Interval graphs with side (and size) constraints

We study problems of determining whether a given interval graph has a realization which satisfies additional given constraints. Such problems occur frequently in applications where entities are modeled as intervals along a line (events along a time line, DNA segments along a chromosome, etc.). When the additional information is order constraints on pairs of disjoint intervals, we give a linear time algorithm. Extant algorithms for this problem (known also as seriation with side constraints) required quadratic time. When the constraints are bounds on distances between endpoints, and the graph admits a unique clique order, we show that the problem is polynomial. However, we show that even when the lengths of all intervals are precisely predetermined, the problem is NPcomplete. We also study unit interval satisfiability problems, which are concerned with the realizability of a set of unit intervals along a line, subject to precedence and intersection constraints. For all possible restrictions on the types of constraints, we either give polynomial algorithms or prove their NP-completeness.