Emergency Response Sets in Graphs

Jean Blair1, Wayne Goddard2, Sandra M. Hedetniemi2, Stephen T. Hedetniemi2, Fredrik Manne3, Douglas Rall4
1Dept of Computer Science, US Military Academy West Point, NY 10996, USA
2 School of Computing, Clemson University Clemson SC 29634, USA
3Dept of Informatics, University of Bergen N-5020 Bergen, Norway
4Dept of Mathematics, Furman University Greenville SC 29613, USA

Abstract

We introduce a \( k \)-response set as a set of vertices where responders can be placed so that given any set of \( k \) emergencies, these responders can respond, one per emergency, where each responder covers its own vertex and its neighbors. A weak \( k \)-response set does not have to worry about emergencies at the vertices of the set. We define \( R_k \) and \( r_k \) as the minimum cardinality of such sets. We provide bounds on these parameters and discuss connections with domination invariants. For example, for a graph \( G \) of order \( n \) and minimum degree at least \( 2 \), \( R_2(G) \leq \frac{2n}{3} \), while \( r_2(G) \leq \frac{n}{2} \) provided \( G \) is also connected and not \( K_3 \). We also provide bounds for trees \( T \) of order \( n \). We observe that there are, for each \( k \), trees for which \( r_k(T) \leq \frac{n}{2} \), but that the minimum \( R_k(T) \) appears to grow with \( k \); a novel computer algorithm is used to show that \( R_3(T) > \frac{n}{2} \). As expected, these parameters are NP-hard to compute, and we provide a linear-time algorithm for trees for fixed \( k \).