551,664 research outputs found
Sequential and Parallel Algorithms for Mixed Packing and Covering
Mixed packing and covering problems are problems that can be formulated as
linear programs using only non-negative coefficients. Examples include
multicommodity network flow, the Held-Karp lower bound on TSP, fractional
relaxations of set cover, bin-packing, knapsack, scheduling problems,
minimum-weight triangulation, etc. This paper gives approximation algorithms
for the general class of problems. The sequential algorithm is a simple greedy
algorithm that can be implemented to find an epsilon-approximate solution in
O(epsilon^-2 log m) linear-time iterations. The parallel algorithm does
comparable work but finishes in polylogarithmic time.
The results generalize previous work on pure packing and covering (the
special case when the constraints are all "less-than" or all "greater-than") by
Michael Luby and Noam Nisan (1993) and Naveen Garg and Jochen Konemann (1998)
Minimum-Cost Coverage of Point Sets by Disks
We consider a class of geometric facility location problems in which the goal
is to determine a set X of disks given by their centers (t_j) and radii (r_j)
that cover a given set of demand points Y in the plane at the smallest possible
cost. We consider cost functions of the form sum_j f(r_j), where f(r)=r^alpha
is the cost of transmission to radius r. Special cases arise for alpha=1 (sum
of radii) and alpha=2 (total area); power consumption models in wireless
network design often use an exponent alpha>2. Different scenarios arise
according to possible restrictions on the transmission centers t_j, which may
be constrained to belong to a given discrete set or to lie on a line, etc. We
obtain several new results, including (a) exact and approximation algorithms
for selecting transmission points t_j on a given line in order to cover demand
points Y in the plane; (b) approximation algorithms (and an algebraic
intractability result) for selecting an optimal line on which to place
transmission points to cover Y; (c) a proof of NP-hardness for a discrete set
of transmission points in the plane and any fixed alpha>1; and (d) a
polynomial-time approximation scheme for the problem of computing a minimum
cost covering tour (MCCT), in which the total cost is a linear combination of
the transmission cost for the set of disks and the length of a tour/path that
connects the centers of the disks.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, Latex, to appear in ACM Symposium on
Computational Geometry 200
Covering Problems via Structural Approaches
The minimum set cover problem is, without question, among the most ubiquitous and well-studied problems in computer science. Its theoretical hardness has been fully characterized--logarithmic approximability has been established, and no sublogarithmic approximation exists unless P=NP. However, the gap between real-world instances and the theoretical worst case is often immense--many covering problems of practical relevance admit much better approximations, or even solvability in polynomial time. Simple combinatorial or geometric structure can often be exploited to obtain improved algorithms on a problem-by-problem basis, but there is no general method of determining the extent to which this is possible.
In this thesis, we aim to shed light on the relationship between the structure and the hardness of covering problems. We discuss several measures of structural complexity of set cover instances and prove new algorithmic and hardness results linking the approximability of a set cover problem to its underlying structure. In particular, we provide:
- An APX-hardness proof for a wide family of problems that encode a simple covering problem known as Special-3SC.
- A class of polynomial dynamic programming algorithms for a group of weighted geometric set cover problems having simple structure.
- A simplified quasi-uniform sampling algorithm that yields improved approximations for weighted covering problems having low cell complexity or geometric union complexity.
- Applications of the above to various capacitated covering problems via linear programming strengthening and rounding.
In total, we obtain new results for dozens of covering problems exhibiting geometric or combinatorial structure. We tabulate these problems and classify them according to their approximability
Estimating operator norms using covering nets
We present several polynomial- and quasipolynomial-time approximation schemes
for a large class of generalized operator norms. Special cases include the
norm of matrices for , the support function of the set of
separable quantum states, finding the least noisy output of
entanglement-breaking quantum channels, and approximating the injective tensor
norm for a map between two Banach spaces whose factorization norm through
is bounded.
These reproduce and in some cases improve upon the performance of previous
algorithms by Brand\~ao-Christandl-Yard and followup work, which were based on
the Sum-of-Squares hierarchy and whose analysis used techniques from quantum
information such as the monogamy principle of entanglement. Our algorithms, by
contrast, are based on brute force enumeration over carefully chosen covering
nets. These have the advantage of using less memory, having much simpler proofs
and giving new geometric insights into the problem. Net-based algorithms for
similar problems were also presented by Shi-Wu and Barak-Kelner-Steurer, but in
each case with a run-time that is exponential in the rank of some matrix. We
achieve polynomial or quasipolynomial runtimes by using the much smaller nets
that exist in spaces. This principle has been used in learning theory,
where it is known as Maurey's empirical method.Comment: 24 page
Algorithms for covering multiple submodular constraints and applications
We consider the problem of covering multiple submodular constraints. Given a finite ground set N, a weight function , r monotone submodular functions over N and requirements the goal is to find a minimum weight subset such that for . We refer to this problem as Multi-Submod-Cover and it was recently considered by Har-Peled and Jones (Few cuts meet many point sets. CoRR. arxiv:abs1808.03260Har-Peled and Jones 2018) who were motivated by an application in geometry. Even with Multi-Submod-Cover generalizes the well-known Submodular Set Cover problem (Submod-SC), and it can also be easily reduced to Submod-SC. A simple greedy algorithm gives an approximation where and this ratio cannot be improved in the general case. In this paper, motivated by several concrete applications, we consider two ways to improve upon the approximation given by the greedy algorithm. First, we give a bicriteria approximation algorithm for Multi-Submod-Cover that covers each constraint to within a factor of while incurring an approximation of in the cost. Second, we consider the special case when each is a obtained from a truncated coverage function and obtain an algorithm that generalizes previous work on partial set cover (Partial-SC), covering integer programs (CIPs) and multiple vertex cover constraints Bera et al. (Theoret Comput Sci 555:2–8 Bera et al. 2014). Both these algorithms are based on mathematical programming relaxations that avoid the limitations of the greedy algorithm. We demonstrate the implications of our algorithms and related ideas to several applications ranging from geometric covering problems to clustering with outliers. Our work highlights the utility of the high-level model and the lens of submodularity in addressing this class of covering problems.publishedVersio
Discrete Geometry in Normed Spaces
This work refers to ball-intersections bodies as well as covering, packing, and kissing problems related to balls and spheres in normed spaces. A quick introduction to these topics and an overview of our results is given in Section 1.1 of Chapter 1. The needed background knowledge is collected in Section 1.2, also in Chapter 1. In Chapter 2 we define ball-intersection bodies and investigate special classes of them: ball-hulls, ball-intersections, equilateral ball-polyhedra, complete bodies and bodies of constant width. Thus, relations between the ball-hull and the ball-intersection of a set are given. We extend a minimal property of a special class of equilateral ball-polyhedra, known as Theorem of Chakerian, to all normed planes. In order to investigate bodies of constant width, we develop a concept of affine orthogonality, which is new even for the Euclidean subcase. In Chapter 2 we solve kissing, covering, and packing problems. For a given family of circles and lines we find at least one, but for some families even all circles kissing all the members of this family. For that reason we prove that a strictly convex, smooth normed plane is a topological Möbius plane. We give an exact geometric description of the maximal radius of all homothets of the unit disc that can be covered by 3 or 4 translates of it. Also we investigate configurations related to such coverings, namely a regular 4-covering and a Miquelian configuration of circles. We find the concealment number for a packing of translates of the unit ball
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