2025/03/29 by Haeupler, Bernhard, Long, Yaowei, Saranurak, Thatchaphol +1 · 3 citations
#Data Structures and Algorithms (cs.DS) #FOS: Computer and information sciences
paper · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2503.23217
We show the existence of length-constrained expander decomposition in directed graphs and undirected vertex-capacitated graphs. Previously, its existence was shown only in undirected edge-capacitated graphs [Haeupler-Räcke-Ghaffari, STOC 2022; Haeupler-Hershkowitz-Tan, FOCS 2024]. Along the way, we prove the multi-commodity maxflow-mincut theorems for length-constrained expansion in both directed and undirected vertex-capacitated graphs. Based on our decomposition, we build a length-constrained flow shortcut for undirected vertex-capacitated graphs, which roughly speaking is a set of edges and vertices added to the graph so that every multi-commodity flow demand can be routed with approximately the same vertex-congestion and length, but all flow paths only contain few edges. This generalizes the shortcut for undirected edge-capacitated graphs from [Haeupler-Hershkowitz-Li-Roeyskoe-Saranurak, STOC 2024]. Length-constrained expander decomposition and flow shortcuts have been crucial in the recent algorithms in undirected edge-capacitated graphs [Haeupler-Hershkowitz-Li-Roeyskoe-Saranurak, STOC 2024; Haeupler-Long-Saranurak, FOCS 2024]. Our work thus serves as a foundation to generalize these concepts to directed and vertex-capacitated graphs.