22,459 research outputs found
Covering problems in edge- and node-weighted graphs
This paper discusses the graph covering problem in which a set of edges in an
edge- and node-weighted graph is chosen to satisfy some covering constraints
while minimizing the sum of the weights. In this problem, because of the large
integrality gap of a natural linear programming (LP) relaxation, LP rounding
algorithms based on the relaxation yield poor performance. Here we propose a
stronger LP relaxation for the graph covering problem. The proposed relaxation
is applied to designing primal-dual algorithms for two fundamental graph
covering problems: the prize-collecting edge dominating set problem and the
multicut problem in trees. Our algorithms are an exact polynomial-time
algorithm for the former problem, and a 2-approximation algorithm for the
latter problem, respectively. These results match the currently known best
results for purely edge-weighted graphs.Comment: To appear in SWAT 201
Spider covers for prize-collecting network activation problem
In the network activation problem, each edge in a graph is associated with an
activation function, that decides whether the edge is activated from
node-weights assigned to its end-nodes. The feasible solutions of the problem
are the node-weights such that the activated edges form graphs of required
connectivity, and the objective is to find a feasible solution minimizing its
total weight. In this paper, we consider a prize-collecting version of the
network activation problem, and present first non- trivial approximation
algorithms. Our algorithms are based on a new LP relaxation of the problem.
They round optimal solutions for the relaxation by repeatedly computing
node-weights activating subgraphs called spiders, which are known to be useful
for approximating the network activation problem
Hardness results and approximation algorithms for some problems on graphs
This thesis has two parts. In the first part, we study some graph covering problems with a non-local covering rule that allows a "remote" node to be covered by repeatedly applying the covering rule. In the second part, we provide some results on the packing of Steiner trees.
In the Propagation problem we are given a graph and the goal is to find a minimum-sized set of nodes that covers all of the nodes, where a node is covered if (1) is in , or (2) has a neighbor such that and all of its neighbors except are covered. Rule (2) is called the propagation rule, and it is applied iteratively. Throughout, we use to denote the number of nodes in the input graph. We prove that the path-width parameter is a lower bound for the optimal value. We show that the Propagation problem is NP-hard in planar weighted graphs. We prove that it is NP-hard to approximate the optimal value to within a factor of in weighted (general) graphs.
The second problem that we study is the Power Dominating Set problem. This problem has two covering rules. The first rule is the same as the domination rule as in the Dominating Set problem, and the second rule is the same propagation rule as in the Propagation problem.
We show that it is hard to approximate the optimal value to within a factor of in general graphs. We design and analyze an approximation algorithm with a performance guarantee of on planar graphs.
We formulate a common generalization of the above two problems called the General Propagation problem. We reformulate this general problem as an orientation problem, and based on this reformulation we design a dynamic programming algorithm. The algorithm runs in linear time when the graph has tree-width . Motivated by applications, we introduce a restricted version of the problem that we call the -round General Propagation problem. We give a PTAS for the -round General Propagation problem on planar graphs, for small values of . Our dynamic programming algorithms and the PTAS can be extended to other problems in networks with similar propagation rules. As an example we discuss the extension of our results to the Target Set Selection problem in the threshold model of the diffusion processes.
In the second part of the thesis, we focus on the Steiner Tree Packing problem. In this problem, we are given a graph and a subset of terminal nodes . The goal in this problem is to find a maximum cardinality set of disjoint trees that each spans , that is, each of the trees should contain all terminal nodes. In the edge-disjoint version of this problem, the trees have to be edge disjoint. In the element-disjoint version, the trees have to be node disjoint on non-terminal nodes and edge-disjoint on edges adjacent to terminals. We show that both problems are NP-hard when there are only terminals. Our main focus is on planar instances of these problems. We show that the edge-disjoint version of the problem is NP-hard even in planar graphs with terminals on the same face of the embedding. Next, we design an algorithm that achieves an approximation guarantee of , given a planar graph that is element-connected on the terminals; in fact, given such a graph the algorithm returns element-disjoint Steiner trees. Using this algorithm we get an approximation algorithm with guarantee of (almost) for the edge-disjoint version of the problem in planar graphs. We also show that the natural LP relaxation of the edge-disjoint Steiner Tree Packing problem has an integrality ratio
of in planar graphs
Shorter tours and longer detours: Uniform covers and a bit beyond
Motivated by the well known four-thirds conjecture for the traveling salesman
problem (TSP), we study the problem of {\em uniform covers}. A graph
has an -uniform cover for TSP (2EC, respectively) if the everywhere
vector (i.e. ) dominates a convex combination of
incidence vectors of tours (2-edge-connected spanning multigraphs,
respectively). The polyhedral analysis of Christofides' algorithm directly
implies that a 3-edge-connected, cubic graph has a 1-uniform cover for TSP.
Seb\H{o} asked if such graphs have -uniform covers for TSP for
some . Indeed, the four-thirds conjecture implies that such
graphs have 8/9-uniform covers. We show that these graphs have 18/19-uniform
covers for TSP. We also study uniform covers for 2EC and show that the
everywhere 15/17 vector can be efficiently written as a convex combination of
2-edge-connected spanning multigraphs.
For a weighted, 3-edge-connected, cubic graph, our results show that if the
everywhere 2/3 vector is an optimal solution for the subtour linear programming
relaxation, then a tour with weight at most 27/19 times that of an optimal tour
can be found efficiently. Node-weighted, 3-edge-connected, cubic graphs fall
into this category. In this special case, we can apply our tools to obtain an
even better approximation guarantee.
To extend our approach to input graphs that are 2-edge-connected, we present
a procedure to decompose an optimal solution for the subtour relaxation for TSP
into spanning, connected multigraphs that cover each 2-edge cut an even number
of times. Using this decomposition, we obtain a 17/12-approximation algorithm
for minimum weight 2-edge-connected spanning subgraphs on subcubic,
node-weighted graphs
Robust Assignments via Ear Decompositions and Randomized Rounding
Many real-life planning problems require making a priori decisions before all
parameters of the problem have been revealed. An important special case of such
problem arises in scheduling problems, where a set of tasks needs to be
assigned to the available set of machines or personnel (resources), in a way
that all tasks have assigned resources, and no two tasks share the same
resource. In its nominal form, the resulting computational problem becomes the
\emph{assignment problem} on general bipartite graphs.
This paper deals with a robust variant of the assignment problem modeling
situations where certain edges in the corresponding graph are \emph{vulnerable}
and may become unavailable after a solution has been chosen. The goal is to
choose a minimum-cost collection of edges such that if any vulnerable edge
becomes unavailable, the remaining part of the solution contains an assignment
of all tasks.
We present approximation results and hardness proofs for this type of
problems, and establish several connections to well-known concepts from
matching theory, robust optimization and LP-based techniques.Comment: Full version of ICALP 2016 pape
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