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Semantically Reflected Programs

Authors: Eduard Kamburjan, Vidar Norstein Klungre, Yuanwei Qu, Rudolf Schlatte, Egor V. Kostylev, Martin Giese, and Einar Broch Johnsen

Published in: TGDK, Volume 4, Issue 1 (2026). Transactions on Graph Data and Knowledge, Volume 4, Issue 1

Abstract

This paper addresses the dichotomy between the formalization of structural and the formalization of executable behavioral knowledge by means of semantically lifted programs, which explore an intuitive connection between imperative programs and knowledge graphs. While knowledge graphs and ontologies are eminently useful to represent formal knowledge about a system’s individuals and universals, programming languages are designed to describe the system’s evolution. To address this dichotomy, we introduce a semantic lifting of the program states of an executing progam into a knowledge graph, for an object-oriented programming language. The resulting graph is exposed as a semantic reflection layer within the programming language, allowing programmers to leverage knowledge of the application domain in their programs during execution. In this paper, we formalize semantic lifting and semantic reflection for a small imperative programming language, SMOL, explain the operational aspects of the language, and consider type correctness and virtualization for runtime program queries through the semantic reflection layer. We illustrate semantic lifting and semantic reflection through a case study of geological modeling and discuss different applications of the technique. The language implementation is open source and available online.

Cite as

Eduard Kamburjan, Vidar Norstein Klungre, Yuanwei Qu, Rudolf Schlatte, Egor V. Kostylev, Martin Giese, and Einar Broch Johnsen. Semantically Reflected Programs. In Transactions on Graph Data and Knowledge (TGDK), Volume 4, Issue 1, pp. 3:1-3:52, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@Article{kamburjan_et_al:TGDK.4.1.3,
  author =	{Kamburjan, Eduard and Klungre, Vidar Norstein and Qu, Yuanwei and Schlatte, Rudolf and Kostylev, Egor V. and Giese, Martin and Johnsen, Einar Broch},
  title =	{{Semantically Reflected Programs}},
  journal =	{Transactions on Graph Data and Knowledge},
  pages =	{3:1--3:52},
  ISSN =	{2942-7517},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{4},
  number =	{1},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/TGDK.4.1.3},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-256884},
  doi =		{10.4230/TGDK.4.1.3},
  annote =	{Keywords: Knowledge Graphs, Ontologies, Object-Oriented Modelling, Imperative Programming Languages, Reflection, Type Safety}
}

Document

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2026.11

The Diameter of (Threshold) Geometric Inhomogeneous Random Graphs

Authors: Zylan Benjert, Kostas Lakis, Johannes Lengler, and Raghu Raman Ravi

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 364, 43rd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2026)

Abstract

We prove that the diameter of threshold (zero temperature) Geometric Inhomogeneous Random Graphs (GIRG) is asymptotically almost surely Θ(log n). This has strong implications for the runtime of many distributed protocols on those graphs, which often have runtimes bounded as a function of the diameter. The GIRG model exhibits many properties empirically found in real-world networks, and the runtime of various practical algorithms has empirically been found to scale in the same way for GIRG and for real-world networks, in particular related to computing distances, diameter, clustering, cliques and chromatic numbers. Thus the GIRG model is a promising candidate for deriving insight about the performance of algorithms in real-world instances. The diameter was previously only known in the one-dimensional case, and the proof relied very heavily on dimension one. Our proof employs a similar Peierls-type argument alongside a novel renormalization scheme. Moreover, instead of using topological arguments (which become complicated in high dimensions) in establishing the connectivity of certain boundaries, we employ some comparatively recent and clearer graph-theoretic machinery. The lower bound is proven via a simple ad-hoc construction.

Cite as

Zylan Benjert, Kostas Lakis, Johannes Lengler, and Raghu Raman Ravi. The Diameter of (Threshold) Geometric Inhomogeneous Random Graphs. In 43rd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 364, pp. 11:1-11:21, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{benjert_et_al:LIPIcs.STACS.2026.11,
  author =	{Benjert, Zylan and Lakis, Kostas and Lengler, Johannes and Ravi, Raghu Raman},
  title =	{{The Diameter of (Threshold) Geometric Inhomogeneous Random Graphs}},
  booktitle =	{43rd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2026)},
  pages =	{11:1--11:21},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-412-3},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{364},
  editor =	{Mahajan, Meena and Manea, Florin and McIver, Annabelle and Thắng, Nguy\~{ê}n Kim},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2026.11},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-255009},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2026.11},
  annote =	{Keywords: GIRG, Diameter, Distributed Algorithms, Complex Networks}
}

Document

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2026.22

Modular Counting over 3-Element and Conservative Domains

Authors: Andrei A. Bulatov and Amirhossein Kazeminia

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 364, 43rd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2026)

Abstract

In the Constraint Satisfaction Problem (CSP for short) the goal is to decide the existence of a homomorphism from a given relational structure {G} to a given relational structure {H}. If the structure {H} is fixed and {G} is the only input, the problem is denoted CSP({H}). In its counting version, #CSP({H}), the task is to find the number of such homomorphisms. The CSP and #CSP have been used to model a wide variety of combinatorial problems and have received a tremendous amount of attention from researchers from multiple disciplines. In this paper we consider the modular version of the counting CSPs, that is, problems of the form #_pCSP({H}) of counting the number of homomorphisms to {H} modulo a fixed prime number p. Modular counting has been intensively studied during the last decade, although mainly in the case of graph homomorphisms. Here we continue the program of systematic research of modular counting of homomorphisms to general relational structures. The main results of the paper include a new way of reducing modular counting problems to smaller domains and a study of the complexity of such problems over 3-element domains and over conservative domains, that is, relational structures that allow to express (in a certain exact way) every possible unary predicate.

Cite as

Andrei A. Bulatov and Amirhossein Kazeminia. Modular Counting over 3-Element and Conservative Domains. In 43rd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 364, pp. 22:1-22:20, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{bulatov_et_al:LIPIcs.STACS.2026.22,
  author =	{Bulatov, Andrei A. and Kazeminia, Amirhossein},
  title =	{{Modular Counting over 3-Element and Conservative Domains}},
  booktitle =	{43rd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2026)},
  pages =	{22:1--22:20},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-412-3},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{364},
  editor =	{Mahajan, Meena and Manea, Florin and McIver, Annabelle and Thắng, Nguy\~{ê}n Kim},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2026.22},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-255114},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2026.22},
  annote =	{Keywords: Constraint Satisfaction Problem, Modular Counting}
}

Document

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2026.65

Demystifying Codensity Monads via Duality

Authors: Fabian Lenke, Nico Wittrock, Stefan Milius, and Henning Urbat

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 364, 43rd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2026)

Abstract

Codensity monads provide a universal method to generate complex monads from simple functors. Recently, a wide range of important monads in logic, denotational semantics, and probabilistic computation, such as several incarnations of the ultrafilter monad, the Vietoris monad, and the Giry monad, have been presented as codensity monads, using complex arguments. We propose a unifying categorical approach to codensity presentations of monads, based on the idea of relating the presenting functor to a dense functor via a suitable duality between categories. We prove a general presentation result applying to every such situation and demonstrate that most codensity presentations known in the literature emerge from this strikingly simple duality-based setup, drastically alleviating the complexity of their proofs and in many cases completely reducing them to standard duality results. Additionally, we derive a number of novel codensity presentations using our framework, including the first non-trivial codensity presentations for the filter monads on sets and topological spaces, the lower Vietoris monad on topological spaces, and the expectation monad on sets.

Cite as

Fabian Lenke, Nico Wittrock, Stefan Milius, and Henning Urbat. Demystifying Codensity Monads via Duality. In 43rd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 364, pp. 65:1-65:20, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{lenke_et_al:LIPIcs.STACS.2026.65,
  author =	{Lenke, Fabian and Wittrock, Nico and Milius, Stefan and Urbat, Henning},
  title =	{{Demystifying Codensity Monads via Duality}},
  booktitle =	{43rd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2026)},
  pages =	{65:1--65:20},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-412-3},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{364},
  editor =	{Mahajan, Meena and Manea, Florin and McIver, Annabelle and Thắng, Nguy\~{ê}n Kim},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2026.65},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-255549},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2026.65},
  annote =	{Keywords: Codensity, Monad, Duality}
}

Document

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.102

Smoothed Analysis of Dynamic Graph Algorithms

Authors: Uri Meir and Ami Paz

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 362, 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)

Abstract

Recent years have seen significant progress in the study of dynamic graph algorithms, and most notably, the introduction of strong lower bound techniques for them (e.g., Henzinger, Krinninger, Nanongkai and Saranurak, STOC 2015; Larsen and Yu, FOCS 2023). As worst-case analysis (adversarial inputs) may lead to the necessity of high running times, a natural question arises: in which cases are high running times really necessary, and in which cases these inputs merely manifest unique pathological cases? Early attempts to tackle this question were made by Nikoletseas, Reif, Spirakis and Yung (ICALP 1995) and by Alberts and Henzinger (Algorithmica 1998), who considered models with very little adversarial control over the inputs, and showed fast algorithms exist for them. The question was then overlooked for decades, until Henzinger, Lincoln and Saha (SODA 2022) recently addressed uniformly random inputs, and presented algorithms and impossibility results for several subgraph counting problems. To tackle the above question more thoroughly, we employ smoothed analysis, a celebrated framework introduced by Spielman and Teng (J. ACM, 2004). An input is proposed by an adversary but then a noisy version of it is processed by the algorithm instead. This model of inputs is parameterized by the amount of adversarial control, and fully interpolates between worst-case inputs and a uniformly random input. Doing so, we extend impossibility results for some problems to the smoothed model with only a minor quantitative loss. That is, we show that partially-adversarial inputs suffice to impose high running times for certain problems. In contrast, we show that other problems become easy even with the slightest amount of noise. In addition, we study the interplay between the adversary and the noise, leading to three natural models of smoothed inputs, for which we show a hierarchy of increasing difficulty stretching between the average-case and the worst-case complexities.

Cite as

Uri Meir and Ami Paz. Smoothed Analysis of Dynamic Graph Algorithms. In 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 362, pp. 102:1-102:20, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{meir_et_al:LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.102,
  author =	{Meir, Uri and Paz, Ami},
  title =	{{Smoothed Analysis of Dynamic Graph Algorithms}},
  booktitle =	{17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)},
  pages =	{102:1--102:20},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-410-9},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{362},
  editor =	{Saraf, Shubhangi},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.102},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-253896},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.102},
  annote =	{Keywords: Dynamic graph algorithms, Smoothed analysis, Shortest paths}
}

Document

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.66

A Parameterized-Complexity Framework for Finding Local Optima

Authors: Robert Ganian, Hung P. Hoang, Christian Komusiewicz, and Nils Morawietz

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 362, 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)

Abstract

Local search is a fundamental optimization technique that is both widely used in practice and deeply studied in theory, yet its computational complexity remains poorly understood. The traditional frameworks, PLS and the standard algorithm problem, introduced by Johnson, Papadimitriou, and Yannakakis (1988) fail to capture the methodology of local search algorithms: PLS is concerned with finding a local optimum and not with using local search, while the standard algorithm problem restricts each improvement step to follow a fixed pivoting rule. In this work, we introduce a novel formulation of local search which provides a middle ground between these models. In particular, the task is to output not only a local optimum but also a chain of local improvements leading to it. With this framework, we aim to capture the challenge in designing a good pivoting rule. Especially, when combined with the parameterized complexity paradigm, it enables both strong lower bounds and meaningful tractability results. Unlike previous works that combined parameterized complexity with local search, our framework targets the whole task of finding a local optimum and not only a single improvement step. Focusing on two representative meta-problems - Subset Weight Optimization Problem with the c-swap neighborhood and Weighted Circuit with the flip neighborhood - we establish fixed-parameter tractability results related to the number of distinct weights, while ruling out an analogous result when parameterizing by the distance to the nearest optimum via a new type of reduction.

Cite as

Robert Ganian, Hung P. Hoang, Christian Komusiewicz, and Nils Morawietz. A Parameterized-Complexity Framework for Finding Local Optima. In 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 362, pp. 66:1-66:20, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{ganian_et_al:LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.66,
  author =	{Ganian, Robert and Hoang, Hung P. and Komusiewicz, Christian and Morawietz, Nils},
  title =	{{A Parameterized-Complexity Framework for Finding Local Optima}},
  booktitle =	{17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)},
  pages =	{66:1--66:20},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-410-9},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{362},
  editor =	{Saraf, Shubhangi},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.66},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-253532},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.66},
  annote =	{Keywords: Local Search, Parameterized Complexity, PLS}
}

Document

PACE Solver Description

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.IPEC.2025.37

PACE Solver Description: Minimum Hitting Set Computation via Core-Guided MaxSAT Solving

Authors: André Schidler

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 358, 20th International Symposium on Parameterized and Exact Computation (IPEC 2025)

Abstract

This paper describes our hybrid MaxSAT and mixed integer programming approach for finding minimum hitting sets as submitted to the 2025 PACE challenge. We also discuss hitting set specific challenges, lower bounds, preprocessing and design choices.

Cite as

André Schidler. PACE Solver Description: Minimum Hitting Set Computation via Core-Guided MaxSAT Solving. In 20th International Symposium on Parameterized and Exact Computation (IPEC 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 358, pp. 37:1-37:4, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{schidler:LIPIcs.IPEC.2025.37,
  author =	{Schidler, Andr\'{e}},
  title =	{{PACE Solver Description: Minimum Hitting Set Computation via Core-Guided MaxSAT Solving}},
  booktitle =	{20th International Symposium on Parameterized and Exact Computation (IPEC 2025)},
  pages =	{37:1--37:4},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-407-9},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{358},
  editor =	{Agrawal, Akanksha and van Leeuwen, Erik Jan},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.IPEC.2025.37},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-251692},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.IPEC.2025.37},
  annote =	{Keywords: hitting set, maxsat, core-guided}
}

Document

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.IPEC.2025.8

Binary k-Center with Missing Entries: Structure Leads to Tractability

Authors: Tobias Friedrich, Kirill Simonov, and Farehe Soheil

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 358, 20th International Symposium on Parameterized and Exact Computation (IPEC 2025)

Abstract

k-Center clustering is a fundamental classification problem, where the task is to categorize the given collection of entities into k clusters and come up with a representative for each cluster, so that the maximum distance between an entity and its representative is minimized. In this work, we focus on the setting where the entities are represented by binary vectors with missing entries, which model incomplete categorical data. This version of the problem has wide applications, from predictive analytics to bioinformatics. Our main finding is that the problem, which is notoriously hard from the classical complexity viewpoint, becomes tractable as soon as the known entries are sparse and exhibit a certain structure. Formally, we show fixed-parameter tractable algorithms for the parameters vertex cover, fracture number, and treewidth of the row-column graph, which encodes the positions of the known entries of the matrix. Additionally, we tie the complexity of the 1-cluster variant of the problem, which is famous under the name Closest String, to the complexity of solving integer linear programs with few constraints. This implies, in particular, that improving upon the running times of our algorithms would lead to more efficient algorithms for integer linear programming in general.

Cite as

Tobias Friedrich, Kirill Simonov, and Farehe Soheil. Binary k-Center with Missing Entries: Structure Leads to Tractability. In 20th International Symposium on Parameterized and Exact Computation (IPEC 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 358, pp. 8:1-8:19, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{friedrich_et_al:LIPIcs.IPEC.2025.8,
  author =	{Friedrich, Tobias and Simonov, Kirill and Soheil, Farehe},
  title =	{{Binary k-Center with Missing Entries: Structure Leads to Tractability}},
  booktitle =	{20th International Symposium on Parameterized and Exact Computation (IPEC 2025)},
  pages =	{8:1--8:19},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-407-9},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{358},
  editor =	{Agrawal, Akanksha and van Leeuwen, Erik Jan},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.IPEC.2025.8},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-251403},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.IPEC.2025.8},
  annote =	{Keywords: Clustering, Missing Entries, k-Center, Parameterized Algorithms}
}

Document

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.IPEC.2025.16

Designing Compact ILPs via Fast Witness Verification

Authors: Michał Włodarczyk

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 358, 20th International Symposium on Parameterized and Exact Computation (IPEC 2025)

Abstract

The standard formalization of preprocessing in parameterized complexity is given by kernelization. In this work, we depart from this paradigm and study a different type of preprocessing for problems without polynomial kernels, still aiming at producing instances that are easily solvable in practice. Specifically, we ask for which parameterized problems an instance (I,k) can be reduced in polynomial time to an integer linear program (ILP) with poly(k) constraints. We show that this property coincides with the parameterized complexity class WK[1], previously studied in the context of Turing kernelization lower bounds. In turn, the class WK[1] enjoys an elegant characterization in terms of witness verification protocols: a yes-instance should admit a witness of size poly(k) that can be verified in time poly(k). By combining known data structures with new ideas, we design such protocols for several problems, such as r-Way Cut, Vertex Multiway Cut, Steiner Tree, and Minimum Common String Partition, thus showing that they can be modeled by compact ILPs. We also present explicit ILP and MILP formulations for Weighted Vertex Cover on graphs with small (unweighted) vertex cover number. We believe that these results will provide a background for a systematic study of ILP-oriented preprocessing procedures for parameterized problems.

Cite as

Michał Włodarczyk. Designing Compact ILPs via Fast Witness Verification. In 20th International Symposium on Parameterized and Exact Computation (IPEC 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 358, pp. 16:1-16:18, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{wlodarczyk:LIPIcs.IPEC.2025.16,
  author =	{W{\l}odarczyk, Micha{\l}},
  title =	{{Designing Compact ILPs via Fast Witness Verification}},
  booktitle =	{20th International Symposium on Parameterized and Exact Computation (IPEC 2025)},
  pages =	{16:1--16:18},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-407-9},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{358},
  editor =	{Agrawal, Akanksha and van Leeuwen, Erik Jan},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.IPEC.2025.16},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-251481},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.IPEC.2025.16},
  annote =	{Keywords: integer programming, kernelization, nondeterminism, multiway cut}
}

Document

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.IPEC.2025.10

Parameterized Complexity of Vehicle Routing

Authors: Michelle Döring, Jan Fehse, Tobias Friedrich, Paula Marten, Niklas Mohrin, Kirill Simonov, Farehe Soheil, Jakob Timm, and Shaily Verma

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 358, 20th International Symposium on Parameterized and Exact Computation (IPEC 2025)

Abstract

The Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP) is a popular generalization of the Traveling Salesperson Problem. Instead of one salesperson traversing the entire weighted, undirected graph G, there are k vehicles available to jointly cover the set of clients C ⊆ V(G). Every vehicle must start at one of the depot vertices D ⊆ V(G) and return to its start. Capacitated Vehicle Routing (CVRP) additionally restricts the route of each vehicle by limiting the number of clients it can cover, the distance it can travel, or both. In this work, we study the complexity of VRP and the three variants of CVRP for several parameterizations, in particular focusing on the treewidth of G. We present an FPT algorithm for VRP parameterized by treewidth. For CVRP, we prove paraNP- and W[⋅]-hardness for various parameterizations, including treewidth, thereby rendering the existence of FPT algorithms unlikely. In turn, we provide an XP algorithm for CVRP when parameterized by both treewidth and the vehicle capacity.

Cite as

Michelle Döring, Jan Fehse, Tobias Friedrich, Paula Marten, Niklas Mohrin, Kirill Simonov, Farehe Soheil, Jakob Timm, and Shaily Verma. Parameterized Complexity of Vehicle Routing. In 20th International Symposium on Parameterized and Exact Computation (IPEC 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 358, pp. 10:1-10:17, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{doring_et_al:LIPIcs.IPEC.2025.10,
  author =	{D\"{o}ring, Michelle and Fehse, Jan and Friedrich, Tobias and Marten, Paula and Mohrin, Niklas and Simonov, Kirill and Soheil, Farehe and Timm, Jakob and Verma, Shaily},
  title =	{{Parameterized Complexity of Vehicle Routing}},
  booktitle =	{20th International Symposium on Parameterized and Exact Computation (IPEC 2025)},
  pages =	{10:1--10:17},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-407-9},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{358},
  editor =	{Agrawal, Akanksha and van Leeuwen, Erik Jan},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.IPEC.2025.10},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-251424},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.IPEC.2025.10},
  annote =	{Keywords: Vehicle Routing Problem, Treewidth, Parameterized Complexity}
}

Document

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.IPEC.2025.15

New Algorithm for Combinatorial n-Folds and Applications

Authors: Klaus Jansen, Kai Kahler, Lis Pirotton, and Malte Tutas

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 358, 20th International Symposium on Parameterized and Exact Computation (IPEC 2025)

Abstract

Block-structured integer linear programs (ILPs) play an important role in various application fields. We address n-fold ILPs where the matrix 𝒜 has a specific structure, i.e., where the blocks in the lower part of 𝒜 consist only of the row vectors (1,… ,1). In this paper, we propose an approach tailored to exactly these combinatorial n-folds. We utilize a divide and conquer approach to separate the original problem such that the right-hand side iteratively decreases in size. We show that this decrease in size can be calculated such that we only need to consider a bounded amount of possible right-hand sides. This, in turn, lets us efficiently combine solutions of the smaller right-hand sides to solve the original problem. We can decide the feasibility of, and also optimally solve, such problems in time (n r Δ)^O(r) log(‖b‖_∞), where n is the number of blocks, r the number of rows in the upper blocks and Δ = ‖A‖_∞. We complement the algorithm by discussing applications of the n-fold ILPs with the specific structure we require. We consider the problems of (i) scheduling on uniform machines, (ii) closest string and (iii) (graph) imbalance. Regarding (i), our algorithm results in running times of p_max^O(d)|I|^O(1), matching a lower bound derived via ETH. For (ii) we achieve running times matching the current state-of-the-art in the general case. In contrast to the state-of-the-art, our result can leverage a bounded number of column-types to yield an improved running time. For (iii), we improve the parameter dependency on the size of the vertex cover.

Cite as

Klaus Jansen, Kai Kahler, Lis Pirotton, and Malte Tutas. New Algorithm for Combinatorial n-Folds and Applications. In 20th International Symposium on Parameterized and Exact Computation (IPEC 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 358, pp. 15:1-15:15, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{jansen_et_al:LIPIcs.IPEC.2025.15,
  author =	{Jansen, Klaus and Kahler, Kai and Pirotton, Lis and Tutas, Malte},
  title =	{{New Algorithm for Combinatorial n-Folds and Applications}},
  booktitle =	{20th International Symposium on Parameterized and Exact Computation (IPEC 2025)},
  pages =	{15:1--15:15},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-407-9},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{358},
  editor =	{Agrawal, Akanksha and van Leeuwen, Erik Jan},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.IPEC.2025.15},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-251472},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.IPEC.2025.15},
  annote =	{Keywords: integer linear programming, n-fold, parameterized complexity, scheduling, uniform machines}
}

Document

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.FSTTCS.2025.40

Improved Upper Bounds on Multiflow-Multicut Gaps in Cactus Graphs

Authors: Sina Kalantarzadeh and Nikhil Kumar

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 360, 45th IARCS Annual Conference on Foundations of Software Technology and Theoretical Computer Science (FSTTCS 2025)

Abstract

Given a set of source-sink pairs, the maximum multiflow problem asks for the largest total amount of flow that can be feasibly routed between them. The minimum multicut problem, which is dual to multiflow, seeks the lowest-cost set of edges whose removal disconnects all source-sink pairs. It is straightforward to see that the value of a minimum multicut is at least that of the corresponding maximum multiflow. The ratio between the two is known as the multiflow-multicut gap. The classical max-flow min-cut theorem tells us that this gap is exactly one when there is only a single source-sink pair. However, for multiple source-sink pairs, the gap can be arbitrarily large. In this work, we investigate the multiflow-multicut gap in cactus graphs, and establish the following results (i) tight upper bound of 1.5 for cycle (ii) an upper bound of 2 + 2/(ln 2) < 3.45 for general cactus graph (iii) tight upper bound of 2 for unicyclic graphs, where the graph contains exactly one cycle (iv) tight upper bound of 2 for path cactus graphs, where cycles are arranged along a single path. We develop novel generalizations of the classical rounding algorithm to establish our results.

Cite as

Sina Kalantarzadeh and Nikhil Kumar. Improved Upper Bounds on Multiflow-Multicut Gaps in Cactus Graphs. In 45th IARCS Annual Conference on Foundations of Software Technology and Theoretical Computer Science (FSTTCS 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 360, pp. 40:1-40:19, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{kalantarzadeh_et_al:LIPIcs.FSTTCS.2025.40,
  author =	{Kalantarzadeh, Sina and Kumar, Nikhil},
  title =	{{Improved Upper Bounds on Multiflow-Multicut Gaps in Cactus Graphs}},
  booktitle =	{45th IARCS Annual Conference on Foundations of Software Technology and Theoretical Computer Science (FSTTCS 2025)},
  pages =	{40:1--40:19},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-406-2},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{360},
  editor =	{Aiswarya, C. and Mehta, Ruta and Roy, Subhajit},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.FSTTCS.2025.40},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-251205},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.FSTTCS.2025.40},
  annote =	{Keywords: Approximation Algorithms, Randomized Algorithms, Linear Programming, Graph Algorithms, Multicut, Multicommodity flow}
}

Document

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.FSTTCS.2025.27

Fault-Tolerant Approximate Distance Oracles with a Source Set

Authors: Dipan Dey and Telikepalli Kavitha

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 360, 45th IARCS Annual Conference on Foundations of Software Technology and Theoretical Computer Science (FSTTCS 2025)

Abstract

Our input is an undirected weighted graph G = (V,E) on n vertices along with a source set S ⊆ V. The problem is to preprocess G and build a compact data structure such that upon query Qu(s,v,f) where (s,v) ∈ S×V and f is any faulty edge, we can quickly find a good estimate (i.e., within a small multiplicative stretch) of the s-v distance in G-f. We use a fault-tolerant ST-distance oracle from the work of Bilò et al. (STACS 2018) to construct an S×V approximate distance oracle or sourcewise approximate distance oracle of size Õ(|S|n + n^{3/2}) with multiplicative stretch at most 5. We construct another fault-tolerant sourcewise approximate distance oracle of size Õ(|S|n + n^{4/3}) with multiplicative stretch at most 13. Both the oracles have O(1) query answering time.

Cite as

Dipan Dey and Telikepalli Kavitha. Fault-Tolerant Approximate Distance Oracles with a Source Set. In 45th IARCS Annual Conference on Foundations of Software Technology and Theoretical Computer Science (FSTTCS 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 360, pp. 27:1-27:15, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{dey_et_al:LIPIcs.FSTTCS.2025.27,
  author =	{Dey, Dipan and Kavitha, Telikepalli},
  title =	{{Fault-Tolerant Approximate Distance Oracles with a Source Set}},
  booktitle =	{45th IARCS Annual Conference on Foundations of Software Technology and Theoretical Computer Science (FSTTCS 2025)},
  pages =	{27:1--27:15},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-406-2},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{360},
  editor =	{Aiswarya, C. and Mehta, Ruta and Roy, Subhajit},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.FSTTCS.2025.27},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-251081},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.FSTTCS.2025.27},
  annote =	{Keywords: Weighted graphs, approximate distances, fault-tolerant data structures}
}

Document

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ISAAC.2025.43

New Approximate Distance Oracles and Their Applications

Authors: Avi Kadria and Liam Roditty

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 359, 36th International Symposium on Algorithms and Computation (ISAAC 2025)

Abstract

Let G = (V, E) be an undirected graph with n vertices and m edges, and let μ = m/n. A distance oracle is a data structure designed to answer approximate distance queries, with the goal of achieving low stretch, efficient space usage, and fast query time. While much of the prior work focused on distance oracles with constant query time, this paper presents a comprehensive study of distance oracles with non-constant query time. We explore the tradeoffs between space, stretch, and query time of distance oracles in various regimes. Specifically, we consider both weighted and unweighted graphs in the regimes of stretch < 2 and stretch ≥ 2. In addition, we demonstrate several applications of our new distance oracles to the n-Pairs Shortest Paths (n-PSP) problem and the All Nodes Shortest Cycles (ANSC) problem. Our main contributions are: - Weighted graphs: We present a new three-way trade-off between stretch, space, and query time, offering a natural extension of the classical Thorup–Zwick distance oracle [STOC’01 and JACM’05] to regimes with larger query time. Specifically, for any 0 < r < 1/2 and integer k ≥ 1, we construct a (2k(1 - 2r) - 1)-stretch distance oracle with Õ(m + n^{1 + 1/k}) space and Õ(μ n^r) query time. This construction provides an asymptotic improvement over the classical (2k - 1)-stretch and O(n^{1 + 1/k})-space tradeoff of Thorup and Zwick in sparse graphs, at the cost of increased query time. We also improve upon a result of Dalirrooyfard et al. [FOCS’22], who presented a (2k - 2)-stretch distance oracle with O(m + n^{1 + 1/k}) space and O(μ n^{1/k}) query time. In our oracle we reduce the stretch from (2k - 2) to (2k - 5) while preserving the same space and query time. - Unweighted graphs: We present a (2k - 5, 4 + 2_{odd})-approximation distance oracle with O(n^{1 + 1/k}) space and O(n^{1/k}) query time. This improves upon a (2k - 2, 2_{odd})-approximation distance oracle of Dalirrooyfard et al. [FOCS’22] while maintaining the same space and query time. We also present a distance oracle that given u,v ∈ V returns an estimate d̂(u,v) ≤ d(u,v) + 2⌈ d(u,v) / 3 ⌉ + 2, using O(n^{4/3 + 2ε}) space and O(n^{1 - 3ε}) query time. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first distance oracle that simultaneously achieves a multiplicative stretch < 2, and a space complexity O(n^{1.5 - α}), for some α > 0. - Applications for n-PSP and ANSC: We present an Õ(m^{1 - 1/(k+1)} n)-time algorithm for the n-PSP problem, that for every input pair ⟨s_i,t_i⟩, where i ∈ [n], returns an estimate d̂(s_i, t_i) such that d̂(s_i,t_i) ≤ d(s_i,t_i) + 2⌈d(s_i,t_i)/2k⌉. By allowing a small additive error, this result circumvents the conditional running time lower bound of Ω(m^{2 - 2/(k+1)} ⋅ n^{1/(k+1) - o(1)}), established by Dalirrooyfard et al. [FOCS’22] for achieving (1 + 1/k)-stretch. Additionally, we present an Õ(mn^{1 - 1/k})-time algorithm for the ANSC problem that computes, for every u ∈ V, an estimate ĉ_u such that ĉ_u ≤ SC(u) + 2⌈SC(u)/2(k - 1)⌉, where SC(u) denotes the length of the shortest cycle containing u. This improves upon the Õ(m^{2 - 2/k}n^{1/k})-time algorithm of Dalirrooyfard et al. [FOCS'22], while achieving the same approximation guarantee. We obtain our results by developing several new techniques, among them are the borderline vertices technique and the middle vertex technique, which may be of independent interest.

Cite as

Avi Kadria and Liam Roditty. New Approximate Distance Oracles and Their Applications. In 36th International Symposium on Algorithms and Computation (ISAAC 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 359, pp. 43:1-43:17, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{kadria_et_al:LIPIcs.ISAAC.2025.43,
  author =	{Kadria, Avi and Roditty, Liam},
  title =	{{New Approximate Distance Oracles and Their Applications}},
  booktitle =	{36th International Symposium on Algorithms and Computation (ISAAC 2025)},
  pages =	{43:1--43:17},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-408-6},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{359},
  editor =	{Chen, Ho-Lin and Hon, Wing-Kai and Tsai, Meng-Tsung},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ISAAC.2025.43},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-249514},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ISAAC.2025.43},
  annote =	{Keywords: Distance oracles, Fine-grained algorithms, Graph algorithms, Data structures}
}

Document

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ISAAC.2025.15

Parameterized Complexity of Directed Traveling Salesman Problem

Authors: Václav Blažej, Andreas Emil Feldmann, Foivos Fioravantes, Paweł Rzążewski, and Ondřej Suchý

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 359, 36th International Symposium on Algorithms and Computation (ISAAC 2025)

Abstract

The Directed Traveling Salesman Problem (DTSP) is a variant of the classical Traveling Salesman Problem in which the edges in the graph are directed and a vertex and edge can be visited multiple times. The goal is to find a directed closed walk of minimum length (or total weight) that visits every vertex of the given graph at least once. In a yet more general version, Directed Waypoint Routing Problem (DWRP), some vertices are marked as terminals and we are only required to visit all terminals. Furthermore, each edge has its capacity bounding the number of times this edge can be used by a solution. While both problems (and many other variants of TSP) were extensively investigated, mostly from the approximation point of view, there are surprisingly few results concerning the parameterized complexity. Our starting point is the result of Marx et al. [APPROX/RANDOM 2016] who proved that DTSP is W[1]-hard parameterized by distance to pathwidth 3. In this paper we aim to initiate the systematic complexity study of variants of Directed Traveling Salesman Problem with respect to various, mostly structural, parameters. We show that DWRP is FPT parameterized by the solution size, the feedback edge number and the vertex integrity of the underlying undirected graph. Furthermore, the problem is XP parameterized by treewidth. On the complexity side, we show that the problem is W[1]-hard parameterized by the distance to constant treedepth.

Cite as

Václav Blažej, Andreas Emil Feldmann, Foivos Fioravantes, Paweł Rzążewski, and Ondřej Suchý. Parameterized Complexity of Directed Traveling Salesman Problem. In 36th International Symposium on Algorithms and Computation (ISAAC 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 359, pp. 15:1-15:18, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{blazej_et_al:LIPIcs.ISAAC.2025.15,
  author =	{Bla\v{z}ej, V\'{a}clav and Feldmann, Andreas Emil and Fioravantes, Foivos and Rz\k{a}\.{z}ewski, Pawe{\l} and Such\'{y}, Ond\v{r}ej},
  title =	{{Parameterized Complexity of Directed Traveling Salesman Problem}},
  booktitle =	{36th International Symposium on Algorithms and Computation (ISAAC 2025)},
  pages =	{15:1--15:18},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-408-6},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{359},
  editor =	{Chen, Ho-Lin and Hon, Wing-Kai and Tsai, Meng-Tsung},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ISAAC.2025.15},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-249231},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ISAAC.2025.15},
  annote =	{Keywords: Directed TSP, parameterized complexity, vertex integrity, treedepth}
}

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