Counting approximately-shortest paths in directed acyclic graphs

Given a directed acyclic graph with positive edge-weights, two vertices s and t, and a threshold-weight L, we present a fully-polynomial time approximation-scheme for the problem of counting the s-t paths of length at most L. We extend the algorithm for the case of two (or more) instances of the same problem. That is, given two graphs that have the same vertices and edges and differ only in edge-weights, and given two threshold-weights L_1 and L_2, we show how to approximately count the s-t paths that have length at most L_1 in the first graph and length at most L_2 in the second graph. We believe that our algorithms should find application in counting approximate solutions of related optimization problems, where finding an (optimum) solution can be reduced to the computation of a shortest path in a purpose-built auxiliary graph

Provably Good Solutions to the Knapsack Problem via Neural Networks of Bounded Size

The development of a satisfying and rigorous mathematical understanding of the performance of neural networks is a major challenge in artificial intelligence. Against this background, we study the expressive power of neural networks through the example of the classical NP-hard Knapsack Problem. Our main contribution is a class of recurrent neural networks (RNNs) with rectified linear units that are iteratively applied to each item of a Knapsack instance and thereby compute optimal or provably good solution values. We show that an RNN of depth four and width depending quadratically on the profit of an optimum Knapsack solution is sufficient to find optimum Knapsack solutions. We also prove the following tradeoff between the size of an RNN and the quality of the computed Knapsack solution: for Knapsack instances consisting of $n$ items, an RNN of depth five and width $w$ computes a solution of value at least $1-\mathcal{O}(n^2/\sqrt{w})$ times the optimum solution value. Our results build upon a classical dynamic programming formulation of the Knapsack Problem as well as a careful rounding of profit values that are also at the core of the well-known fully polynomial-time approximation scheme for the Knapsack Problem. A carefully conducted computational study qualitatively supports our theoretical size bounds. Finally, we point out that our results can be generalized to many other combinatorial optimization problems that admit dynamic programming solution methods, such as various Shortest Path Problems, the Longest Common Subsequence Problem, and the Traveling Salesperson Problem.Comment: A short version of this paper appears in the proceedings of AAAI 202

A Deterministic Fully Polynomial Time Approximation Scheme For Counting Integer Knapsack Solutions Made Easy

Given n elements with nonnegative integer weights w=(w_1,...,w_n), an integer capacity C and positive integer ranges u=(u_1,...,u_n), we consider the counting version of the classic integer knapsack problem: find the number of distinct multisets whose weights add up to at most C. We give a deterministic algorithm that estimates the number of solutions to within relative error epsilon in time polynomial in n, log U and 1/epsilon, where U=max_i u_i. More precisely, our algorithm runs in O((n^3 log^2 U)/epsilon) log (n log U)/epsilon) time. This is an improvement of n^2 and 1/epsilon (up to log terms) over the best known deterministic algorithm by Gopalan et al. [FOCS, (2011), pp. 817-826]. Our algorithm is relatively simple, and its analysis is rather elementary. Our results are achieved by means of a careful formulation of the problem as a dynamic program, using the notion of binding constraints

The Knapsack Problem with Neighbour Constraints

We study a constrained version of the knapsack problem in which dependencies between items are given by the adjacencies of a graph. In the 1-neighbour knapsack problem, an item can be selected only if at least one of its neighbours is also selected. In the all-neighbours knapsack problem, an item can be selected only if all its neighbours are also selected. We give approximation algorithms and hardness results when the nodes have both uniform and arbitrary weight and profit functions, and when the dependency graph is directed and undirected.Comment: Full version of IWOCA 2011 pape

A Faster FPTAS for #Knapsack

Given a set W = {w_1,..., w_n} of non-negative integer weights and an integer C, the #Knapsack problem asks to count the number of distinct subsets of W whose total weight is at most C. In the more general integer version of the problem, the subsets are multisets. That is, we are also given a set {u_1,..., u_n} and we are allowed to take up to u_i items of weight w_i. We present a deterministic FPTAS for #Knapsack running in O(n^{2.5}epsilon^{-1.5}log(n epsilon^{-1})log (n epsilon)) time. The previous best deterministic algorithm [FOCS 2011] runs in O(n^3 epsilon^{-1} log(n epsilon^{-1})) time (see also [ESA 2014] for a logarithmic factor improvement). The previous best randomized algorithm [STOC 2003] runs in O(n^{2.5} sqrt{log (n epsilon^{-1})} + epsilon^{-2} n^2) time. Therefore, for the case of constant epsilon, we close the gap between the O~(n^{2.5}) randomized algorithm and the O~(n^3) deterministic algorithm. For the integer version with U = max_i {u_i}, we present a deterministic FPTAS running in O(n^{2.5}epsilon^{-1.5}log(n epsilon^{-1} log U)log (n epsilon) log^2 U) time. The previous best deterministic algorithm [TCS 2016] runs in O(n^3 epsilon^{-1}log(n epsilon^{-1} log U) log^2 U) time

Fully Polynomial Time Approximation Schemes for Stochastic Dynamic Programs

We present a framework for obtaining fully polynomial time approximation schemes (FPTASs) for stochastic univariate dynamic programs with either convex or monotone single-period cost functions. This framework is developed through the establishment of two sets of computational rules, namely, the calculus of K-approximation functions and the calculus of K-approximation sets. Using our framework, we provide the first FPTASs for several NP-hard problems in various fields of research such as knapsack models, logistics, operations management, economics, and mathematical finance. Extensions of our framework via the use of the newly established computational rules are also discussed