Cover Edge-Based Novel Triangle Counting

Counting and listing triangles in graphs is a fundamental task in network analysis, supporting applications such as community detection, clustering coefficient computation, k-truss decomposition, and triangle centrality. We introduce the cover-edge set, a novel concept that eliminates unnecessary edges during triangle enumeration, thereby improving efficiency. This compact cover-edge set is rapidly constructed using a breadth-first search (BFS) strategy. Using this concept, we develop both sequential and parallel triangle-counting algorithms and conduct comprehensive comparisons with state-of-the-art methods. We also design a benchmarking framework to evaluate our sequential and parallel algorithms in a systematic and reproducible manner. Extensive experiments on the latest Intel Xeon 8480+ processor reveal clear performance differences among algorithms, demonstrate the benefits of various optimization strategies, and show how graph characteristics, such as diameter and degree distribution, affect algorithm performance. Our source code is available on GitHub.