6 research outputs found
Half-integrality, LP-branching and FPT Algorithms
A recent trend in parameterized algorithms is the application of polytope
tools (specifically, LP-branching) to FPT algorithms (e.g., Cygan et al., 2011;
Narayanaswamy et al., 2012). However, although interesting results have been
achieved, the methods require the underlying polytope to have very restrictive
properties (half-integrality and persistence), which are known only for few
problems (essentially Vertex Cover (Nemhauser and Trotter, 1975) and Node
Multiway Cut (Garg et al., 1994)). Taking a slightly different approach, we
view half-integrality as a \emph{discrete} relaxation of a problem, e.g., a
relaxation of the search space from to such that
the new problem admits a polynomial-time exact solution. Using tools from CSP
(in particular Thapper and \v{Z}ivn\'y, 2012) to study the existence of such
relaxations, we provide a much broader class of half-integral polytopes with
the required properties, unifying and extending previously known cases.
In addition to the insight into problems with half-integral relaxations, our
results yield a range of new and improved FPT algorithms, including an
-time algorithm for node-deletion Unique Label Cover with
label set and an -time algorithm for Group Feedback Vertex
Set, including the setting where the group is only given by oracle access. All
these significantly improve on previous results. The latter result also implies
the first single-exponential time FPT algorithm for Subset Feedback Vertex Set,
answering an open question of Cygan et al. (2012).
Additionally, we propose a network flow-based approach to solve some cases of
the relaxation problem. This gives the first linear-time FPT algorithm to
edge-deletion Unique Label Cover.Comment: Added results on linear-time FPT algorithms (not present in SODA
paper
On group feedback Vertex Set parameterized by the size of the cutset
We study parameterized complexity of a generalization of the classical Feedback Vertex Set problem, namely the Group Feedback Vertex Set problem: we are given a graph G with edges labeled with group elements, and the goal is to compute the smallest set of vertices that hits all cycles of G that evaluate to a non-null element of the group. This problem generalizes not only Feedback Vertex Set, but also Subset Feedback Vertex Set, Multiway Cut and Odd Cycle Transversal . Completing the results of Guillemot (Discrete Optim 8(1):61–71, 2011), we provide a fixed-parameter algorithm for the parameterization by the size of the cutset only. Our algorithm works even if the group is given as a blackbox performing group operations
Designing FPT algorithms for cut problems using randomized contractions
We introduce a new technique for designing fixed-parameter algorithms for cut problems, namely randomized contractions. We apply our framework to obtain the first FPT algorithm for the Unique Label Cover problem and new FPT algorithms with exponential speed up for the Steiner Cut and Node Multiway Cut-Uncut problems. More precisely, we show the following: • We prove that the parameterized version of the Unique Label Cover problem, which is the base of the Unique Games Conjecture, can be solved in 2O(k 2 log |Σ|)n4 log n deterministic time (even in the stronger, vertex-deletion variant) where k is the number of unsatisfied edges and |Σ | is the size of the alphabet. As a consequence, we show that one can in polynomial time solve instances of Unique Games where the number of edges allowed not to be satisfied is upper bounded by O( log n) to optimality, which improves over the trivial O(1) upper bound