Constant-Factor Approximation for TSP with Disks

We revisit the traveling salesman problem with neighborhoods (TSPN) and present the first constant-ratio approximation for disks in the plane: Given a set of $n$ disks in the plane, a TSP tour whose length is at most $O(1)$ times the optimal can be computed in time that is polynomial in $n$. Our result is the first constant-ratio approximation for a class of planar convex bodies of arbitrary size and arbitrary intersections. In order to achieve a $O(1)$-approximation, we reduce the traveling salesman problem with disks, up to constant factors, to a minimum weight hitting set problem in a geometric hypergraph. The connection between TSPN and hitting sets in geometric hypergraphs, established here, is likely to have future applications.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figure

TSP in a Simple Polygon

We study the Traveling Salesman Problem inside a simple polygon. In this problem, which we call tsp in a simple polygon, we wish to compute a shortest tour that visits a given set S of n sites inside a simple polygon P with m edges while staying inside the polygon. This natural problem has, to the best of our knowledge, not been studied so far from a theoretical perspective. It can be solved exactly in poly(n,m) + 2^O(?nlog n) time, using an algorithm by Marx, Pilipczuk, and Pilipczuk (FOCS 2018) for subset tsp as a subroutine. We present a much simpler algorithm that solves tsp in a simple polygon directly and that has the same running time