A forbidden-induced-subgraph characterization of beautiful graphs

Source abstract

A graph is beautiful if each of its induced subgraphs is the intersection graph of all maximal nonempty 1-rectangles of a binary matrix, with adjacency defined by a common cell. Beautiful graphs were introduced as a hereditary class of Berge graphs, but a complete forbidden-induced-subgraph characterization was not obtained. We prove that a finite graph is beautiful if and only if it has no induced $C_4$, gem, net, watch, or odd hole. More precisely, these graphs are exactly the $C_4$-free comparability graphs admitting a partial order in which every interval is a chain. The proof constructs such an order from inclusion-maximal closed neighbourhoods: their representatives induce a bipartite graph whose domination regions admit compatible orientations. One order matrix then represents the graph and, through its principal submatrices, every induced subgraph. The representation step is formulated using classical double-bound graphs and the established correspondence between maximal bicliques and interval-intersection-closed posets. Consequences include polynomial-time recognition, the exact minimal obstruction families, and a corrected characterization in the $K_4$-free case.