Colored simultaneous geometric embeddings and universal pointsets

Abstract

Universal pointsets can be used for visualizing multiple relationships on the same set of objects or for visualizing dynamic graph processes. In simultaneous geometric embeddings, the same point in the plane is used to represent the same object as a way to preserve the viewer's mental map. In colored simultaneous embeddings this restriction is relaxed, by allowing a given object to map to a subset of points in the plane. Specifically, consider a set of graphs on the same set of n vertices partitioned into k colors. Finding a corresponding set of k-colored points in the plane such that each vertex is mapped to a point of the same color so as to allow a straight-line plane drawing of each graph is the problem of colored simultaneous geometric embedding. For n-vertex paths, we show that there exist universal pointsets of size n, colored with two or three colors. We use this result to construct colored simultaneous geometric embeddings for a 2-colored tree together with any number of 2-colored paths, and more generally, a 2-colored outerplanar graph together with any number of 2-colored paths. For n-vertex trees, we construct small near-universal pointsets for 3-colored caterpillars of size n, 3-colored radius-2 stars of size n+3, and 2-colored spiders of size n. For n-vertex outerplanar graphs, we show that these same universal pointsets also suffice for 3-colored K (3)-caterpillars, 3-colored K (3)-stars, and 2-colored fans, respectively. We also present several negative results, showing that there exist a 2-colored planar graph and pseudo-forest, three 3-colored outerplanar graphs, four 4-colored pseudo-forests, three 5-colored pseudo-forests, five 5-colored paths, two 6-colored biconnected outerplanar graphs, three 6-colored cycles, four 6-colored paths, and three 9-colored paths that cannot be simultaneously embedded.