Document Open Access Logo

The PACE 2025 Parameterized Algorithms and Computational Experiments Challenge: Dominating Set and Hitting Set

Authors Mario Grobler , Sebastian Siebertz

PDF

File

Thumbnail PDF
PDF
LIPIcs.IPEC.2025.32.pdf
  • Filesize: 0.99 MB
  • 17 pages

Document Identifiers

Subject Classification

ACM Subject Classification
  • Theory of computation → Parameterized complexity and exact algorithms
  • Theory of computation → Graph algorithms analysis
Keywords
  • PACE 2025 Report
  • Dominating Set
  • Hitting Set
  • Algorithm Engineering
  • FPT
  • Heuristics

Metrics

Abstract

The 10th iteration of the of the Parameterized Algorithms and Computational Experiments challenge (PACE) 2025 was devoted to engineer algorithms solving the Dominating Set problem as well as the Hitting Set problem. In contrast to the last iterations, these problems are (under standard assumptions) not fixed-parameter tractable (fpt) in general. However, restricting the structure of the input (e.g. to planar graphs or degenerate graphs for Dominating Set, or to set systems with sets of bounded size for Hitting Set) renders these problems fpt. Following the spirit of the last iterations of the PACE challenge, there is an exact track and a heuristic track for each problem; each track coming with a benchmark set of 100 public instances and 100 private instances. Overall, the PACE 2025 had 71 participants from 25 teams, 13 countries, and 3 continents. In this report, we briefly describe the setup of the challenge, the selection of benchmark instances, as well as the ranking of the participating teams. We also briefly outline the approaches used in the submitted solvers.

Cite As Get BibTex

Mario Grobler and Sebastian Siebertz. The PACE 2025 Parameterized Algorithms and Computational Experiments Challenge: Dominating Set and Hitting Set. In 20th International Symposium on Parameterized and Exact Computation (IPEC 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 358, pp. 32:1-32:17, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025) https://doi.org/10.4230/LIPIcs.IPEC.2025.32

Author Details

Mario Grobler
  • University of Bremen, Germany
Sebastian Siebertz
  • University of Bremen, Germany

Acknowledgements

The PACE challenge was supported by Networks [Networks Project, 2017]. The prize money (€4000) was generously provided by Networks [Networks Project, 2017], an NWO Gravitation project of the University of Amsterdam, Eindhoven University of Technology, Leiden University and the Center for Mathematics and Computer Science (CWI). We are grateful to the whole optil.io team, especially to Jan Badura for the fruitful collaboration and for hosting the competition at the optil.io online judge system. Further, this work was supported by the Data Science Center of the University of Bremen (DSC@UB) funded by the State of Bremen.

References

  1. Michael Abseher, Nysret Musliu, and Stefan Woltran. htd - A free, open-source framework for (customized) tree decompositions and beyond, 2017. Google Scholar
  2. Jochen Alber, Hongbing Fan, Michael R. Fellows, Henning Fernau, Rolf Niedermeier, Fran Rosamond, and Ulrike Stege. A refined search tree technique for dominating set on planar graphs. Journal of Computer and System Sciences, 71(4):385-405, 2005. URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/J.JCSS.2004.03.007.
  3. Florent Avellaneda. A short description of the solver evalmaxsat, 2020. Google Scholar
  4. Max Bannach and Sebastian Berndt. PACE Solver Description: The PACE 2023 Parameterized Algorithms and Computational Experiments Challenge: Twinwidth. In 18th International Symposium on Parameterized and Exact Computation (IPEC 2023), volume 285 of Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), pages 35:1-35:14, Dagstuhl, Germany, 2023. Schloss Dagstuhl - Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik. URL: https://doi.org/10.4230/LIPICS.IPEC.2023.35.
  5. Albert-László Barabási and Réka Albert. Emergence of scaling in random networks. Science, 286(5439):509-512, 1999. Google Scholar
  6. Ksenia Bestuzheva, Mathieu Besançon, Wei-Kun Chen, Antonia Chmiela, Tim Donkiewicz, Jasper van Doornmalen, Leon Eifler, Oliver Gaul, Gerald Gamrath, Ambros Gleixner, Leona Gottwald, Christoph Graczyk, Katrin Halbig, Alexander Hoen, Christopher Hojny, Rolf van der Hulst, Thorsten Koch, Marco Lübbecke, Stephen J. Maher, Frederic Matter, Erik Mühmer, Benjamin Müller, Marc E. Pfetsch, Daniel Rehfeldt, Steffan Schlein, Franziska Schlösser, Felipe Serrano, Yuji Shinano, Boro Sofranac, Mark Turner, Stefan Vigerske, Fabian Wegscheider, Philipp Wellner, Dieter Weninger, and Jakob Witzig. The SCIP Optimization Suite 8.0. Technical report, Optimization Online, 2021. URL: http://www.optimization-online.org/DB_HTML/2021/12/8728.html.
  7. Armin Biere, Tobias Faller, Katalin Fazekas, Mathias Fleury, Nils Froleyks, and Florian Pollitt. Cadical 2.0. In Computer Aided Verification, pages 133-152, Cham, 2024. Springer Nature Switzerland. URL: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-65627-9_7.
  8. Édouard Bonnet and Florian Sikora. The PACE 2018 Parameterized Algorithms and Computational Experiments Challenge: The Third Iteration. In 13th International Symposium on Parameterized and Exact Computation (IPEC 2018), volume 115 of Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), pages 26:1-26:15, Dagstuhl, Germany, 2019. Schloss Dagstuhl - Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik. URL: https://doi.org/10.4230/LIPICS.IPEC.2018.26.
  9. Bruno Courcelle. The monadic second-order logic of graphs. i. recognizable sets of finite graphs. Information and Computation, 85(1):12-75, 1990. URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/0890-5401(90)90043-H.
  10. IBM ILOG Cplex. V12. 1: User’s manual for cplex. International Business Machines Corporation, 46(53):157, 2009. Google Scholar
  11. Anuj Dawar and Stephan Kreutzer. Domination Problems in Nowhere-Dense Classes. In IARCS Annual Conference on Foundations of Software Technology and Theoretical Computer Science, volume 4 of Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), pages 157-168, Dagstuhl, Germany, 2009. Schloss Dagstuhl - Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik. URL: https://doi.org/10.4230/LIPICS.FSTTCS.2009.2315.
  12. Holger Dell, Thore Husfeldt, Bart M. P. Jansen, Petteri Kaski, Christian Komusiewicz, and Frances A. Rosamond. The First Parameterized Algorithms and Computational Experiments Challenge. In 11th International Symposium on Parameterized and Exact Computation (IPEC 2016), volume 63 of Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), pages 30:1-30:9, Dagstuhl, Germany, 2017. Schloss Dagstuhl - Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik. URL: https://doi.org/10.4230/LIPICS.IPEC.2016.30.
  13. Holger Dell, Christian Komusiewicz, Nimrod Talmon, and Mathias Weller. The PACE 2017 Parameterized Algorithms and Computational Experiments Challenge: The Second Iteration. In 12th International Symposium on Parameterized and Exact Computation (IPEC 2017), volume 89 of Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), pages 30:1-30:12, Dagstuhl, Germany, 2018. Schloss Dagstuhl - Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik. URL: https://doi.org/10.4230/LIPICS.IPEC.2017.30.
  14. Rodney G. Downey and Michael R. Fellows. Fixed-parameter tractability and completeness I: basic results. SIAM Journal on Computing, 24(4):873-921, 1995. URL: https://doi.org/10.1137/S0097539792228228.
  15. M. Ayaz Dzulfikar, Johannes K. Fichte, and Markus Hecher. The PACE 2019 Parameterized Algorithms and Computational Experiments Challenge: The Fourth Iteration. In 14th International Symposium on Parameterized and Exact Computation (IPEC 2019), volume 148 of Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), pages 25:1-25:23, Dagstuhl, Germany, 2019. Schloss Dagstuhl - Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik. URL: https://doi.org/10.4230/LIPIcs.IPEC.2019.25.
  16. P. Erdös and A. Rényi. On random graphs i. Publicationes Mathematicae Debrecen, 6, 1959. Google Scholar
  17. Henning Fernau. A top-down approach to search-trees: Improved algorithmics for 3-hitting set. Algorithmica, 57(1):97-118, 2010. URL: https://doi.org/10.1007/S00453-008-9199-6.
  18. Michael R. Garey and David S. Johnson. Computers and Intractability: A Guide to the Theory of NP-Completeness. W. H. Freeman, New York, 1979. Google Scholar
  19. Ernestine Großmann, Tobias Heuer, Christian Schulz, and Darren Strash. The PACE 2022 Parameterized Algorithms and Computational Experiments Challenge: Directed Feedback Vertex Set. In 17th International Symposium on Parameterized and Exact Computation (IPEC 2022), volume 249 of Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), pages 26:1-26:18, Dagstuhl, Germany, 2022. Schloss Dagstuhl - Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik. URL: https://doi.org/10.4230/LIPICS.IPEC.2022.26.
  20. Petter Holme and Beom Jun Kim. Growing scale-free networks with tunable clustering. Phys. Rev. E, 65, 2002. Google Scholar
  21. Holger H. Hoos and Thomas Stützle. Satlib: An online resource for research on sat. In SAT2000, pages 283-292. IOS Press, 2000. URL: www.satlib.org.
  22. Hannes Ihalainen, Jeremias Berg, and Matti Järvisalo. Clause redundancy and preprocessing in maximum satisfiability. In Automated Reasoning: 11th International Joint Conference, IJCAR 2022, Haifa, Israel, August 8–10, 2022, Proceedings, pages 75-94. Springer-Verlag, 2022. URL: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-10769-6_6.
  23. Richard M. Karp. Reducibility among combinatorial problems. In R. E. Miller, J. W. Thatcher, and J. D. Bohlinger, editors, Complexity of Computer Computations, pages 85-103. Plenum Press, New York, 1972. URL: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-2001-2_9.
  24. Leon Kellerhals, Tomohiro Koana, André Nichterlein, and Philipp Zschoche. The PACE 2021 Parameterized Algorithms and Computational Experiments Challenge: Cluster Editing. In 16th International Symposium on Parameterized and Exact Computation (IPEC 2021), volume 214 of Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), pages 26:1-26:18, Dagstuhl, Germany, 2021. Schloss Dagstuhl - Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik. URL: https://doi.org/10.4230/LIPICS.IPEC.2021.26.
  25. Philipp Kindermann, Fabian Klute, and Soeren Terziadis. The PACE 2024 Parameterized Algorithms and Computational Experiments Challenge: One-Sided Crossing Minimization. In 19th International Symposium on Parameterized and Exact Computation (IPEC 2024), volume 321 of Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), pages 26:1-26:20, Dagstuhl, Germany, 2024. Schloss Dagstuhl - Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik. URL: https://doi.org/10.4230/LIPICS.IPEC.2024.26.
  26. Łukasz Kowalik, Marcin Mucha, Wojciech Nadara, Marcin Pilipczuk, Manuel Sorge, and Piotr Wygocki. The PACE 2020 Parameterized Algorithms and Computational Experiments Challenge: Treedepth. In 15th International Symposium on Parameterized and Exact Computation (IPEC 2020), volume 180 of Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), pages 37:1-37:18, Dagstuhl, Germany, 2020. Schloss Dagstuhl - Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik. URL: https://doi.org/10.4230/LIPICS.IPEC.2020.37.
  27. Antonio Morgado, Carmine Dodaro, and Joao Marques-Silva. Core-guided maxsat with soft cardinality constraints. In Principles and Practice of Constraint Programming - 20th International Conference, CP 2014, Proceedings, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, pages 564-573. Springer Verlag, 2014. Google Scholar
  28. Networks Project, 2017. URL: https://www.thenetworkcenter.nl.
  29. J.A. Telle and Y. Villanger. Fpt algorithms for domination in sparse graphs and beyond. Theoretical Computer Science, 770:62-68, 2019. URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/J.TCS.2018.10.030.
  30. James Trimble. jamestrimble/peaty: v1.0.0: Pace challenge 2019 entry, 2019. Google Scholar
  31. Dekel Tsur. Faster parameterized algorithms for variants of 3-hitting set. Journal of Combinatorial Optimization, 49(4):1-14, 2025. Google Scholar
  32. Johan M. M. van Rooij, Jesper Nederlof, and Thomas C. van Dijk. Inclusion/exclusion meets measure and conquer. In Algorithms - ESA 2009, pages 554-565. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2009. URL: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-04128-0_50.
  33. Duncan J. Watts and Steven H. Strogatz. Collective dynamics of ‘small-world’ networks. Nature, 393(6684):440-442, 1998. Google Scholar
Any Issues?
X

Feedback on the Current Page

CAPTCHA

Thanks for your feedback!

Feedback submitted to Dagstuhl Publishing

Could not send message

Please try again later or send an E-mail
© 2023-2025 Schloss Dagstuhl – LZI GmbH About DROPS Imprint Privacy Contact