7,197 research outputs found
Data Reductions and Combinatorial Bounds for Improved Approximation Algorithms
Kernelization algorithms in the context of Parameterized Complexity are often
based on a combination of reduction rules and combinatorial insights. We will
expose in this paper a similar strategy for obtaining polynomial-time
approximation algorithms. Our method features the use of
approximation-preserving reductions, akin to the notion of parameterized
reductions. We exemplify this method to obtain the currently best approximation
algorithms for \textsc{Harmless Set}, \textsc{Differential} and
\textsc{Multiple Nonblocker}, all of them can be considered in the context of
securing networks or information propagation
Survey on the Tukey theory of ultrafilters
This article surveys results regarding the Tukey theory of ultrafilters on
countable base sets. The driving forces for this investigation are Isbell's
Problem and the question of how closely related the Rudin-Keisler and Tukey
reducibilities are. We review work on the possible structures of cofinal types
and conditions which guarantee that an ultrafilter is below the Tukey maximum.
The known canonical forms for cofinal maps on ultrafilters are reviewed, as
well as their applications to finding which structures embed into the Tukey
types of ultrafilters. With the addition of some Ramsey theory, fine analyses
of the structures at the bottom of the Tukey hierarchy are made.Comment: 25 page
Space Complexity of Perfect Matching in Bounded Genus Bipartite Graphs
We investigate the space complexity of certain perfect matching problems over
bipartite graphs embedded on surfaces of constant genus (orientable or
non-orientable). We show that the problems of deciding whether such graphs have
(1) a perfect matching or not and (2) a unique perfect matching or not, are in
the logspace complexity class \SPL. Since \SPL\ is contained in the logspace
counting classes \oplus\L (in fact in \modk\ for all ), \CeqL, and
\PL, our upper bound places the above-mentioned matching problems in these
counting classes as well. We also show that the search version, computing a
perfect matching, for this class of graphs is in \FL^{\SPL}. Our results
extend the same upper bounds for these problems over bipartite planar graphs
known earlier. As our main technical result, we design a logspace computable
and polynomially bounded weight function which isolates a minimum weight
perfect matching in bipartite graphs embedded on surfaces of constant genus. We
use results from algebraic topology for proving the correctness of the weight
function.Comment: 23 pages, 13 figure
Reconfiguration in bounded bandwidth and treedepth
We show that several reconfiguration problems known to be PSPACE-complete
remain so even when limited to graphs of bounded bandwidth. The essential step
is noticing the similarity to very limited string rewriting systems, whose
ability to directly simulate Turing Machines is classically known. This
resolves a question posed open in [Bonsma P., 2012]. On the other hand, we show
that a large class of reconfiguration problems becomes tractable on graphs of
bounded treedepth, and that this result is in some sense tight.Comment: 14 page
The Complexity of Approximately Counting Stable Roommate Assignments
We investigate the complexity of approximately counting stable roommate
assignments in two models: (i) the -attribute model, in which the preference
lists are determined by dot products of "preference vectors" with "attribute
vectors" and (ii) the -Euclidean model, in which the preference lists are
determined by the closeness of the "positions" of the people to their
"preferred positions". Exactly counting the number of assignments is
#P-complete, since Irving and Leather demonstrated #P-completeness for the
special case of the stable marriage problem. We show that counting the number
of stable roommate assignments in the -attribute model () and the
3-Euclidean model() is interreducible, in an approximation-preserving
sense, with counting independent sets (of all sizes) (#IS) in a graph, or
counting the number of satisfying assignments of a Boolean formula (#SAT). This
means that there can be no FPRAS for any of these problems unless NP=RP. As a
consequence, we infer that there is no FPRAS for counting stable roommate
assignments (#SR) unless NP=RP. Utilizing previous results by the authors, we
give an approximation-preserving reduction from counting the number of
independent sets in a bipartite graph (#BIS) to counting the number of stable
roommate assignments both in the 3-attribute model and in the 2-Euclidean
model. #BIS is complete with respect to approximation-preserving reductions in
the logically-defined complexity class #RH\Pi_1. Hence, our result shows that
an FPRAS for counting stable roommate assignments in the 3-attribute model
would give an FPRAS for all of #RH\Pi_1. We also show that the 1-attribute
stable roommate problem always has either one or two stable roommate
assignments, so the number of assignments can be determined exactly in
polynomial time
Vertex decompositions of two-dimensional complexes and graphs
We investigate families of two-dimensional simplicial complexes defined in
terms of vertex decompositions. They include nonevasive complexes, strongly
collapsible complexes of Barmak and Miniam and analogues of 2-trees of Harary
and Palmer. We investigate the complexity of recognition problems for those
families and some of their combinatorial properties. Certain results follow
from analogous decomposition techniques for graphs. For example, we prove that
it is NP-complete to decide if a graph can be reduced to a discrete graph by a
sequence of removals of vertices of degree 3.Comment: Improved presentation and fixed some bug
Inapproximability of Combinatorial Optimization Problems
We survey results on the hardness of approximating combinatorial optimization
problems
On the Complexity of Polytope Isomorphism Problems
We show that the problem to decide whether two (convex) polytopes, given by
their vertex-facet incidences, are combinatorially isomorphic is graph
isomorphism complete, even for simple or simplicial polytopes. On the other
hand, we give a polynomial time algorithm for the combinatorial polytope
isomorphism problem in bounded dimensions. Furthermore, we derive that the
problems to decide whether two polytopes, given either by vertex or by facet
descriptions, are projectively or affinely isomorphic are graph isomorphism
hard.
The original version of the paper (June 2001, 11 pages) had the title ``On
the Complexity of Isomorphism Problems Related to Polytopes''. The main
difference between the current and the former version is a new polynomial time
algorithm for polytope isomorphism in bounded dimension that does not rely on
Luks polynomial time algorithm for checking two graphs of bounded valence for
isomorphism. Furthermore, the treatment of geometric isomorphism problems was
extended.Comment: 16 pages; to appear in: Graphs and Comb.; replaces our paper ``On the
Complexity of Isomorphism Problems Related to Polytopes'' (June 2001
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