The weighted stable matching problem

We study the stable matching problem in non-bipartite graphs with incomplete but strict preference lists, where the edges have weights and the goal is to compute a stable matching of minimum or maximum weight. This problem is known to be NP-hard in general. Our contribution is two fold: a polyhedral characterization and an approximation algorithm. Previously Chen et al. have shown that the stable matching polytope is integral if and only if the subgraph obtained after running phase one of Irving's algorithm is bipartite. We improve upon this result by showing that there are instances where this subgraph might not be bipartite but one can further eliminate some edges and arrive at a bipartite subgraph. Our elimination procedure ensures that the set of stable matchings remains the same, and thus the stable matching polytope of the final subgraph contains the incidence vectors of all stable matchings of our original graph. This allows us to characterize a larger class of instances for which the weighted stable matching problem is polynomial-time solvable. We also show that our edge elimination procedure is best possible, meaning that if the subgraph we arrive at is not bipartite, then there is no bipartite subgraph that has the same set of stable matchings as the original graph. We complement these results with a $2$-approximation algorithm for the minimum weight stable matching problem for instances where each agent has at most two possible partners in any stable matching. This is the first approximation result for any class of instances with general weights.Comment: This is an extended version of a paper to appear at the The Fourth International Workshop on Matching Under Preferences (MATCH-UP 2017

Cuboids, a class of clutters

The τ=2 Conjecture, the Replication Conjecture and the f-Flowing Conjecture, and the classification of binary matroids with the sums of circuits property are foundational to Clutter Theory and have far-reaching consequences in Combinatorial Optimization, Matroid Theory and Graph Theory. We prove that these conjectures and result can equivalently be formulated in terms of cuboids, which form a special class of clutters. Cuboids are used as means to (a) manifest the geometry behind primal integrality and dual integrality of set covering linear programs, and (b) reveal a geometric rift between these two properties, in turn explaining why primal integrality does not imply dual integrality for set covering linear programs. Along the way, we see that the geometry supports the τ=2 Conjecture. Studying the geometry also leads to over 700 new ideal minimally non-packing clutters over at most 14 elements, a surprising revelation as there was once thought to be only one such clutter