Polar Permutation Graphs

Polar graphs generalise bipartite, cobipartite, split graphs, and they constitute a special type of matrix partitions. A graph is polar if its vertex set can be partitioned into two, such that one part induces a complete multipartite graph and the other part induces a disjoint union of complete graphs. Deciding whether a given arbitrary graph is polar, is an NP-complete problem. Here we show that for permutation graphs this problem can be solved in polynomial time. The result is surprising, as related problems like achromatic number and cochromatic number are NP-complete on permutation graphs. We give a polynomial-time algorithm for recognising graphs that are both permutation and polar. Prior to our result, polarity has been resolved only for chordal graphs and cographs.