Some easy optimization problems have the overlap-gap property
Computational Complexity
2025-06-25 v3 Data Structures and Algorithms
Combinatorics
Probability
Abstract
We show that the shortest - path problem has the overlap-gap property in (i) sparse graphs and (ii) complete graphs with i.i.d. Exponential edge weights. Furthermore, we demonstrate that in sparse graphs, shortest path is solved by -degree polynomial estimators, and a uniform approximate shortest path can be sampled in polynomial time. This constitutes the first example in which the overlap-gap property is not predictive of algorithmic intractability for a (non-algebraic) average-case optimization problem.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2411.01836,
title = {Some easy optimization problems have the overlap-gap property},
author = {Shuangping Li and Tselil Schramm},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2411.01836},
year = {2025}
}
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30 pages