English

FPT approximations for Capacitated Sum of Radii and Diameters

Data Structures and Algorithms 2025-09-09 v2

Abstract

The Capacitated Sum of Radii problem involves partitioning a set of points PP, where each point pPp\in P has capacity UpU_p, into kk clusters that minimize the sum of cluster radii, such that the number of points in the cluster centered at point pp is at most UpU_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\approx5.83-approximation algorithm in FPT time (improving a previous 7.61\approx7.61 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.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2409.04984,
  title  = {FPT approximations for Capacitated Sum of Radii and Diameters},
  author = {Arnold Filtser and Ameet Gadekar},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2409.04984},
  year   = {2025}
}

Comments

improved hardness of approximation factor and minor edits