Decomposition Profiles and Weisfeiler-Leman Dimension for Graphs of Bounded Rank Width

📅 2026-10-07
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🤖 AI Summary
This study addresses the exponential growth in computational cost associated with the dimensionality required by the Weisfeiler-Leman (WL) algorithm to distinguish non-isomorphic graphs, which fundamentally limits graph isomorphism testing efficiency. By leveraging rank decomposition structures over the F2 field, this work establishes a theoretical connection between the WL dimension and the maximum cut-rank and cross-loading of graphs. Incorporating the Cai-Fürer-Immerman construction, it proposes sufficient dimensional bounds determined by these parameters and proves their tightness up to constant factors. The primary contribution reveals that graphs with bounded rank-width can be completely distinguished in low dimensions; for instance, graphs of linear rank-width k require only 2k+2 dimensions for isomorphism testing. This provides a tight theoretical optimization framework for high-dimensional WL computations.
📝 Abstract
The Weisfeiler-Leman (WL) algorithm tests graph isomorphism by assigning colours to $d$-tuples of vertices and iteratively refining the colouring according to neighbourhood configurations until it stabilizes. Increasing $d$ allows the test to detect finer structural differences between graphs, but the computational cost grows exponentially with $d$. The central question is which dimension allows us to distinguish nonisomorphic graphs. We relate a sufficient such dimension to the structure of a graph $G$ through a rank decomposition over $\mathbb F_2$. The two parameters governing the bound are the maximum cut rank $w$ and the fork load $\ell$, which is the largest sum of the parent and two child cut ranks at a fork in the decomposition tree. We prove that WL in dimension $\max\{\ell+1,2w+2\}$ distinguishes every finite nonempty vertex-coloured graph $G$ with such a decomposition from every graph not isomorphic to $G$. Consequently, for $k\geq1$, graphs of rank width at most $k$ can be distinguished from every nonisomorphic graph in dimension $3k+1$, graphs of linear rank width at most $k$ in dimension $2k+2$, and edgeless graphs in dimension one. Uncoloured Cai-Fürer-Immerman (CFI) constructions give linear lower bounds for both width parameters, so the upper bounds are tight up to constant factors.
Problem

Research questions and friction points this paper is trying to address.

Weisfeiler-Leman dimension
graph isomorphism
rank width
bounded rank width graphs
WL algorithm
Innovation

Methods, ideas, or system contributions that make the work stand out.

Weisfeiler-Leman dimension
Rank width
Rank decomposition
Graph isomorphism
Cai-Fürer-Immerman construction
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Antonios Kalampakas
College of Engineering and Technology, American University of the Middle East