The class of series-parallel partial orders is the set of partial orders that can be built up from single-element partial orders using these two operations. Equivalently, it is the smallest set of partial orders that includes the single-element partial order and is closed under the series and parallel composition operations.
The partial order N with the four elements a, b, c, and d and exactly the three order relations a ≤ b ≥ c ≤ d is an example of a fence or zigzag poset; its Hasse diagram has the shape of the capital letter "N". It is not series-parallel, because there is no way of splitting it into the series or parallel composition of two smaller partial orders. A partial order P is said to be N-free if there does not exist a set of four elements in P such that the restriction of P to those elements is order-isomorphic to N. The series-parallel partial orders are exactly the nonempty finite N-free partial orders.
It follows immediately from this (although it can also be proven directly) that any nonempty restriction of a series-parallel partial order is itself a series-parallel partial order.
It is known that a partial order P has order dimension two if and only if there exists a conjugate order Q on the same elements, with the property that any two distinct elements x and y are comparable on exactly one of these two orders. In the case of series parallel partial orders, a conjugate order that is itself series parallel may be obtained by performing a sequence of composition operations in the same order as the ones defining P on the same elements, but performing a series composition for each parallel composition in the decomposition of P and vice versa. More strongly, although a partial order may have many different conjugates, every conjugate of a series parallel partial order must itself be series parallel.
The forbidden suborder characterization of series-parallel partial orders can be used as a basis for an algorithm that tests whether a given binary relation is a series-parallel partial order, in an amount of time that is linear in the number of related pairs. Alternatively, if a partial order is described as the reachability order of a directed acyclic graph, it is possible to test whether it is a series-parallel partial order, and if so compute its transitive closure, in time proportional to the number of vertices and edges in the transitive closure; it remains open whether the time to recognize series-parallel reachability orders can be improved to be linear in the size of the input graph.
Although the problem of counting the number of linear extensions of an arbitrary partial order is #P-complete, it may be solved in polynomial time for series-parallel partial orders. Specifically, if L(P) denotes the number of linear extensions of a partial order P, then L(P; Q) = L(P)L(Q) and
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{\displaystyle L(P||Q)={\frac {(|P|+|Q|)!}{|P|!|Q|!}}L(P)L(Q),}
so the number of linear extensions may be calculated using an expression tree with the same form as the decomposition tree of the given series-parallel order.
Mannila & Meek (2000) use series-parallel partial orders as a model for the sequences of events in time series data. They describe machine learning algorithms for inferring models of this type, and demonstrate its effectiveness at inferring course prerequisites from student enrollment data and at modeling web browser usage patterns.
Amer et al. (1994) argue that series-parallel partial orders are a good fit for modeling the transmission sequencing requirements of multimedia presentations. They use the formula for computing the number of linear extensions of a series-parallel partial order as the basis for analyzing multimedia transmission algorithms.
Choudhary et al. (1994) use series-parallel partial orders to model the task dependencies in a dataflow model of massive data processing for computer vision. They show that, by using series-parallel orders for this problem, it is possible to efficiently construct an optimized schedule that assigns different tasks to different processors of a parallel computing system in order to optimize the throughput of the system.
A class of orderings somewhat more general than series-parallel partial orders is provided by PQ trees, data structures that have been applied in algorithms for testing whether a graph is planar and recognizing interval graphs. A P node of a PQ tree allows all possible orderings of its children, like a parallel composition of partial orders, while a Q node requires the children to occur in a fixed linear ordering, like a series composition of partial orders. However, unlike series-parallel partial orders, PQ trees allow the linear ordering of any Q node to be reversed.
Bechet, Denis; De Groote, Philippe; Retoré, Christian (1997), "A complete axiomatisation for the inclusion of series-parallel partial orders", Rewriting Techniques and Applications, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 1232, Springer-Verlag, pp. 230–240, doi:10.1007/3-540-62950-5_74, ISBN 978-3-540-62950-4. 978-3-540-62950-4
Möhring, Rolf H. (1989), "Computationally tractable classes of ordered sets", in Rival, Ivan (ed.), Algorithms and Order: Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute on Algorithms and Order, Ottawa, Canada, May 31-June 13, 1987, NATO Science Series C, vol. 255, Springer-Verlag, pp. 105–194, ISBN 978-0-7923-0007-6. 978-0-7923-0007-6
Bechet, Denis; De Groote, Philippe; Retoré, Christian (1997), "A complete axiomatisation for the inclusion of series-parallel partial orders", Rewriting Techniques and Applications, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 1232, Springer-Verlag, pp. 230–240, doi:10.1007/3-540-62950-5_74, ISBN 978-3-540-62950-4. 978-3-540-62950-4
Valdes, Jacobo; Tarjan, Robert E.; Lawler, Eugene L. (1982), "The recognition of series parallel digraphs", SIAM Journal on Computing, 11 (2): 298–313, doi:10.1137/0211023. /wiki/Robert_Tarjan
Möhring, Rolf H. (1989), "Computationally tractable classes of ordered sets", in Rival, Ivan (ed.), Algorithms and Order: Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute on Algorithms and Order, Ottawa, Canada, May 31-June 13, 1987, NATO Science Series C, vol. 255, Springer-Verlag, pp. 105–194, ISBN 978-0-7923-0007-6. 978-0-7923-0007-6
Valdes, Jacobo; Tarjan, Robert E.; Lawler, Eugene L. (1982), "The recognition of series parallel digraphs", SIAM Journal on Computing, 11 (2): 298–313, doi:10.1137/0211023. /wiki/Robert_Tarjan
Möhring, Rolf H. (1989), "Computationally tractable classes of ordered sets", in Rival, Ivan (ed.), Algorithms and Order: Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute on Algorithms and Order, Ottawa, Canada, May 31-June 13, 1987, NATO Science Series C, vol. 255, Springer-Verlag, pp. 105–194, ISBN 978-0-7923-0007-6. 978-0-7923-0007-6
Jung, H. A. (1978), "On a class of posets and the corresponding comparability graphs", Journal of Combinatorial Theory, Series B, 24 (2): 125–133, doi:10.1016/0095-8956(78)90013-8, MR 0491356. /wiki/Doi_(identifier)
Lawler, Eugene L. (1978), "Sequencing jobs to minimize total weighted completion time subject to precedence constraints", Annals of Discrete Mathematics, 2: 75–90, doi:10.1016/S0167-5060(08)70323-6, ISBN 9780720410433, MR 0495156. 9780720410433
Mannila, Heikki; Meek, Christopher (2000), "Global partial orders from sequential data", Proc. 6th ACM SIGKDD International Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining (KDD 2000), pp. 161–168, doi:10.1145/347090.347122, S2CID 14735932. /wiki/Heikki_Mannila
Amer, Paul D.; Chassot, Christophe; Connolly, Thomas J.; Diaz, Michel; Conrad, Phillip (1994), "Partial-order transport service for multimedia and other applications", IEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking, 2 (5): 440–456, doi:10.1109/90.336326, S2CID 1974607. /wiki/Doi_(identifier)
Choudhary, A. N.; Narahari, B.; Nicol, D. M.; Simha, R. (1994), "Optimal processor assignment for a class of pipelined computations", IEEE Transactions on Parallel and Distributed Systems, 5 (4): 439–445, doi:10.1109/71.273050, S2CID 5588390. https://surface.syr.edu/eecs/33
Jung, H. A. (1978), "On a class of posets and the corresponding comparability graphs", Journal of Combinatorial Theory, Series B, 24 (2): 125–133, doi:10.1016/0095-8956(78)90013-8, MR 0491356. /wiki/Doi_(identifier)
Furnas, George W.; Zacks, Jeff (1994), "Multitrees: enriching and reusing hierarchical structure", Proc. SIGCHI conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '94), pp. 330–336, doi:10.1145/191666.191778, S2CID 18710118. /wiki/Doi_(identifier)
Amer, Paul D.; Chassot, Christophe; Connolly, Thomas J.; Diaz, Michel; Conrad, Phillip (1994), "Partial-order transport service for multimedia and other applications", IEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking, 2 (5): 440–456, doi:10.1109/90.336326, S2CID 1974607. /wiki/Doi_(identifier)
Möhring, Rolf H. (1989), "Computationally tractable classes of ordered sets", in Rival, Ivan (ed.), Algorithms and Order: Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute on Algorithms and Order, Ottawa, Canada, May 31-June 13, 1987, NATO Science Series C, vol. 255, Springer-Verlag, pp. 105–194, ISBN 978-0-7923-0007-6. 978-0-7923-0007-6
Bechet, Denis; De Groote, Philippe; Retoré, Christian (1997), "A complete axiomatisation for the inclusion of series-parallel partial orders", Rewriting Techniques and Applications, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 1232, Springer-Verlag, pp. 230–240, doi:10.1007/3-540-62950-5_74, ISBN 978-3-540-62950-4. 978-3-540-62950-4
Bechet, Denis; De Groote, Philippe; Retoré, Christian (1997), "A complete axiomatisation for the inclusion of series-parallel partial orders", Rewriting Techniques and Applications, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 1232, Springer-Verlag, pp. 230–240, doi:10.1007/3-540-62950-5_74, ISBN 978-3-540-62950-4. 978-3-540-62950-4
Amer, Paul D.; Chassot, Christophe; Connolly, Thomas J.; Diaz, Michel; Conrad, Phillip (1994), "Partial-order transport service for multimedia and other applications", IEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking, 2 (5): 440–456, doi:10.1109/90.336326, S2CID 1974607. /wiki/Doi_(identifier)
Möhring, Rolf H. (1989), "Computationally tractable classes of ordered sets", in Rival, Ivan (ed.), Algorithms and Order: Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute on Algorithms and Order, Ottawa, Canada, May 31-June 13, 1987, NATO Science Series C, vol. 255, Springer-Verlag, pp. 105–194, ISBN 978-0-7923-0007-6. 978-0-7923-0007-6
Bechet, Denis; De Groote, Philippe; Retoré, Christian (1997), "A complete axiomatisation for the inclusion of series-parallel partial orders", Rewriting Techniques and Applications, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 1232, Springer-Verlag, pp. 230–240, doi:10.1007/3-540-62950-5_74, ISBN 978-3-540-62950-4. 978-3-540-62950-4
Bechet, Denis; De Groote, Philippe; Retoré, Christian (1997), "A complete axiomatisation for the inclusion of series-parallel partial orders", Rewriting Techniques and Applications, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 1232, Springer-Verlag, pp. 230–240, doi:10.1007/3-540-62950-5_74, ISBN 978-3-540-62950-4. 978-3-540-62950-4
Bechet, Denis; De Groote, Philippe; Retoré, Christian (1997), "A complete axiomatisation for the inclusion of series-parallel partial orders", Rewriting Techniques and Applications, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 1232, Springer-Verlag, pp. 230–240, doi:10.1007/3-540-62950-5_74, ISBN 978-3-540-62950-4. 978-3-540-62950-4
Möhring, Rolf H. (1989), "Computationally tractable classes of ordered sets", in Rival, Ivan (ed.), Algorithms and Order: Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute on Algorithms and Order, Ottawa, Canada, May 31-June 13, 1987, NATO Science Series C, vol. 255, Springer-Verlag, pp. 105–194, ISBN 978-0-7923-0007-6. 978-0-7923-0007-6
Möhring, Rolf H. (1989), "Computationally tractable classes of ordered sets", in Rival, Ivan (ed.), Algorithms and Order: Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute on Algorithms and Order, Ottawa, Canada, May 31-June 13, 1987, NATO Science Series C, vol. 255, Springer-Verlag, pp. 105–194, ISBN 978-0-7923-0007-6. 978-0-7923-0007-6
Bechet, Denis; De Groote, Philippe; Retoré, Christian (1997), "A complete axiomatisation for the inclusion of series-parallel partial orders", Rewriting Techniques and Applications, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 1232, Springer-Verlag, pp. 230–240, doi:10.1007/3-540-62950-5_74, ISBN 978-3-540-62950-4. 978-3-540-62950-4
Möhring, Rolf H. (1989), "Computationally tractable classes of ordered sets", in Rival, Ivan (ed.), Algorithms and Order: Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute on Algorithms and Order, Ottawa, Canada, May 31-June 13, 1987, NATO Science Series C, vol. 255, Springer-Verlag, pp. 105–194, ISBN 978-0-7923-0007-6. 978-0-7923-0007-6
Valdes, Jacobo; Tarjan, Robert E.; Lawler, Eugene L. (1982), "The recognition of series parallel digraphs", SIAM Journal on Computing, 11 (2): 298–313, doi:10.1137/0211023. /wiki/Robert_Tarjan
Bechet, Denis; De Groote, Philippe; Retoré, Christian (1997), "A complete axiomatisation for the inclusion of series-parallel partial orders", Rewriting Techniques and Applications, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 1232, Springer-Verlag, pp. 230–240, doi:10.1007/3-540-62950-5_74, ISBN 978-3-540-62950-4. 978-3-540-62950-4
Möhring, Rolf H. (1989), "Computationally tractable classes of ordered sets", in Rival, Ivan (ed.), Algorithms and Order: Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute on Algorithms and Order, Ottawa, Canada, May 31-June 13, 1987, NATO Science Series C, vol. 255, Springer-Verlag, pp. 105–194, ISBN 978-0-7923-0007-6. 978-0-7923-0007-6
Valdes, Jacobo; Tarjan, Robert E.; Lawler, Eugene L. (1982), "The recognition of series parallel digraphs", SIAM Journal on Computing, 11 (2): 298–313, doi:10.1137/0211023. /wiki/Robert_Tarjan
Möhring, Rolf H. (1989), "Computationally tractable classes of ordered sets", in Rival, Ivan (ed.), Algorithms and Order: Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute on Algorithms and Order, Ottawa, Canada, May 31-June 13, 1987, NATO Science Series C, vol. 255, Springer-Verlag, pp. 105–194, ISBN 978-0-7923-0007-6. 978-0-7923-0007-6
Valdes, Jacobo; Tarjan, Robert E.; Lawler, Eugene L. (1982), "The recognition of series parallel digraphs", SIAM Journal on Computing, 11 (2): 298–313, doi:10.1137/0211023. /wiki/Robert_Tarjan
Möhring, Rolf H. (1989), "Computationally tractable classes of ordered sets", in Rival, Ivan (ed.), Algorithms and Order: Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute on Algorithms and Order, Ottawa, Canada, May 31-June 13, 1987, NATO Science Series C, vol. 255, Springer-Verlag, pp. 105–194, ISBN 978-0-7923-0007-6. 978-0-7923-0007-6
Valdes, Jacobo; Tarjan, Robert E.; Lawler, Eugene L. (1982), "The recognition of series parallel digraphs", SIAM Journal on Computing, 11 (2): 298–313, doi:10.1137/0211023. /wiki/Robert_Tarjan
Möhring, Rolf H. (1989), "Computationally tractable classes of ordered sets", in Rival, Ivan (ed.), Algorithms and Order: Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute on Algorithms and Order, Ottawa, Canada, May 31-June 13, 1987, NATO Science Series C, vol. 255, Springer-Verlag, pp. 105–194, ISBN 978-0-7923-0007-6. 978-0-7923-0007-6
Jung, H. A. (1978), "On a class of posets and the corresponding comparability graphs", Journal of Combinatorial Theory, Series B, 24 (2): 125–133, doi:10.1016/0095-8956(78)90013-8, MR 0491356. /wiki/Doi_(identifier)
Möhring, Rolf H. (1989), "Computationally tractable classes of ordered sets", in Rival, Ivan (ed.), Algorithms and Order: Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute on Algorithms and Order, Ottawa, Canada, May 31-June 13, 1987, NATO Science Series C, vol. 255, Springer-Verlag, pp. 105–194, ISBN 978-0-7923-0007-6. 978-0-7923-0007-6
Valdes, Jacobo; Tarjan, Robert E.; Lawler, Eugene L. (1982), "The recognition of series parallel digraphs", SIAM Journal on Computing, 11 (2): 298–313, doi:10.1137/0211023. /wiki/Robert_Tarjan
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Valdes, Jacobo; Tarjan, Robert E.; Lawler, Eugene L. (1982), "The recognition of series parallel digraphs", SIAM Journal on Computing, 11 (2): 298–313, doi:10.1137/0211023. /wiki/Robert_Tarjan
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Möhring, Rolf H. (1989), "Computationally tractable classes of ordered sets", in Rival, Ivan (ed.), Algorithms and Order: Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute on Algorithms and Order, Ottawa, Canada, May 31-June 13, 1987, NATO Science Series C, vol. 255, Springer-Verlag, pp. 105–194, ISBN 978-0-7923-0007-6. 978-0-7923-0007-6
Mannila, Heikki; Meek, Christopher (2000), "Global partial orders from sequential data", Proc. 6th ACM SIGKDD International Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining (KDD 2000), pp. 161–168, doi:10.1145/347090.347122, S2CID 14735932. /wiki/Heikki_Mannila
Amer, Paul D.; Chassot, Christophe; Connolly, Thomas J.; Diaz, Michel; Conrad, Phillip (1994), "Partial-order transport service for multimedia and other applications", IEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking, 2 (5): 440–456, doi:10.1109/90.336326, S2CID 1974607. /wiki/Doi_(identifier)
Choudhary, A. N.; Narahari, B.; Nicol, D. M.; Simha, R. (1994), "Optimal processor assignment for a class of pipelined computations", IEEE Transactions on Parallel and Distributed Systems, 5 (4): 439–445, doi:10.1109/71.273050, S2CID 5588390. https://surface.syr.edu/eecs/33
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