Efficient subgraph isomorphism detection: a decomposition approach

Graphs are a powerful and universal data structure useful in various subfields of science and engineering. In this paper, we propose a new algorithm for subgraph isomorphism detection from a set of a priori known model graphs to an input graph that is given online. The new approach is based on a compact representation of the model graphs that is computed offline. Subgraphs that appear more than once within the same or within different model graphs are represented only once, thus reducing the computational effort to detect them in an input graph. In the extreme case where all model graphs are highly similar, the run-time of the new algorithm becomes independent of the number of model graphs. Both a theoretical complexity analysis and practical experiments characterizing the performance of the new approach are given.