2026-07-20T06:22:23Z https://drops.dagstuhl.de/oai

oai:drops-oai.dagstuhl.de:22842 2025-10-02T13:35:13Z ddc:004 open_access

Tight Approximation and Kernelization Bounds for Vertex-Disjoint Shortest Paths Bentert, Matthias Fomin, Fedor V. Golovach, Petr A. Inapproximability Fixed-parameter tractability Parameterized approximation We examine the possibility of approximating Maximum Vertex-Disjoint Shortest Paths. In this problem, the input is an edge-weighted (directed or undirected) n-vertex graph G along with k terminal pairs (s_1,t_1),(s_2,t_2),…,(s_k,t_k). The task is to connect as many terminal pairs as possible by pairwise vertex-disjoint paths such that each path is a shortest path between the respective terminals. Our work is anchored in the recent breakthrough by Lochet [SODA '21], which demonstrates the polynomial-time solvability of the problem for a fixed value of k. Lochet’s result implies the existence of a polynomial-time ck-approximation for Maximum Vertex-Disjoint Shortest Paths, where c ≤ 1 is a constant. (One can guess 1/c terminal pairs to connect in k^O(1/c) time and then utilize Lochet’s algorithm to compute the solution in n^f(1/c) time.) Our first result suggests that this approximation algorithm is, in a sense, the best we can hope for. More precisely, assuming the gap-ETH, we exclude the existence of an o(k)-approximation within f(k) ⋅ poly(n) time for any function f that only depends on k. Our second result demonstrates the infeasibility of achieving an approximation ratio of m^{1/2-ε} in polynomial time, unless P = NP. It is not difficult to show that a greedy algorithm selecting a path with the minimum number of arcs results in a ⌈√𝓁⌉-approximation, where 𝓁 is the number of edges in all the paths of an optimal solution. Since 𝓁 ≤ n, this underscores the tightness of the m^{1/2-ε}-inapproximability bound. Additionally, we establish that Maximum Vertex-Disjoint Shortest Paths is fixed-parameter tractable when parameterized by 𝓁 but does not admit a polynomial kernel. Our hardness results hold for undirected graphs with unit weights, while our positive results extend to scenarios where the input graph is directed and features arbitrary (non-negative) edge weights. Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik Matthias Bentert and Fedor V. Fomin and Petr A. Golovach 2025 Is Part Of LIPIcs, Volume 327, 42nd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2025) InProceedings Text doc-type:ResearchArticle publishedVersion application/pdf doi:10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2025.17 urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-228422 https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2025.17 eng https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode