DROPS

Document

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.IPEC.2025.30

A Graph Width Perspective on Partially Ordered Hamiltonian Paths and Cycles II: Vertex and Edge Deletion Numbers

Authors: Jesse Beisegel, Katharina Klost, Kristin Knorr, Fabienne Ratajczak, and Robert Scheffler

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

Abstract

We consider the problem of finding a Hamiltonian path or cycle with precedence constraints in the form of a partial order on the vertex set. We study the complexity for graph width parameters for which the ordinary problems Hamiltonian Path and Hamiltonian Cycle are in FPT. In particular, we focus on parameters that describe how many vertices and edges have to be deleted to become a member of a certain graph class. We show that the problems are W[1]-hard for such restricted cases as vertex distance to path and vertex distance to clique. We complement these results by showing that the problems can be solved in XP time for vertex distance to outerplanar and vertex distance to block. Furthermore, we present some FPT algorithms, e.g., for edge distance to block. Additionally, we prove para-NP-hardness when considered with the edge clique cover number.

Cite as

Jesse Beisegel, Katharina Klost, Kristin Knorr, Fabienne Ratajczak, and Robert Scheffler. A Graph Width Perspective on Partially Ordered Hamiltonian Paths and Cycles II: Vertex and Edge Deletion Numbers. In 20th International Symposium on Parameterized and Exact Computation (IPEC 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 358, pp. 30:1-30:19, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{beisegel_et_al:LIPIcs.IPEC.2025.30,
  author =	{Beisegel, Jesse and Klost, Katharina and Knorr, Kristin and Ratajczak, Fabienne and Scheffler, Robert},
  title =	{{A Graph Width Perspective on Partially Ordered Hamiltonian Paths and Cycles II: Vertex and Edge Deletion Numbers}},
  booktitle =	{20th International Symposium on Parameterized and Exact Computation (IPEC 2025)},
  pages =	{30:1--30:19},
  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.2025.30},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-251623},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.IPEC.2025.30},
  annote =	{Keywords: Hamiltonian path, Hamiltonian cycle, partial order, graph width parameter, parameterized complexity}
}

@InProceedings{beisegel_et_al:LIPIcs.IPEC.2025.30,
  author =	{Beisegel, Jesse and Klost, Katharina and Knorr, Kristin and Ratajczak, Fabienne and Scheffler, Robert},
  title =	{{A Graph Width Perspective on Partially Ordered Hamiltonian Paths and Cycles II: Vertex and Edge Deletion Numbers}},
  booktitle =	{20th International Symposium on Parameterized and Exact Computation (IPEC 2025)},
  pages =	{30:1--30:19},
  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.2025.30},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-251623},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.IPEC.2025.30},
  annote =	{Keywords: Hamiltonian path, Hamiltonian cycle, partial order, graph width parameter, parameterized complexity}
}

Document

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ISAAC.2025.40

Minimum Sum Coloring with Bundles in Trees and Bipartite Graphs

Authors: Takehiro Ito, Naonori Kakimura, Naoyuki Kamiyama, Yusuke Kobayashi, and Yoshio Okamoto

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

Abstract

The minimum sum coloring problem with bundles was introduced by Darbouy and Friggstad (SWAT 2024) as a common generalization of the minimum coloring problem and the minimum sum coloring problem. During their presentation, the following open problem was raised: whether the minimum sum coloring problem with bundles could be solved in polynomial time for trees. We answer their question in the negative by proving that the minimum sum coloring problem with bundles is NP-hard even for paths. We complement this hardness by providing algorithms of the following types. First, we provide a fixed-parameter algorithm for trees when the number of bundles is a parameter; this can be extended to graphs of bounded treewidth. Second, we provide a polynomial-time algorithm for trees when bundles form a partition of the vertex set and the difference between the number of vertices and the number of bundles is constant. Third, we provide a polynomial-time algorithm for trees when bundles form a partition of the vertex set and each bundle induces a connected subgraph. We further show that for bipartite graphs, the problem with weights is NP-hard even when the number of bundles is at least three, but is polynomial-time solvable when the number of bundles is at most two. The threshold shifts to three versus four for the problem without weights.

Cite as

Takehiro Ito, Naonori Kakimura, Naoyuki Kamiyama, Yusuke Kobayashi, and Yoshio Okamoto. Minimum Sum Coloring with Bundles in Trees and Bipartite Graphs. In 36th International Symposium on Algorithms and Computation (ISAAC 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 359, pp. 40:1-40:14, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{ito_et_al:LIPIcs.ISAAC.2025.40,
  author =	{Ito, Takehiro and Kakimura, Naonori and Kamiyama, Naoyuki and Kobayashi, Yusuke and Okamoto, Yoshio},
  title =	{{Minimum Sum Coloring with Bundles in Trees and Bipartite Graphs}},
  booktitle =	{36th International Symposium on Algorithms and Computation (ISAAC 2025)},
  pages =	{40:1--40:14},
  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.2025.40},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-249482},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ISAAC.2025.40},
  annote =	{Keywords: graph algorithms, minimum sum coloring, minimum coloring, fixed-parameter tractability, NP-hardness}
}

Document

DOI: 10.4230/OASIcs.ATMOS.2025.10

A Genetic Algorithm for Multi-Capacity Fixed-Charge Flow Network Design

Authors: Caleb Eardley, Dalton Gomez, Ryan Dupuis, Michael Papadopoulos, and Sean Yaw

Published in: OASIcs, Volume 137, 25th Symposium on Algorithmic Approaches for Transportation Modelling, Optimization, and Systems (ATMOS 2025)

Abstract

The Multi-Capacity Fixed-Charge Network Flow (MC-FCNF) problem, a generalization of the Fixed-Charge Network Flow problem, aims to assign capacities to edges in a flow network such that a target amount of flow can be hosted at minimum cost. The cost model for both problems dictates that the fixed cost of an edge is incurred for any non-zero amount of flow hosted by that edge. This problem naturally arises in many areas including infrastructure design, transportation, telecommunications, and supply chain management. The MC-FCNF problem is NP-Hard, so solving large instances using exact techniques is impractical. This paper presents a genetic algorithm designed to quickly find high-quality flow solutions to the MC-FCNF problem. The genetic algorithm uses a novel solution representation scheme that eliminates the need to repair invalid flow solutions, which is an issue common to many other genetic algorithms for the MC-FCNF problem. The genetic algorithm’s utility is demonstrated with an evaluation using real-world CO₂ capture, transportation, and storage infrastructure design data. The evaluation results highlight the genetic algorithm’s potential for solving large-scale network design problems.

Cite as

Caleb Eardley, Dalton Gomez, Ryan Dupuis, Michael Papadopoulos, and Sean Yaw. A Genetic Algorithm for Multi-Capacity Fixed-Charge Flow Network Design. In 25th Symposium on Algorithmic Approaches for Transportation Modelling, Optimization, and Systems (ATMOS 2025). Open Access Series in Informatics (OASIcs), Volume 137, pp. 10:1-10:14, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{eardley_et_al:OASIcs.ATMOS.2025.10,
  author =	{Eardley, Caleb and Gomez, Dalton and Dupuis, Ryan and Papadopoulos, Michael and Yaw, Sean},
  title =	{{A Genetic Algorithm for Multi-Capacity Fixed-Charge Flow Network Design}},
  booktitle =	{25th Symposium on Algorithmic Approaches for Transportation Modelling, Optimization, and Systems (ATMOS 2025)},
  pages =	{10:1--10:14},
  series =	{Open Access Series in Informatics (OASIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-404-8},
  ISSN =	{2190-6807},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{137},
  editor =	{Sauer, Jonas and Schmidt, Marie},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/OASIcs.ATMOS.2025.10},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-247661},
  doi =		{10.4230/OASIcs.ATMOS.2025.10},
  annote =	{Keywords: Fixed-Charge Network Flow, Genetic Algorithm, Matheuristic, Infrastructure Design}
}

Document

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ESA.2025.62

Polynomial-Time Constant-Approximation for Fair Sum-Of-Radii Clustering

Authors: Sina Bagheri Nezhad, Sayan Bandyapadhyay, and Tianzhi Chen

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

Abstract

In a seminal work, Chierichetti et al. [Chierichetti et al., 2017] introduced the (t,k)-fair clustering problem: Given a set of red points and a set of blue points in a metric space, a clustering is called fair if the number of red points in each cluster is at most t times and at least 1/t times the number of blue points in that cluster. The goal is to compute a fair clustering with at most k clusters that optimizes certain objective function. Considering this problem, they designed a polynomial-time O(1)- and O(t)-approximation for the k-center and the k-median objective, respectively. Recently, Carta et al. [Carta et al., 2024] studied this problem with the sum-of-radii objective and obtained a (6+ε)-approximation with running time O((k log_{1+ε}(k/ε))^k n^O(1)), i.e., fixed-parameter tractable in k. Here n is the input size. In this work, we design the first polynomial-time O(1)-approximation for (t,k)-fair clustering with the sum-of-radii objective, improving the result of Carta et al. Our result places sum-of-radii in the same group of objectives as k-center, that admit polynomial-time O(1)-approximations. This result also implies a polynomial-time O(1)-approximation for the Euclidean version of the problem, for which an f(k)⋅n^O(1)-time (1+ε)-approximation was known due to Drexler et al. [Drexler et al., 2023]. Here f is an exponential function of k. We are also able to extend our result to any arbitrary 𝓁 ≥ 2 number of colors when t = 1. This matches known results for the k-center and k-median objectives in this case. The significant disparity of sum-of-radii compared to k-center and k-median presents several complex challenges, all of which we successfully overcome in our work. Our main contribution is a novel cluster-merging-based analysis technique for sum-of-radii that helps us achieve the constant-approximation bounds.

Cite as

Sina Bagheri Nezhad, Sayan Bandyapadhyay, and Tianzhi Chen. Polynomial-Time Constant-Approximation for Fair Sum-Of-Radii Clustering. In 33rd Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 351, pp. 62:1-62:16, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{bagherinezhad_et_al:LIPIcs.ESA.2025.62,
  author =	{Bagheri Nezhad, Sina and Bandyapadhyay, Sayan and Chen, Tianzhi},
  title =	{{Polynomial-Time Constant-Approximation for Fair Sum-Of-Radii Clustering}},
  booktitle =	{33rd Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2025)},
  pages =	{62:1--62:16},
  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.2025.62},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-245309},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ESA.2025.62},
  annote =	{Keywords: fair clustering, sum-of-radii clustering, approximation algorithms}
}

Document

APPROX

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.APPROX/RANDOM.2025.1

Approximation Schemes for Orienteering and Deadline TSP in Doubling Metrics

Authors: Kinter Ren and Mohammad R. Salavatipour

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 353, Approximation, Randomization, and Combinatorial Optimization. Algorithms and Techniques (APPROX/RANDOM 2025)

Abstract

In this paper we look at various extensions of the classic Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP) on graphs with bounded doubling dimension and bounded treewidth and present approximation schemes for them. Suppose we are given a weighted graph G = (V,E) with a start node s ∈ V, distances on the edges d:E → ℚ^+ and integer k. In k-stroll problem the goal is to find a path from s of minimum length that visits at least k vertices. In k-path we are given an additional end node t ∈ V and the path is supposed to go from s to t. The dual problem to k-stroll is the rooted orienteering in which instead of k we are given a budget B and the goal is to find a walk of length at most B starting at s that visits as many vertices as possible. In the point-to-point orienteering (P2P orienteering) we are given start and end nodes s,t and the walk is supposed to start at s and end at t. In the deadline TSP (which generalizes P2P orienteering) we are given a deadline D(v) for each v ∈ V and the goal is to find a walk starting at s that visits as many vertices as possible before their deadline (where the visit time of a node is the distance travelled from s to that node). The best approximation for rooted orienteering (or P2P orienteering) is (2+ε)-approximation [Chekuri et al., 2012] and O(log n)-approximation for deadline TSP [Nikhil Bansal et al., 2004]. For Euclidean metrics of fixed dimension, Chen and Har-Peled present [Chen and Har-Peled, 2008] a PTAS for rooted orienteering. There is no known approximation scheme for deadline TSP for any metric (not even trees). Our main result is the first approximation scheme for deadline TSP on metrics with bounded doubling dimension (which includes Euclidean metrics). To do so we first we present a quasi-polynomial time approximation scheme for k-path and P2P orienteering on such metrics. More specifically, if G is a metric with doubling dimension κ and aspect ratio Δ, we present a (1+ε)-approximation that runs in time n^{O((logΔ/ε) ^{2κ+1})}. Building upon these, we obtain an approximation scheme for deadline TSP when the distances and deadlines are integer which runs in time n^{O((log Δ/ε) ^{2κ+2})}. The same approach also implies a bicriteria (1+ε,1+ε)-approximation for deadline TSP for when distances and deadlines are in ℚ^+. For graphs with bounded treewidth ω we show how to solve k-path and P2P orienteering exactly in polynomial time and a (1+ε)-approximation for deadline TSP in time n^O((ωlogΔ/ε)²).

Cite as

Kinter Ren and Mohammad R. Salavatipour. Approximation Schemes for Orienteering and Deadline TSP in Doubling Metrics. In Approximation, Randomization, and Combinatorial Optimization. Algorithms and Techniques (APPROX/RANDOM 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 353, pp. 1:1-1:22, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{ren_et_al:LIPIcs.APPROX/RANDOM.2025.1,
  author =	{Ren, Kinter and Salavatipour, Mohammad R.},
  title =	{{Approximation Schemes for Orienteering and Deadline TSP in Doubling Metrics}},
  booktitle =	{Approximation, Randomization, and Combinatorial Optimization. Algorithms and Techniques (APPROX/RANDOM 2025)},
  pages =	{1:1--1:22},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-397-3},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{353},
  editor =	{Ene, Alina and Chattopadhyay, Eshan},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.APPROX/RANDOM.2025.1},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-243678},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.APPROX/RANDOM.2025.1},
  annote =	{Keywords: Deadline Traveling Salesman Problem, Orienteering, Doubling Metrics, Approximation algorithm}
}

Document

APPROX

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.APPROX/RANDOM.2025.23

Improved FPT Approximation for Sum of Radii Clustering with Mergeable Constraints

Authors: Sayan Bandyapadhyay and Tianzhi Chen

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 353, Approximation, Randomization, and Combinatorial Optimization. Algorithms and Techniques (APPROX/RANDOM 2025)

Abstract

In this work, we study k-min-sum-of-radii (k-MSR) clustering under mergeable constraints. k-MSR seeks to group data points using a set of up to k balls, such that the sum of the radii of the balls is minimized. A clustering constraint is called mergeable if merging two clusters satisfying the constraint, results in a cluster that also satisfies the constraint. Many popularly studied constraints are mergeable, including fairness constraints and lower bound constraints. In our work, we design a (4+ε)-approximation for k-MSR under any given mergeable constraint with runtime 2^{O(k/(ε)⋅log²k/ε)} n⁴, i.e., fixed-parameter tractable in k for constant ε. Our result directly improves upon the FPT (6+ε)-approximation by Carta et al. [Carta et al., 2024]. We also provide a hardness result that excludes the exact solvability of k-MSR under any given mergeable constraint in time f(k)n^o(k), assuming ETH is true.

Cite as

Sayan Bandyapadhyay and Tianzhi Chen. Improved FPT Approximation for Sum of Radii Clustering with Mergeable Constraints. In Approximation, Randomization, and Combinatorial Optimization. Algorithms and Techniques (APPROX/RANDOM 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 353, pp. 23:1-23:17, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{bandyapadhyay_et_al:LIPIcs.APPROX/RANDOM.2025.23,
  author =	{Bandyapadhyay, Sayan and Chen, Tianzhi},
  title =	{{Improved FPT Approximation for Sum of Radii Clustering with Mergeable Constraints}},
  booktitle =	{Approximation, Randomization, and Combinatorial Optimization. Algorithms and Techniques (APPROX/RANDOM 2025)},
  pages =	{23:1--23:17},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-397-3},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{353},
  editor =	{Ene, Alina and Chattopadhyay, Eshan},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.APPROX/RANDOM.2025.23},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-243894},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.APPROX/RANDOM.2025.23},
  annote =	{Keywords: sum-of-radii clustering, mergeable constraints, approximation algorithm}
}

Document

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.WADS.2025.27

A QPTAS for Facility Location on Unit Disk Graphs

Authors: Zachary Friggstad, Mohsen Rezapour, Mohammad R. Salavatipour, and Hao Sun

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 349, 19th International Symposium on Algorithms and Data Structures (WADS 2025)

Abstract

We study the classic (Uncapacitated) Facility Location problem on Unit Disk Graphs (UDGs). For a given point set P in the plane, the unit disk graph UDG(P) on P has vertex set P and an edge between two distinct points p, q ∈ P if and only if their Euclidean distance |pq| is at most 1. The weight of the edge pq is equal to their distance |pq|. An instance of {Facility Location} on UDG(P) consists of a set C ⊆ P of clients and a set F ⊆ P of facilities, each having an opening cost f_i. The goal is to pick a subset F' ⊆ F to open while minimizing ∑_{i ∈ F'} f_i + ∑_{v ∈ C} d(v,F'), where d(v,F') is the distance of v to nearest facility in F' through UDG(P). In this paper, we present the first Quasi-Polynomial Time Approximation Schemes (QPTAS) for the problem. While approximation schemes are well-established for facility location problems on sparse geometric graphs (such as planar graphs), there is a lack of such results for dense graphs. Specifically, prior to this study, to the best of our knowledge, there was no approximation scheme for any facility location problem on UDGs in the general setting.

Cite as

Zachary Friggstad, Mohsen Rezapour, Mohammad R. Salavatipour, and Hao Sun. A QPTAS for Facility Location on Unit Disk Graphs. In 19th International Symposium on Algorithms and Data Structures (WADS 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 349, pp. 27:1-27:18, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{friggstad_et_al:LIPIcs.WADS.2025.27,
  author =	{Friggstad, Zachary and Rezapour, Mohsen and Salavatipour, Mohammad R. and Sun, Hao},
  title =	{{A QPTAS for Facility Location on Unit Disk Graphs}},
  booktitle =	{19th International Symposium on Algorithms and Data Structures (WADS 2025)},
  pages =	{27:1--27:18},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-398-0},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{349},
  editor =	{Morin, Pat and Oh, Eunjin},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.WADS.2025.27},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-242586},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.WADS.2025.27},
  annote =	{Keywords: Facility Location, Unit Disk Graphs, Approximation Algorithms}
}

Document

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.WADS.2025.28

Approximation Algorithms for the Generalized Point-To-Point Problem

Authors: Zachary Friggstad, Mohammad R. Salavatipour, and Hao Sun

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 349, 19th International Symposium on Algorithms and Data Structures (WADS 2025)

Abstract

We consider the Generalized Point-to-Point (GP2P) problem in which we have an edge-weighted graph G with (possibly negative) node charges ϕ(v) ∈ ℤ. The goal is to find a minimum-cost set of edges such that each component has nonnegative total charge. Viewing the positive charges as specifying supply and negative charges as demand quantities at various nodes, the problem is equivalent to build the cheapest network so that it is possible to satisfy all demands by routing supplies across the network. This problem is a significant generalization of other network design problems such as the well-studied Steiner Forest problem. Even the special case of only having one single demand point (having charge -k and all the other nodes having charge +1) is capturing the k-Minimum Spanning Tree problem. Earlier work by Hajiaghayi et al. (2016) [Hajiaghayi et al., 2016] gave an O(log n) approximation in pseudo-polynomial time with further improved guarantees if the total supply is not much larger than the total demand, and also a 2-approximation if the total supply equals the total demand. Our contributions are four-fold: (a) we show how known k-Minimum Spanning Tree approximations can be extended to GP2P approximations while losing only a ε-factor if the number of demand points in the instance is bounded by a constant, (b) we improve the running time to be Fixed-Parameter Tractable (FPT) in the number of demand points in constant-dimensional Euclidean metrics, (c) we give a 2-approximation in instances where edge costs are all 1 and ϕ(v) = ± 1 for each node v and show such instances are APX-hard, and (d) we show how the logarithmic approximations in earlier work can be modified to run in truly polynomial time.

Cite as

Zachary Friggstad, Mohammad R. Salavatipour, and Hao Sun. Approximation Algorithms for the Generalized Point-To-Point Problem. In 19th International Symposium on Algorithms and Data Structures (WADS 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 349, pp. 28:1-28:16, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{friggstad_et_al:LIPIcs.WADS.2025.28,
  author =	{Friggstad, Zachary and Salavatipour, Mohammad R. and Sun, Hao},
  title =	{{Approximation Algorithms for the Generalized Point-To-Point Problem}},
  booktitle =	{19th International Symposium on Algorithms and Data Structures (WADS 2025)},
  pages =	{28:1--28:16},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-398-0},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{349},
  editor =	{Morin, Pat and Oh, Eunjin},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.WADS.2025.28},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-242599},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.WADS.2025.28},
  annote =	{Keywords: Point-to-Point Network design, Approximation, Steiner Forest, k-MST}
}

Document

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.7

Approximating Prize-Collecting Variants of TSP

Authors: Morteza Alimi, Tobias Mömke, and Michael Ruderer

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

Abstract

We present an approximation algorithm for the Prize-collecting Ordered Traveling Salesman Problem (PCOTSP), which simultaneously generalizes the Prize-collecting TSP and the Ordered TSP. The Prize-collecting TSP is well-studied and has a long history, with the current best approximation factor slightly below 1.6, shown by Blauth, Klein and Nägele [IPCO 2024]. The best approximation ratio for Ordered TSP is 3/2+1/e, presented by Böhm, Friggstad, Mömke, Spoerhase [SODA 2025] and Armbruster, Mnich, Nägele [Approx 2024]. The former also present a factor 2.2131 approximation algorithm for Multi-Path-TSP. We present a 2.097-approximation algorithm for PCOTSP, which is, to the best of our knowledge, the first result for this problem. Key ideas in our approach are to sample a set of trees and then to probabilistically pick up some vertices, and to use the pruning ideas of Blauth, Klein, Nägele [IPCO 2024] on the sampled vertices. While the sampling probability of vertices for our problem is lower than for PCTSP, intuitively leaving less spare penalty to spend, we leverage the cycle structure induced by the sampled trees together with a simple combinatorial algorithm to bring the approximation factor below 2.1. Our techniques extend to Prize-collecting Multi-Path TSP, building on results from Böhm, Friggstad, Mömke, Spoerhase [SODA 2025], leading to a 2.41-approximation.

Cite as

Morteza Alimi, Tobias Mömke, and Michael Ruderer. Approximating Prize-Collecting Variants of TSP. In 50th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 345, pp. 7:1-7:17, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{alimi_et_al:LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.7,
  author =	{Alimi, Morteza and M\"{o}mke, Tobias and Ruderer, Michael},
  title =	{{Approximating Prize-Collecting Variants of TSP}},
  booktitle =	{50th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2025)},
  pages =	{7:1--7:17},
  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.2025.7},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-241141},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.7},
  annote =	{Keywords: Approximation Algorithms, TSP}
}

Document

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.93

Improved Approximation Algorithms for Capacitated Vehicle Routing with Fixed Capacity

Authors: Jingyang Zhao and Mingyu Xiao

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

Abstract

The Capacitated Vehicle Routing Problem (CVRP) is one of the most extensively studied problems in combinatorial optimization. Based on customer demand, we distinguish three variants of CVRP: unit-demand, splittable, and unsplittable. In this paper, we consider k-CVRP in general metrics and on general graphs, where k is the vehicle capacity. All three versions are APX-hard for any fixed k ≥ 3. Assume that the approximation ratio of metric TSP is 3/2. We present a (5/2 - Θ(√{1/k}))-approximation algorithm for the splittable and unit-demand cases, and a (5/2 + ln 2 - Θ(√{1/k}))-approximation algorithm for the unsplittable case. Our approximation ratio is better than the previous results when k is less than a sufficiently large value, approximately 1.7 x 10⁷. For small values of k, we design independent and elegant algorithms with further improvements. For the splittable and unit-demand cases, we improve the approximation ratio from 1.792 to 1.500 for k = 3, and from 1.750 to 1.500 for k = 4. For the unsplittable case, we improve the approximation ratio from 1.792 to 1.500 for k = 3, from 2.051 to 1.750 for k = 4, and from 2.249 to 2.157 for k = 5. The approximation ratio for k = 3 surprisingly achieves the same value as in the splittable case. Our techniques, such as EX-ITP - an extension of the classic ITP method, have the potential to improve algorithms for other routing problems as well.

Cite as

Jingyang Zhao and Mingyu Xiao. Improved Approximation Algorithms for Capacitated Vehicle Routing with Fixed Capacity. In 50th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 345, pp. 93:1-93:19, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{zhao_et_al:LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.93,
  author =	{Zhao, Jingyang and Xiao, Mingyu},
  title =	{{Improved Approximation Algorithms for Capacitated Vehicle Routing with Fixed Capacity}},
  booktitle =	{50th International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2025)},
  pages =	{93:1--93:19},
  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.2025.93},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-242008},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.MFCS.2025.93},
  annote =	{Keywords: Combinatorial Optimization, Capacitated Vehicle Routing, Approximation Algorithms, Graph Algorithms}
}

Document

DOI: 10.4230/OASIcs.Manzini.11

Circular Dictionary Matching Using Extended BWT

Authors: Wing-Kai Hon, Rahul Shah, and Sharma V. Thankachan

Published in: OASIcs, Volume 131, The Expanding World of Compressed Data: A Festschrift for Giovanni Manzini's 60th Birthday (2025)

Abstract

The dictionary matching problem involves preprocessing a set of strings (patterns) into a data structure that efficiently identifies all occurrences of these patterns within a query string (text). In this work, we investigate a variation of this problem, termed circular dictionary matching, where the patterns are circular, meaning their cyclic shifts are also considered valid patterns. Such patterns naturally occur in areas such as bioinformatics and computational geometry. Based on the extended Burrows-Wheeler Transformation (eBWT), we design a space-efficient solution for this problem. Specifically, we show that a dictionary of d circular patterns of total length n can be indexed in nlog σ + O(n+dlog n+σ log n) bits of space and support circular dictionary matching on a query text T in O((|T|+occ)log n) time, where σ represents the size of the underlying alphabet and occ represents the output size.

Cite as

Wing-Kai Hon, Rahul Shah, and Sharma V. Thankachan. Circular Dictionary Matching Using Extended BWT. In The Expanding World of Compressed Data: A Festschrift for Giovanni Manzini's 60th Birthday. Open Access Series in Informatics (OASIcs), Volume 131, pp. 11:1-11:14, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{hon_et_al:OASIcs.Manzini.11,
  author =	{Hon, Wing-Kai and Shah, Rahul and Thankachan, Sharma V.},
  title =	{{Circular Dictionary Matching Using Extended BWT}},
  booktitle =	{The Expanding World of Compressed Data: A Festschrift for Giovanni Manzini's 60th Birthday},
  pages =	{11:1--11:14},
  series =	{Open Access Series in Informatics (OASIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-390-4},
  ISSN =	{2190-6807},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{131},
  editor =	{Ferragina, Paolo and Gagie, Travis and Navarro, Gonzalo},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/OASIcs.Manzini.11},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-239195},
  doi =		{10.4230/OASIcs.Manzini.11},
  annote =	{Keywords: String algorithms, Burrows-Wheeler transformation, suffix trees, succinct data structures}
}

Document

Track A: Algorithms, Complexity and Games

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.101

Coresets for Robust Clustering via Black-Box Reductions to Vanilla Case

Authors: Shaofeng H.-C. Jiang and Jianing Lou

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

Abstract

We devise ε-coresets for robust (k,z)-Clustering with m outliers through black-box reductions to vanilla clustering. Given an ε-coreset construction for vanilla clustering with size N, we construct coresets of size N⋅ polylog(kmε^{-1}) + O_z(min{kmε^{-1}, m ε^{-2z}log^z(kmε^{-1})}) for various metric spaces, where O_z hides 2^{O(zlog z)} factors. This increases the size of the vanilla coreset by a small multiplicative factor of polylog(kmε^{-1}), and the additive term is up to a (ε^{-1}log (km))^{O(z)} factor to the size of the optimal robust coreset. Plugging in recent vanilla coreset results of [Cohen-Addad, Saulpic and Schwiegelshohn, STOC'21; Cohen-Addad, Draganov, Russo, Saulpic and Schwiegelshohn, SODA'25], we obtain the first coresets for (k,z)-Clustering with m outliers with size near-linear in k while previous results have size at least Ω(k²) [Huang, Jiang, Lou and Wu, ICLR'23; Huang, Li, Lu and Wu, SODA'25]. Technically, we establish two conditions under which a vanilla coreset is as well a robust coreset. The first condition requires the dataset to satisfy special structures - it can be broken into "dense" parts with bounded diameter. We combine this with a new bounded-diameter decomposition that has only O_z(km ε^{-1}) non-dense points to obtain the O_z(km ε^{-1}) additive bound. Another sufficient condition requires the vanilla coreset to possess an extra size-preserving property. To utilize this condition, we further give a black-box reduction that turns a vanilla coreset to the one that satisfies the said size-preserving property, and this leads to the alternative O_z(mε^{-2z}log^{z}(kmε^{-1})) additive size bound. We also give low-space implementations of our reductions in the dynamic streaming setting. Combined with known streaming constructions for vanilla coresets [Braverman, Frahling, Lang, Sohler and Yang, ICML'17; Hu, Song, Yang and Zhong, arXiv'1802.00459], we obtain the first dynamic streaming algorithms for coresets for k-Median (and k-Means) with m outliers, using space Õ(k + m) ⋅ poly(dε^{-1}log Δ) for inputs on a discrete grid [Δ]^d.

Cite as

Shaofeng H.-C. Jiang and Jianing Lou. Coresets for Robust Clustering via Black-Box Reductions to Vanilla Case. In 52nd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 334, pp. 101:1-101:18, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{jiang_et_al:LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.101,
  author =	{Jiang, Shaofeng H.-C. and Lou, Jianing},
  title =	{{Coresets for Robust Clustering via Black-Box Reductions to Vanilla Case}},
  booktitle =	{52nd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2025)},
  pages =	{101:1--101:18},
  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.2025.101},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-234781},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.101},
  annote =	{Keywords: Coresets, clustering, outliers, streaming algorithms}
}

Document

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.SoCG.2025.62

On Approximability of 𝓁₂² Min-Sum Clustering

Authors: Karthik C. S., Euiwoong Lee, Yuval Rabani, Chris Schwiegelshohn, and Samson Zhou

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 332, 41st International Symposium on Computational Geometry (SoCG 2025)

Abstract

The 𝓁₂² min-sum k-clustering problem is to partition an input set into clusters C_1,…,C_k to minimize ∑_{i=1}^k ∑_{p,q ∈ C_i} ‖p-q‖₂². Although 𝓁₂² min-sum k-clustering is NP-hard, it is not known whether it is NP-hard to approximate 𝓁₂² min-sum k-clustering beyond a certain factor. In this paper, we give the first hardness-of-approximation result for the 𝓁₂² min-sum k-clustering problem. We show that it is NP-hard to approximate the objective to a factor better than 1.056 and moreover, assuming a balanced variant of the Johnson Coverage Hypothesis, it is NP-hard to approximate the objective to a factor better than 1.327. We then complement our hardness result by giving a fast PTAS for 𝓁₂² min-sum k-clustering. Specifically, our algorithm runs in time O(n^{1+o(1)}d⋅ 2^{(k/ε)^O(1)}), which is the first nearly linear time algorithm for this problem. We also consider a learning-augmented setting, where the algorithm has access to an oracle that outputs a label i ∈ [k] for input point, thereby implicitly partitioning the input dataset into k clusters that induce an approximately optimal solution, up to some amount of adversarial error α ∈ [0,1/2). We give a polynomial-time algorithm that outputs a (1+γα)/(1-α)²-approximation to 𝓁₂² min-sum k-clustering, for a fixed constant γ > 0.

Cite as

Karthik C. S., Euiwoong Lee, Yuval Rabani, Chris Schwiegelshohn, and Samson Zhou. On Approximability of 𝓁₂² Min-Sum Clustering. In 41st International Symposium on Computational Geometry (SoCG 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 332, pp. 62:1-62:18, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{karthikc.s._et_al:LIPIcs.SoCG.2025.62,
  author =	{Karthik C. S. and Lee, Euiwoong and Rabani, Yuval and Schwiegelshohn, Chris and Zhou, Samson},
  title =	{{On Approximability of 𝓁₂² Min-Sum Clustering}},
  booktitle =	{41st International Symposium on Computational Geometry (SoCG 2025)},
  pages =	{62:1--62:18},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-370-6},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{332},
  editor =	{Aichholzer, Oswin and Wang, Haitao},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.SoCG.2025.62},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-232142},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.SoCG.2025.62},
  annote =	{Keywords: Clustering, hardness of approximation, polynomial-time approximation schemes, learning-augmented algorithms}
}

Document

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2025.35

Dimension-Free Parameterized Approximation Schemes for Hybrid Clustering

Authors: Ameet Gadekar and Tanmay Inamdar

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

Abstract

Hybrid k-Clustering is a model of clustering that generalizes two of the most widely studied clustering objectives: k-Center and k-Median. In this model, given a set of n points P, the goal is to find k centers such that the sum of the r-distances of each point to its nearest center is minimized. The r-distance between two points p and q is defined as max{dist(p, q)-r, 0} - this represents the distance of p to the boundary of the r-radius ball around q if p is outside the ball, and 0 otherwise. This problem was recently introduced by Fomin et al. [APPROX 2024], who designed a (1+ε, 1+ε)-bicrtieria approximation that runs in time 2^{(kd/ε)^{O(1)}} ⋅ n^{O(1)} for inputs in ℝ^d; such a bicriteria solution uses balls of radius (1+ε)r instead of r, and has a cost at most 1+ε times the cost of an optimal solution using balls of radius r. In this paper we significantly improve upon this result by designing an approximation algorithm with the same bicriteria guarantee, but with running time that is FPT only in k and ε - crucially, removing the exponential dependence on the dimension d. This resolves an open question posed in their paper. Our results extend further in several directions. First, our approximation scheme works in a broader class of metric spaces, including doubling spaces, minor-free, and bounded treewidth metrics. Secondly, our techniques yield a similar bicriteria FPT-approximation schemes for other variants of Hybrid k-Clustering, e.g., when the objective features the sum of z-th power of the r-distances. Finally, we also design a coreset for Hybrid k-Clustering in doubling spaces, answering another open question from the work of Fomin et al.

Cite as

Ameet Gadekar and Tanmay Inamdar. Dimension-Free Parameterized Approximation Schemes for Hybrid Clustering. In 42nd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 327, pp. 35:1-35:20, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{gadekar_et_al:LIPIcs.STACS.2025.35,
  author =	{Gadekar, Ameet and Inamdar, Tanmay},
  title =	{{Dimension-Free Parameterized Approximation Schemes for Hybrid Clustering}},
  booktitle =	{42nd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2025)},
  pages =	{35:1--35:20},
  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.2025.35},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-228615},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2025.35},
  annote =	{Keywords: Clustering, Parameterized algorithms, FPT approximation, k-Median, k-Center}
}

Document

DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2025.57

Approximate Minimum Tree Cover in All Symmetric Monotone Norms Simultaneously

Authors: Matthias Kaul, Kelin Luo, Matthias Mnich, and Heiko Röglin

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

Abstract

We study the problem of partitioning a set of n objects in a metric space into k clusters V₁,...,V_k. The quality of the clustering is measured by considering the vector of cluster costs and then minimizing some monotone symmetric norm of that vector (in particular, this includes the 𝓁_p-norms). For the costs of the clusters we take the weight of a minimum-weight spanning tree on the objects in V_i, which may serve as a proxy for the cost of traversing all objects in the cluster, for example in the context of Multirobot Coverage as studied by Zheng, Koenig, Kempe, Jain (IROS 2005), but also as a shape-invariant measure of cluster density similar to Single-Linkage Clustering. This problem has been studied by Even, Garg, Könemann, Ravi, Sinha (Oper. Res. Lett., 2004) for the setting of minimizing the weight of the largest cluster (i.e., using 𝓁_∞) as Min-Max Tree Cover, for which they gave a constant-factor approximation algorithm. We provide a careful adaptation of their algorithm to compute solutions which are approximately optimal with respect to all monotone symmetric norms simultaneously, and show how to find them in polynomial time. In fact, our algorithm is purely combinatorial and can process metric spaces with 10,000 points in less than a second. As an extension, we also consider the case where instead of a target number of clusters we are provided with a set of depots in the space such that every cluster should contain at least one such depot. One can consider these as the fixed starting points of some agents that will traverse all points of a cluster. For this setting also we are able to give a polynomial-time algorithm computing a constant-factor approximation with respect to all monotone symmetric norms simultaneously. To show that the algorithmic results are tight up to the precise constant of approximation attainable, we also prove that such clustering problems are already APX-hard when considering only one single 𝓁_p norm for the objective.

Cite as

Matthias Kaul, Kelin Luo, Matthias Mnich, and Heiko Röglin. Approximate Minimum Tree Cover in All Symmetric Monotone Norms Simultaneously. In 42nd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 327, pp. 57:1-57:18, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

Copy BibTex To Clipboard

@InProceedings{kaul_et_al:LIPIcs.STACS.2025.57,
  author =	{Kaul, Matthias and Luo, Kelin and Mnich, Matthias and R\"{o}glin, Heiko},
  title =	{{Approximate Minimum Tree Cover in All Symmetric Monotone Norms Simultaneously}},
  booktitle =	{42nd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2025)},
  pages =	{57:1--57:18},
  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.2025.57},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-228821},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2025.57},
  annote =	{Keywords: Clustering, spanning trees, all-norm approximation}
}

34 Search Results for "Friggstad, Zachary"

Abstract

Cite as

Abstract

Cite as

Abstract

Cite as

Abstract

Cite as

Abstract

Cite as

Abstract

Cite as

Abstract

Cite as

Abstract

Cite as

Abstract

Cite as

Abstract

Cite as

Abstract

Cite as

Abstract

Cite as

Abstract

Cite as

Abstract

Cite as

Abstract

Cite as

Thanks for your feedback!

Could not send message