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Approximating Submodular k-Partition via Principal Partition Sequence

Authors Karthekeyan Chandrasekaran , Weihang Wang

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  • Theory of computation → Approximation algorithms analysis
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  • Approximation algorithms

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Abstract

In submodular k-partition, the input is a submodular function f:2^V → ℝ_{≥ 0} (given by an evaluation oracle) along with a positive integer k and the goal is to find a partition of the ground set V into k non-empty parts V_1, V_2, …, V_k in order to minimize ∑_{i=1}^k f(V_i). Narayanan, Roy, and Patkar [Narayanan et al., 1996] designed an algorithm for submodular k-partition based on the principal partition sequence and showed that the approximation factor of their algorithm is 2 for the special case of graph cut functions (which was subsequently rediscovered by Ravi and Sinha [R. Ravi and A. Sinha, 2008]). In this work, we study the approximation factor of their algorithm for three subfamilies of submodular functions - namely monotone, symmetric, and posimodular and show the following results:  
1) The approximation factor of their algorithm for monotone submodular k-partition is 4/3. This result improves on the 2-factor that was known to be achievable for monotone submodular k-partition via other algorithms. Moreover, our upper bound of 4/3 matches the recently shown lower bound under polynomial number of function evaluation queries [Santiago, 2021]. Our upper bound of 4/3 is also the first improvement beyond 2 for a certain graph partitioning problem that is a special case of monotone submodular k-partition. 
2) The approximation factor of their algorithm for symmetric submodular k-partition is 2. This result generalizes their approximation factor analysis beyond graph cut functions. 
3) The approximation factor of their algorithm for posimodular submodular k-partition is 2.  We also construct an example to show that the approximation factor of their algorithm for arbitrary submodular functions is Ω(n/k).

Cite As Get BibTex

Karthekeyan Chandrasekaran and Weihang Wang. Approximating Submodular k-Partition via Principal Partition Sequence. In Approximation, Randomization, and Combinatorial Optimization. Algorithms and Techniques (APPROX/RANDOM 2023). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 275, pp. 3:1-3:16, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2023) https://doi.org/10.4230/LIPIcs.APPROX/RANDOM.2023.3

Author Details

Karthekeyan Chandrasekaran
  • University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL, USA
Weihang Wang
  • University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL, USA

Funding

  • Chandrasekaran, Karthekeyan: Supported in part by NSF grants CCF 1814613 and 1907937
  • Wang, Weihang: Supported in part by NSF grants CCF 1814613 and 1907937.

Acknowledgements

Karthekeyan Chandrasekaran would like to thank Chandra Chekuri for asking about the approximation factor of the principal partition sequence based approach for symmetric submodular k-partition.

References

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