On the Strong Metric Dimension of directed co-graphs

TL;DR

This paper introduces linear time algorithms for computing the strong metric dimension of directed co-graphs, a measure of how well a small set of vertices can resolve all pairs in the graph.

Contribution

The paper presents the first linear time algorithms for determining the strong metric dimension of directed co-graphs, including methods to find minimal strong resolving sets.

Findings

Linear time algorithms for directed co-graphs

Efficient computation of strong resolving sets

Characterization of strong metric dimension in co-graphs

Abstract

Let $G$ be a strongly connected directed graph and $u,v,w\in V(G)$ be three vertices. Then $w$ strongly resolves $u$ to $v$ if there is a shortest $u$-$w$-path containing $v$ or a shortest $w$-$v$-path containing $u$. A set $R\subseteq V(G)$ of vertices is a strong resolving set for a directed graph $G$ if for every pair of vertices $u,v\in V(G)$ there is at least one vertex in $R$ that strongly resolves $u$ to $v$ and at least one vertex in $R$ that strongly resolves $v$ to $u$. The distances of the vertices of $G$ to and from the vertices of a strong resolving set $R$ uniquely define the connectivity structure of the graph. The Strong Metric Dimension of a directed graph $G$ is the size of a smallest strong resolving set for $G$. The decision problem Strong Metric Dimension is the question whether $G$ has a strong resolving set of size at most $r$, for a given directed graph $G$ and a given number $r$. In this paper we study undirected and directed co-graphs and introduce linear time algorithms for Strong Metric Dimension. These algorithms can also compute strong resolving sets for co-graphs in linear time.