmas that describe equality in neighborhood estimates. As a consequence, we recover the Erd\H os-Sós bound for all spiders.

math.CO

Generalized Goulden-Yong duals and signed minimal factorizations

In this paper, we give two combinatorial ways to study signed exceptional sequences. First, we show the equivalence between one-way reflections and relatively projective representations. Secondly, we construct generalized Goulden-Yong duals using reverse Garside element actions and folded chord diagrams. We then give two applications of the generalized Goulden-Yong duals: constructing generalized Prüfer codes and counting signed factorizations using the matrix-tree theorem.

math.CO

Explicit expressions for iterates of power series

We present several formulas for both the discrete and fractional iterates of an invertible power series $f$, using a new unifying approach based on umbral calculus. Known formulas are extended, and their proofs simplified, while new expressions are introduced. In particular, by employing $q$-calculus identities, we eliminate the requirement for $f'(0)$ to equal $1$ and the resulting general expressions for the iterative logarithm are obtained as well.

math.CO