Fast sub-exponential algorithms and compactness in planar graphs

We provide a new theory, alternative to bidimensionality, of sub-exponential parameterized algorithms on planar graphs, which is based on the notion of compactness. Roughly speaking, a parameterized problem is (r,q)-compact when all the faces and vertices of its YES-instances are "r-radially dominated" by some vertex set whose size is at most q times the parameter. We prove that if a parameterized problem can be solved in steps and is (r,q)-compact, then it can be solved by a cr.2.122.√q.kno(1) step algorithm (where k is the parameter). Our framework is general enough to unify the analysis of almost all known sub-exponential parameterized algorithms on planar graphs and improves or matches their running times. Our results are based on an improved combinatorial bound on the branchwidth of planar graphs that bypasses the grid-minor exclusion theorem. That way, our approach encompasses new problems where bidimensionality theory do not directly provide sub-exponential parameterized algorithms.