The Cayley Completion of a Graph

Abstract

A finite connected graph is rarely a Cayley graph. We measure how far it is from being one: given $G$ with $n$ vertices and $m$ edges, how few edges must be added, or added and deleted, before the result is a Cayley graph of an abelian group of order $n$ on the same vertex set? This defines two invariants, the completion number $\gamma^{+}$ (additions only) and the Cayley edit distance $\gamma_{\triangle}$ (both), each normalized by $m$. We show that deciding the edit version is NP-complete already for a fixed cyclic host, by a reduction from Hamiltonian Cycle in which the edit cost of a labeling is $n+m-2k$ when it realizes a longest path with $k$ edges; the optimal cost is $m-n+2pp(G)$, bounded in polynomial time by the matching number. We prove that irregularity alone forces $\gamma^{+}(G)\ge n\Delta^{*}/(2m)-1$, where $\Delta^{*}$ is the least $d\ge\Delta$ with $nd$ even, computable in linear time from the degree sequence; we characterize equality exactly. It is attained on the star, where $\gamma^{+}(K_{1,q})=(q-1)/2$ and the star maximizes $\gamma^{+}$, while $\gamma_{\triangle}$ stays bounded by an absolute constant. We determine paths and grids exactly, $\gamma^{+}(P_n)=\gamma^{+}(P_n\,\square\,P_n)=1/(n-1)$, and show $\gamma_{\triangle}(K_{1,q})\to 2$, not the $3/2$ suggested by the additive case. We report an exhaustive certified census of all $995$ connected graphs on at most seven vertices. The degree bound is attained on $89.4\%$ and the two invariants separate strictly on $84.7\%$, though both rates vary sharply with order: attainment $100\%,100\%,84.8\%,89.7\%$ and separation $0\%,61.9\%,73.2\%,87.7\%$ for $n=4,5,6,7$, dominated by the $853$ graphs on seven vertices. The star uniquely maximizes both. Edit count and the bi-Lipschitz distortion of the completed host are independent, moving oppositely on stars and paths.Data and certificates at doi:10.5281/zenodo.21852006.