Minimum-maximal matching in series-parallel graphs

Abstract Given an undirected graph G = (V, E), we seek a minimum weight subset of E which is a matching and which is maximal in this regard. Known as minimum-maximal matching, this problem is hard in general but can be solved in linear time if G is series-parallel. After a brief background discussion on series-parallel graphs, wer provide an algorithm which is applicable for arbitrary integer edge weights. The paper concludes with a short description of relevant issues regarding general, series-parallel solvability.

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