Efficient parallel implementations of approximation algorithms for guarding 1.5D terrains

In the 1.5D terrain guarding problem, an x-monotone polygonal line is dened by k vertices and a G set of terrain points, i.e. guards, and a N set of terrain points which guards are to observe (guard). This involves a weighted version of the guarding problem where guards G have weights. The goal is to determine a minimum weight subset of G to cover all the points in N, including a version where points from N have demands. Furthermore, another goal is to determine the smallest subset of G, such that every point in N is observed by the required number of guards. Both problems are NP-hard and have a factor 5 approximation [3, 4]. This paper will show that if the (1+ϵ)-approximate solver for the corresponding linear program is a computer, for any ϵ > 0, an extra 1+ϵ factor will appear in the final approximation factor for both problems. A comparison will be carried out the parallel implementation based on GPU and CPU threads with the Gurobi solver, leading to the conclusion that the respective algorithm outperforms the Gurobi solver on large and dense inputs typically by one order of magnitude

On Partial Covering For Geometric Set Systems

We study a generalization of the Set Cover problem called the Partial Set Cover in the context of geometric set systems. The input to this problem is a set system (X, R), where X is a set of elements and R is a collection of subsets of X, and an integer k <= |X|. Each set in R has a non-negative weight associated with it. The goal is to cover at least k elements of X by using a minimum-weight collection of sets from R. The main result of this article is an LP rounding scheme which shows that the integrality gap of the Partial Set Cover LP is at most a constant times that of the Set Cover LP for a certain projection of the set system (X, R). As a corollary of this result, we get improved approximation guarantees for the Partial Set Cover problem for a large class of geometric set systems

Finding an optimal seating arrangement for employees

The paper deals with modelling a specifc problem called the Optimal Seating Arrangement (OSA) as an Integer Linear Program and demonstrated that the problem can be efficiently solved by combining branch-and-bound and cutting plane methods. OSA refers to a specific scenario that could possibly happen in a corporative environment, i.e. when a company endeavors to minimize travel costs when employees travel to an organized event. Each employee is free to choose the time to travel to and from an event and it depends on personal reasons. The paper differentiates between using different travel possibilities in the OSA problem, such as using company assigned or a company owned vehicles, private vehicles or using public transport, if needed. Also, a user-friendly web application was made and is available to the public for testing purposes

Visibility problem

Za dvije točke kažemo da vide jedna drugu ukoliko ne postoji prepreka koja bi presijecala segment koji ih spaja. Na temelju geometrijskog modela predstaviti ćmo klasične probleme vidljivosti kao šo su roblem galerije, problem utvrde i roblem čuvanja terena. Iznosimo osnovne rezultate vezane uz spomenute probleme i neke od varijacija tih problema.For any two points we say that they see each other if there exists no obstacle intersecting the segment that connects them. Based on the geometric models we will present some classical problems of visibility such as the art gallery problem, the fortress problem and the terrain guarding problem. We will present a few basic results for those classical problems, as well as present some variations of the problems