{"title":"Block Crossings in One-Sided Tanglegrams","authors":"Alexander Dobler, Martin Nöllenburg","doi":"10.1007/s00453-025-01363-3","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Tanglegrams are drawings of two rooted binary phylogenetic trees and a matching between their leaf sets. The trees are drawn crossing-free on opposite sides with their leaf sets facing each other on two vertical lines. Instead of minimizing the number of pairwise edge crossings, we consider the problem of minimizing the number of <i>block crossings</i>, that is, two bundles of edges crossing each other locally. With one tree fixed, the leaves of the second tree can be permuted according to its tree structure. We give a complete picture of the algorithmic complexity of minimizing block crossings in one-sided tanglegrams by showing <span>NP</span>-completeness, 2.25-approximations, and a fixed-parameter algorithm with the parameter being the number of block crossings of the computed tanglegram. We also state results for non-binary trees.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":50824,"journal":{"name":"Algorithmica","volume":"88 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.0000,"publicationDate":"2026-02-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s00453-025-01363-3.pdf","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Algorithmica","FirstCategoryId":"94","ListUrlMain":"https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00453-025-01363-3","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"COMPUTER SCIENCE, SOFTWARE ENGINEERING","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Tanglegrams are drawings of two rooted binary phylogenetic trees and a matching between their leaf sets. The trees are drawn crossing-free on opposite sides with their leaf sets facing each other on two vertical lines. Instead of minimizing the number of pairwise edge crossings, we consider the problem of minimizing the number of block crossings, that is, two bundles of edges crossing each other locally. With one tree fixed, the leaves of the second tree can be permuted according to its tree structure. We give a complete picture of the algorithmic complexity of minimizing block crossings in one-sided tanglegrams by showing NP-completeness, 2.25-approximations, and a fixed-parameter algorithm with the parameter being the number of block crossings of the computed tanglegram. We also state results for non-binary trees.
期刊介绍:
Algorithmica is an international journal which publishes theoretical papers on algorithms that address problems arising in practical areas, and experimental papers of general appeal for practical importance or techniques. The development of algorithms is an integral part of computer science. The increasing complexity and scope of computer applications makes the design of efficient algorithms essential.
Algorithmica covers algorithms in applied areas such as: VLSI, distributed computing, parallel processing, automated design, robotics, graphics, data base design, software tools, as well as algorithms in fundamental areas such as sorting, searching, data structures, computational geometry, and linear programming.
In addition, the journal features two special sections: Application Experience, presenting findings obtained from applications of theoretical results to practical situations, and Problems, offering short papers presenting problems on selected topics of computer science.