A fast adaptive layout algorithm for undirected graphs

Abstract

We present a randomized adaptive layout algorithm for nicely drawing undirected graphs that is based on the spring-embedder paradigm and contains several new heuristics to improve the convergence, including local temperatures, gravitational forces and the detection of rotations and oscillations. The proposed algorithm achieves drawings of high quality on a wide range of graphs with standard settings. Moreover, the algorithm is fast, being thus applicable on general undirected graphs of substantially larger size and complexity than before [9, 6, 3]. Aesthetically pleasing solutions are found in most cases. We give empirical data for the running time of the algorithm and the quality of the computed layouts.