Graph parameters, implicit representations and factorial properties

How to efficiently represent a graph in computer memory is a fundamental data structuring question. In the present paper, we address this question from a combinatorial point of view. A representation of an n-vertex graph G is called implicit if it assigns to each vertex of G a binary code of length O(log⁡n) so that the adjacency of two vertices is a function of their codes. A necessary condition for a hereditary class X of graphs to admit an implicit representation is that X has at most factorial speed of growth. This condition, however, is not sufficient, as was recently shown in [19]. Several sufficient conditions for the existence of implicit representations deal with boundedness of some parameters, such as degeneracy or clique-width. In the present paper, we analyze more graph parameters and prove a number of new results related to implicit representation and factorial properties.