We study distributed algorithms for the maximum matching problem in the CONGEST model, where each message must be bounded in size. We give new deterministic upper bounds, and a new lower bound on the problem. We begin by giving a distributed algorithm that computes an exact maximum (unweighted) matching in bipartite graphs, in O(n log n) rounds. Next, we give a distributed algorithm that approximates the fractional weighted maximum matching problem in general graphs. In a graph with maximum degree at most Delta, the algorithm computes a (1-epsilon)-approximation for the problem in time O(log(Delta W)/epsilon^2), where W is a bound on the ratio between the largest and the smallest edge weight. Next, we show a slightly improved and generalized version of the deterministic rounding algorithm of Fischer [DISC '17]. Given a fractional weighted maximum matching solution of value f for a given graph G, we show that in time O((log^2(Delta)+log^*n)/epsilon), the fractional solution can be turned into an integer solution of value at least (1-epsilon)f for bipartite graphs and (1-epsilon) * (g-1)/g * f for general graphs, where g is the length of the shortest odd cycle of G. Together with the above fractional maximum matching algorithm, this implies a deterministic algorithm that computes a (1-epsilon)* (g-1)/g-approximation for the weighted maximum matching problem in time O(log(Delta W)/epsilon^2 + (log^2(Delta)+log^* n)/epsilon). On the lower-bound front, we show that even for unweighted fractional maximum matching in bipartite graphs, computing an (1 - O(1/sqrt{n}))-approximate solution requires at least Omega~(D+sqrt{n}) rounds in CONGEST. This lower bound requires the introduction of a new 2-party communication problem, for which we prove a tight lower bound.
@InProceedings{ahmadi_et_al:LIPIcs.DISC.2018.6, author = {Ahmadi, Mohamad and Kuhn, Fabian and Oshman, Rotem}, title = {{Distributed Approximate Maximum Matching in the CONGEST Model}}, booktitle = {32nd International Symposium on Distributed Computing (DISC 2018)}, pages = {6:1--6:17}, series = {Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)}, ISBN = {978-3-95977-092-7}, ISSN = {1868-8969}, year = {2018}, volume = {121}, editor = {Schmid, Ulrich and Widder, Josef}, publisher = {Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik}, address = {Dagstuhl, Germany}, URL = {https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.DISC.2018.6}, URN = {urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-97950}, doi = {10.4230/LIPIcs.DISC.2018.6}, annote = {Keywords: distributed graph algorithms, maximum matching, deterministic rounding, communication complexity} }
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