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DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ESA.2025.55

Safe Sequences via Dominators in DAGs for Path-Covering Problems

Authors: Francisco Sena, Romeo Rizzi, and Alexandru I. Tomescu

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 351, 33rd Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2025)

Abstract

A path-covering problem on a directed acyclic graph (DAG) requires finding a set of source-to-sink paths that cover all the nodes, all the arcs, or subsets thereof, and additionally they are optimal with respect to some function. In this paper we study safe sequences of nodes or arcs, namely sequences that appear in some path of every path cover of a DAG. We show that safe sequences admit a simple characterization via cutnodes. Moreover, we establish a connection between maximal safe sequences and leaf-to-root paths in the source- and sink-dominator trees of the DAG, which may be of independent interest in the extensive literature on dominators. With dominator trees, safe sequences admit an O(n)-size representation and a linear-time output-sensitive enumeration algorithm running in time O(m + o), where n and m are the number of nodes and arcs, respectively, and o is the total length of the maximal safe sequences. We then apply maximal safe sequences to simplify Integer Linear Programs (ILPs) for two path-covering problems, LeastSquares and MinPathError, which are at the core of RNA transcript assembly problems from bioinformatics. On various datasets, maximal safe sequences can be computed in under 0.1 seconds per graph, on average, and ILP solvers whose search space is reduced in this manner exhibit significant speed-ups. For example on graphs with a large width, average speed-ups are in the range 50-250× for MinPathError and in the range 80-350× for LeastSquares. Optimizing ILPs using safe sequences can thus become a fast building block of practical RNA transcript assembly tools, and more generally, of path-covering problems.

Cite as

Francisco Sena, Romeo Rizzi, and Alexandru I. Tomescu. Safe Sequences via Dominators in DAGs for Path-Covering Problems. In 33rd Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 351, pp. 55:1-55:17, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{sena_et_al:LIPIcs.ESA.2025.55,
  author =	{Sena, Francisco and Rizzi, Romeo and Tomescu, Alexandru I.},
  title =	{{Safe Sequences via Dominators in DAGs for Path-Covering Problems}},
  booktitle =	{33rd Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2025)},
  pages =	{55:1--55:17},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-395-9},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{351},
  editor =	{Benoit, Anne and Kaplan, Haim and Wild, Sebastian and Herman, Grzegorz},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ESA.2025.55},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-245230},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ESA.2025.55},
  annote =	{Keywords: directed acyclic graph, path cover, dominator tree, integer linear programming, least squares, minimum path error}
}

Document

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ESA.2025.26

Faster Dynamic 2-Edge Connectivity in Directed Graphs

Authors: Loukas Georgiadis, Konstantinos Giannis, and Giuseppe F. Italiano

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 351, 33rd Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2025)

Abstract

Let G be a directed graph with n vertices and m edges. We present a deterministic algorithm that maintains the 2-edge-connected components of G under a sequence of m edge insertions, with a total running time of O(n² log n). This significantly improves upon the previous best bound of O(mn) for graphs that are not very sparse. After each insertion, our algorithm supports the following queries with asymptotically optimal efficiency: - Test in constant time whether two query vertices v and w are 2-edge-connected in G. - Report in O(n) time all the 2-edge-connected components of G. Our approach builds on the recent framework of Georgiadis, Italiano, and Kosinas [FOCS 2024] for computing the 3-edge-connected components of a directed graph in linear time, which leverages the minset-poset technique of Gabow [TALG 2016]. Additionally, we provide a deterministic decremental algorithm for maintaining 2-edge-connectivity in strongly connected directed graphs. Given a sequence of m edge deletions, our algorithm maintains the 2-edge-connected components in total time n^(2+o(1)), while supporting the same queries as the incremental algorithm. This result assumes that the edges of a fixed spanning tree of G and of its reverse graph G^R are not deleted. Previously, the best known bound for the decremental problem was O(mn log n), obtained by a randomized algorithm without restrictions on the deletions. In contrast to prior dynamic algorithms for 2-edge-connectivity in directed graphs, our method avoids the incremental computation of dominator trees, thereby circumventing the known conditional lower bound of Ω(mn).

Cite as

Loukas Georgiadis, Konstantinos Giannis, and Giuseppe F. Italiano. Faster Dynamic 2-Edge Connectivity in Directed Graphs. In 33rd Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 351, pp. 26:1-26:16, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{georgiadis_et_al:LIPIcs.ESA.2025.26,
  author =	{Georgiadis, Loukas and Giannis, Konstantinos and Italiano, Giuseppe F.},
  title =	{{Faster Dynamic 2-Edge Connectivity in Directed Graphs}},
  booktitle =	{33rd Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2025)},
  pages =	{26:1--26:16},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-395-9},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{351},
  editor =	{Benoit, Anne and Kaplan, Haim and Wild, Sebastian and Herman, Grzegorz},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ESA.2025.26},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-244945},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ESA.2025.26},
  annote =	{Keywords: Connectivity, dynamic algorithms, directed graphs}
}

Document

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ESA.2025.107

Length-Constrained Directed Expander Decomposition and Length-Constrained Vertex-Capacitated Flow Shortcuts

Authors: Bernhard Haeupler, Yaowei Long, Thatchaphol Saranurak, and Shengzhe Wang

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 351, 33rd Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2025)

Abstract

We show the existence of length-constrained expander decomposition in directed graphs and undirected vertex-capacitated graphs. Previously, its existence was shown only in undirected edge-capacitated graphs [Bernhard Haeupler et al., 2022; Haeupler et al., 2024]. Along the way, we prove the multi-commodity maxflow-mincut theorems for length-constrained expansion in both directed and undirected vertex-capacitated graphs. Based on our decomposition, we build a length-constrained flow shortcut for undirected vertex-capacitated graphs, which roughly speaking is a set of edges and vertices added to the graph so that every multi-commodity flow demand can be routed with approximately the same vertex-congestion and length, but all flow paths only contain few edges. This generalizes the shortcut for undirected edge-capacitated graphs from [Bernhard Haeupler et al., 2024]. Length-constrained expander decomposition and flow shortcuts have been crucial in the recent algorithms in undirected edge-capacitated graphs [Bernhard Haeupler et al., 2024; Haeupler et al., 2024]. Our work thus serves as a foundation to generalize these concepts to directed and vertex-capacitated graphs.

Cite as

Bernhard Haeupler, Yaowei Long, Thatchaphol Saranurak, and Shengzhe Wang. Length-Constrained Directed Expander Decomposition and Length-Constrained Vertex-Capacitated Flow Shortcuts. In 33rd Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 351, pp. 107:1-107:17, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{haeupler_et_al:LIPIcs.ESA.2025.107,
  author =	{Haeupler, Bernhard and Long, Yaowei and Saranurak, Thatchaphol and Wang, Shengzhe},
  title =	{{Length-Constrained Directed Expander Decomposition and Length-Constrained Vertex-Capacitated Flow Shortcuts}},
  booktitle =	{33rd Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2025)},
  pages =	{107:1--107:17},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-395-9},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{351},
  editor =	{Benoit, Anne and Kaplan, Haim and Wild, Sebastian and Herman, Grzegorz},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ESA.2025.107},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-245765},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ESA.2025.107},
  annote =	{Keywords: Length-Constrained Expander, Expander Decomposition, Shortcut}
}

Document

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ESA.2025.36

Efficient Contractions of Dynamic Graphs - With Applications

Authors: Monika Henzinger, Evangelos Kosinas, Robin Münk, and Harald Räcke

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 351, 33rd Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2025)

Abstract

A non-trivial minimum cut (NMC) sparsifier is a multigraph Ĝ that preserves all non-trivial minimum cuts of a given undirected graph G. We introduce a flexible data structure for fully dynamic graphs that can efficiently provide an NMC sparsifier upon request at any point during the sequence of updates. We employ simple dynamic forest data structures to achieve a fast from-scratch construction of the sparsifier at query time. Based on the strength of the adversary and desired type of time bounds, the data structure comes with different guarantees. Specifically, let G be a fully dynamic simple graph with n vertices and minimum degree δ. Then our data structure supports an insertion/deletion of an edge to/from G in n^o(1) worst-case time. Furthermore, upon request, it can return w.h.p. an NMC sparsifier of G that has O(n/δ) vertices and O(n) edges, in Ô(n) time. The probabilistic guarantees hold against an adaptive adversary. Alternatively, the update and query times can be improved to Õ(1) and Õ(n) respectively, if amortized-time guarantees are sufficient, or if the adversary is oblivious. Throughout the paper, we use Õ to hide polylogarithmic factors and Ô to hide subpolynomial (i.e., n^o(1)) factors. We discuss two applications of our new data structure. First, it can be used to efficiently report a cactus representation of all minimum cuts of a fully dynamic simple graph. Building this cactus for the NMC sparsifier instead of the original graph allows for a construction time that is sublinear in the number of edges. Against an adaptive adversary, we can with high probability output the cactus representation in worst-case Ô(n) time. Second, our data structure allows us to efficiently compute the maximal k-edge-connected subgraphs of undirected simple graphs, by repeatedly applying a minimum cut algorithm on the NMC sparsifier. Specifically, we can compute with high probability the maximal k-edge-connected subgraphs of a simple graph with n vertices and m edges in Õ(m+n²/k) time. This improves the best known time bounds for k = Ω(n^{1/8}) and naturally extends to the case of fully dynamic graphs.

Cite as

Monika Henzinger, Evangelos Kosinas, Robin Münk, and Harald Räcke. Efficient Contractions of Dynamic Graphs - With Applications. In 33rd Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 351, pp. 36:1-36:14, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{henzinger_et_al:LIPIcs.ESA.2025.36,
  author =	{Henzinger, Monika and Kosinas, Evangelos and M\"{u}nk, Robin and R\"{a}cke, Harald},
  title =	{{Efficient Contractions of Dynamic Graphs - With Applications}},
  booktitle =	{33rd Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2025)},
  pages =	{36:1--36:14},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-395-9},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{351},
  editor =	{Benoit, Anne and Kaplan, Haim and Wild, Sebastian and Herman, Grzegorz},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ESA.2025.36},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-245047},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ESA.2025.36},
  annote =	{Keywords: Graph Algorithms, Cut Sparsifiers, Dynamic Algorithms}
}

Document

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ESA.2025.41

Min-Max Correlation Clustering via Neighborhood Similarity

Authors: Nairen Cao, Steven Roche, and Hsin-Hao Su

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 351, 33rd Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2025)

Abstract

We present an efficient algorithm for the min-max correlation clustering problem. The input is a complete graph where edges are labeled as either positive (+) or negative (-), and the objective is to find a clustering that minimizes the 𝓁_∞-norm of the disagreement vector over all vertices. We address this problem with an efficient (3 + ε)-approximation algorithm that runs in nearly linear time, Õ(|E^+|), where |E^+| denotes the number of positive edges. This improves upon the previous best-known approximation guarantee of 4 by Heidrich, Irmai, and Andres [Heidrich et al., 2024], whose algorithm runs in O(|V|² + |V| D²) time, where |V| is the number of nodes and D is the maximum degree in the graph (V,E^+). Furthermore, we extend our algorithm to the massively parallel computation (MPC) model and the semi-streaming model. In the MPC model, our algorithm runs on machines with memory sublinear in the number of nodes and takes O(1) rounds. In the streaming model, our algorithm requires only Õ(|V|) space, where |V| is the number of vertices in the graph. Our algorithms are purely combinatorial. They are based on a novel structural observation about the optimal min-max instance, which enables the construction of a (3 + ε)-approximation algorithm using O(|E^+|) neighborhood similarity queries. By leveraging random projection, we further show these queries can be computed in nearly linear time.

Cite as

Nairen Cao, Steven Roche, and Hsin-Hao Su. Min-Max Correlation Clustering via Neighborhood Similarity. In 33rd Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 351, pp. 41:1-41:18, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{cao_et_al:LIPIcs.ESA.2025.41,
  author =	{Cao, Nairen and Roche, Steven and Su, Hsin-Hao},
  title =	{{Min-Max Correlation Clustering via Neighborhood Similarity}},
  booktitle =	{33rd Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2025)},
  pages =	{41:1--41:18},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-395-9},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{351},
  editor =	{Benoit, Anne and Kaplan, Haim and Wild, Sebastian and Herman, Grzegorz},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ESA.2025.41},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-245098},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ESA.2025.41},
  annote =	{Keywords: Min Max Correlation Clustering, Approximate algorithms}
}

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Invited Talk

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.2

Higher Connectivity in Directed Graphs (Invited Talk)

Authors: Giuseppe F. Italiano

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 345, 50th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2025)

Abstract

The computation of edge-connected components in directed and undirected graphs is a well studied problem that is motivated by several applications (see, e.g., [Hiroshi Nagamochi and Toshihide Ibaraki, 2008]). Let G = (V,E) be a strongly connected directed graph with m edges and n vertices. An edge e ∈ E is a strong bridge if G ⧵ e is not strongly connected. More generally, a set of edges C ⊆ E is a cut if G ⧵ C is not strongly connected. If |C| = k then we refer to C as a k-sized cut of G. Hence, a strong bridge is a 1-sized cut of G. A digraph G is k-edge-connected if it has no (k-1)-cuts. We say that two vertices v and w are k-edge-connected, and we denote this relation by v ↔_{k} w, if there are k edge-disjoint directed paths from v to w and k edge-disjoint directed paths from w to v. (Note that a path from v to w and a path from w to v need not be edge-disjoint). By Menger’s theorem [Karl Menger, 1927], v ↔_{k} w if and only if the removal of any set of at most k-1 edges leaves v and w in the same strongly connected component. We define a k-edge-connected component of a digraph G = (V,E) as a maximal subset U ⊆ V such that u ↔_{k} v for all u, v ∈ U. The k-edge-connected components of G form a partition of V, since v ↔_{k} w is an equivalence relation [Loukas Georgiadis et al., 2016]. Connectivity-related problems are known to be much more difficult in directed graphs than in undirected graphs (see, e.g., [Harold N. Gabow, 2016; Monika Henzinger et al., 2020; Ken-Ichi Kawarabayashi and Mikkel Thorup, 2018]). Indeed, there is a fundamental difference in the structure of the cuts in the two scenarios. Specifically, it has been established more than 60 years ago [Gomory and Hu, 1961] that edge cuts in undirected graphs have a nice structure, as defined by the Gomory-Hu tree (or cut tree), which plays a special role in identifying, for any k, the k-edge-connected components of undirected graphs. Furthermore, many efficient algorithms for computing Gomory-Hu trees are available (see e.g., [Amir Abboud et al., 2021; Amir Abboud et al., 2022; Amir Abboud et al., 2023; Chen et al., 2022; Hariharan et al., 2007; Li et al., 2022]). On the contrary, in directed graphs edge cuts have a more complicated structure, and it was proved by Benczúr [Benczúr, 1995] that in this case cut trees do not even exist. It is thus not surprising that, while it is known how to compute the k-edge-connected components of undirected graphs in linear time for k ≤ 5 [Harold N. Gabow, 2000; Zvi Galil and Giuseppe F. Italiano, 1991; Loukas Georgiadis et al., 2021; John E. Hopcroft and Robert E. Tarjan, 1973; Kosinas, 2024; Wojciech Nadara et al., 2021; Hiroshi Nagamochi and Toshihide Ibaraki, 1992; Robert E. Tarjan, 1972; Yung H. Tsin, 2009], the situation is more challenging for directed graphs, where linear-time algorithms are only known for k ≤ 2 [Robert E. Tarjan, 1972; Loukas Georgiadis et al., 2020]. Also, as argued in [Loukas Georgiadis et al., 2023], there is a substantial increase in the inherent difficulty of the problem of computing k-edge-connected components in digraphs for k = 3 compared to k = 2. Indeed, for k = 2 any pair of vertices s,t that are not 2-edge-connected can be separated by only O(n) s-t min-cuts of size 1, for which we can define a total order [Giuseppe F. Italiano et al., 2012]. For k = 3, any pair of vertices s,t that are 2-edge-connected but not 3-edge-connected, can be separated by as many as O(n²) s-t min-cuts of size 2, which are also not totally ordered. This makes it difficult to explore the effect of removing each such cut of size 2 on the strong connectivity of the graph, similar to what was done for the case of k = 2 [Loukas Georgiadis et al., 2020]. Until recently, the best-known bound for computing the k-edge-connected components of a digraph, for constant k ≥ 3, was O(mn) by Nagamochi and Watanabe [Hiroshi Nagamochi and Toshimasa Watanabe, 1993]. Georgiadis et al. [Loukas Georgiadis et al., 2023] presented a randomized (Monte-Carlo) algorithm that computes the 3-edge-connected components of a digraph with m edges in Õ(m^{3/2}) time. Their algorithm involves a nontrivial extension of the framework of [Forster et al., 2020; Nanongkai et al., 2019] for deciding whether a digraph is (k+1)-edge-connected. It applies a local search procedure [Shiri Chechik et al., 2017; Forster et al., 2020] for identifying 2-in or 2-out sets, i.e., vertex sets S ⊆ V such that there are at most 2 edges from V ⧵ S to S or from S to V⧵ S. After finding such a set S, [Loukas Georgiadis et al., 2023] applies an efficient graph operation for replacing S with a gadget of small size that preserves the pairwise connectivity among the vertices of V ⧵ S. As in [Forster et al., 2020; Nanongkai et al., 2019], local search is initiated from sampled edges, but the overall scheme is more complicated to guarantee that enough 2-in sets or 2-out sets are identified that separate vertices that are not 3-edge-connected. Recently, Georgiadis, Italiano and Kosinas [Georgiadis et al., 2024] improved significantly the bound of [Loukas Georgiadis et al., 2023] by showing how to compute the 3-edge-connected components of a digraph in linear time with a deterministic algorithm. Their algorithm differs substantially from [Loukas Georgiadis et al., 2023], as it is based on a new characterization of 2-sized cuts in digraphs, which requires new techniques and a suitable combination of the notions of 2-connectivity-light graphs [Loukas Georgiadis et al., 2023] and of maximally edge-disjoint strongly divergent spanning trees [Loukas Georgiadis and Robert E. Tarjan, 2015; Robert E. Tarjan, 1976]. In particular, Georgiadis, Italiano and Kosinas [Georgiadis et al., 2024] showed how to modify the minset-poset technique of Gabow [Harold N. Gabow, 2016], in order to find the 3-edge-connected components of a digraph with m edges in O(m) time. In the invited talk, I will survey some of this recent work on higher connectivity on directed graphs.

Cite as

Giuseppe F. Italiano. Higher Connectivity in Directed Graphs (Invited Talk). In 50th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 345, pp. 2:1-2:4, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{italiano:LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.2,
  author =	{Italiano, Giuseppe F.},
  title =	{{Higher Connectivity in Directed Graphs}},
  booktitle =	{50th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2025)},
  pages =	{2:1--2:4},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-388-1},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{345},
  editor =	{Gawrychowski, Pawe{\l} and Mazowiecki, Filip and Skrzypczak, Micha{\l}},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.2},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-241096},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.2},
  annote =	{Keywords: Connectivity, Directed graphs, Graph algorithms}
}

Document

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.SEA.2025.22

Concurrent Iterated Local Search for the Maximum Weight Independent Set Problem

Authors: Ernestine Großmann, Kenneth Langedal, and Christian Schulz

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 338, 23rd International Symposium on Experimental Algorithms (SEA 2025)

Abstract

The Maximum Weight Independent Set problem is a fundamental NP-hard problem in combinatorial optimization with several real-world applications. Given an undirected vertex-weighted graph, the problem is to find a subset of the vertices with the highest possible weight under the constraint that no two vertices in the set can share an edge. This work presents a new iterated local search heuristic called CHILS (Concurrent Hybrid Iterated Local Search). The implementation of CHILS is specifically designed to handle large graphs of varying densities. CHILS outperforms the current state-of-the-art on commonly used benchmark instances, especially on the largest instances. As an added benefit, CHILS can run in parallel to leverage the power of multicore processors. The general technique used in CHILS is a new concurrent metaheuristic called Concurrent Difference-Core Heuristic that can also be applied to other combinatorial problems.

Cite as

Ernestine Großmann, Kenneth Langedal, and Christian Schulz. Concurrent Iterated Local Search for the Maximum Weight Independent Set Problem. In 23rd International Symposium on Experimental Algorithms (SEA 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 338, pp. 22:1-22:18, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{gromann_et_al:LIPIcs.SEA.2025.22,
  author =	{Gro{\ss}mann, Ernestine and Langedal, Kenneth and Schulz, Christian},
  title =	{{Concurrent Iterated Local Search for the Maximum Weight Independent Set Problem}},
  booktitle =	{23rd International Symposium on Experimental Algorithms (SEA 2025)},
  pages =	{22:1--22:18},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-375-1},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{338},
  editor =	{Mutzel, Petra and Prezza, Nicola},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.SEA.2025.22},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-232600},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.SEA.2025.22},
  annote =	{Keywords: Randomized Local Search, Heuristics, Maximum Weight Independent Set, Algorithm Engineering, Parallel Computing}
}

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Track A: Algorithms, Complexity and Games

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.110

An Optimal 3-Fault-Tolerant Connectivity Oracle

Authors: Evangelos Kosinas

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 334, 52nd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2025)

Abstract

We present an optimal oracle for answering connectivity queries in undirected graphs in the presence of at most three vertex failures. Specifically, we show that we can process a graph G in O(n+m) time, in order to build a data structure that occupies O(n) space, which can be used in order to answer queries of the form "given a set F of at most three vertices, and two vertices x and y not in F, are x and y connected in G⧵ F?" in constant time, where n and m denote the number of vertices and edges, respectively, of G. The idea is to rely on the DFS-based framework introduced by Kosinas [ESA'23], for handling connectivity queries in the presence of multiple vertex failures. Our technical contribution is to show how to appropriately extend the toolkit of the DFS-based parameters, in order to optimally handle up to three vertex failures. Our approach has the interesting property that it does not rely on a compact representation of vertex cuts, and has the potential to provide optimal solutions for more vertex failures. Furthermore, we show that the DFS-based framework can be easily extended in order to answer vertex-cut queries, and the number of connected components in the presence of multiple vertex failures. In the case of three vertex failures, we can answer such queries in O(log n) time.

Cite as

Evangelos Kosinas. An Optimal 3-Fault-Tolerant Connectivity Oracle. In 52nd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 334, pp. 110:1-110:20, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{kosinas:LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.110,
  author =	{Kosinas, Evangelos},
  title =	{{An Optimal 3-Fault-Tolerant Connectivity Oracle}},
  booktitle =	{52nd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2025)},
  pages =	{110:1--110:20},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-372-0},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{334},
  editor =	{Censor-Hillel, Keren and Grandoni, Fabrizio and Ouaknine, Jo\"{e}l and Puppis, Gabriele},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.110},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-234879},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.110},
  annote =	{Keywords: Graphs, Connectivity, Fault-Tolerant, Oracles}
}

Document

Track A: Algorithms, Complexity and Games

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.27

Minimum+1 Steiner Cut and Dual Edge Sensitivity Oracle: Bridging Gap between Global and (s,t)-cut

Authors: Koustav Bhanja

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 334, 52nd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2025)

Abstract

Let G = (V,E) be an undirected multi-graph on n = |V| vertices and S ⊆ V be a Steiner set in G. Steiner cut is a fundamental concept; moreover, global cut (|S| = n), as well as (s,t)-cut (|S| = 2), is just a special case of Steiner cut. We study Steiner cuts of capacity minimum+1, and as an important application, we provide a dual edge Sensitivity Oracle for Steiner mincut - a compact data structure for efficiently reporting a Steiner mincut after failure/insertion of any pair of edges. A compact data structure for cuts of capacity minimum+1 has been designed for both global cuts [Dinitz and Nutov, STOC 1995] and (s,t)-cuts [Baswana, Bhanja, and Pandey, ICALP 2022 & TALG 2023]. Moreover, both data structures are also used crucially to design a dual edge Sensitivity Oracle for their respective mincuts. Unfortunately, except for these two extreme scenarios of Steiner cuts, no generalization of these results is known. Therefore, to address this gap, we present the following first results on Steiner cuts for any S satisfying 2 ≤ |S| ≤ n. 1) Data Structure for Minimum+1 Steiner Cut: There is an {O}(n(n-|S|+1)) space data structure that, given any pair of vertices u,v, can determine in {O}(1) time whether the Steiner cut of the least capacity separating u and v has capacity minimum+1. It can report such a cut, if it exists, in {O}(n) time, which is worst-case optimal. 2) Dual Edge Sensitivity Oracle: We design the following pair of data structures. (a) There is an {O}(n(n-|S|+1)) space data structure that, after the failure or insertion of any pair of edges in G, can report the capacity of Steiner mincut in {O}(1) time and a Steiner mincut in {O}(n) time, which is worst-case optimal. (b) If we are interested in reporting only the capacity of Steiner mincut, there is a more compact data structure that occupies {O}((n-|S|)²+n) space and can report the capacity of Steiner mincut in {O}(1) time after the failure or insertion of any pair of edges. 3) Lower Bound for Sensitivity Oracle: For undirected multi-graphs, for any Steiner set S ⊆ V, any data structure that, after the failure or insertion of any pair of edges, can report the capacity of Steiner mincut must occupy Ω((n-|S|)²) bits of space in the worst case, irrespective of the query time. To arrive at our results, we provide several techniques, especially a generalization of the 3-Star Lemma given by Dinitz and Vainshtein [SICOMP 2000], which is of independent interest. Our results achieve the same space and time bounds of the existing results for the two extreme scenarios of Steiner cuts - global and (s,t)-cut. In addition, the space occupied by our data structures in (1) and (2) reduces as |S| tends to n. Also, they occupy subquadratic space if |S| is close to n.

Cite as

Koustav Bhanja. Minimum+1 Steiner Cut and Dual Edge Sensitivity Oracle: Bridging Gap between Global and (s,t)-cut. In 52nd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 334, pp. 27:1-27:20, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{bhanja:LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.27,
  author =	{Bhanja, Koustav},
  title =	{{Minimum+1 Steiner Cut and Dual Edge Sensitivity Oracle: Bridging Gap between Global and (s,t)-cut}},
  booktitle =	{52nd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2025)},
  pages =	{27:1--27:20},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-372-0},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{334},
  editor =	{Censor-Hillel, Keren and Grandoni, Fabrizio and Ouaknine, Jo\"{e}l and Puppis, Gabriele},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.27},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-234040},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.27},
  annote =	{Keywords: cut, mincut, minimum+1, steiner, edge fault, sensitivity oracle, dual edges}
}

Document

Track A: Algorithms, Complexity and Games

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.62

Deterministic k-Median Clustering in Near-Optimal Time

Authors: Martín Costa and Ermiya Farokhnejad

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 334, 52nd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2025)

Abstract

The metric k-median problem is a textbook clustering problem. As input, we are given a metric space V of size n and an integer k, and our task is to find a subset S ⊆ V of at most k "centers" that minimizes the total distance from each point in V to its nearest center in S. Mettu and Plaxton [UAI'02] gave a randomized algorithm for k-median that computes a O(1)-approximation in Õ(nk) time. They also showed that any algorithm for this problem with a bounded approximation ratio must have a running time of Ω(nk). Thus, the running time of their algorithm is optimal up to polylogarithmic factors. For deterministic k-median, Guha et al. [FOCS'00] gave an algorithm that computes a poly(log (n/k))-approximation in Õ(nk) time, where the degree of the polynomial in the approximation is unspecified. To the best of our knowledge, this remains the state-of-the-art approximation of any deterministic k-median algorithm with this running time. This leads us to the following natural question: What is the best approximation of a deterministic k-median algorithm with near-optimal running time? We make progress in answering this question by giving a deterministic algorithm that computes a O(log(n/k))-approximation in Õ(nk) time. We also provide a lower bound showing that any deterministic algorithm with this running time must have an approximation ratio of Ω(log n/(log k + log log n)), establishing a gap between the randomized and deterministic settings for k-median.

Cite as

Martín Costa and Ermiya Farokhnejad. Deterministic k-Median Clustering in Near-Optimal Time. In 52nd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 334, pp. 62:1-62:20, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{costa_et_al:LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.62,
  author =	{Costa, Mart{\'\i}n and Farokhnejad, Ermiya},
  title =	{{Deterministic k-Median Clustering in Near-Optimal Time}},
  booktitle =	{52nd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2025)},
  pages =	{62:1--62:20},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-372-0},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{334},
  editor =	{Censor-Hillel, Keren and Grandoni, Fabrizio and Ouaknine, Jo\"{e}l and Puppis, Gabriele},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.62},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-234395},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.62},
  annote =	{Keywords: k-clustering, k-median, deterministic algorithms, approximation algorithms}
}

Document

Track A: Algorithms, Complexity and Games

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.92

Fully Dynamic Algorithms for Transitive Reduction

Authors: Gramoz Goranci, Adam Karczmarz, Ali Momeni, and Nikos Parotsidis

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 334, 52nd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2025)

Abstract

Given a directed graph G, a transitive reduction G^t of G (first studied by Aho, Garey, Ullman [SICOMP `72]) is a minimal subgraph of G that preserves the reachability relation between every two vertices in G. In this paper, we study the computational complexity of transitive reduction in the dynamic setting. We obtain the first fully dynamic algorithms for maintaining a transitive reduction of a general directed graph undergoing updates such as edge insertions or deletions. Our first algorithm achieves O(m+n log n) amortized update time, which is near-optimal for sparse directed graphs, and can even support extended update operations such as inserting a set of edges all incident to the same vertex, or deleting an arbitrary set of edges. Our second algorithm relies on fast matrix multiplication and achieves O(m+ n^{1.585}) worst-case update time.

Cite as

Gramoz Goranci, Adam Karczmarz, Ali Momeni, and Nikos Parotsidis. Fully Dynamic Algorithms for Transitive Reduction. In 52nd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 334, pp. 92:1-92:20, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{goranci_et_al:LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.92,
  author =	{Goranci, Gramoz and Karczmarz, Adam and Momeni, Ali and Parotsidis, Nikos},
  title =	{{Fully Dynamic Algorithms for Transitive Reduction}},
  booktitle =	{52nd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2025)},
  pages =	{92:1--92:20},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-372-0},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{334},
  editor =	{Censor-Hillel, Keren and Grandoni, Fabrizio and Ouaknine, Jo\"{e}l and Puppis, Gabriele},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.92},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-234697},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.92},
  annote =	{Keywords: Spectral sparsification, Dynamic algorithms, (Directed) hypergraphs, Data structures}
}

Document

Track A: Algorithms, Complexity and Games

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.42

Fitting Tree Metrics and Ultrametrics in Data Streams

Authors: Amir Carmel, Debarati Das, Evangelos Kipouridis, and Evangelos Pipis

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 334, 52nd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2025)

Abstract

Fitting distances to tree metrics and ultrametrics are two widely used methods in hierarchical clustering, primarily explored within the context of numerical taxonomy. Formally, given a positive distance function D: binom(V,2) → ℝ_{>0}, the goal is to find a tree (or an ultrametric) T including all elements of set V, such that the difference between the distances among vertices in T and those specified by D is minimized. Numerical taxonomy was first introduced by Sneath and Sokal [Nature 1962], and since then it has been studied extensively in both biology and computer science. In this paper, we initiate the study of ultrametric and tree metric fitting problems in the semi-streaming model, where the distances between pairs of elements from V (with |V| = n), defined by the function D, can arrive in an arbitrary order. We study these problems under various distance norms; namely the 𝓁₀ objective, which aims to minimize the number of modified entries in D to fit a tree-metric or an ultrametric; the 𝓁₁ objective, which seeks to minimize the total sum of distance errors across all pairs of points in V; and the 𝓁_∞ objective, which focuses on minimizing the maximum error incurred by any entries in D. - Our first result addresses the 𝓁₀ objective. We provide a single-pass polynomial-time Õ(n)-space O(1) approximation algorithm for ultrametrics and prove that no single-pass exact algorithm exists, even with exponential time. - Next, we show that the algorithm for 𝓁₀ implies an O(Δ/δ) approximation for the 𝓁₁ objective, where Δ is the maximum, and δ is the minimum absolute difference between distances in the input. This bound matches the best-known approximation for the RAM model using a combinatorial algorithm when Δ/δ = O(n). - For the 𝓁_∞ objective, we provide a complete characterization of the ultrametric fitting problem. First, we present a single-pass polynomial-time Õ(n)-space 2-approximation algorithm and show that no better than 2-approximation is possible, even with exponential time. Furthermore, we show that with an additional pass, it is possible to achieve a polynomial-time exact algorithm for ultrametrics. - Finally, we extend all these results to tree metrics by using only one additional pass through the stream and without asymptotically increasing the approximation factor.

Cite as

Amir Carmel, Debarati Das, Evangelos Kipouridis, and Evangelos Pipis. Fitting Tree Metrics and Ultrametrics in Data Streams. In 52nd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 334, pp. 42:1-42:21, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{carmel_et_al:LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.42,
  author =	{Carmel, Amir and Das, Debarati and Kipouridis, Evangelos and Pipis, Evangelos},
  title =	{{Fitting Tree Metrics and Ultrametrics in Data Streams}},
  booktitle =	{52nd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2025)},
  pages =	{42:1--42:21},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-372-0},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{334},
  editor =	{Censor-Hillel, Keren and Grandoni, Fabrizio and Ouaknine, Jo\"{e}l and Puppis, Gabriele},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.42},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-234197},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.42},
  annote =	{Keywords: Streaming, Clustering, Ultrametrics, Tree metrics, Distance fitting}
}

Document

Track A: Algorithms, Complexity and Games

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.40

Simultaneously Approximating All Norms for Massively Parallel Correlation Clustering

Authors: Nairen Cao, Shi Li, and Jia Ye

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 334, 52nd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2025)

Abstract

We revisit the simultaneous approximation model for the correlation clustering problem introduced by Davies, Moseley, and Newman [Davies et al., 2024]. The objective is to find a clustering that minimizes given norms of the disagreement vector over all vertices. We present an efficient algorithm that produces a clustering that is simultaneously a 63.3-approximation for all monotone symmetric norms. This significantly improves upon the previous approximation ratio of 6348 due to Davies, Moseley, and Newman [Davies et al., 2024], which works only for 𝓁_p-norms. To achieve this result, we first reduce the problem to approximating all top-k norms simultaneously, using the connection between monotone symmetric norms and top-k norms established by Chakrabarty and Swamy [Chakrabarty and Swamy, 2019]. Then we develop a novel procedure that constructs a 12.66-approximate fractional clustering for all top-k norms. Our 63.3-approximation ratio is obtained by combining this with the 5-approximate rounding algorithm by Kalhan, Makarychev, and Zhou [Kalhan et al., 2019]. We then demonstrate that with a loss of ε in the approximation ratio, the algorithm can be adapted to run in nearly linear time and in the MPC (massively parallel computation) model with poly-logarithmic number of rounds. By allowing a further trade-off in the approximation ratio to (359+ε), the number of MPC rounds can be reduced to a constant.

Cite as

Nairen Cao, Shi Li, and Jia Ye. Simultaneously Approximating All Norms for Massively Parallel Correlation Clustering. In 52nd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 334, pp. 40:1-40:20, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{cao_et_al:LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.40,
  author =	{Cao, Nairen and Li, Shi and Ye, Jia},
  title =	{{Simultaneously Approximating All Norms for Massively Parallel Correlation Clustering}},
  booktitle =	{52nd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2025)},
  pages =	{40:1--40:20},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-372-0},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{334},
  editor =	{Censor-Hillel, Keren and Grandoni, Fabrizio and Ouaknine, Jo\"{e}l and Puppis, Gabriele},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.40},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-234171},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.40},
  annote =	{Keywords: Correlation Clustering, All-Norms, Approximation Algorithm, Massively Parallel Algorithm}
}

Document

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2025.32

A Faster Algorithm for Constrained Correlation Clustering

Authors: Nick Fischer, Evangelos Kipouridis, Jonas Klausen, and Mikkel Thorup

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 327, 42nd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2025)

Abstract

In the Correlation Clustering problem we are given n nodes, and a preference for each pair of nodes indicating whether we prefer the two endpoints to be in the same cluster or not. The output is a clustering inducing the minimum number of violated preferences. In certain cases, however, the preference between some pairs may be too important to be violated. The constrained version of this problem specifies pairs of nodes that must be in the same cluster as well as pairs that must not be in the same cluster (hard constraints). The output clustering has to satisfy all hard constraints while minimizing the number of violated preferences. Constrained Correlation Clustering is APX-Hard and has been approximated within a factor 3 by van Zuylen et al. [SODA '07]. Their algorithm is based on rounding an LP with Θ(n³) constraints, resulting in an Ω(n^{3ω}) running time. In this work, using a more combinatorial approach, we show how to approximate this problem significantly faster at the cost of a slightly weaker approximation factor. In particular, our algorithm runs in Õ(n³) time (notice that the input size is Θ(n²)) and approximates Constrained Correlation Clustering within a factor 16. To achieve our result we need properties guaranteed by a particular influential algorithm for (unconstrained) Correlation Clustering, the CC-PIVOT algorithm. This algorithm chooses a pivot node u, creates a cluster containing u and all its preferred nodes, and recursively solves the rest of the problem. It is known that selecting pivots at random gives a 3-approximation. As a byproduct of our work, we provide a derandomization of the CC-PIVOT algorithm that still achieves the 3-approximation; furthermore, we show that there exist instances where no ordering of the pivots can give a (3-ε)-approximation, for any constant ε. Finally, we introduce a node-weighted version of Correlation Clustering, which can be approximated within factor 3 using our insights on Constrained Correlation Clustering. As the general weighted version of Correlation Clustering would require a major breakthrough to approximate within a factor o(log n), Node-Weighted Correlation Clustering may be a practical alternative.

Cite as

Nick Fischer, Evangelos Kipouridis, Jonas Klausen, and Mikkel Thorup. A Faster Algorithm for Constrained Correlation Clustering. In 42nd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 327, pp. 32:1-32:18, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{fischer_et_al:LIPIcs.STACS.2025.32,
  author =	{Fischer, Nick and Kipouridis, Evangelos and Klausen, Jonas and Thorup, Mikkel},
  title =	{{A Faster Algorithm for Constrained Correlation Clustering}},
  booktitle =	{42nd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2025)},
  pages =	{32:1--32:18},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-365-2},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{327},
  editor =	{Beyersdorff, Olaf and Pilipczuk, Micha{\l} and Pimentel, Elaine 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.2025.32},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-228585},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2025.32},
  annote =	{Keywords: Clustering, Constrained Correlation Clustering, Approximation}
}

Document

Invited Talk

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ESA.2024.1

Recent Progress on Correlation Clustering: From Local Algorithms to Better Approximation Algorithms and Back (Invited Talk)

Authors: Vincent Cohen-Addad

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 308, 32nd Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2024)

Abstract

Correlation clustering is a classic model for clustering problems arising in machine learning and data mining. Given a set of data elements represented as vertices of a graph and pairwise similarity represented as edges, the goal is to find a partition of the vertex set so as to minimize the total number of edges across the parts plus the total number of non-edges within the parts. Introduced in the early 2000s [Bansal et al., 2004], correlation clustering has received a large amount of attention through the years. A natural linear programming relaxation was shown to have an integrality gap of at least 2 and at most 2.5 [Ailon et al., 2008] in 2005, and in 2015 at most 2.06 [Chawla et al., 2015]. In 2021, motivated by large-scale application new structural insights allowed to derive a simple, practical algorithm that achieved an O(1)-approximation in a variety of models (Massively Parallel, Sublinear, Streaming or Differentially-private) [Vincent Cohen{-}Addad et al., 2021; Cohen-Addad et al., 2022]. These new insights turned out to be a key building block in designing better algorithms: It serves as a pre-clustering of the input graph that enables algorithm with approximation guarantees significantly better than 2 [Vincent Cohen{-}Addad et al., 2023; Vincent Cohen{-}Addad et al., 2022]. It is a key component in the new algorithm that achieves a 1.44-approximation [Nairen Cao et al., 2024] and in the new local-search based 1.84-approximation for the Massively Parallel, Sublinear, and Streaming models [Vincent Cohen{-}Addad et al., 2024]. This talk will review the above recent development and what are the main open research directions. A collection of joint works with Nairen Cao, Silvio Lattanzi, Euiwoong Lee, Shi Li, David Rasmussen Lolck, Slobodan Mitrovic, Alantha Newman, Ashkan Norouzi-Fard, Nikos Parotsidis, Marcin Pilipczuk, Jakub Tarnawski, Mikkel Thorup, Lukas Vogl, Shuyi Yan, Hanwen Zhang.

Cite as

Vincent Cohen-Addad. Recent Progress on Correlation Clustering: From Local Algorithms to Better Approximation Algorithms and Back (Invited Talk). In 32nd Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2024). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 308, pp. 1:1-1:2, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2024)

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@InProceedings{cohenaddad:LIPIcs.ESA.2024.1,
  author =	{Cohen-Addad, Vincent},
  title =	{{Recent Progress on Correlation Clustering: From Local Algorithms to Better Approximation Algorithms and Back}},
  booktitle =	{32nd Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2024)},
  pages =	{1:1--1:2},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-338-6},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2024},
  volume =	{308},
  editor =	{Chan, Timothy and Fischer, Johannes and Iacono, John and Herman, Grzegorz},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ESA.2024.1},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-210728},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ESA.2024.1},
  annote =	{Keywords: Approximation Algorithms, Clustering, Local Model}
}

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