13 Search Results for "Gadekar, Ameet"

Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.SWAT.2026.19
Constant-Factor Approximations for Doubly Constrained Fair k-Center, k-Median and k-Means

Authors: Nicole Funk, Annika Hennes, Johanna Hillebrand, and Sarah Sturm

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 370, 20th Scandinavian Symposium on Algorithm Theory (SWAT 2026)

Abstract
We study discrete k-clustering problems in general metric spaces that are constrained by a combination of two different fairness conditions within the demographic fairness model. Given a metric space (P,d), where every point in P is equipped with a protected attribute, and a number k, the goal is to partition P into k clusters with a designated center each, such that a center-based objective function is minimized and the attributes are fairly distributed with respect to the following two fairness concepts: 1) group fairness: We aim for clusters with balanced numbers of attributes by specifying lower and upper bounds for the desired attribute proportions. 2) diverse center selection: Clusters have natural representatives, i.e., their centers. We ask for a balanced set of representatives by specifying the desired number of centers to choose from each attribute. Dickerson, Esmaeili, Morgenstern, and Pena [John P. Dickerson et al., 2023] denote the combination of these two constraints as doubly constrained fair clustering. They present algorithms whose guarantees depend on the best known approximation factors for either of these problems. Currently, this implies an 8-approximation with a small additive violation on the group fairness constraint. For k-center, we improve this approximation factor to 4 with a small additive violation. This guarantee also depends on the currently best algorithm for DS-fair k-center given by Jones, Nguyen and Nguyen [Matthew Jones et al., 2020]. For k-median and k-means, we propose the first constant-factor approximation algorithms. Our algorithms transform a solution that satisfies diverse center selection into a doubly constrained fair clustering using an LP-based approach. Furthermore, our results are generalizable to other center-selection constraints, such as matroid k-clustering and knapsack constraints.
Cite as

Nicole Funk, Annika Hennes, Johanna Hillebrand, and Sarah Sturm. Constant-Factor Approximations for Doubly Constrained Fair k-Center, k-Median and k-Means. In 20th Scandinavian Symposium on Algorithm Theory (SWAT 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 370, pp. 19:1-19:19, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{funk_et_al:LIPIcs.SWAT.2026.19,
  author =	{Funk, Nicole and Hennes, Annika and Hillebrand, Johanna and Sturm, Sarah},
  title =	{{Constant-Factor Approximations for Doubly Constrained Fair k-Center, k-Median and k-Means}},
  booktitle =	{20th Scandinavian Symposium on Algorithm Theory (SWAT 2026)},
  pages =	{19:1--19:19},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-421-5},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{370},
  editor =	{Fraigniaud, Pierre},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.SWAT.2026.19},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-260551},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.SWAT.2026.19},
  annote =	{Keywords: Clustering, Fairness, Approximation Algorithms, k-center, k-median, k-means}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.SoCG.2026.33
Near-Optimal Bounds for Parameterized Euclidean k-Means

Authors: Vincent Cohen-Addad, Karthik C. S., David Saulpic, and Chris Schwiegelshohn

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 367, 42nd International Symposium on Computational Geometry (SoCG 2026)

Abstract
The k-means problem is a classic objective for modeling clustering in a metric space. Given a set of points in a metric space, the goal is to find k representative points so as to minimize the sum of the squared distances from each point to its closest representative. In this work, we study the approximability of k-means in Euclidean spaces parameterized by the number of clusters, k. In seminal works, de la Vega, Karpinski, Kenyon, and Rabani [STOC'03] and Kumar, Sabharwal, and Sen [JACM'10] showed how to obtain a (1+ε)-approximation for high-dimensional Euclidean k-means in time 2^{(k/ε)^O(1)} ⋅ dn^O(1). In this work, we introduce a new fine-grained hypothesis called Exponential Time for Expanders Hypothesis (XXH) which roughly asserts that there are no non-trivial exponential time approximation algorithms for the vertex cover problem on near perfect vertex expanders. Assuming XXH, we close the above long line of work on approximating Euclidean k-means by showing that there is no 2^{(k/ε)^{1-o(1)}} ⋅ n^O(1) time algorithm achieving a (1+ε)-approximation for k-means in Euclidean space. This lower bound is tight as it matches the algorithm given by Feldman, Monemizadeh, and Sohler [SoCG'07] whose runtime is 2^O(k/ε) + O(ndk). Furthermore, assuming XXH, we show that the seminal O(n^{kd+1}) runtime exact algorithm of Inaba, Katoh, and Imai [SoCG'94] for k-means is optimal for small values of k.
Cite as

Vincent Cohen-Addad, Karthik C. S., David Saulpic, and Chris Schwiegelshohn. Near-Optimal Bounds for Parameterized Euclidean k-Means. In 42nd International Symposium on Computational Geometry (SoCG 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 367, pp. 33:1-33:17, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{cohenaddad_et_al:LIPIcs.SoCG.2026.33,
  author =	{Cohen-Addad, Vincent and C. S., Karthik and Saulpic, David and Schwiegelshohn, Chris},
  title =	{{Near-Optimal Bounds for Parameterized Euclidean k-Means}},
  booktitle =	{42nd International Symposium on Computational Geometry (SoCG 2026)},
  pages =	{33:1--33:17},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-418-5},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{367},
  editor =	{Ahn, Hee-Kap and Hoffmann, Michael and Nayyeri, Amir},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.SoCG.2026.33},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-258391},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.SoCG.2026.33},
  annote =	{Keywords: k-means clustering, Euclidean space, Fine-Grained Complexity}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.SoCG.2026.34
Almost-Optimal Upper and Lower Bounds for Clustering in Low Dimensional Euclidean Spaces

Authors: Vincent Cohen-Addad, Karthik C. S., David Saulpic, and Chris Schwiegelshohn

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 367, 42nd International Symposium on Computational Geometry (SoCG 2026)

Abstract
The k-median and k-means clustering objectives are classic objectives for modeling clustering in a metric space. Given a set of points in a metric space, the goal of the k-median (resp. k-means) problem is to find k representative points so as to minimize the sum of the distances (resp. sum of squared distances) from each point to its closest representative. Cohen-Addad, Feldmann, and Saulpic [JACM'21] showed how to obtain a (1+ε)-factor approximation in low-dimensional Euclidean metric for both the k-median and k-means problems in near-linear time 2^{(1/ε)^O(d²)} n ⋅ polylog(n) (where d is the dimension and n is the number of input points). We improve this running time to 2^{O(1/ε)^{d-1}} ⋅ n ⋅ polylog(n), and show an almost matching lower bound: under the Gap Exponential Time Hypothesis for 3-SAT, there is no 2^o(1/ε^{d-1}) n^O(1) algorithm achieving a (1+ε)-approximation for k-means.
Cite as

Vincent Cohen-Addad, Karthik C. S., David Saulpic, and Chris Schwiegelshohn. Almost-Optimal Upper and Lower Bounds for Clustering in Low Dimensional Euclidean Spaces. In 42nd International Symposium on Computational Geometry (SoCG 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 367, pp. 34:1-34:16, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{cohenaddad_et_al:LIPIcs.SoCG.2026.34,
  author =	{Cohen-Addad, Vincent and Karthik C. S. and Saulpic, David and Schwiegelshohn, Chris},
  title =	{{Almost-Optimal Upper and Lower Bounds for Clustering in Low Dimensional Euclidean Spaces}},
  booktitle =	{42nd International Symposium on Computational Geometry (SoCG 2026)},
  pages =	{34:1--34:16},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-418-5},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{367},
  editor =	{Ahn, Hee-Kap and Hoffmann, Michael and Nayyeri, Amir},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.SoCG.2026.34},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-258404},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.SoCG.2026.34},
  annote =	{Keywords: k-means clustering, k-median clustering, Euclidean space, Fine-Grained Complexity}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.SoCG.2026.48
FPT Approximations for Capacitated Sum of Radii and Diameters

Authors: Arnold Filtser and Ameet Gadekar

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 367, 42nd International Symposium on Computational Geometry (SoCG 2026)

Abstract
The Capacitated Sum of Radii problem involves partitioning a set of points P, where each point p ∈ P has capacity U_p, into k clusters that minimize the sum of cluster radii, such that the number of points in the cluster centered at point p is at most U_p. We begin by showing that the problem is APX-hard, and that under gap-ETH there is no parameterized approximation scheme (FPT-AS). We then construct a ≈5.83-approximation algorithm in FPT time (improving a previous ≈7.61 approximation in FPT time). Our results also hold when the objective is a general monotone symmetric norm of radii. We also improve the approximation factors for the uniform capacity case, and for the closely related problem of Capacitated Sum of Diameters.
Cite as

Arnold Filtser and Ameet Gadekar. FPT Approximations for Capacitated Sum of Radii and Diameters. In 42nd International Symposium on Computational Geometry (SoCG 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 367, pp. 48:1-48:18, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)

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@InProceedings{filtser_et_al:LIPIcs.SoCG.2026.48,
  author =	{Filtser, Arnold and Gadekar, Ameet},
  title =	{{FPT Approximations for Capacitated Sum of Radii and Diameters}},
  booktitle =	{42nd International Symposium on Computational Geometry (SoCG 2026)},
  pages =	{48:1--48:18},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-418-5},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{367},
  editor =	{Ahn, Hee-Kap and Hoffmann, Michael and Nayyeri, Amir},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.SoCG.2026.48},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-258545},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.SoCG.2026.48},
  annote =	{Keywords: clustering, sum of radii, sum of diameter, capacitated clustering, fpt}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.FSTTCS.2025.19
Clustering in Varying Metrics

Authors: Deeparnab Chakrabarty, Jonathan Conroy, and Ankita Sarkar

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

Abstract
We introduce the aggregated clustering problem, where one is given T instances of a center-based clustering task over the same n points, but under different metrics. The goal is to open k centers to minimize an aggregate of the clustering costs - e.g., the average or maximum - where the cost is measured via k-center/median/means objectives. More generally, we minimize a norm Ψ over the T cost values. We show that for T ≥ 3, the problem is inapproximable to any finite factor in polynomial time. For T = 2, we give constant-factor approximations. We also show W[2]-hardness when parameterized by k, but obtain f(k,T)poly(n)-time 3-approximations when parameterized by both k and T. When the metrics have structure, we obtain efficient parameterized approximation schemes (EPAS). If all T metrics have bounded ε-scatter dimension, we achieve a (1+ε)-approximation in f(k,T,ε)poly(n) time. If the metrics are induced by edge weights on a common graph G of bounded treewidth tw, and Ψ is the sum function, we get an EPAS in f(T,ε,tw)poly(n,k) time. Conversely, unless (randomized) ETH is false, any finite factor approximation is impossible if parametrized by only T, even when the treewidth is tw = Ω(polylog n).
Cite as

Deeparnab Chakrabarty, Jonathan Conroy, and Ankita Sarkar. Clustering in Varying Metrics. In 45th IARCS Annual Conference on Foundations of Software Technology and Theoretical Computer Science (FSTTCS 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 360, pp. 19:1-19:21, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{chakrabarty_et_al:LIPIcs.FSTTCS.2025.19,
  author =	{Chakrabarty, Deeparnab and Conroy, Jonathan and Sarkar, Ankita},
  title =	{{Clustering in Varying Metrics}},
  booktitle =	{45th IARCS Annual Conference on Foundations of Software Technology and Theoretical Computer Science (FSTTCS 2025)},
  pages =	{19:1--19:21},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-406-2},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{360},
  editor =	{Aiswarya, C. and Mehta, Ruta and Roy, Subhajit},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.FSTTCS.2025.19},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-251007},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.FSTTCS.2025.19},
  annote =	{Keywords: Clustering, approximation algorithms, LP rounding, parameterized and exact algorithms, dynamic programming, fixed parameter tractability, hardness of approximation}
}
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)

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@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.2025.23
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)

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@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
Track A: Algorithms, Complexity and Games
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.50
New Results on a General Class of Minimum Norm Optimization Problems

Authors: Kuowen Chen, Jian Li, Yuval Rabani, and Yiran Zhang

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

Abstract
We study the general norm optimization for combinatorial problems, initiated by Chakrabarty and Swamy (STOC 2019). We propose a general formulation that captures a large class of combinatorial structures: we are given a set 𝒰 of n weighted elements and a family of feasible subsets ℱ. Each subset S ∈ ℱ is called a feasible solution/set of the problem. We denote the value vector by v = {v_i}_{i ∈ [n]}, where v_i ≥ 0 is the value of element i. For any subset S ⊆ 𝒰, we use v[S] to denote the n-dimensional vector {v_e⋅ 𝟏[e ∈ S]}_{e ∈ 𝒰} (i.e., we zero out all entries that are not in S). Let f: ℝⁿ → ℝ_+ be a symmetric monotone norm function. Our goal is to minimize the norm objective f(v[S]) over feasible subset S ∈ ℱ. The problem significantly generalizes the corresponding min-sum and min-max problems. We present a general equivalent reduction of the norm minimization problem to a multi-criteria optimization problem with logarithmic budget constraints, up to a constant approximation factor. Leveraging this reduction, we obtain constant factor approximation algorithms for the norm minimization versions of several covering problems, such as interval cover, multi-dimensional knapsack cover, and logarithmic factor approximation for set cover. We also study the norm minimization versions for perfect matching, s-t path and s-t cut. We show the natural linear programming relaxations for these problems have a large integrality gap. To complement the negative result, we show that, for perfect matching, it is possible to obtain a bi-criteria result: for any constant ε,δ > 0, we can find in polynomial time a nearly perfect matching (i.e., a matching that matches at least 1-ε proportion of vertices) and its cost is at most (8+δ) times of the optimum for perfect matching. Moreover, we establish the existence of a polynomial-time O(log log n)-approximation algorithm for the norm minimization variant of the s-t path problem. Specifically, our algorithm achieves an α-approximation with a time complexity of n^{O(log log n / α)}, where 9 ≤ α ≤ log log n.
Cite as

Kuowen Chen, Jian Li, Yuval Rabani, and Yiran Zhang. New Results on a General Class of Minimum Norm Optimization Problems. In 52nd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 334, pp. 50:1-50:20, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{chen_et_al:LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.50,
  author =	{Chen, Kuowen and Li, Jian and Rabani, Yuval and Zhang, Yiran},
  title =	{{New Results on a General Class of Minimum Norm Optimization Problems}},
  booktitle =	{52nd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2025)},
  pages =	{50:1--50:20},
  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.2025.50},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-234276},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.50},
  annote =	{Keywords: Approximation Algorithms, Minimum Norm Optimization, Linear Programming}
}
Document
Track A: Algorithms, Complexity and Games
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.39
Sampling with a Black Box: Faster Parameterized Approximation Algorithms for Vertex Deletion Problems

Authors: Barış Can Esmer and Ariel Kulik

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

Abstract
In this paper, we present Sampling with a Black Box, a unified framework for the design of parameterized approximation algorithms for vertex deletion problems (e.g., Vertex Cover, Feedback Vertex Set, etc.). The framework relies on two components: - A Sampling Step. A polynomial-time randomized algorithm that, given a graph G, returns a random vertex v such that the optimum of G⧵ {v} is smaller by 1 than the optimum of G, with some prescribed probability q. We show that such algorithms exist for multiple vertex deletion problems. - A Black Box algorithm which is either an exact parameterized algorithm, a polynomial-time approximation algorithm, or a parameterized-approximation algorithm. The framework combines these two components together. The sampling step is applied iteratively to remove vertices from the input graph, and then the solution is extended using the black box algorithm. The process is repeated sufficiently many times so that the target approximation ratio is attained with a constant probability. We use the technique to derive parameterized approximation algorithms for several vertex deletion problems, including Feedback Vertex Set, d-Hitting Set and 𝓁-Path Vertex Cover. In particular, for every approximation ratio 1 < β < 2, we attain a parameterized β-approximation for Feedback Vertex Set, which is faster than the parameterized β-approximation of [Jana, Lokshtanov, Mandal, Rai and Saurabh, MFCS 23']. Furthermore, our algorithms are always faster than the algorithms attained using Fidelity Preserving Transformations [Fellows, Kulik, Rosamond, and Shachnai, JCSS 18'].
Cite as

Barış Can Esmer and Ariel Kulik. Sampling with a Black Box: Faster Parameterized Approximation Algorithms for Vertex Deletion Problems. In 52nd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 334, pp. 39:1-39:20, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{canesmer_et_al:LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.39,
  author =	{Can Esmer, Bar{\i}\c{s} and Kulik, Ariel},
  title =	{{Sampling with a Black Box: Faster Parameterized Approximation Algorithms for Vertex Deletion Problems}},
  booktitle =	{52nd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2025)},
  pages =	{39:1--39:20},
  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.2025.39},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-234165},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2025.39},
  annote =	{Keywords: Parameterized Approximation Algorithms, Random Sampling}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.FORC.2025.21
OWA for Bipartite Assignments

Authors: Jabari Hastings, Sigal Oren, and Omer Reingold

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 329, 6th Symposium on Foundations of Responsible Computing (FORC 2025)

Abstract
In resource allocation problems, a central planner often strives to have a fair assignment. A challenge they might face, however, is that there are several objectives that could be argued to be fair, such as the max-min and maximum social welfare. In this work, we study bipartite assignment problems involving the optimization of a class of functions that is sensitive to the relative utilities derived by individuals in allocation and captures these traditional objectives. We introduce and study a subclass of evaluation functions that targets the average welfare attained within some interval of the economic ladder (e.g., the bottom 10%, middle 50%, or top 80%). We provide an efficient algorithm that can be used to optimize the welfare for an arbitrary interval and also show how the approach can be used to approximate more general evaluation functions. We also study a subclass of evaluation functions consisting of the "fair" ordered weighted averages (OWA) introduced by Lesca et al. (Algorithmica 2019), which are most sensitive to the utilities received by the worst-off individuals. We provide a simple proof that optimizing this objective belongs to the class XP.
Cite as

Jabari Hastings, Sigal Oren, and Omer Reingold. OWA for Bipartite Assignments. In 6th Symposium on Foundations of Responsible Computing (FORC 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 329, pp. 21:1-21:18, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{hastings_et_al:LIPIcs.FORC.2025.21,
  author =	{Hastings, Jabari and Oren, Sigal and Reingold, Omer},
  title =	{{OWA for Bipartite Assignments}},
  booktitle =	{6th Symposium on Foundations of Responsible Computing (FORC 2025)},
  pages =	{21:1--21:18},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-367-6},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{329},
  editor =	{Bun, Mark},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.FORC.2025.21},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-231482},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.FORC.2025.21},
  annote =	{Keywords: fairness, matchings, approximation 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)

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@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
Track A: Algorithms, Complexity and Games
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2024.6
Parameterized Approximation For Robust Clustering in Discrete Geometric Spaces

Authors: Fateme Abbasi, Sandip Banerjee, Jarosław Byrka, Parinya Chalermsook, Ameet Gadekar, Kamyar Khodamoradi, Dániel Marx, Roohani Sharma, and Joachim Spoerhase

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 297, 51st International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2024)

Abstract
We consider the well-studied Robust (k,z)-Clustering problem, which generalizes the classic k-Median, k-Means, and k-Center problems and arises in the domains of robust optimization [Anthony, Goyal, Gupta, Nagarajan, Math. Oper. Res. 2010] and in algorithmic fairness [Abbasi, Bhaskara, Venkatasubramanian, 2021 & Ghadiri, Samadi, Vempala, 2022]. Given a constant z ≥ 1, the input to Robust (k,z)-Clustering is a set P of n points in a metric space (M,δ), a weight function w: P → ℝ_{≥ 0} and a positive integer k. Further, each point belongs to one (or more) of the m many different groups S_1,S_2,…,S_m ⊆ P. Our goal is to find a set X of k centers such that max_{i ∈ [m]} ∑_{p ∈ S_i} w(p) δ(p,X)^z is minimized. Complementing recent work on this problem, we give a comprehensive understanding of the parameterized approximability of the problem in geometric spaces where the parameter is the number k of centers. We prove the following results: [(i)] 1) For a universal constant η₀ > 0.0006, we devise a 3^z(1-η₀)-factor FPT approximation algorithm for Robust (k,z)-Clustering in discrete high-dimensional Euclidean spaces where the set of potential centers is finite. This shows that the lower bound of 3^z for general metrics [Goyal, Jaiswal, Inf. Proc. Letters, 2023] no longer holds when the metric has geometric structure. 2) We show that Robust (k,z)-Clustering in discrete Euclidean spaces is (√{3/2}- o(1))-hard to approximate for FPT algorithms, even if we consider the special case k-Center in logarithmic dimensions. This rules out a (1+ε)-approximation algorithm running in time f(k,ε)poly(m,n) (also called efficient parameterized approximation scheme or EPAS), giving a striking contrast with the recent EPAS for the continuous setting where centers can be placed anywhere in the space [Abbasi et al., FOCS'23]. 3) However, we obtain an EPAS for Robust (k,z)-Clustering in discrete Euclidean spaces when the dimension is sublogarithmic (for the discrete problem, earlier work [Abbasi et al., FOCS'23] provides an EPAS only in dimension o(log log n)). Our EPAS works also for metrics of sub-logarithmic doubling dimension.
Cite as

Fateme Abbasi, Sandip Banerjee, Jarosław Byrka, Parinya Chalermsook, Ameet Gadekar, Kamyar Khodamoradi, Dániel Marx, Roohani Sharma, and Joachim Spoerhase. Parameterized Approximation For Robust Clustering in Discrete Geometric Spaces. In 51st International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2024). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 297, pp. 6:1-6:19, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2024)

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@InProceedings{abbasi_et_al:LIPIcs.ICALP.2024.6,
  author =	{Abbasi, Fateme and Banerjee, Sandip and Byrka, Jaros{\l}aw and Chalermsook, Parinya and Gadekar, Ameet and Khodamoradi, Kamyar and Marx, D\'{a}niel and Sharma, Roohani and Spoerhase, Joachim},
  title =	{{Parameterized Approximation For Robust Clustering in Discrete Geometric Spaces}},
  booktitle =	{51st International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP 2024)},
  pages =	{6:1--6:19},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-322-5},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2024},
  volume =	{297},
  editor =	{Bringmann, Karl and Grohe, Martin and Puppis, Gabriele and Svensson, Ola},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2024.6},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-201494},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ICALP.2024.6},
  annote =	{Keywords: Clustering, approximation algorithms, parameterized complexity}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ESA.2016.11
On the Hardness of Learning Sparse Parities

Authors: Arnab Bhattacharyya, Ameet Gadekar, Suprovat Ghoshal, and Rishi Saket

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 57, 24th Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2016)

Abstract
This work investigates the hardness of computing sparse solutions to systems of linear equations over F_2. Consider the k-EventSet problem: given a homogeneous system of linear equations over $\F_2$ on $n$ variables, decide if there exists a nonzero solution of Hamming weight at most k (i.e. a k-sparse solution). While there is a simple O(n^{k/2})-time algorithm for it, establishing fixed parameter intractability for k-EventSet has been a notorious open problem. Towards this goal, we show that unless \kclq can be solved in n^{o(k)} time, k-EventSet has no polynomial time algorithm when k = omega(log^2(n)). Our work also shows that the non-homogeneous generalization of the problem - which we call k-VectorSum - is W[1]-hard on instances where the number of equations is O(k*log(n)), improving on previous reductions which produced Omega(n) equations. We use the hardness of k-VectorSum as a starting point to prove the result for k-EventSet, and additionally strengthen the former to show the hardness of approximately learning k-juntas. In particular, we prove that given a system of O(exp(O(k))*log(n)) linear equations, it is W[1]-hard to decide if there is a k-sparse linear form satisfying all the equations or any function on at most k-variables (a k-junta) satisfies at most (1/2 + epsilon)-fraction of the equations, for any constant epsilon > 0. In the setting of computational learning, this shows hardness of approximate non-proper learning of k-parities. In a similar vein, we use the hardness of k-EventSet to show that that for any constant d, unless k-Clique can be solved in n^{o(k)} time, there is no poly(m,n)*2^{o(sqrt{k})} time algorithm to decide whether a given set of $m$ points in F_2^n satisfies: (i) there exists a non-trivial k-sparse homogeneous linear form evaluating to 0 on all the points, or (ii) any non-trivial degree d polynomial P supported on at most k variables evaluates to zero on approx Pr_{F_2^n}[P({z}) = 0] fraction of the points i.e., P is fooled by the set of points. Lastly, we study the approximation in the sparsity of the solution. Let the Gap-k-VectorSum problem be: given an instance of k-VectorSum of size n, decide if there exist a k-sparse solution, or every solution is of sparsity at least k' = (1+delta_0)k. Assuming the Exponential Time Hypothesis, we show that for some constants c_0, delta_0 > 0 there is no poly(n) time algorithm for Gap-k-VectorSum when k = omega((log(log( n)))^{c_0}).
Cite as

Arnab Bhattacharyya, Ameet Gadekar, Suprovat Ghoshal, and Rishi Saket. On the Hardness of Learning Sparse Parities. In 24th Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2016). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 57, pp. 11:1-11:17, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2016)

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@InProceedings{bhattacharyya_et_al:LIPIcs.ESA.2016.11,
  author =	{Bhattacharyya, Arnab and Gadekar, Ameet and Ghoshal, Suprovat and Saket, Rishi},
  title =	{{On the Hardness of Learning Sparse Parities}},
  booktitle =	{24th Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2016)},
  pages =	{11:1--11:17},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-015-6},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2016},
  volume =	{57},
  editor =	{Sankowski, Piotr and Zaroliagis, Christos},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ESA.2016.11},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-63628},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ESA.2016.11},
  annote =	{Keywords: Fixed Parameter Tractable, Juntas, Minimum Distance of Code, Psuedorandom Generators}
}
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