Bipartite Graft II: Cathedral Decomposition for Combs

Abstract

We provide a canonical decomposition for a class of bipartite grafts known as combs. As every bipartite graft is a recursive combination of combs, our results provides a canonical decomposition for general bipartite grafts. Our new decomposition is by definition a generalization of the classical canonical decomposition in matching theory, that is, the Dulmage-Mendelsohn decomposition for bipartite graphs with perfect matchings. However, it exhibits much more complicated structure than its classical counterpart. It is revealed from our results that bipartite grafts has a canonical structure that is analogous to the cathedral decomposition for nonbipartite graphs with perfect matchings.