611 research outputs found
Approximability of Connected Factors
Finding a d-regular spanning subgraph (or d-factor) of a graph is easy by
Tutte's reduction to the matching problem. By the same reduction, it is easy to
find a minimal or maximal d-factor of a graph. However, if we require that the
d-factor is connected, these problems become NP-hard - finding a minimal
connected 2-factor is just the traveling salesman problem (TSP).
Given a complete graph with edge weights that satisfy the triangle
inequality, we consider the problem of finding a minimal connected -factor.
We give a 3-approximation for all and improve this to an
(r+1)-approximation for even d, where r is the approximation ratio of the TSP.
This yields a 2.5-approximation for even d. The same algorithm yields an
(r+1)-approximation for the directed version of the problem, where r is the
approximation ratio of the asymmetric TSP. We also show that none of these
minimization problems can be approximated better than the corresponding TSP.
Finally, for the decision problem of deciding whether a given graph contains
a connected d-factor, we extend known hardness results.Comment: To appear in the proceedings of WAOA 201
Hitting Diamonds and Growing Cacti
We consider the following NP-hard problem: in a weighted graph, find a
minimum cost set of vertices whose removal leaves a graph in which no two
cycles share an edge. We obtain a constant-factor approximation algorithm,
based on the primal-dual method. Moreover, we show that the integrality gap of
the natural LP relaxation of the problem is \Theta(\log n), where n denotes the
number of vertices in the graph.Comment: v2: several minor changes
Parametrized Complexity of Weak Odd Domination Problems
Given a graph , a subset of vertices is a weak odd
dominated (WOD) set if there exists such that
every vertex in has an odd number of neighbours in . denotes
the size of the largest WOD set, and the size of the smallest
non-WOD set. The maximum of and , denoted
, plays a crucial role in quantum cryptography. In particular
deciding, given a graph and , whether is of
practical interest in the design of graph-based quantum secret sharing schemes.
The decision problems associated with the quantities , and
are known to be NP-Complete. In this paper, we consider the
approximation of these quantities and the parameterized complexity of the
corresponding problems. We mainly prove the fixed-parameter intractability
(W-hardness) of these problems. Regarding the approximation, we show that
, and admit a constant factor approximation
algorithm, and that and have no polynomial approximation
scheme unless P=NP.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figure
Online Admission Control and Embedding of Service Chains
The virtualization and softwarization of modern computer networks enables the
definition and fast deployment of novel network services called service chains:
sequences of virtualized network functions (e.g., firewalls, caches, traffic
optimizers) through which traffic is routed between source and destination.
This paper attends to the problem of admitting and embedding a maximum number
of service chains, i.e., a maximum number of source-destination pairs which are
routed via a sequence of to-be-allocated, capacitated network functions. We
consider an Online variant of this maximum Service Chain Embedding Problem,
short OSCEP, where requests arrive over time, in a worst-case manner. Our main
contribution is a deterministic O(log L)-competitive online algorithm, under
the assumption that capacities are at least logarithmic in L. We show that this
is asymptotically optimal within the class of deterministic and randomized
online algorithms. We also explore lower bounds for offline approximation
algorithms, and prove that the offline problem is APX-hard for unit capacities
and small L > 2, and even Poly-APX-hard in general, when there is no bound on
L. These approximation lower bounds may be of independent interest, as they
also extend to other problems such as Virtual Circuit Routing. Finally, we
present an exact algorithm based on 0-1 programming, implying that the general
offline SCEP is in NP and by the above hardness results it is NP-complete for
constant L.Comment: early version of SIROCCO 2015 pape
Subventricular zone stem cells are heterogeneous with respect to their embryonic origins and neurogenic fates in the adult olfactory bulb
Wedetermined the embryonic origins of adult forebrain subventricular zone (SVZ) stem cells by Cre-lox fate mapping in transgenic mice. We found that all parts of the telencephalic neuroepithelium, including the medial ganglionic eminence and lateral ganglionic eminence (LGE) and the cerebral cortex, contribute multipotent, self-renewing stem cells to the adult SVZ. Descendants of the embryonic LGE and cortex settle in ventral and dorsal aspects of the dorsolateral SVZ, respectively. Both populations contribute new (5-bromo-2(')-deoxyuridine- labeled) tyrosine hydroxylase- and calretinin-positive interneurons to the adult olfactory bulb. However, calbindin-positive interneurons in the olfactory glomeruli were generated exclusively by LGE- derived stem cells. Thus, different SVZ stem cells have different embryonic origins, colonize different parts of the SVZ, and generate different neuronal progeny, suggesting that some aspects of embryonic patterning are preserved in the adult SVZ. This could have important implications for the design of endogenous stem cell-based therapies in the future
Worst case and probabilistic analysis of the 2-Opt algorithm for the TSP
2-Opt is probably the most basic local search heuristic for the TSP. This heuristic achieves amazingly good results on “real world” Euclidean instances both with respect to running time and approximation ratio. There are numerous experimental studies on the performance of 2-Opt. However, the theoretical knowledge about this heuristic is still very limited. Not even its worst case running time on 2-dimensional Euclidean instances was known so far. We clarify this issue by presenting, for every p∈N , a family of L p instances on which 2-Opt can take an exponential number of steps.
Previous probabilistic analyses were restricted to instances in which n points are placed uniformly at random in the unit square [0,1]2, where it was shown that the expected number of steps is bounded by O~(n10) for Euclidean instances. We consider a more advanced model of probabilistic instances in which the points can be placed independently according to general distributions on [0,1] d , for an arbitrary d≥2. In particular, we allow different distributions for different points. We study the expected number of local improvements in terms of the number n of points and the maximal density ϕ of the probability distributions. We show an upper bound on the expected length of any 2-Opt improvement path of O~(n4+1/3⋅ϕ8/3) . When starting with an initial tour computed by an insertion heuristic, the upper bound on the expected number of steps improves even to O~(n4+1/3−1/d⋅ϕ8/3) . If the distances are measured according to the Manhattan metric, then the expected number of steps is bounded by O~(n4−1/d⋅ϕ) . In addition, we prove an upper bound of O(ϕ√d) on the expected approximation factor with respect to all L p metrics.
Let us remark that our probabilistic analysis covers as special cases the uniform input model with ϕ=1 and a smoothed analysis with Gaussian perturbations of standard deviation σ with ϕ∼1/σ d
The Complexity of Finding Reset Words in Finite Automata
We study several problems related to finding reset words in deterministic
finite automata. In particular, we establish that the problem of deciding
whether a shortest reset word has length k is complete for the complexity class
DP. This result answers a question posed by Volkov. For the search problems of
finding a shortest reset word and the length of a shortest reset word, we
establish membership in the complexity classes FP^NP and FP^NP[log],
respectively. Moreover, we show that both these problems are hard for
FP^NP[log]. Finally, we observe that computing a reset word of a given length
is FNP-complete.Comment: 16 pages, revised versio
Interval Scheduling: A Survey
In interval scheduling, not only the processing times of the jobs but also their starting times are given. This article surveys the area of interval scheduling and presents proofs of results that have been known within the community for some time. We first review the complexity and approximability of different variants of interval scheduling problems. Next, we motivate the relevance of interval scheduling problems by providing an overview of applications that have appeared in literature. Finally, we focus on algorithmic results for two important variants of interval scheduling problems. In one variant we deal with nonidentical machines: instead of each machine being continuously available, there is a given interval for each machine in which it is available. In another variant, the machines are continuously available but they are ordered, and each job has a given "maximal" machine on which it can be processed. We investigate the complexity of these problems and describe algorithms for their solution
Freezing in random graph ferromagnets
Using T=0 Monte Carlo and simulated annealing simulation, we study the energy
relaxation of ferromagnetic Ising and Potts models on random graphs. In
addition to the expected exponential decay to a zero energy ground state, a
range of connectivities for which there is power law relaxation and freezing to
a metastable state is found. For some connectivities this freezing persists
even using simulated annealing to find the ground state. The freezing is caused
by dynamic frustration in the graphs, and is a feature of the local
search-nature of the Monte Carlo dynamics used. The implications of the
freezing on agent-based complex systems models are briefly considered.Comment: Published version: 1 reference deleted, 1 word added. 4 pages, 5
figure
An Epistemic Perspective on Consistency of Concurrent Computations
Consistency properties of concurrent computations, e.g., sequential
consistency, linearizability, or eventual consistency, are essential for
devising correct concurrent algorithms. In this paper, we present a logical
formalization of such consistency properties that is based on a standard logic
of knowledge. Our formalization provides a declarative perspective on what is
imposed by consistency requirements and provides some interesting unifying
insight on differently looking properties
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