3,376 research outputs found
Lower bounds on the size of semidefinite programming relaxations
We introduce a method for proving lower bounds on the efficacy of
semidefinite programming (SDP) relaxations for combinatorial problems. In
particular, we show that the cut, TSP, and stable set polytopes on -vertex
graphs are not the linear image of the feasible region of any SDP (i.e., any
spectrahedron) of dimension less than , for some constant .
This result yields the first super-polynomial lower bounds on the semidefinite
extension complexity of any explicit family of polytopes.
Our results follow from a general technique for proving lower bounds on the
positive semidefinite rank of a matrix. To this end, we establish a close
connection between arbitrary SDPs and those arising from the sum-of-squares SDP
hierarchy. For approximating maximum constraint satisfaction problems, we prove
that SDPs of polynomial-size are equivalent in power to those arising from
degree- sum-of-squares relaxations. This result implies, for instance,
that no family of polynomial-size SDP relaxations can achieve better than a
7/8-approximation for MAX-3-SAT
Tight Size-Degree Bounds for Sums-of-Squares Proofs
We exhibit families of -CNF formulas over variables that have
sums-of-squares (SOS) proofs of unsatisfiability of degree (a.k.a. rank)
but require SOS proofs of size for values of from
constant all the way up to for some universal constant.
This shows that the running time obtained by using the Lasserre
semidefinite programming relaxations to find degree- SOS proofs is optimal
up to constant factors in the exponent. We establish this result by combining
-reductions expressible as low-degree SOS derivations with the
idea of relativizing CNF formulas in [Kraj\'i\v{c}ek '04] and [Dantchev and
Riis'03], and then applying a restriction argument as in [Atserias, M\"uller,
and Oliva '13] and [Atserias, Lauria, and Nordstr\"om '14]. This yields a
generic method of amplifying SOS degree lower bounds to size lower bounds, and
also generalizes the approach in [ALN14] to obtain size lower bounds for the
proof systems resolution, polynomial calculus, and Sherali-Adams from lower
bounds on width, degree, and rank, respectively
Semidefinite programming and eigenvalue bounds for the graph partition problem
The graph partition problem is the problem of partitioning the vertex set of
a graph into a fixed number of sets of given sizes such that the sum of weights
of edges joining different sets is optimized. In this paper we simplify a known
matrix-lifting semidefinite programming relaxation of the graph partition
problem for several classes of graphs and also show how to aggregate additional
triangle and independent set constraints for graphs with symmetry. We present
an eigenvalue bound for the graph partition problem of a strongly regular
graph, extending a similar result for the equipartition problem. We also derive
a linear programming bound of the graph partition problem for certain Johnson
and Kneser graphs. Using what we call the Laplacian algebra of a graph, we
derive an eigenvalue bound for the graph partition problem that is the first
known closed form bound that is applicable to any graph, thereby extending a
well-known result in spectral graph theory. Finally, we strengthen a known
semidefinite programming relaxation of a specific quadratic assignment problem
and the above-mentioned matrix-lifting semidefinite programming relaxation by
adding two constraints that correspond to assigning two vertices of the graph
to different parts of the partition. This strengthening performs well on highly
symmetric graphs when other relaxations provide weak or trivial bounds
On bounding the bandwidth of graphs with symmetry
We derive a new lower bound for the bandwidth of a graph that is based on a
new lower bound for the minimum cut problem. Our new semidefinite programming
relaxation of the minimum cut problem is obtained by strengthening the known
semidefinite programming relaxation for the quadratic assignment problem (or
for the graph partition problem) by fixing two vertices in the graph; one on
each side of the cut. This fixing results in several smaller subproblems that
need to be solved to obtain the new bound. In order to efficiently solve these
subproblems we exploit symmetry in the data; that is, both symmetry in the
min-cut problem and symmetry in the graphs. To obtain upper bounds for the
bandwidth of graphs with symmetry, we develop a heuristic approach based on the
well-known reverse Cuthill-McKee algorithm, and that improves significantly its
performance on the tested graphs. Our approaches result in the best known lower
and upper bounds for the bandwidth of all graphs under consideration, i.e.,
Hamming graphs, 3-dimensional generalized Hamming graphs, Johnson graphs, and
Kneser graphs, with up to 216 vertices
Lift & Project Systems Performing on the Partial-Vertex-Cover Polytope
We study integrality gap (IG) lower bounds on strong LP and SDP relaxations
derived by the Sherali-Adams (SA), Lovasz-Schrijver-SDP (LS+), and
Sherali-Adams-SDP (SA+) lift-and-project (L&P) systems for the
t-Partial-Vertex-Cover (t-PVC) problem, a variation of the classic Vertex-Cover
problem in which only t edges need to be covered. t-PVC admits a
2-approximation using various algorithmic techniques, all relying on a natural
LP relaxation. Starting from this LP relaxation, our main results assert that
for every epsilon > 0, level-Theta(n) LPs or SDPs derived by all known L&P
systems that have been used for positive algorithmic results (but the Lasserre
hierarchy) have IGs at least (1-epsilon)n/t, where n is the number of vertices
of the input graph. Our lower bounds are nearly tight.
Our results show that restricted yet powerful models of computation derived
by many L&P systems fail to witness c-approximate solutions to t-PVC for any
constant c, and for t = O(n). This is one of the very few known examples of an
intractable combinatorial optimization problem for which LP-based algorithms
induce a constant approximation ratio, still lift-and-project LP and SDP
tightenings of the same LP have unbounded IGs.
We also show that the SDP that has given the best algorithm known for t-PVC
has integrality gap n/t on instances that can be solved by the level-1 LP
relaxation derived by the LS system. This constitutes another rare phenomenon
where (even in specific instances) a static LP outperforms an SDP that has been
used for the best approximation guarantee for the problem at hand. Finally, one
of our main contributions is that we make explicit of a new and simple
methodology of constructing solutions to LP relaxations that almost trivially
satisfy constraints derived by all SDP L&P systems known to be useful for
algorithmic positive results (except the La system).Comment: 26 page
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