ON BIPARTITE GRAPH REALIZATIONS OF A SINGLE DEGREE SEQUENCE

We consider the problem of characterizing degree sequences that can be realized by a bipartite graph. If a partition of the sequence into the two sides of the bipartite graph is given as part of the input, then there is a complete characterization that was established more than 60 years ago. However, the general question, in which a partition and a realizing graph need to be determined, is still open. We investigate the role of an important class of special partitions, called High-Low partitions, which separate the degrees of a sequence into two groups, the high degrees and the low degrees. We show that when the High-Low partition exists and satisfies some natural properties, analyzing the High-Low partition resolves the bigraphic realization problem. For sequences that are known to be not realizable by a bipartite graph or that are undecided, we provide approximate realizations based on the High-Low partition.