650 research outputs found
Approximation algorithms for node-weighted prize-collecting Steiner tree problems on planar graphs
We study the prize-collecting version of the Node-weighted Steiner Tree
problem (NWPCST) restricted to planar graphs. We give a new primal-dual
Lagrangian-multiplier-preserving (LMP) 3-approximation algorithm for planar
NWPCST. We then show a ()-approximation which establishes a
new best approximation guarantee for planar NWPCST. This is done by combining
our LMP algorithm with a threshold rounding technique and utilizing the
2.4-approximation of Berman and Yaroslavtsev for the version without penalties.
We also give a primal-dual 4-approximation algorithm for the more general
forest version using techniques introduced by Hajiaghay and Jain
Greedy Algorithms for Steiner Forest
In the Steiner Forest problem, we are given terminal pairs ,
and need to find the cheapest subgraph which connects each of the terminal
pairs together. In 1991, Agrawal, Klein, and Ravi, and Goemans and Williamson
gave primal-dual constant-factor approximation algorithms for this problem;
until now, the only constant-factor approximations we know are via linear
programming relaxations.
We consider the following greedy algorithm: Given terminal pairs in a metric
space, call a terminal "active" if its distance to its partner is non-zero.
Pick the two closest active terminals (say ), set the distance
between them to zero, and buy a path connecting them. Recompute the metric, and
repeat. Our main result is that this algorithm is a constant-factor
approximation.
We also use this algorithm to give new, simpler constructions of cost-sharing
schemes for Steiner forest. In particular, the first "group-strict" cost-shares
for this problem implies a very simple combinatorial sampling-based algorithm
for stochastic Steiner forest
Online Directed Spanners and Steiner Forests
We present online algorithms for directed spanners and Steiner forests. These
problems fall under the unifying framework of online covering linear
programming formulations, developed by Buchbinder and Naor (MOR, 34, 2009),
based on primal-dual techniques. Our results include the following:
For the pairwise spanner problem, in which the pairs of vertices to be
spanned arrive online, we present an efficient randomized
-competitive algorithm for graphs with general lengths,
where is the number of vertices. With uniform lengths, we give an efficient
randomized -competitive algorithm, and an
efficient deterministic -competitive algorithm,
where is the number of terminal pairs. These are the first online
algorithms for directed spanners. In the offline setting, the current best
approximation ratio with uniform lengths is ,
due to Chlamtac, Dinitz, Kortsarz, and Laekhanukit (TALG 2020).
For the directed Steiner forest problem with uniform costs, in which the
pairs of vertices to be connected arrive online, we present an efficient
randomized -competitive algorithm. The
state-of-the-art online algorithm for general costs is due to Chakrabarty, Ene,
Krishnaswamy, and Panigrahi (SICOMP 2018) and is -competitive. In the offline version, the current best approximation
ratio with uniform costs is , due to Abboud
and Bodwin (SODA 2018).
A small modification of the online covering framework by Buchbinder and Naor
implies a polynomial-time primal-dual approach with separation oracles, which a
priori might perform exponentially many calls. We convert the online spanner
problem and the online Steiner forest problem into online covering problems and
round in a problem-specific fashion
Improved Approximation Algorithms for (Budgeted) Node-weighted Steiner Problems
Moss and Rabani[12] study constrained node-weighted Steiner tree problems
with two independent weight values associated with each node, namely, cost and
prize (or penalty). They give an O(log n)-approximation algorithm for the
prize-collecting node-weighted Steiner tree problem (PCST). They use the
algorithm for PCST to obtain a bicriteria (2, O(log n))-approximation algorithm
for the Budgeted node-weighted Steiner tree problem. Their solution may cost up
to twice the budget, but collects a factor Omega(1/log n) of the optimal prize.
We improve these results from at least two aspects.
Our first main result is a primal-dual O(log h)-approximation algorithm for a
more general problem, prize-collecting node-weighted Steiner forest, where we
have (h) demands each requesting the connectivity of a pair of vertices. Our
algorithm can be seen as a greedy algorithm which reduces the number of demands
by choosing a structure with minimum cost-to-reduction ratio. This natural
style of argument (also used by Klein and Ravi[10] and Guha et al.[8]) leads to
a much simpler algorithm than that of Moss and Rabani[12] for PCST.
Our second main contribution is for the Budgeted node-weighted Steiner tree
problem, which is also an improvement to [12] and [8]. In the unrooted case, we
improve upon an O(log^2(n))-approximation of [8], and present an O(log
n)-approximation algorithm without any budget violation. For the rooted case,
where a specified vertex has to appear in the solution tree, we improve the
bicriteria result of [12] to a bicriteria approximation ratio of (1+eps, O(log
n)/(eps^2)) for any positive (possibly subconstant) (eps). That is, for any
permissible budget violation (1+eps), we present an algorithm achieving a
tradeoff in the guarantee for prize. Indeed, we show that this is almost tight
for the natural linear-programming relaxation used by us as well as in [12].Comment: To appear in ICALP 201
Approximating k-Forest with Resource Augmentation: A Primal-Dual Approach
In this paper, we study the -forest problem in the model of resource
augmentation. In the -forest problem, given an edge-weighted graph ,
a parameter , and a set of demand pairs , the
objective is to construct a minimum-cost subgraph that connects at least
demands. The problem is hard to approximate---the best-known approximation
ratio is . Furthermore, -forest is as hard to
approximate as the notoriously-hard densest -subgraph problem.
While the -forest problem is hard to approximate in the worst-case, we
show that with the use of resource augmentation, we can efficiently approximate
it up to a constant factor.
First, we restate the problem in terms of the number of demands that are {\em
not} connected. In particular, the objective of the -forest problem can be
viewed as to remove at most demands and find a minimum-cost subgraph that
connects the remaining demands. We use this perspective of the problem to
explain the performance of our algorithm (in terms of the augmentation) in a
more intuitive way.
Specifically, we present a polynomial-time algorithm for the -forest
problem that, for every , removes at most demands and has
cost no more than times the cost of an optimal algorithm
that removes at most demands
Network Design with Coverage Costs
We study network design with a cost structure motivated by redundancy in data
traffic. We are given a graph, g groups of terminals, and a universe of data
packets. Each group of terminals desires a subset of the packets from its
respective source. The cost of routing traffic on any edge in the network is
proportional to the total size of the distinct packets that the edge carries.
Our goal is to find a minimum cost routing. We focus on two settings. In the
first, the collection of packet sets desired by source-sink pairs is laminar.
For this setting, we present a primal-dual based 2-approximation, improving
upon a logarithmic approximation due to Barman and Chawla (2012). In the second
setting, packet sets can have non-trivial intersection. We focus on the case
where each packet is desired by either a single terminal group or by all of the
groups, and the graph is unweighted. For this setting we present an O(log
g)-approximation.
Our approximation for the second setting is based on a novel spanner-type
construction in unweighted graphs that, given a collection of g vertex subsets,
finds a subgraph of cost only a constant factor more than the minimum spanning
tree of the graph, such that every subset in the collection has a Steiner tree
in the subgraph of cost at most O(log g) that of its minimum Steiner tree in
the original graph. We call such a subgraph a group spanner.Comment: Updated version with additional result
Minimum multicuts and Steiner forests for Okamura-Seymour graphs
We study the problem of finding minimum multicuts for an undirected planar
graph, where all the terminal vertices are on the boundary of the outer face.
This is known as an Okamura-Seymour instance. We show that for such an
instance, the minimum multicut problem can be reduced to the minimum-cost
Steiner forest problem on a suitably defined dual graph. The minimum-cost
Steiner forest problem has a 2-approximation algorithm. Hence, the minimum
multicut problem has a 2-approximation algorithm for an Okamura-Seymour
instance.Comment: 6 pages, 1 figur
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