English

An Improved Pseudopolynomial Time Algorithm for Subset Sum

Data Structures and Algorithms 2026-04-29 v3

Abstract

We investigate pseudo-polynomial time algorithms for Subset Sum. Given a multi-set XX of nn positive integers and a target tt, Subset Sum asks whether some subset of XX sums to tt. Bringmann proposes an O~(n+t)\tilde{O}(n + t)-time algorithm [Bringmann SODA'17], and an open question has naturally arisen: can Subset Sum be solved in O(n+w)O(n + w) time? Here ww is the maximum integer in XX. We make a progress towards resolving the open question by proposing an O~(n+wt)\tilde{O}(n + \sqrt{wt})-time algorithm.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2402.14493,
  title  = {An Improved Pseudopolynomial Time Algorithm for Subset Sum},
  author = {Lin Chen and Jiayi Lian and Yuchen Mao and Guochuan Zhang},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2402.14493},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

In the first version, we falsely claimed that our algorithm is also able to reconstruct a subset that sums to t. In the second version, we removed this false claim and explained why we cannot do reconstruction. We now explain that the reconstruction can be obtained by combining our algorithm with a recent constructive result of Chen, Mao, and Zhang