Complexity and Geometry of Sampling Connected Graph Partitions

arXiv1908.08881MaRDI QIDQ6324097FDOQ6324097

Publication date: 23 August 2019

Abstract: In this paper, we prove intractability results about sampling from the set of partitions of a planar graph into connected components. Our proofs are motivated by a technique introduced by Jerrum, Valiant, and Vazirani. Moreover, we use gadgets inspired by their technique to provide families of graphs where the "flip walk" Markov chain used in practice for this sampling task exhibits exponentially slow mixing. Supporting our theoretical results we present some empirical evidence demonstrating the slow mixing of the flip walk on grid graphs and on real data. Inspired by connections to the statistical physics of self-avoiding walks, we investigate the sensitivity of certain popular sampling algorithms to the graph topology. Finally, we discuss a few cases where the sampling problem is tractable. Applications to political redistricting have recently brought increased attention to this problem, and we articulate open questions about this application that are highlighted by our results.

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Markov chains (discrete-time Markov processes on discrete state spaces) (60J10) Analysis of algorithms and problem complexity (68Q25) Graph theory (including graph drawing) in computer science (68R10) Computational difficulty of problems (lower bounds, completeness, difficulty of approximation, etc.) (68Q17) Mathematics education and society (97A40)

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