Simple greedy 2-approximation algorithm for the maximum genus of a graph

TL;DR

This paper introduces a simple greedy algorithm that efficiently approximates the maximum genus of a graph within a factor of two, based on combinatorial properties of edge removal while maintaining connectivity.

Contribution

We present a novel greedy algorithm that guarantees a 2-approximation for the maximum genus of a graph, improving computational approaches to this problem.

Findings

The algorithm guarantees at least half of the maximum genus.

It provides a practical method for approximating maximum genus efficiently.

The approach offers a 2-approximate version of Xuong's characterization.

Abstract

The maximum genus $\gamma_M(G)$ of a graph G is the largest genus of an orientable surface into which G has a cellular embedding. Combinatorially, it coincides with the maximum number of disjoint pairs of adjacent edges of G whose removal results in a connected spanning subgraph of G. In this paper we prove that removing pairs of adjacent edges from G arbitrarily while retaining connectedness leads to at least $\gamma_M(G)/2$ pairs of edges removed. This allows us to describe a greedy algorithm for the maximum genus of a graph; our algorithm returns an integer k such that $\gamma_M(G)/2\le k \le \gamma_M(G)$, providing a simple method to efficiently approximate maximum genus. As a consequence of our approach we obtain a 2-approximate counterpart of Xuong's combinatorial characterisation of maximum genus.