1,706 research outputs found
Approximating the Smallest Spanning Subgraph for 2-Edge-Connectivity in Directed Graphs
Let be a strongly connected directed graph. We consider the following
three problems, where we wish to compute the smallest strongly connected
spanning subgraph of that maintains respectively: the -edge-connected
blocks of (\textsf{2EC-B}); the -edge-connected components of
(\textsf{2EC-C}); both the -edge-connected blocks and the -edge-connected
components of (\textsf{2EC-B-C}). All three problems are NP-hard, and thus
we are interested in efficient approximation algorithms. For \textsf{2EC-C} we
can obtain a -approximation by combining previously known results. For
\textsf{2EC-B} and \textsf{2EC-B-C}, we present new -approximation
algorithms that run in linear time. We also propose various heuristics to
improve the size of the computed subgraphs in practice, and conduct a thorough
experimental study to assess their merits in practical scenarios
Approximating the Minimum Equivalent Digraph
The MEG (minimum equivalent graph) problem is, given a directed graph, to
find a small subset of the edges that maintains all reachability relations
between nodes. The problem is NP-hard. This paper gives an approximation
algorithm with performance guarantee of pi^2/6 ~ 1.64. The algorithm and its
analysis are based on the simple idea of contracting long cycles. (This result
is strengthened slightly in ``On strongly connected digraphs with bounded cycle
length'' (1996).) The analysis applies directly to 2-Exchange, a simple ``local
improvement'' algorithm, showing that its performance guarantee is 1.75.Comment: conference version in ACM-SIAM Symposium on Discrete Algorithms
(1994
Approximability of Connected Factors
Finding a d-regular spanning subgraph (or d-factor) of a graph is easy by
Tutte's reduction to the matching problem. By the same reduction, it is easy to
find a minimal or maximal d-factor of a graph. However, if we require that the
d-factor is connected, these problems become NP-hard - finding a minimal
connected 2-factor is just the traveling salesman problem (TSP).
Given a complete graph with edge weights that satisfy the triangle
inequality, we consider the problem of finding a minimal connected -factor.
We give a 3-approximation for all and improve this to an
(r+1)-approximation for even d, where r is the approximation ratio of the TSP.
This yields a 2.5-approximation for even d. The same algorithm yields an
(r+1)-approximation for the directed version of the problem, where r is the
approximation ratio of the asymmetric TSP. We also show that none of these
minimization problems can be approximated better than the corresponding TSP.
Finally, for the decision problem of deciding whether a given graph contains
a connected d-factor, we extend known hardness results.Comment: To appear in the proceedings of WAOA 201
Parameterized Approximation Algorithms for Bidirected Steiner Network Problems
The Directed Steiner Network (DSN) problem takes as input a directed
edge-weighted graph and a set of
demand pairs. The aim is to compute the cheapest network for
which there is an path for each . It is known
that this problem is notoriously hard as there is no
-approximation algorithm under Gap-ETH, even when parametrizing
the runtime by [Dinur & Manurangsi, ITCS 2018]. In light of this, we
systematically study several special cases of DSN and determine their
parameterized approximability for the parameter .
For the bi-DSN problem, the aim is to compute a planar
optimum solution in a bidirected graph , i.e., for every edge
of the reverse edge exists and has the same weight. This problem
is a generalization of several well-studied special cases. Our main result is
that this problem admits a parameterized approximation scheme (PAS) for . We
also prove that our result is tight in the sense that (a) the runtime of our
PAS cannot be significantly improved, and (b) it is unlikely that a PAS exists
for any generalization of bi-DSN, unless FPT=W[1].
One important special case of DSN is the Strongly Connected Steiner Subgraph
(SCSS) problem, for which the solution network needs to strongly
connect a given set of terminals. It has been observed before that for SCSS
a parameterized -approximation exists when parameterized by [Chitnis et
al., IPEC 2013]. We give a tight inapproximability result by showing that for
no parameterized -approximation algorithm exists under
Gap-ETH. Additionally we show that when restricting the input of SCSS to
bidirected graphs, the problem remains NP-hard but becomes FPT for
Rectangular Layouts and Contact Graphs
Contact graphs of isothetic rectangles unify many concepts from applications
including VLSI and architectural design, computational geometry, and GIS.
Minimizing the area of their corresponding {\em rectangular layouts} is a key
problem. We study the area-optimization problem and show that it is NP-hard to
find a minimum-area rectangular layout of a given contact graph. We present
O(n)-time algorithms that construct -area rectangular layouts for
general contact graphs and -area rectangular layouts for trees.
(For trees, this is an -approximation algorithm.) We also present an
infinite family of graphs (rsp., trees) that require (rsp.,
) area.
We derive these results by presenting a new characterization of graphs that
admit rectangular layouts using the related concept of {\em rectangular duals}.
A corollary to our results relates the class of graphs that admit rectangular
layouts to {\em rectangle of influence drawings}.Comment: 28 pages, 13 figures, 55 references, 1 appendi
From Gap-ETH to FPT-Inapproximability: Clique, Dominating Set, and More
We consider questions that arise from the intersection between the areas of
polynomial-time approximation algorithms, subexponential-time algorithms, and
fixed-parameter tractable algorithms. The questions, which have been asked
several times (e.g., [Marx08, FGMS12, DF13]), are whether there is a
non-trivial FPT-approximation algorithm for the Maximum Clique (Clique) and
Minimum Dominating Set (DomSet) problems parameterized by the size of the
optimal solution. In particular, letting be the optimum and be
the size of the input, is there an algorithm that runs in
time and outputs a solution of size
, for any functions and that are independent of (for
Clique, we want )?
In this paper, we show that both Clique and DomSet admit no non-trivial
FPT-approximation algorithm, i.e., there is no
-FPT-approximation algorithm for Clique and no
-FPT-approximation algorithm for DomSet, for any function
(e.g., this holds even if is the Ackermann function). In fact, our results
imply something even stronger: The best way to solve Clique and DomSet, even
approximately, is to essentially enumerate all possibilities. Our results hold
under the Gap Exponential Time Hypothesis (Gap-ETH) [Dinur16, MR16], which
states that no -time algorithm can distinguish between a satisfiable
3SAT formula and one which is not even -satisfiable for some
constant .
Besides Clique and DomSet, we also rule out non-trivial FPT-approximation for
Maximum Balanced Biclique, Maximum Subgraphs with Hereditary Properties, and
Maximum Induced Matching in bipartite graphs. Additionally, we rule out
-FPT-approximation algorithm for Densest -Subgraph although this
ratio does not yet match the trivial -approximation algorithm.Comment: 43 pages. To appear in FOCS'1
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