Node-and edge-deletion NP-complete problems

Abstract

If p is a graph property, the general node(edge) deletion problem can be stated as follows: Find the minimum number of nodes(edges), whose deletion results in a subgraph satisfying property p. In this paper we show that if p belongs to a rather broad class of properties (the class of properties that are hereditary on induced subgraphs) then the node-deletion problem is NP-complete, and the same is true for several restrictions of it. For the same class of properties, requiring the remaining graph to be connected does not change the NP-complete status of the problem; moreover for a certain subclass, finding any reasonable approximation is also NP-complete. Edge-deletion problems seem to be less amenable to such generalizations. We show however that for several common properties (e.g. planar, outer-planar, line-graph, transitive digraph) the edge-deletion problem is NP-complete.