Finding a subset with few neighbors

Given a bipartite graph $$G(X+Y,E)$$, how can I find a non-empty subset $$Y'\subseteq Y$$, such that $$|N(Y')| \leq |Y'|$$ (where $$N$$ is the set of neighbors)?

If $$|Y|\geq |X|$$ then the problem is easy - $$Y'=Y$$ satisfies the requirements. The interesting case is $$|Y| < |X|$$. In this case a solution might not exist, for example here:

$$x_1 - y_1 \\ x_2 - y_1$$

the only subset of $$Y$$ that satisfies the requirement is $$\emptyset$$. Is there an efficient algorithm for deciding whether a solution exists, and if so, find one?

A possible first step is to find a maximum matching in the graph. If its size is less than $$|Y|$$, then by Hall's theorem there exists a $$Y'\subseteq Y$$ with $$|N(Y')|< |Y'|$$, and it can be found efficiently, so we are done.

But if the size of the matching is $$|Y|$$, then... I am stuck.

RELATED PROBLEMS:

1. Finding a subset in bipartite graph violating Hall's condition: there, the problem is to find a subset with $$|N(Y')|< |Y'|$$; here, the problem is to find a non-empty subset with $$|N(Y')|\leq |Y'|$$.

2. In bipartite expansion, the goal is to find a subset $$Y'$$ containing a fraction $$\beta$$ of the vertices of $$Y$$ which minimizes the size of $$N(Y')$$. The problem is hard to approximate. However, our problem is possibly easier, since we only require $$Y'$$ to be non-empty, and only require $$|N(Y')|$$ to be at most $$|Y'|$$ - we do not try to minimize it.

3. In union minimization, we are given a set-system and an integer $$k$$, and the goal is to find $$k$$ sets such that their union is minimized. We can view the set-system as a bipartite graph with sets on one side and elements on the other side; then, the goal is to find a $$Y'$$ of size $$k$$, such that $$|N(Y')|$$ is minimized. This is hard to approximate, but again our problem is potentially easier since it does not insist on $$k$$ and does not require minimization.

So, can the problem be solved in polynomial time?

• Erel, your questions lately are great, and I'm sure that they are neither trivial nor homework questions. However, a stream of questions without signs that you did a substantial work yourself feels somewhat wrong... can you explain what you have tried (techniques) and where and why you are stuck? – Pål GD Jan 21 at 8:09
• Pal GD comment is relevant, I would also appreciate some context. Is it just the pleasure to ask every possible question in computer science or is there an actual application ? – Vince Jan 21 at 9:07
• for the size 1 set you can just look for y in Y such that |N(y)| = 1. – Vince Jan 21 at 9:28
• @PålGD OK, I simplified the question and added some related research. – Erel Segal-Halevi Jan 24 at 7:14
• @Vince usually I try to remove all context-specific details in order to make the question as short and general as possible, but since you are interested, I am happy to give more details. The context is my research on fair division. In particular, I am trying to extend this paper: arxiv.org/abs/1812.08150 I found an optimal solution to the case k=2 using the notion of envy-free matching: math.stackexchange.com/q/621306/29780 This lead to the question of how to find such a matching whenever it exists. I managed to reduce it to the present question. – Erel Segal-Halevi Jan 24 at 7:18

\begin{align} \text{maximize} && \sum_{j\in Y} y_j - \sum_{i\in X} x_i \\ \text{subject to} && y_j - x_i \leq 0 && \forall (i,j)\in E \\ && 0\leq x_i \leq 1,~~ 0\leq y_j \leq 1 && \forall i\in X, j\in Y \\ && x_i\in \mathbb{Z},~~ y_j\in\mathbb{Z} && \forall i\in X, j\in Y \end{align} In this program, there is a variable $$x_i$$ for each node $$i$$ in $$X$$, and a variable $$y_j$$ for each node $$j$$ in $$Y$$. Let $$X'$$ be the subset of $$X$$ defined by $$\{i\in X: x_i=1\}$$, and $$Y'$$ the subset of $$Y$$ defined by $$\{j\in Y: y_j=1\}$$.
The constraints $$y_j - x_i \leq 0$$ ensure that, if some vertex $$j$$ is in $$Y'$$, then all its neighbors are in $$X'$$, so $$X'\supseteq N(Y')$$. The objective is to maximize the difference $$|Y'|-|X'|$$. If the optimal solution is at least 0, then $$|Y'|\geq |X'| \geq |N(Y')|$$, so $$Y'$$ is the required set. On the other hand, if the optimal solution is negative, there is no such set.
In general, integer linear programs are hard to solve. But in this case, the matrix of constraints is Totally unimodular. It satisfies the Hoffman-Gale conditions: every entry in the matrix is one of $$+1, 0, -1$$; every row in the matrix contains at most two nonzero entries; and if there are two nonzero entries, they have opposite signs. Therefore, we can solve the LP without the integrality constraints, and we are guaranteed to get an integral solution which gives us $$Y'$$.
The only problem is that the above LP does not guarantee that $$Y'$$ is non-empty. Adding a constraint such as $$\sum_{j\in Y} y_j\geq 1$$ would invalidate the argument of total-unimodularity. A possible solution is to solve $$|Y|$$ different linear programs: for each vertex $$j\in Y$$, solve the LP with the constraint $$0\leq y_j \leq 1$$ replaced with the constraint $$y_j = 1$$. If for some $$j\in Y$$ the objective is at least 0, we have found a non-empty $$Y'$$ as required. Otherwise, such $$Y'$$ does not exist.