On the correspondence between tree representations of chordal and dually chordal graphs

Abstract

Chordal graphs and their clique graphs (called dually chordal graphs) possess characteristic tree representations, namely, the clique tree and the compatible tree, respectively. The following problem is studied: given a chordal graph G, determine if the clique trees of G are exactly the compatible trees of the clique graph of G. This leads to a new subclass of chordal graphs, basic chordal graphs, which is here characterized. The question is also approached backwards: given a dually chordal graph G, we find all the basic chordal graphs with clique graph equal to G. This approach leads to the possibility of considering several properties of clique trees of chordal graphs and finding their counterparts in compatible trees of dually chordal graphs.