An algorithm and a core set result for the weighted euclidean one-center problem

Abstract

Given a set A of m points in n-dimensional space with corresponding positive weights, the weighted Euclidean one-center problem, which is a generalization of the minimum enclosing ball problem, involves the computation of a point c A n that minimizes the maximum weighted Euclidean distance from c A to each point in A In this paper, given ε > 0, we propose and analyze an algorithm that computes a (1 + ε)-approximate solution to the weighted Euclidean one-center problem. Our algorithm explicitly constructs a small subset X ⊆ A, called an ε-core set of A, for which the optimal solution of the corresponding weighted Euclidean one-center problem is a close approximation to that of A. In addition, we establish that \X\ depends only on ε and on the ratio of the smallest and largest weights, but is independent of the number of points m and the dimension n. This result subsumes and generalizes the previously known core set results for the minimum enclosing ball problem. Our algorithm computes a (1 + ε)-approximate solution to the weighted Euclidean one-center problem for A in O(mn\X\) arithmetic operations. Our computational results indicate that the size of the ε-core set computed by the algorithm is, in general, significantly smaller than the theoretical worst-case estimate, which contributes to the efficiency of the algorithm, especially for large-scale instances. We shed some light on the possible reasons for this discrepancy between the theoretical estimate and the practical performance. © 2009 Informs