15 research outputs found
The positive semidefinite Grothendieck problem with rank constraint
Given a positive integer n and a positive semidefinite matrix A = (A_{ij}) of
size m x m, the positive semidefinite Grothendieck problem with
rank-n-constraint (SDP_n) is
maximize \sum_{i=1}^m \sum_{j=1}^m A_{ij} x_i \cdot x_j, where x_1, ..., x_m
\in S^{n-1}.
In this paper we design a polynomial time approximation algorithm for SDP_n
achieving an approximation ratio of
\gamma(n) = \frac{2}{n}(\frac{\Gamma((n+1)/2)}{\Gamma(n/2)})^2 = 1 -
\Theta(1/n).
We show that under the assumption of the unique games conjecture the achieved
approximation ratio is optimal: There is no polynomial time algorithm which
approximates SDP_n with a ratio greater than \gamma(n). We improve the
approximation ratio of the best known polynomial time algorithm for SDP_1 from
2/\pi to 2/(\pi\gamma(m)) = 2/\pi + \Theta(1/m), and we show a tighter
approximation ratio for SDP_n when A is the Laplacian matrix of a graph with
nonnegative edge weights.Comment: (v3) to appear in Proceedings of the 37th International Colloquium on
Automata, Languages and Programming, 12 page
Grothendieck inequalities for semidefinite programs with rank constraint
Grothendieck inequalities are fundamental inequalities which are frequently
used in many areas of mathematics and computer science. They can be interpreted
as upper bounds for the integrality gap between two optimization problems: a
difficult semidefinite program with rank-1 constraint and its easy semidefinite
relaxation where the rank constrained is dropped. For instance, the integrality
gap of the Goemans-Williamson approximation algorithm for MAX CUT can be seen
as a Grothendieck inequality. In this paper we consider Grothendieck
inequalities for ranks greater than 1 and we give two applications:
approximating ground states in the n-vector model in statistical mechanics and
XOR games in quantum information theory.Comment: 22 page
Optimal Constant-Time Approximation Algorithms and (Unconditional) Inapproximability Results for Every Bounded-Degree CSP
Raghavendra (STOC 2008) gave an elegant and surprising result: if Khot's
Unique Games Conjecture (STOC 2002) is true, then for every constraint
satisfaction problem (CSP), the best approximation ratio is attained by a
certain simple semidefinite programming and a rounding scheme for it. In this
paper, we show that similar results hold for constant-time approximation
algorithms in the bounded-degree model. Specifically, we present the
followings: (i) For every CSP, we construct an oracle that serves an access, in
constant time, to a nearly optimal solution to a basic LP relaxation of the
CSP. (ii) Using the oracle, we give a constant-time rounding scheme that
achieves an approximation ratio coincident with the integrality gap of the
basic LP. (iii) Finally, we give a generic conversion from integrality gaps of
basic LPs to hardness results. All of those results are \textit{unconditional}.
Therefore, for every bounded-degree CSP, we give the best constant-time
approximation algorithm among all. A CSP instance is called -far from
satisfiability if we must remove at least an -fraction of constraints
to make it satisfiable. A CSP is called testable if there is a constant-time
algorithm that distinguishes satisfiable instances from -far
instances with probability at least . Using the results above, we also
derive, under a technical assumption, an equivalent condition under which a CSP
is testable in the bounded-degree model