On the generalized Helly property of hypergraphs, cliques, and bicliques

TL;DR

This paper studies the generalized Helly property in hypergraphs and graphs, providing characterizations, recognition algorithms, and complexity results for various classes such as $(p,q)$-Helly, clique-Helly, and biclique-Helly graphs.

Contribution

It offers new characterizations, improved recognition algorithms, and complexity analyses for $(p,q)$-Helly hypergraphs and related graph classes.

Findings

Hereditary $(p,q)$-Helly hypergraphs characterized by forbidden subhypergraphs.

Polynomial-time recognition for fixed $p,q$; co-NP-complete when $p$ varies.

Recognition of hereditary $(p,q)$-clique-Helly graphs is polynomial for fixed $p,q$, NP-hard otherwise.

Abstract

A family of sets is $(p,q)$-intersecting if every nonempty subfamily of $p$ or fewer sets has at least $q$ elements in its total intersection. A family of sets has the $(p,q)$-Helly property if every nonempty $(p,q)$-intersecting subfamily has total intersection of cardinality at least $q$. The $(2,1)$-Helly property is the usual Helly property. A hypergraph is $(p,q)$-Helly if its edge family has the $(p,q)$-Helly property and hereditary $(p,q)$-Helly if each of its subhypergraphs has the $(p,q)$-Helly property. A graph is $(p,q)$-clique-Helly if the family of its maximal cliques has the $(p,q)$-the Helly property and hereditary $(p,q)$-clique-Helly if each of its induced subgraphs is $(p,q)$-clique-Helly. The classes of $(p,q)$-biclique-Helly and hereditary $(p,q)$-biclique-Helly graphs are defined analogously. We prove several characterizations of hereditary $(p,q)$-Helly hypergraphs, including one by minimal forbidden partial subhypergraphs. We give an improved time bound for the recognition of $(p,q)$-Helly hypergraphs for each fixed $q$ and show that the recognition of hereditary $(p,q)$-Helly hypergraphs can be solved in polynomial time if $p$ and $q$ are fixed but co-NP-complete if $p$ is part of the input. In addition, we generalize to $(p,q)$-clique-Helly graphs the characterization of $p$-clique-Helly graphs in terms of expansions and give different characterizations of hereditary $(p,q)$-clique-Helly graphs, including one by forbidden induced subgraphs. We give an improvement on the time bound for the recognition of $(p,q)$-clique-Helly graphs and prove that the recognition problem of hereditary $(p,q)$-clique-Helly graphs is polynomial-time solvable for $p$ and $q$ fixed but NP-hard if $p$ or $q$ is part of the input. Finally, we provide different characterizations, give recognition algorithms, and prove hardness results for (hereditary) $(p,q)$-biclique-Helly graphs.