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A Linear-time Algorithm for Integral Multiterminal Flows in Trees

In this paper, we study the problem of finding an integral multiflow which maximizes the sum of flow values between every two terminals in an undirected tree with a nonnegative integer edge capacity and a set of terminals. In general, it is known that the flow value of an integral multiflow is bounded by the cut value of a cut-system which consists of disjoint subsets each of which contains exactly one terminal or has an odd cut value, and there exists a pair of an integral multiflow and a cut-system whose flow value and cut value are equal; i.e., a pair of a maximum integral multiflow and a minimum cut. In this paper, we propose an $O(n)$-time algorithm that finds such a pair of an integral multiflow and a cut-system in a given tree instance with $n$ vertices. This improves the best previous results by a factor of $Ω(n)$. Regarding a given tree in an instance as a rooted tree, we define $O(n)$ rooted tree instances taking each vertex as a root, and establish a recursive formula on maximum integral multiflow values of these instances to design a dynamic programming that computes the maximum integral multiflow values of all $O(n)$ rooted instances in linear time. We can prove that the algorithm implicitly maintains a cut-system so that not only a maximum integral multiflow but also a minimum cut-system can be constructed in linear time for any rooted instance whenever it is necessary. The resulting algorithm is rather compact and succinct.