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We present a simple randomized reduction from fully-dynamic integral matching algorithms to fully-dynamic "approximately-maximal" fractional matching algorithms. Applying this reduction to the recent fractional matching algorithm of Bhattacharya, Henzinger, and Nanongkai (SODA 2017), we obtain a novel result for the integral problem. Specifically, our main result is a randomized fully-dynamic (2+epsilon)-approximate integral matching algorithm with small polylog worst-case update time. For the (2+epsilon)-approximation regime only a fractional fully-dynamic (2+epsilon)-matching algorithm with worst-case polylog update time was previously known, due to Bhattacharya et al. (SODA 2017). Our algorithm is the first algorithm that maintains approximate matchings with worst-case update time better than polynomial, for any constant approximation ratio. As a consequence, we also obtain the first constant-approximate worst-case polylogarithmic update time maximum weight matching algorithm.
@InProceedings{arar_et_al:LIPIcs.ICALP.2018.7,
author = {Arar, Moab and Chechik, Shiri and Cohen, Sarel and Stein, Cliff and Wajc, David},
title = {{Dynamic Matching: Reducing Integral Algorithms to Approximately-Maximal Fractional Algorithms}},
booktitle = {45th International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2018)},
pages = {7:1--7:16},
series = {Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
ISBN = {978-3-95977-076-7},
ISSN = {1868-8969},
year = {2018},
volume = {107},
editor = {Chatzigiannakis, Ioannis and Kaklamanis, Christos and Marx, D\'{a}niel and Sannella, Donald},
publisher = {Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
address = {Dagstuhl, Germany},
URL = {https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2018.7},
URN = {urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-90112},
doi = {10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2018.7},
annote = {Keywords: Dynamic, Worst-case, Maximum Matching, Maximum Weight Matching}
}