Above guarantee parameterization for vertex cover on graphs with maximum degree 4
In the vertex cover problem, the input is a graph G and an integer k, and the goal is to decide whether there is a set of vertices S of size at most k such that every edge of G is incident on at least one vertex in S. We study the vertex cover problem on graphs with maximum degree 4 and minimum degree at least 2, parameterized by r = k-n/3. We give an algorithm for this problem whose running time is O^*(1.6253^r). As a corollary, we obtain an O^*(1.2403^k)-time algorithm for vertex cover on graphs with maximum degree 4.
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