New Width Parameters for Independent Set: One-sided-mim-width and Neighbor-depth

We study the tractability of the maximum independent set problem from the viewpoint of graph width parameters, with the goal of defining a width parameter that is as general as possible and allows to solve independent set in polynomial-time on graphs where the parameter is bounded. We introduce two new graph width parameters: one-sided maximum induced matching-width (o-mim-width) and neighbor-depth. O-mim-width is a graph parameter that is more general than the known parameters mim-width and tree-independence number, and we show that independent set and feedback vertex set can be solved in polynomial-time given a decomposition with bounded o-mim-width. O-mim-width is the first width parameter that gives a common generalization of chordal graphs and graphs of bounded clique-width in terms of tractability of these problems. The parameter o-mim-width, as well as the related parameters mim-width and sim-width, have the limitation that no algorithms are known to compute bounded-width decompositions in polynomial-time. To partially resolve this limitation, we introduce the parameter neighbor-depth. We show that given a graph of neighbor-depth $k$, independent set can be solved in time $n^{O(k)}$ even without knowing a corresponding decomposition. We also show that neighbor-depth is bounded by a polylogarithmic function on the number of vertices on large classes of graphs, including graphs of bounded o-mim-width, and more generally graphs of bounded sim-width, giving a quasipolynomial-time algorithm for independent set on these graph classes. This resolves an open problem asked by Kang, Kwon, Strømme, and Telle [TCS 2017].