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Documents authored by Ghorbani, Ebrahim

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Track A: Algorithms, Complexity and Games
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2026.96
A 9/4-Approximation for Directed Feedback Vertex Sets in Quasi-Transitive Digraphs

Authors: Ebrahim Ghorbani and Matthias Mnich

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 374, 53rd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2026)

Abstract
We provide the first non-trivial approximation algorithm for the fundamental directed feedback vertex set (DFVS) problem in the class of quasi-transitive digraphs. This class of digraphs encompasses both dense and sparse classes of digraphs, for which specialized DFVS algorithms were proposed in the literature, like tournaments or transitive orientations of bounded treewidth graphs. Our approximation algorithm can handle both dense graphs, as well as sparse graphs, by a single approach, which is based on carefully analysing the solutions to a linear programming relaxation of DFVS. It also handles the node-weighted DFVS problem, for which it computes a 9/4-approximation in polynomial time. Along the way, we improve and simplify the best-known deterministic polynomial-time approximation algorithms for DFVS in tournaments (Cai et al., SICOMP 2001; Mnich et al., ESA 2016).
Cite as

Ebrahim Ghorbani and Matthias Mnich. A 9/4-Approximation for Directed Feedback Vertex Sets in Quasi-Transitive Digraphs. In 53rd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 374, pp. 96:1-96:16, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{ghorbani_et_al:LIPIcs.ICALP.2026.96,
  author =	{Ghorbani, Ebrahim and Mnich, Matthias},
  title =	{{A 9/4-Approximation for Directed Feedback Vertex Sets in Quasi-Transitive Digraphs}},
  booktitle =	{53rd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2026)},
  pages =	{96:1--96:16},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-428-4},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{374},
  editor =	{Bhattacharya, Sayan and Nanongkai, Danupon and Benedikt, Michael 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.2026.96},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-264852},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2026.96},
  annote =	{Keywords: directed feedback vertex set, tournaments, quasi-transitive digraphs}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2025.39
A Quasi-Polynomial Time Algorithm for Multi-Arrival on Tree-Like Multigraphs

Authors: Ebrahim Ghorbani, Jonah Leander Hoff, and Matthias Mnich

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

Abstract
Propp machines, or rotor-router models, are a classic tool to simulate random systems in forms of Markov chains by deterministic systems. To this end, the nodes of the Markov chain are replaced by switching nodes, which maintain a queue over their outgoing arcs, and a particle sent through the system traverses the top arc of the queue which is then moved to the end of the queue and the particle arrives at the next node. A key question to answer about such systems is whether a single particle can reach a particular target node, given as input an initial configuration of the queues at all switching nodes. This question was introduced by Dohrau et al. (2017) under the name of Arrival. A major open question is whether Arrival can be solved in polynomial time, as it is known to lie in NP ∩ co-NP; yet the fastest known algorithm for general instances takes subexponential time (Gärtner et al., ICALP 2021). We consider a generalized version of Arrival introduced by Auger et al. (RP 2023), which requires routing multiple (potentially exponentially many) particles through a rotor graph. The Multi-Arrival problem is to determine the particle configuration that results from moving all particles from a given initial configuration to sinks. Auger et al. showed that for path-like rotor graphs with a certain uniform rotor order, the problem can be solved in polynomial time. Our main result is a quasi-polynomial-time algorithm for Multi-Arrival on tree-like rotor graphs for arbitrary rotor orders. Tree-like rotor graphs are directed multigraphs which can be obtained from undirected trees by replacing each edge by an arbitrary number of arcs in either or both directions. For trees of bounded contracted height, such as paths, the algorithm runs in polynomial time and thereby generalizes the result by Auger et al.. Moreover, we give a polynomial-time algorithm for Multi-Arrival on tree-like rotor graphs without parallel arcs.
Cite as

Ebrahim Ghorbani, Jonah Leander Hoff, and Matthias Mnich. A Quasi-Polynomial Time Algorithm for Multi-Arrival on Tree-Like Multigraphs. In 42nd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 327, pp. 39:1-39:19, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{ghorbani_et_al:LIPIcs.STACS.2025.39,
  author =	{Ghorbani, Ebrahim and Leander Hoff, Jonah and Mnich, Matthias},
  title =	{{A Quasi-Polynomial Time Algorithm for Multi-Arrival on Tree-Like Multigraphs}},
  booktitle =	{42nd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2025)},
  pages =	{39:1--39:19},
  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.2025.39},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-228658},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2025.39},
  annote =	{Keywords: Arrival, Rotor-routing, Tree-like Multigraph, Path-Like Multigraph, Fixed-Parameter Tractability}
}
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