New in Version 7.2

1. Maximum Cardinality Matching in General Graphs

The default implementation of the MAX_CARD_MATCHING function (see User Manual Section 10.8.) has been replaced by an implementation of a new algorithm by H.N. Gabow :
The Weighted Matching Approach to Maximum Cardinality Matching

A detailed description of the implementation is given in the paper
Gabow's Cardinality Matching Algorithm in General Graphs: Implementation and Experiments  by Matin Ansaripour, Alireza Danaei and Kurt Mehlhorn.

The previous implementation, based on the original blossom-shrinking algorithm by Edmonds/Gabow, is still available as MAX_CARD_MATCHING_EDMONDS
and a variant using a heuristic suggested by J. Kececioglu and J. Pecquer as MAX_CARD_MATCHING_KECECIOGLU   see here
The new algorithm by Gabow can also be called explicitely as MAX_CARD_MATCHING_GABOW.
Compile and run the program LEDAROOT/app/speed/mc_matching.cpp for a comparison of the efficiency of the different matching algorithms. This program can also be started from the online demo page
leda.uni-trier.de/leda/demos?speed/mc_matching