k-distinct in- and out-branchings in digraphs

An out-branching and an in-branching of a digraph D are called k-distinct if each of them has k arcs absent in the other. Bang-Jensen, Saurabh and Simonsen (2016) proved that the problem of deciding whether a strongly connected digraph D has k-distinct out-branching and in-branching is fixed-parameter tractable (FPT) when parameterized by k. They asked whether the problem remains FPT when extended to arbitrary digraphs. Bang-Jensen and Yeo (2008) asked whether the same problem is FPT when the out-branching and in-branching have the same root. By linking the two problems with the problem of whether a digraph has an out-branching with at least k leaves (a leaf is a vertex of out-degree zero), we first solve the problem of Bang-Jensen and Yeo (2008). We then develop a new digraph decomposition and using it prove that the problem of Bang-Jensen et al. (2016) is FPT for all digraphs.