Parameterized Algorithms and Kernels for Rainbow Matching

In this paper, we study the NP-complete colorful variant of the classical Matching problem, namely, the Rainbow Matching problem. Given an edge-colored graph G and a positive integer k, this problem asks whether there exists a matching of size at least k such that all the edges in the matching have distinct colors. We first develop a deterministic algorithm that solves Rainbow Matching on paths in time O⋆1+52k\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$\mathcal{O}^\star \left( \left( \frac{1+\sqrt{5}}{2}\right) ^k\right) $$\end{document} and polynomial space. This algorithm is based on a curious combination of the method of bounded search trees and a “divide-and-conquer-like” approach, where the branching process is guided by the maintenance of an auxiliary bipartite graph where one side captures “divided-and-conquered” pieces of the path. Our second result is a randomized algorithm that solves Rainbow Matching on general graphs in time O⋆(2k)\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$\mathcal {O} ^\star (2^k)$$\end{document} and polynomial-space. Here, we show how a result by Björklund et al. (J Comput Syst Sci 87:119–139, 2017) can be invoked as a black box, wrapped by a probability-based analysis tailored to our problem. We also complement our two main results by designing kernels for Rainbow Matching on general and bounded-degree graphs.