A linear-time algorithm for finding Hamiltonian cycles in rectangular grid graphs with two rectangular holes

Abstract

The Hamiltonian cycle problem is one of the most important problems in graph theory that has many applications. This problem is NP-complete for general grid graphs. For solid grid graphs, there are polynomial-time algorithms. Existence of polynomial-time algorithms for grid graphs with few holes has been asked in the literature. In this paper, we give a linear-time algorithm for rectangular grid graphs with two rectangular holes. This extends the previous result for rectangular grid graphs with one rectangular hole. We first present the forbidden conditions in which there is no Hamiltonian cycle for any grid graphs, including rectangular grid graphs with rectangular holes. We then show that if these forbidden conditions do not hold, then there exists a Hamiltonian cycle. The proof is constructive, therefore, it gives an algorithm. An application of the problem is in off-line robot exploration.