6533b7cffe1ef96bd1258467

RESEARCH PRODUCT

An efficient algorithm for stopping on a sink in a directed graph

Grzegorz KubickiGrzegorz KubickiWayne GoddardEwa Kubicka

subject

Factor-critical graphDiscrete mathematicsApplied MathematicsNeighbourhood (graph theory)Directed graphManagement Science and Operations ResearchBiconnected graphIndustrial and Manufacturing EngineeringHypercube graphCombinatoricsWheel graphPath graphGraph factorizationSoftwareMathematicsofComputing_DISCRETEMATHEMATICSMathematics

description

Abstract Vertices of an unknown directed graph of order n are revealed one by one in some random permutation. At each point, we know the subgraph induced by the revealed vertices. Our goal is to stop on a sink, a vertex with no out-neighbors. We show that if a sink exists this can be achieved with probability Θ ( 1 / n ) , which is best possible.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orl.2013.02.001