Prof. Meirav Zehavi

We study the Partial Information Network Query (PINQ) problem, which generalizes two problems that often arise in bioinformatics: the Alignment Network Query (ANQ) problem and the Topology-Free Network Query (TFNQ) problem. In both ANQ and TFNQ we have a pattern P and a graph H, and we seek a subgraph of H that resembles P. ANQ requires knowing the topology of P, while TFNQ ignores it. PINQ fits the scenario where partial information is available on the topology of P. Our main result is a parameterized algorithm that handles inputs for PINQ in which P is a set of trees. This algorithm significantly improves the best known O^∗ running time in solving TFNQ. We also improve the best known O^∗ running times in solving two special cases of ANQ.