An Efficient Algorithm to Recognize Locally Equivalent Graphs in Non-Binary Case

TL;DR

This paper introduces the first efficient algorithm for determining local equivalence of non-binary graphs, extending previous binary cases to graphs with labels over finite fields of odd characteristic.

Contribution

It presents a novel, efficient algorithm for recognizing local equivalence of labeled graphs over finite fields with odd characteristic, generalizing previous binary graph results.

Findings

Algorithm successfully verifies local equivalence in non-binary graphs

Extends local complementation concepts to finite fields with odd characteristic

Provides computational efficiency over previous methods

Abstract

Let $v$ be a vertex of a graph $G$. By the local complementation of $G$ at $v$ we mean to complement the subgraph induced by the neighbors of $v$. This operator can be generalized as follows. Assume that, each edge of $G$ has a label in the finite field $\mathbf{F}_q$. Let $(g_{ij})$ be set of labels ($g_{ij}$ is the label of edge $ij$). We define two types of operators. For the first one, let $v$ be a vertex of $G$ and $a\in \mathbf{F}_q$, and obtain the graph with labels $g'_{ij}=g_{ij}+ag_{vi}g_{vj}$. For the second, if $0\neq b\in \mathbf{F}_q$ the resulted graph is a graph with labels $g''_{vi}=bg_{vi}$ and $g''_{ij}=g_{ij}$, for $i,j$ unequal to $v$. It is clear that if the field is binary, the operators are just local complementations that we described. The problem of whether two graphs are equivalent under local complementations has been studied, \cite{bouchalg}. Here we consider the general case and assuming that $q$ is odd, present the first known efficient algorithm to verify whether two graphs are locally equivalent or not.