Finding k Simple Shortest Paths and Cycles

We present algorithms and techniques for several problems related to finding multiple simple shortest paths and cycles in a graph. Our main result is a new algorithm for finding k simple shortest paths for all pairs of vertices in a weighted directed graph G = (V, E). For k = 2 our algorithm runs in O(mn + n^2 log n) time where m and n are the number of edges and vertices in G. For k = 3 our algorithm runs in O(mn^2 + n^3 log n) time, which is almost a factor of n faster than the best previous algorithm. Our approach is based on forming suitable path extensions to find simple shortest paths; this method is different from the \u27detour finding\u27 technique used in most of the prior work on simple shortest paths, replacement paths, and distance sensitivity oracles. We present new algorithms for generating simple cycles and simple paths in G in non-decreasing order of their weight. The algorithm for generating simple paths is much faster,and uses another variant of path extensions