Edge deletion to tree-like graph classes

Abstract: For a fixed property (graph class) ${\Pi}$, given a graph G and an integer k, the ${\Pi}$-deletion problem consists in deciding if we can turn $G$ into a graph with the property ${\Pi}$ by deleting at most $k$ edges. The ${\Pi}$-deletion problem is known to be NP-hard for most of the well-studied graph classes, such as chordal, interval, bipartite, planar, comparability and permutation graphs, among others; even deletion to cacti is known to be NP-hard for general graphs. However, there is a notable exception: the deletion problem to trees is polynomial. Motivated by this fact, we study the deletion problem for some classes similar to trees, addressing in this way a knowledge gap in the literature. We prove that deletion to cacti is hard even when the input is a bipartite graph. On the positive side, we show that the problem becomes tractable when the input is chordal, and for the special case of quasi-threshold graphs we give a simpler and faster algorithm. In addition, we present sufficient structural conditions on the graph class ${\Pi}$ that imply the NP-hardness of the ${\Pi}$-deletion problem, and show that deletion from general graphs to some well-known subclasses of forests is NP-hard.