Skip to main content
Log in

Zero-visibility cops and robber and the pathwidth of a graph

  • Published:
Journal of Combinatorial Optimization Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

We examine the zero-visibility cops and robber graph searching model, which differs from the classical cops and robber game in one way: the robber is invisible. We show that this model is not monotonic. We show that the zero-visibility copnumber of a graph is bounded above by its pathwidth and cannot be bounded below by any nontrivial function of the pathwidth. As well, we define a monotonic version of this game and show that the monotonic zero-visibility copnumber can be bounded both above and below by positive multiples of the pathwidth.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adler M, Räcke H, Sivadasan N, Sohler C, Vöcking B (2003) Randomized pursuit-evasion in graphs. Comb Probab Comput 12:225–244

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Aigner M, Fromme M (1984) A game of cops and robbers. Discret Appl Math 8:1–12

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  • Alspach B (2004) Searching and sweeping graphs: a brief survey. Le Matematiche 59:5–37, università di Catania

    Google Scholar 

  • Bienstock D, Seymour P (1991) Monotonicity in graph searching. J Algorithms 12:239–245

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  • Bonato A, Nowakowski R (2011) The game of cops and robbers on graphs. American Mathematical Society, Providence

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Clarke N, MacGillivray G (2012) Characterizations of k-copwin graphs. Discret Math 312:1421–1425

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  • Clarke N, Fiorini S, Joret G, Theis D (2014) A note on the cops & robber game on graphs embedded in non-orientable surfaces. Graph Combinator 30:119–124

    Google Scholar 

  • Dereniowski D (2012) From pathwidth to connected pathwidth. SIAM J Discret Math 26:1709–1732

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  • Edmonds J (1965) Paths, trees, and flowers. Can J Math 17:449–467

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  • Ellis J, Sudborough I, Turner J (1994) The vertex separation and search number of a graph. Inf Comput 113:50–79

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  • Fomin F, Thilikos D (2008) An annotated bibliography on guaranteed graph searching. Theor Comput Sci 399:236–245

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  • Isler V, Kannan S, Khanna S (2006) Randomized pursuit-evasion with local visibility. SIAM J Discret Math 20:26–41

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  • Isler V, Karnad N (2008) The role of information in the cop-robber game. Theor Comput Sci 399:179–190

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  • Jeliazkova D (2006) Aspects of the cops and robber game played with incomplete information. Master’s thesis, Acadia University

  • Joret G, Kaminski M, Theis DO (2010) The cops and robber game on graphs with forbidden (induced) subgraphs. Contrib Discret Math 5(2):40–51

    MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  • Kehagias A, Prałat P (2012) Some remarks on cops and drunk robbers. Theor Comput Sci 463:133–147

    Google Scholar 

  • Kehagias A, Mitsche D, Prałat P (2013a) Cops and invisible robbers: the cost of drunkenness. Theor Comput Sci 481:100–120

    Google Scholar 

  • Kehagias A, Mitsche D, Prałat P (2013b) The role of visibility in the cops-robber game and robotic pursuit/evasion. http://www.math.ryerson.ca/~pralat/papers/2013_COV_ICRA.pdf

  • Kinnersley N (1992) The vertex separation number of a graph equals its path-width. Inf Process Lett 42:345–350

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  • Kirousis L, Papadimitriou C (1985) Interval graphs and searching. Discret Math 55:181–184

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  • LaPaugh A (1993) Recontamination does not help to search a graph. J ACM 40:224–245

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  • Nowakowski R, Winkler P (1983) Vertex-to-vertex pursuit in a graph. Discret Math 43:235–239

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  • Parsons T (1978) Pursuit-evasion in a graph. In: Proceedings of the International Conference on the Theory and Applications of Graphs. Lecture Notes in Mathematics , vol 642. Springer, pp 426–441

  • Quilliot A (1983) Problèmes de jeux, de point fixe, de connectivité et de représentation sur des graphes, des ensembles ordonnés et des hypergraphes. PhD thesis, Université de Paris VI

  • Robertson N, Seymour P (1983) Graph minors. I. Excluding a forest. J Comb Theory Ser B 35:39–61

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  • Schröder B (2001) The copnumber of a graph is bounded by \(\lfloor \frac{3}{2} \text{ genus }({G}) \rfloor + 3\). In: Categorical perspectives. Trends in mathematics. Birkhäuser Boston, Boston, pp 243–263

  • Tang A (2004) Cops and robber with bounded visibility. Master’s thesis, Dalhousie University

  • Tošić R (1985) Inductive classes of graphs. In: Proceedings of the sixth Yugoslav seminar on graph theory, University of Novi Sad, pp 233–237

  • Yang B (2007) Strong-mixed searching and pathwidth. J Comb Optim 13:47–59

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  • Yang B, Dyer D, Alspach B (2009) Sweeping graphs with large clique number. Discret Math 309:5770–5780

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

D. Dereniowski has been partially supported by Narodowe Centrum Nauki under contract DEC-2011/02/A/ST6/00201 and by a scholarship for outstanding young researchers founded by the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ryan M. Tifenbach.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Dereniowski, D., Dyer, D., Tifenbach, R.M. et al. Zero-visibility cops and robber and the pathwidth of a graph. J Comb Optim 29, 541–564 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10878-014-9712-6

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10878-014-9712-6

Keywords

Mathematics Subject Classification

Navigation