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A Combinatorial, Strongly Polynomial-Time Algorithm for Minimizing Submodular Functions
This paper presents the first combinatorial polynomial-time algorithm for
minimizing submodular set functions, answering an open question posed in 1981
by Grotschel, Lovasz, and Schrijver. The algorithm employs a scaling scheme
that uses a flow in the complete directed graph on the underlying set with each
arc capacity equal to the scaled parameter. The resulting algorithm runs in
time bounded by a polynomial in the size of the underlying set and the largest
length of the function value. The paper also presents a strongly
polynomial-time version that runs in time bounded by a polynomial in the size
of the underlying set independent of the function value.Comment: 17 page
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