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A Random Recolouring Method for Graphs and Hypergraphs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 December 2010

C. McDiarmid
Affiliation:
Department of Statistics, University of Oxford
Béla Bollobás
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
Andrew Thomason
Affiliation:
University of Cambridge
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Summary

We consider a simple randomised algorithm that seeks a weak 2-colouring of a hypergraph H; that is, it tries to 2-colour the points of H so that no edge is monochromatic. If H has a particular well-behaved form of such a colouring, then the method is successful within expected number of iterations O(n3) when H has n points. In particular, when applied to a graph G with n nodes and chromatic number 3, the method yields a 2-colouring of the vertices such that no triangle is monochromatic in expected time O(n4).

A hypergraph H on a set of points V is simply a collection of subsets E of V, the edges of H. A d-graph is a hypergraph in which each edge has size d. A weak 2-colouring of a hypergraph is a partition of the points into two ‘colour’ sets A and B such that each edge E meets both A and B. Deciding if a 3-graph has a weak 2-colouring is NP-complete.

The following simple randomised recolouring method attempts to find a weak 2-colouring of a hypergraph H. It is assumed that we have a subroutine SEEK, which on input of a 2-colouring of the points outputs a monochromatic edge if there is one, and otherwise reports that there are none.

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Combinatorics, Geometry and Probability
A Tribute to Paul Erdös
, pp. 489 - 492
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 1997

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