74 Search Results for "Near, Joseph P."


Document
A 13/6-Approximation for Strip Packing via the Bottom-Left Algorithm

Authors: Stefan Hougardy and Bart Zondervan

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 364, 43rd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2026)


Abstract
In the Strip Packing problem, we are given a vertical strip of fixed width and unbounded height, along with a set of axis‑parallel rectangles. The task is to place all rectangles within the strip, without overlaps, while minimizing the height of the packing. This problem is known to be NP-hard. The Bottom-Left Algorithm is a simple and widely used heuristic for Strip Packing. Given a fixed order of the rectangles, it places them one by one, always choosing the lowest feasible position in the strip and, in case of ties, the leftmost one. Baker, Coffman, and Rivest proved in 1980 that the Bottom-Left Algorithm has approximation ratio 3 if the rectangles are sorted by decreasing width [Brenda S. Baker et al., 1980]. For the past 45 years, no alternative ordering has been found that improves this bound. We introduce a new rectangle ordering and show that with this ordering the Bottom-Left Algorithm achieves a 13/6 approximation for the Strip Packing problem.

Cite as

Stefan Hougardy and Bart Zondervan. A 13/6-Approximation for Strip Packing via the Bottom-Left Algorithm. In 43rd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 364, pp. 54:1-54:17, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)


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@InProceedings{hougardy_et_al:LIPIcs.STACS.2026.54,
  author =	{Hougardy, Stefan and Zondervan, Bart},
  title =	{{A 13/6-Approximation for Strip Packing via the Bottom-Left Algorithm}},
  booktitle =	{43rd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2026)},
  pages =	{54:1--54:17},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-412-3},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{364},
  editor =	{Mahajan, Meena and Manea, Florin and McIver, Annabelle 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.2026.54},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-255432},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2026.54},
  annote =	{Keywords: Approximation Algorithm, Strip Packing, Bottom-Left Algorithm, Rectangle Packing}
}
Document
Invited Talk
Advancements in Online Edge Coloring Algorithms (Invited Talk)

Authors: Ola Svensson

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 364, 43rd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2026)


Abstract
We study online edge coloring, where edges of an n-vertex graph arrive sequentially and must be colored irrevocably so that adjacent edges receive different colors. The goal is to use as few colors as possible as a function of the maximum degree Δ. This talk surveys recent progress that achieves near-optimal guarantees by leveraging martingale concentration arguments. Specifically, we show that near-optimal colorings (using (1+o(1))Δ colors) exhibit sharp threshold phenomena that match long-standing lower bounds, resolving and strengthening a conjecture of Bar‑Noy, Motwani, and Naor [Bar-Noy et al., 1992]. First, while the conjecture posited the existence of a randomized algorithm achieving a (1+o(1))Δ-edge-coloring for maximum degree Δ = ω(log n), we present a deterministic online algorithm that achieves this guarantee in the same regime. This result matches the known impossibility result for deterministic algorithms when Δ = O(log n), establishing a sharp threshold. Second, improving the conditions under which near-optimal coloring is known to be possible with randomness, we present a randomized online algorithm achieving a (1+o(1))Δ-edge-coloring already for graphs with maximum degree Δ = ω(√{log n}). This establishes a sharp threshold for randomized algorithms, matching the lower bound in [Bar-Noy et al., 1992] for the Δ = O(√{log n}) regime. This is joint work with Joakim Blikstad, Radu Vintan, and David Wajc [Joakim Blikstad et al., 2024; Joakim Blikstad et al., 2025].

Cite as

Ola Svensson. Advancements in Online Edge Coloring Algorithms (Invited Talk). In 43rd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 364, p. 3:1, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)


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@InProceedings{svensson:LIPIcs.STACS.2026.3,
  author =	{Svensson, Ola},
  title =	{{Advancements in Online Edge Coloring Algorithms}},
  booktitle =	{43rd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science (STACS 2026)},
  pages =	{3:1--3:1},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-412-3},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{364},
  editor =	{Mahajan, Meena and Manea, Florin and McIver, Annabelle 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.2026.3},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-254928},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.STACS.2026.3},
  annote =	{Keywords: Edge coloring, Martingale, Online algorithms}
}
Document
New Greedy Spanners and Applications

Authors: Elizaveta Popova and Elad Tzalik

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 362, 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)


Abstract
We present a simple greedy procedure to compute an (α,β)-spanner for a graph G. We then show that this procedure is useful for building fault-tolerant spanners, as well as spanners for weighted graphs. Our first main result is an algorithm that, given a multigraph G, outputs an f edge fault-tolerant (k,k-1)-spanner H of size O(fn^{1+1/k}) which is tight. To our knowledge, this is the first tight result concerning the price of fault tolerance in spanners which are not multiplicative, in any model of faults. Our second main result is a new construction of a spanner for weighted graphs. We show that any weighted graph G has a subgraph H with O(n^{1+1/k}) edges such that any path P of hop-length 𝓁 in G has a replacement path P' in H of weighted length ≤ w(P)+(2k-2)w^(1/2)(P) where w(P) is the total edge weight of P, and w^(1/2) denotes the sum of the largest ⌈𝓁/2⌉ edge weights along P. Moreover, we show such approximation is optimal for shortest paths of hop-length 2. To our knowledge, this is the first construction of a "spanner" for weighted graphs that strictly improves upon the stretch of multiplicative (2k-1)-spanners for all non-adjacent vertex pairs, while maintaining the same size bound. Our technique is based on using clustering and ball-growing, which are methods commonly used in designing spanner algorithms, to analyze simple greedy algorithms. This allows us to combine the flexibility of clustering approaches with the unique properties of the greedy algorithm to get improved bounds. In particular, our methods give a very short proof that the parallel greedy spanner adds O(kn^{1+1/k}) edges, improving upon known bounds.

Cite as

Elizaveta Popova and Elad Tzalik. New Greedy Spanners and Applications. In 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 362, pp. 107:1-107:25, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)


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@InProceedings{popova_et_al:LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.107,
  author =	{Popova, Elizaveta and Tzalik, Elad},
  title =	{{New Greedy Spanners and Applications}},
  booktitle =	{17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)},
  pages =	{107:1--107:25},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-410-9},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{362},
  editor =	{Saraf, Shubhangi},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.107},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-253945},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.107},
  annote =	{Keywords: Graph Spanners, Greedy Algorithms}
}
Document
Random Unitaries in Constant (Quantum) Time

Authors: Ben Foxman, Natalie Parham, Francisca Vasconcelos, and Henry Yuen

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 362, 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)


Abstract
Random unitaries are a central object of study in quantum information, with applications to quantum computation, quantum many-body physics, and quantum cryptography. Recent work has constructed unitary designs and pseudorandom unitaries (PRUs) using Θ(log log n)-depth unitary circuits with two-qubit gates. In this work, we show that unitary designs and PRUs can be efficiently constructed in several well-studied models of constant-time quantum computation (i.e., the time complexity on the quantum computer is independent of the system size). These models are constant-depth circuits augmented with certain nonlocal operations, such as (a) many-qubit TOFFOLI gates, (b) many-qubit FANOUT gates, or (c) mid-circuit measurements with classical feedforward control. Recent advances in quantum computing hardware suggest experimental feasibility of these models in the near future. Our results demonstrate that unitary designs and PRUs can be constructed in much weaker circuit models than previously thought. Furthermore, our construction of PRUs in constant-depth with many-qubit TOFFOLI gates shows that, under cryptographic assumptions, there is no polynomial-time learning algorithm for the circuit class QAC⁰. Finally, our results suggest a new approach towards proving that PARITY is not computable in QAC⁰, a long-standing question in quantum complexity theory.

Cite as

Ben Foxman, Natalie Parham, Francisca Vasconcelos, and Henry Yuen. Random Unitaries in Constant (Quantum) Time. In 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 362, pp. 61:1-61:25, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)


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@InProceedings{foxman_et_al:LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.61,
  author =	{Foxman, Ben and Parham, Natalie and Vasconcelos, Francisca and Yuen, Henry},
  title =	{{Random Unitaries in Constant (Quantum) Time}},
  booktitle =	{17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)},
  pages =	{61:1--61:25},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-410-9},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{362},
  editor =	{Saraf, Shubhangi},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.61},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-253481},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.61},
  annote =	{Keywords: Quantum Information, Pseudorandomness, Circuit Complexity}
}
Document
Average Sensitivity of Geometric Algorithms

Authors: Matthijs Ebbens and Yuichi Yoshida

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 362, 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)


Abstract
In modern applications of geometric algorithms, it is often unrealistic to assume that the input representation fully captures all relevant aspects of the problem, because the input data is often large and dynamic. To address this challenge, we consider the notion of average sensitivity, which is defined as the average earth mover’s distance between the output distributions of the algorithm when run on an input and the same input with one point removed, where the average is over removed points and the distance between two outputs is measured using the symmetric difference size. We start by showing that a number of classical problems from computational geometry, in particular the convex hull, Delaunay triangulation, and Voronoi diagram problems, are "simple" from the viewpoint of average sensitivity by proving tight bounds for the average sensitivity of any algorithm for these problems. Then, we continue by constructing an algorithm with low average sensitivity that computes, for any ε > 0, a set of (1/3+ε)n guards for the art gallery problem. This is the main technical contribution of this work, which combines algorithms from computational geometry with results from the theory of local computation algorithms (LCAs) and property testing.

Cite as

Matthijs Ebbens and Yuichi Yoshida. Average Sensitivity of Geometric Algorithms. In 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 362, pp. 53:1-53:16, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)


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@InProceedings{ebbens_et_al:LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.53,
  author =	{Ebbens, Matthijs and Yoshida, Yuichi},
  title =	{{Average Sensitivity of Geometric Algorithms}},
  booktitle =	{17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)},
  pages =	{53:1--53:16},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-410-9},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{362},
  editor =	{Saraf, Shubhangi},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.53},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-253409},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.53},
  annote =	{Keywords: Average Sensitivity, Convex Hull, Delaunay Triangulation, Voronoi Diagram, Art Gallery}
}
Document
Differential Privacy from Axioms

Authors: Guy Blanc, William Pires, and Toniann Pitassi

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 362, 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)


Abstract
Differential privacy (DP) is the de facto notion of privacy both in theory and in practice. However, despite its popularity, DP imposes strict requirements which guard against strong worst-case scenarios. For example, it guards against seemingly unrealistic scenarios where an attacker has full information about all but one point in the data set, and still nothing can be learned about the remaining point. While preventing such a strong attack is desirable, many works have explored whether average-case relaxations of DP are easier to satisfy [Hall et al., 2013; Wang et al., 2016; Bassily and Freund, 2016; Liu et al., 2023]. In this work, we are motivated by the question of whether alternate, weaker notions of privacy are possible: can a weakened privacy notion still guarantee some basic level of privacy, and on the other hand, achieve privacy more efficiently and/or for a substantially broader set of tasks? Our main result shows the answer is no: even in the statistical setting, any reasonable measure of privacy satisfying nontrivial composition is equivalent to DP. To prove this, we identify a core set of four axioms or desiderata: pre-processing invariance, prohibition of blatant non-privacy, strong composition, and linear scalability. Our main theorem shows that any privacy measure satisfying our axioms is equivalent to DP, up to polynomial factors in sample complexity. We complement this result by showing our axioms are minimal: removing any one of our axioms enables ill-behaved measures of privacy.

Cite as

Guy Blanc, William Pires, and Toniann Pitassi. Differential Privacy from Axioms. In 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 362, pp. 21:1-21:13, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)


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@InProceedings{blanc_et_al:LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.21,
  author =	{Blanc, Guy and Pires, William and Pitassi, Toniann},
  title =	{{Differential Privacy from Axioms}},
  booktitle =	{17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)},
  pages =	{21:1--21:13},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-410-9},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{362},
  editor =	{Saraf, Shubhangi},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.21},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-253081},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.21},
  annote =	{Keywords: Differential Privacy, Privacy Amplification, Composition}
}
Document
The Learning Stabilizers with Noise Problem

Authors: Alexander Poremba, Yihui Quek, and Peter Shor

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 362, 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)


Abstract
Random classical codes have good error correcting properties, and yet they are notoriously hard to decode in practice. Despite many decades of extensive study, the fastest known algorithms still run in exponential time. The Learning Parity with Noise (LPN) problem, which can be seen as the task of decoding a random linear code in the presence of noise, has thus emerged as a prominent hardness assumption with numerous applications in both cryptography and learning theory. Is there a natural quantum analog of the LPN problem? In this work, we introduce the Learning Stabilizers with Noise (LSN) problem, the task of decoding a random stabilizer code in the presence of local depolarizing noise. We give both polynomial-time and exponential-time quantum algorithms for solving LSN in various depolarizing noise regimes, ranging from extremely low noise, to low constant noise rates, and even higher noise rates up to a threshold. Next, we provide concrete evidence that LSN is hard. First, we show that LSN includes LPN as a special case, which suggests that it is at least as hard as its classical counterpart. Second, we prove worst-case to average-case reductions for variants of LSN. We then ask: what is the computational complexity of solving LSN? Because the task features quantum inputs, its complexity cannot be characterized by traditional complexity classes. Instead, we show that the LSN problem lies in a recently introduced (distributional and oracle) unitary synthesis class. Finally, we identify several applications of our LSN assumption, ranging from the construction of quantum bit commitment schemes to the computational limitations of learning from quantum data.

Cite as

Alexander Poremba, Yihui Quek, and Peter Shor. The Learning Stabilizers with Noise Problem. In 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 362, pp. 108:1-108:19, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)


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@InProceedings{poremba_et_al:LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.108,
  author =	{Poremba, Alexander and Quek, Yihui and Shor, Peter},
  title =	{{The Learning Stabilizers with Noise Problem}},
  booktitle =	{17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)},
  pages =	{108:1--108:19},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-410-9},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{362},
  editor =	{Saraf, Shubhangi},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.108},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-253950},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.108},
  annote =	{Keywords: Random quantum stabilizer codes, average-case hardness}
}
Document
Range Longest Increasing Subsequence and Its Relatives

Authors: Karthik C. S. and Saladi Rahul

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 362, 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)


Abstract
Longest increasing subsequence (LIS) is a classical textbook problem which is still actively studied in various computational models. In this work, we present a few results for the range longest increasing subsequence problem (Range-LIS) and its variants. The input to Range-LIS is a sequence 𝒮 of n real numbers and a collection 𝒬 of m query ranges and for each query in 𝒬, the goal is to report the LIS of the sequence 𝒮 restricted to that query. Our two main results are for the following generalizations of the Range-LIS problem: 2D Range Queries: In this variant of the Range-LIS problem, each query is a pair of ranges, one of indices and the other of values, and we provide a randomized algorithm with running time Õ(mn^{1/2}+ n^{3/2})+O(k), where k is the cumulative length of the m output subsequences. This improves on the elementary Õ(mn) runtime algorithm when m = Ω(√n). Previously, the only known result breaking the quadratic barrier was of Tiskin [SODA'10] which could only handle 1D range queries (i.e., each query was a range of indices) and also just outputted the length of the LIS (instead of reporting the subsequence achieving that length). Subsequent to our paper, Gawrychowski, Gorbachev, and Kociumaka in a preprint have extended Tiskin’s approach to handle reporting 1D range queries in O(n(log n)³+m+k) time. Colored Sequences: In this variant of the Range-LIS problem, each element in 𝒮 is colored and for each query in 𝒬, the goal is to report a monochromatic LIS contained in the sequence 𝒮 restricted to that query. For 2D queries, we provide a randomized algorithm for this colored version with running time Õ(mn^{2/3}+ n^{5/3})+O(k). Moreover, for 1D queries, we provide an improved algorithm with running time Õ(mn^{1/2}+ n^{3/2})+O(k). Thus, we again improve on the elementary Õ(mn) runtime algorithm. Additionally, we prove that assuming the well-known Combinatorial Boolean Matrix Multiplication Hypothesis, that the runtime for 1D queries is essentially tight for combinatorial algorithms. Our algorithms combine several tools such as dynamic programming (to precompute increasing subsequences with some desirable properties), geometric data structures (to efficiently compute the dynamic programming entries), random sampling (to capture elements which are part of the LIS), classification of query ranges into large LIS and small LIS, and classification of colors into light and heavy. We believe that our techniques will be of interest to tackle other variants of LIS problem and other range-searching problems.

Cite as

Karthik C. S. and Saladi Rahul. Range Longest Increasing Subsequence and Its Relatives. In 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 362, pp. 87:1-87:20, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)


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@InProceedings{karthikc.s._et_al:LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.87,
  author =	{Karthik C. S. and Rahul, Saladi},
  title =	{{Range Longest Increasing Subsequence and Its Relatives}},
  booktitle =	{17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)},
  pages =	{87:1--87:20},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-410-9},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{362},
  editor =	{Saraf, Shubhangi},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.87},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-253740},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.87},
  annote =	{Keywords: Longest Increasing Subsequence, Range Query, Fine-Grained Complexity}
}
Document
The Secretary Problem with Predictions and a Chosen Order

Authors: Helia Karisani, Mohammadreza Daneshvaramoli, Hedyeh Beyhaghi, Mohammad Hajiesmaili, and Cameron Musco

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 362, 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)


Abstract
We study a learning-augmented variant of the secretary problem, recently introduced by Fujii and Yoshida (2023). In this variant, the decision-maker has access to machine-learned predictions of candidate values in advance. The key challenge is to balance consistency and robustness: when the predictions are accurate, the algorithm should hire a near-best secretary; however, if they are inaccurate, the algorithm should still achieve a bounded competitive ratio. We consider both the standard Random Order Secretary Problem (ROSP), where candidates arrive in a uniform random order, and a more natural model in the learning-augmented setting, where the decision-maker can choose the arrival order based on the predicted candidate values. This model, which we call the Chosen Order Secretary Problem (COSP), can capture scenarios such as an interview schedule that is set by the decision-maker. We propose a novel algorithm that applies to both ROSP and COSP. Building on the approach of Fujii and Yoshida, our method switches from fully trusting predictions to a threshold-based rule when a large deviation of a prediction is observed. Importantly, unlike the algorithm of Fujii and Yoshida, our algorithm uses randomization as part of its decision logic. We show that if ε ∈ [0,1] denotes the maximum multiplicative prediction error, then for ROSP our algorithm achieves competitive ratio max {0.221, (1-ε)/(1+ε)}, improving on a previous bound of max {0.215, (1-ε)/(1+ε)} due to Fujii and Yoshida [Fujii and Yoshida, 2023]. For COSP, our algorithm achieves max {0.262, (1-ε)/(1+ε)}. This surpasses a 0.25 upper bound on the worst-case competitive ratio that applies to the approach of Fujii and Yoshida, and gets closer to the classical secretary benchmark of 1/e ≈ 0.368, which is an upper bound for any algorithm. Our result for COSP highlights the benefit of integrating predictions with arrival-order control in online decision-making.

Cite as

Helia Karisani, Mohammadreza Daneshvaramoli, Hedyeh Beyhaghi, Mohammad Hajiesmaili, and Cameron Musco. The Secretary Problem with Predictions and a Chosen Order. In 17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 362, pp. 86:1-86:24, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2026)


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@InProceedings{karisani_et_al:LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.86,
  author =	{Karisani, Helia and Daneshvaramoli, Mohammadreza and Beyhaghi, Hedyeh and Hajiesmaili, Mohammad and Musco, Cameron},
  title =	{{The Secretary Problem with Predictions and a Chosen Order}},
  booktitle =	{17th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2026)},
  pages =	{86:1--86:24},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-410-9},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2026},
  volume =	{362},
  editor =	{Saraf, Shubhangi},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.86},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-253734},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ITCS.2026.86},
  annote =	{Keywords: Secretary problem, learning-augmented algorithms, online algorithms}
}
Document
Invited Talk
A Brief History of Parameterized Algorithms for Block-Structured Integer Programs (Invited Talk)

Authors: Martin Koutecký

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


Abstract
Integer Programming (IP) is a fundamental but computationally hard problem. Still, certain efficiently solvable subclasses have been identified over time, most notably totally unimodular IPs in the 1950s, and fixed-dimension IPs in the 1980s. Starting around the year 2000, a stream of research has identified block-structured IPs as yet another tractable subclass. In this paper, we give a brief and incomplete review of this history, with a focus on several of the author’s contributions.

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Martin Koutecký. A Brief History of Parameterized Algorithms for Block-Structured Integer Programs (Invited Talk). In 20th International Symposium on Parameterized and Exact Computation (IPEC 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 358, pp. 1:1-1:20, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)


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@InProceedings{koutecky:LIPIcs.IPEC.2025.1,
  author =	{Kouteck\'{y}, Martin},
  title =	{{A Brief History of Parameterized Algorithms for Block-Structured Integer Programs}},
  booktitle =	{20th International Symposium on Parameterized and Exact Computation (IPEC 2025)},
  pages =	{1:1--1:20},
  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.2025.1},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-251338},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.IPEC.2025.1},
  annote =	{Keywords: Integer Programming, Parameterized Algorithm, Graver Basis, Treedepth, n-fold, tree-fold, 2-stage stochastic, multistage stochastic, Mixed-Integer Programming}
}
Document
Parameterized Algorithms for Diversity of Networks with Ecological Dependencies

Authors: Mark Jones and Jannik Schestag

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


Abstract
For a phylogenetic tree, the phylogenetic diversity of a set A of taxa is the total weight of edges on paths to A. Finding small sets of maximal diversity is crucial for conservation planning, as it indicates where limited resources can be invested most efficiently. In recent years, efficient algorithms have been developed to find sets of taxa that maximize phylogenetic diversity either in a phylogenetic network or in a phylogenetic tree subject to ecological constraints, such as a food web. However, these aspects have mostly been studied independently. Since both factors are biologically important, it seems natural to consider them together. In this paper, we introduce decision problems where, given a phylogenetic network, a food web, and integers k, and D, the task is to find a set of k taxa with phylogenetic diversity of at least D under the maximize all paths measure, while also satisfying viability conditions within the food web. Here, we consider different definitions of viability, which all demand that a "sufficient" number of prey species survive to support surviving predators. We investigate the parameterized complexity of these problems and present several fixed-parameter tractable (FPT) algorithms. Specifically, we provide a complete complexity dichotomy characterizing which combinations of parameters - out of the size constraint k, the acceptable diversity loss D̄, the scanwidth of the food web sw_ℱ, the maximum in-degree δ in the network, and the network height h - lead to W[1]-hardness and which admit FPT algorithms. Our primary methodological contribution is a novel algorithmic framework for solving phylogenetic diversity problems in networks where dependencies (such as those from a food web) impose an order, using a color coding approach.

Cite as

Mark Jones and Jannik Schestag. Parameterized Algorithms for Diversity of Networks with Ecological Dependencies. In 20th International Symposium on Parameterized and Exact Computation (IPEC 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 358, pp. 11:1-11:21, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)


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@InProceedings{jones_et_al:LIPIcs.IPEC.2025.11,
  author =	{Jones, Mark and Schestag, Jannik},
  title =	{{Parameterized Algorithms for Diversity of Networks with Ecological Dependencies}},
  booktitle =	{20th International Symposium on Parameterized and Exact Computation (IPEC 2025)},
  pages =	{11:1--11:21},
  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.2025.11},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-251439},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.IPEC.2025.11},
  annote =	{Keywords: Phylogenetic Diversity, Fixed-Parameter Tractability, Phylogenetic Networks, Food Webs, Color Coding}
}
Document
A Dimension-Reducing Fréchet Simplification Oracle

Authors: Boris Aronov, Tsuri Farhana, Matthew J. Katz, and Indu Ramesh

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


Abstract
Let P be a polygonal curve with n vertices in the plane. We construct a data structure of size O(n log n) suited for simplification queries of the following kind. Given a query line 𝓁 and an integer k ≥ 1, find a curve Q on 𝓁 with at most k vertices that minimizes the discrete Fréchet distance to P, among all such curves. Using our data structure, a query can be handled in O(k² log³ n + k log⁴n) time. More generally, a geometric tree T on n vertices in the plane can be preprocessed into a near-linear-size structure so that, given a pair u, v of its vertices, a line 𝓁, and an integer k ≥ 1, one can find a curve Q on 𝓁 with at most k vertices that minimizes the discrete Fréchet distance to the path from u to v in T, in time O(k² polylog n). For the general dimension-reduction problem, where P is a curve in ℝ^d (d ≥ 3), 0 < ε₀ < 1 is a real parameter, and a query specifies a g-flat h (1 ≤ g ≤ d-1) and an integer k ≥ 1, we construct a data structure of size O(nlog n + f(ε₀) n), where f(ε₀) = (1+1/ε₀)^{(d-1)/2}, that allows us to find a curve Q on h with at most k vertices, whose discrete Fréchet distance to P is at most 1+ε₀ times the distance of Q^* to P, where Q^* is such a curve that minimizes the distance to P. The query handling time is O(f(ε₀) k² log² n).

Cite as

Boris Aronov, Tsuri Farhana, Matthew J. Katz, and Indu Ramesh. A Dimension-Reducing Fréchet Simplification Oracle. In 36th International Symposium on Algorithms and Computation (ISAAC 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 359, pp. 6:1-6:20, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)


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@InProceedings{aronov_et_al:LIPIcs.ISAAC.2025.6,
  author =	{Aronov, Boris and Farhana, Tsuri and Katz, Matthew J. and Ramesh, Indu},
  title =	{{A Dimension-Reducing Fr\'{e}chet Simplification Oracle}},
  booktitle =	{36th International Symposium on Algorithms and Computation (ISAAC 2025)},
  pages =	{6:1--6:20},
  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.2025.6},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-249149},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ISAAC.2025.6},
  annote =	{Keywords: Computational geometry, discrete Fr\'{e}chet distance, curve simplification oracle, restricted minimum enclosing disk queries}
}
Document
Approximation Schemes for k-Subset Sum Ratio and k-Way Number Partitioning Ratio

Authors: Sotiris Kanellopoulos, Giorgos Mitropoulos, Antonis Antonopoulos, Nikos Leonardos, Aris Pagourtzis, Christos Pergaminelis, Stavros Petsalakis, and Kanellos Tsitouras

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


Abstract
The Subset Sum Ratio problem (SSR) asks, given a multiset A of positive integers, to find two disjoint subsets of A such that the largest-to-smallest ratio of their sums is minimized. In this paper we study the k-version of SSR, namely k-Subset Sum Ratio (k-SSR), which asks to minimize the largest-to-smallest ratio of sums of k disjoint subsets of A. We develop an approximation scheme for k-SSR running in O(n^{2k}/ε^{k-1}) time, where n = |A| and ε is the error parameter. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first FPTAS for k-SSR for fixed k > 2. We also study the k-way Number Partitioning Ratio (k-PART) problem, which differs from k-SSR in that the k subsets must constitute a partition of A; this problem in fact corresponds to the objective of minimizing the largest-to-smallest sum ratio in the family of Multiway Number Partitioning problems. We present a more involved FPTAS for k-PART, also achieving O(n^{2k}/ε^{k-1}) time complexity. Notably, k-PART is also equivalent to the Minimum Envy-Ratio problem with identical valuation functions, which has been studied in the context of fair division of indivisible goods. Thus, for the case of identical valuations, our FPTAS represents a significant improvement over the O(n^{4k²+1}/ε^{2k²}) bound obtained by Nguyen and Rothe’s FPTAS [Trung Thanh Nguyen and Jörg Rothe, 2014] for Minimum Envy-Ratio with general additive valuations. Lastly, we propose a second FPTAS for k-SSR, which employs carefully designed calls to the first one; the new scheme has a time complexity of Õ(n/ε^{3k-1}), thus being much faster when n≫ 1/ ε.

Cite as

Sotiris Kanellopoulos, Giorgos Mitropoulos, Antonis Antonopoulos, Nikos Leonardos, Aris Pagourtzis, Christos Pergaminelis, Stavros Petsalakis, and Kanellos Tsitouras. Approximation Schemes for k-Subset Sum Ratio and k-Way Number Partitioning Ratio. In 36th International Symposium on Algorithms and Computation (ISAAC 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 359, pp. 44:1-44:22, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)


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@InProceedings{kanellopoulos_et_al:LIPIcs.ISAAC.2025.44,
  author =	{Kanellopoulos, Sotiris and Mitropoulos, Giorgos and Antonopoulos, Antonis and Leonardos, Nikos and Pagourtzis, Aris and Pergaminelis, Christos and Petsalakis, Stavros and Tsitouras, Kanellos},
  title =	{{Approximation Schemes for k-Subset Sum Ratio and k-Way Number Partitioning Ratio}},
  booktitle =	{36th International Symposium on Algorithms and Computation (ISAAC 2025)},
  pages =	{44:1--44:22},
  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.2025.44},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-249521},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ISAAC.2025.44},
  annote =	{Keywords: Fully polynomial-time approximation schemes, Subset Sum Ratio, Number Partitioning, Fair division, Envy minimization, Pseudo-polynomial time algorithms}
}
Document
Realizing Metric Spaces with Convex Obstacles

Authors: Sándor Kisfaludi-Bak and Leonidas Theocharous

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


Abstract
The presence of obstacles has a significant impact on distance computation, motion-planning, and visibility. These problems have been studied extensively in the planar setting, while our understanding of these problems in 3- and higher-dimensional spaces is still rudimentary. In this paper, we study the impact of different types of obstacles on the induced geodesic metric in 3-dimensional Euclidean space. We say that a finite metric space (X, dist_X) is approximately realizable by a collection 𝒯 of obstacles in ℝ³ if for any ε > 0 it can be embedded into (ℝ³⧵⋃_{T∈𝒯} T, dist_𝒯) with worst-case multiplicative distortion 1+ε, where dist_𝒯 denotes the geodesic distance in the free space induced by 𝒯. We focus on three key geometric properties of obstacles -convexity, disjointness, and fatness- and examine how dropping each one of them affects the existence of such embeddings. Our main result concerns dropping the fatness property: we demonstrate that any finite metric space is realizable with 1+ε worst-case multiplicative distortion using a collection of convex and pairwise disjoint obstacles in ℝ³, even if the obstacles are congruent and equilateral triangles. Based on the same construction, we can also show that if we require fatness but drop any of the other two properties instead, then we can still approximately realize any finite metric space. Our results have important implications on the approximability of tsp with obstacles, a natural variant of tsp introduced recently by Alkema et al. (ESA 2022). Specifically, we use the recent results of Banerjee et al. on tsp in doubling spaces (FOCS 2024) and of Chew et al. on distances among obstacles (Inf. Process. Lett. 2002) to show that tsp with obstacles admits a PTAS if the obstacles are convex, fat, and pairwise disjoint. If any of these three properties is dropped, then our results, combined with the APX-hardness of Metric tsp, demonstrate that tsp with obstacles is APX-hard.

Cite as

Sándor Kisfaludi-Bak and Leonidas Theocharous. Realizing Metric Spaces with Convex Obstacles. In 36th International Symposium on Algorithms and Computation (ISAAC 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 359, pp. 46:1-46:21, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)


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@InProceedings{kisfaludibak_et_al:LIPIcs.ISAAC.2025.46,
  author =	{Kisfaludi-Bak, S\'{a}ndor and Theocharous, Leonidas},
  title =	{{Realizing Metric Spaces with Convex Obstacles}},
  booktitle =	{36th International Symposium on Algorithms and Computation (ISAAC 2025)},
  pages =	{46:1--46:21},
  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.2025.46},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-249545},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ISAAC.2025.46},
  annote =	{Keywords: traveling salesman, geodesic distance}
}
Document
Optimal Online Bipartite Matching in Degree-2 Graphs

Authors: Amey Bhangale, Arghya Chakraborty, and Prahladh Harsha

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


Abstract
Online bipartite matching is a classical problem in online algorithms and we know that both the deterministic fractional and randomized integral online matchings achieve the same competitive ratio of 1-1/e. In this work, we study classes of graphs where the online degree is restricted to 2. As expected, one can achieve a competitive ratio of better than 1-1/e in both the deterministic fractional and randomized integral cases, but surprisingly, these ratios are not the same. It was already known that for fractional matching, a 0.75 competitive ratio algorithm is optimal. We show that the folklore Half-Half algorithm achieves a competitive ratio of η ≈ 0.717772… and more surprisingly, show that this is optimal by giving a matching lower-bound. This yields a separation between the two problems: deterministic fractional and randomized integral, showing that it is impossible to obtain a perfect rounding scheme.

Cite as

Amey Bhangale, Arghya Chakraborty, and Prahladh Harsha. Optimal Online Bipartite Matching in Degree-2 Graphs. In 36th International Symposium on Algorithms and Computation (ISAAC 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 359, pp. 13:1-13:19, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)


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@InProceedings{bhangale_et_al:LIPIcs.ISAAC.2025.13,
  author =	{Bhangale, Amey and Chakraborty, Arghya and Harsha, Prahladh},
  title =	{{Optimal Online Bipartite Matching in Degree-2 Graphs}},
  booktitle =	{36th International Symposium on Algorithms and Computation (ISAAC 2025)},
  pages =	{13:1--13:19},
  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.2025.13},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-249216},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ISAAC.2025.13},
  annote =	{Keywords: Online Algorithm, Bipartite matching}
}
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