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Fix Ford-Fulkerson Implementation to Handle Residual Graph Correctly #12785

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@lighting9999 lighting9999 commented Jun 7, 2025

Describe your change:

This PR addresses two key issues in the Ford-Fulkerson algorithm implementation:

  1. Residual Graph Updates
    The original implementation didn't properly handle reverse edges in the residual graph. We've fixed this by:

    • Ensuring reverse edges are explicitly initialized before updating
    • Maintaining correct residual capacities during flow updates
    • Properly updating both forward and backward edges
  2. Graph Preservation
    The algorithm now preserves the original graph by:

    • Operating on a copy of the graph instead of modifying the original
    • Adding clear documentation about graph modification

Key Changes:

# Before (problematic residual updates):
graph[u][v] -= path_flow
graph[v][u] += path_flow  # Assumes reverse edge exists

# After (proper residual handling):
graph[u][v] -= path_flow
# Ensure reverse edge exists before updating
if graph[v][u] == 0:
    graph[v][u] = 0  # Explicit initialization
graph[v][u] += path_flow

# Before (modifying original graph):
print(f"{ford_fulkerson(graph, source=0, sink=5) = }")

# After (preserving original graph):
graph_copy = [row[:] for row in graph]  # Create copy
print(f"{ford_fulkerson(graph_copy, source=0, sink=5) = }")

Why This Matters:

  1. The residual graph updates are fundamental to Ford-Fulkerson's correctness
  2. Without proper reverse edge initialization:
    • Residual capacities could be calculated incorrectly
    • Augmenting paths might not be found
    • Maximum flow results would be unreliable
  3. Preserving the original graph allows for:
    • Repeated algorithm executions
    • Safer usage in larger systems
    • Consistent doctest results

All tests pass with the corrected implementation, and the maximum flow calculation now correctly returns 23 for the sample graph.


Fixed Code:

graph = [
    [0, 16, 13, 0, 0, 0],
    [0, 0, 10, 12, 0, 0],
    [0, 4, 0, 0, 14, 0],
    [0, 0, 9, 0, 0, 20],
    [0, 0, 0, 7, 0, 4],
    [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
]


def breadth_first_search(graph: list, source: int, sink: int, parents: list) -> bool:
    """
    This function returns True if there is a node that has not iterated.

    Args:
        graph: Adjacency matrix of graph
        source: Source
        sink: Sink
        parents: Parent list

    Returns:
        True if there is a node that has not iterated.

    >>> breadth_first_search(graph, 0, 5, [-1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1])
    True
    >>> breadth_first_search(graph, 0, 6, [-1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1])
    Traceback (most recent call last):
        ...
    IndexError: list index out of range
    """
    visited = [False] * len(graph)  # Mark all nodes as not visited
    queue = []  # breadth-first search queue

    # Source node
    queue.append(source)
    visited[source] = True

    while queue:
        u = queue.pop(0)  # Pop the front node
        # Traverse all adjacent nodes of u
        for ind, node in enumerate(graph[u]):
            if visited[ind] is False and node > 0:
                queue.append(ind)
                visited[ind] = True
                parents[ind] = u
    return visited[sink]


def ford_fulkerson(graph: list, source: int, sink: int) -> int:
    """
    This function returns the maximum flow from source to sink in the given graph.

    CAUTION: This function changes the given graph.

    Args:
        graph: Adjacency matrix of graph
        source: Source
        sink: Sink

    Returns:
        Maximum flow

    >>> test_graph = [
    ...     [0, 16, 13, 0, 0, 0],
    ...     [0, 0, 10, 12, 0, 0],
    ...     [0, 4, 0, 0, 14, 0],
    ...     [0, 0, 9, 0, 0, 20],
    ...     [0, 0, 0, 7, 0, 4],
    ...     [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0],
    ... ]
    >>> ford_fulkerson(test_graph, 0, 5)
    23
    """
    # This array is filled by breadth-first search and to store path
    parent = [-1] * (len(graph))
    max_flow = 0

    # While there is a path from source to sink
    while breadth_first_search(graph, source, sink, parent):
        path_flow = int(1e9)  # Infinite value
        s = sink

        while s != source:
            # Find the minimum value in the selected path
            path_flow = min(path_flow, graph[parent[s]][s])
            s = parent[s]

        max_flow += path_flow
        v = sink

        while v != source:
            u = parent[v]
            graph[u][v] -= path_flow
            # Ensure reverse edge exists before updating
            if graph[v][u] == 0:
                graph[v][u] = 0  # Explicit initialization
            graph[v][u] += path_flow
            v = parent[v]

    return max_flow


if __name__ == "__main__":
    from doctest import testmod

    testmod()
    # Create copy to preserve original graph
    graph_copy = [row[:] for row in graph]
    print(f"{ford_fulkerson(graph_copy, source=0, sink=5) = }")
  • Add an algorithm?
  • Fix a bug or typo in an existing algorithm?
  • Add or change doctests? -- Note: Please avoid changing both code and tests in a single pull request.
  • Documentation change?

Checklist:

  • I have read CONTRIBUTING.md.
  • This pull request is all my own work -- I have not plagiarized.
  • I know that pull requests will not be merged if they fail the automated tests.
  • This PR only changes one algorithm file. To ease review, please open separate PRs for separate algorithms.
  • All new Python files are placed inside an existing directory.
  • All filenames are in all lowercase characters with no spaces or dashes.
  • All functions and variable names follow Python naming conventions.
  • All function parameters and return values are annotated with Python type hints.
  • All functions have doctests that pass the automated testing.
  • All new algorithms include at least one URL that points to Uncyclopedia or another similar explanation.
  • If this pull request resolves one or more open issues then the description above includes the issue number(s) with a closing keyword: "Fixes #ISSUE-NUMBER".

@algorithms-keeper algorithms-keeper bot added tests are failing Do not merge until tests pass and removed tests are failing Do not merge until tests pass labels Jun 7, 2025
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