3,114 research outputs found
Network Sparsification for Steiner Problems on Planar and Bounded-Genus Graphs
We propose polynomial-time algorithms that sparsify planar and bounded-genus
graphs while preserving optimal or near-optimal solutions to Steiner problems.
Our main contribution is a polynomial-time algorithm that, given an unweighted
graph embedded on a surface of genus and a designated face bounded
by a simple cycle of length , uncovers a set of size
polynomial in and that contains an optimal Steiner tree for any set of
terminals that is a subset of the vertices of .
We apply this general theorem to prove that: * given an unweighted graph
embedded on a surface of genus and a terminal set , one
can in polynomial time find a set that contains an optimal
Steiner tree for and that has size polynomial in and ; * an
analogous result holds for an optimal Steiner forest for a set of terminal
pairs; * given an unweighted planar graph and a terminal set , one can in polynomial time find a set that contains
an optimal (edge) multiway cut separating and that has size polynomial
in .
In the language of parameterized complexity, these results imply the first
polynomial kernels for Steiner Tree and Steiner Forest on planar and
bounded-genus graphs (parameterized by the size of the tree and forest,
respectively) and for (Edge) Multiway Cut on planar graphs (parameterized by
the size of the cutset). Additionally, we obtain a weighted variant of our main
contribution
Parameterized Approximation Schemes for Steiner Trees with Small Number of Steiner Vertices
We study the Steiner Tree problem, in which a set of terminal vertices needs
to be connected in the cheapest possible way in an edge-weighted graph. This
problem has been extensively studied from the viewpoint of approximation and
also parametrization. In particular, on one hand Steiner Tree is known to be
APX-hard, and W[2]-hard on the other, if parameterized by the number of
non-terminals (Steiner vertices) in the optimum solution. In contrast to this
we give an efficient parameterized approximation scheme (EPAS), which
circumvents both hardness results. Moreover, our methods imply the existence of
a polynomial size approximate kernelization scheme (PSAKS) for the considered
parameter.
We further study the parameterized approximability of other variants of
Steiner Tree, such as Directed Steiner Tree and Steiner Forest. For neither of
these an EPAS is likely to exist for the studied parameter: for Steiner Forest
an easy observation shows that the problem is APX-hard, even if the input graph
contains no Steiner vertices. For Directed Steiner Tree we prove that
approximating within any function of the studied parameter is W[1]-hard.
Nevertheless, we show that an EPAS exists for Unweighted Directed Steiner Tree,
but a PSAKS does not. We also prove that there is an EPAS and a PSAKS for
Steiner Forest if in addition to the number of Steiner vertices, the number of
connected components of an optimal solution is considered to be a parameter.Comment: 23 pages, 6 figures An extended abstract appeared in proceedings of
STACS 201
Travelling on Graphs with Small Highway Dimension
We study the Travelling Salesperson (TSP) and the Steiner Tree problem (STP)
in graphs of low highway dimension. This graph parameter was introduced by
Abraham et al. [SODA 2010] as a model for transportation networks, on which TSP
and STP naturally occur for various applications in logistics. It was
previously shown [Feldmann et al. ICALP 2015] that these problems admit a
quasi-polynomial time approximation scheme (QPTAS) on graphs of constant
highway dimension. We demonstrate that a significant improvement is possible in
the special case when the highway dimension is 1, for which we present a
fully-polynomial time approximation scheme (FPTAS). We also prove that STP is
weakly NP-hard for these restricted graphs. For TSP we show NP-hardness for
graphs of highway dimension 6, which answers an open problem posed in [Feldmann
et al. ICALP 2015]
Secluded Connectivity Problems
Consider a setting where possibly sensitive information sent over a path in a
network is visible to every {neighbor} of the path, i.e., every neighbor of
some node on the path, thus including the nodes on the path itself. The
exposure of a path can be measured as the number of nodes adjacent to it,
denoted by . A path is said to be secluded if its exposure is small. A
similar measure can be applied to other connected subgraphs, such as Steiner
trees connecting a given set of terminals. Such subgraphs may be relevant due
to considerations of privacy, security or revenue maximization. This paper
considers problems related to minimum exposure connectivity structures such as
paths and Steiner trees. It is shown that on unweighted undirected -node
graphs, the problem of finding the minimum exposure path connecting a given
pair of vertices is strongly inapproximable, i.e., hard to approximate within a
factor of for any (under an
appropriate complexity assumption), but is approximable with ratio
, where is the maximum degree in the graph. One of
our main results concerns the class of bounded-degree graphs, which is shown to
exhibit the following interesting dichotomy. On the one hand, the minimum
exposure path problem is NP-hard on node-weighted or directed bounded-degree
graphs (even when the maximum degree is 4). On the other hand, we present a
polynomial algorithm (based on a nontrivial dynamic program) for the problem on
unweighted undirected bounded-degree graphs. Likewise, the problem is shown to
be polynomial also for the class of (weighted or unweighted) bounded-treewidth
graphs
Two-Level Rectilinear Steiner Trees
Given a set of terminals in the plane and a partition of into
subsets , a two-level rectilinear Steiner tree consists of a
rectilinear Steiner tree connecting the terminals in each set
() and a top-level tree connecting the trees . The goal is to minimize the total length of all trees. This problem
arises naturally in the design of low-power physical implementations of parity
functions on a computer chip.
For bounded we present a polynomial time approximation scheme (PTAS) that
is based on Arora's PTAS for rectilinear Steiner trees after lifting each
partition into an extra dimension. For the general case we propose an algorithm
that predetermines a connection point for each and
().
Then, we apply any approximation algorithm for minimum rectilinear Steiner
trees in the plane to compute each and independently.
This gives us a -factor approximation with a running time of
suitable for fast practical computations. The
approximation factor reduces to by applying Arora's approximation scheme
in the plane
Network Design Problems with Bounded Distances via Shallow-Light Steiner Trees
In a directed graph with non-correlated edge lengths and costs, the
\emph{network design problem with bounded distances} asks for a cost-minimal
spanning subgraph subject to a length bound for all node pairs. We give a
bi-criteria -approximation for this
problem. This improves on the currently best known linear approximation bound,
at the cost of violating the distance bound by a factor of at
most~.
In the course of proving this result, the related problem of \emph{directed
shallow-light Steiner trees} arises as a subproblem. In the context of directed
graphs, approximations to this problem have been elusive. We present the first
non-trivial result by proposing a
-ap\-proxi\-ma\-tion, where are the
terminals.
Finally, we show how to apply our results to obtain an
-approximation for
\emph{light-weight directed -spanners}. For this, no non-trivial
approximation algorithm has been known before. All running times depends on
and and are polynomial in for any fixed
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