Related papers: Understanding Set Cover: Sub-exponential Time Appr…
In this paper, we present a new iterative rounding framework for many clustering problems. Using this, we obtain an $(\alpha_1 + \epsilon \leq 7.081 + \epsilon)$-approximation algorithm for $k$-median with outliers, greatly improving upon…
In this paper, we study the integrality gap of the Knapsack linear program in the Sherali- Adams and Lasserre hierarchies. First, we show that an integrality gap of 2 - {\epsilon} persists up to a linear number of rounds of Sherali-Adams,…
We improve the running times of $O(1)$-approximation algorithms for the set cover problem in geometric settings, specifically, covering points by disks in the plane, or covering points by halfspaces in three dimensions. In the unweighted…
The Knapsack problem is one of the most fundamental NP-complete problems at the intersection of computer science, optimization, and operations research. A recent line of research worked towards understanding the complexity of…
In the Minmax Set Cover Reconfiguration problem, given a set system $\mathcal{F}$ over a universe and its two covers $\mathcal{C}^\mathsf{start}$ and $\mathcal{C}^\mathsf{goal}$ of size $k$, we wish to transform $\mathcal{C}^\mathsf{start}$…
We revisit the minimum dominating set problem on graphs with arboricity bounded by $\alpha$. Bansal and Umboh [BU17] gave an $O(\alpha)$-approximation LP rounding algorithm, which also translates into a near-linear time algorithm using…
We consider the problem of scheduling jobs on unrelated machines so as to minimize the sum of weighted completion times. Our main result is a $(3/2-c)$-approximation algorithm for some fixed $c>0$, improving upon the long-standing bound of…
We study the incremental knapsack problem, where one wishes to sequentially pack items into a knapsack whose capacity expands over a finite planning horizon, with the objective of maximizing time-averaged profits. While various…
We define a reduction mechanism for LP and SDP formulations that degrades approximation factors in a controlled fashion. Our reduction mechanism is a minor restriction of classical reductions establishing inapproximability in the context of…
We consider set covering problems where the underlying set system satisfies a particular replacement property w.r.t. a given partial order on the elements: Whenever a set is in the set system then a set stemming from it via the replacement…
We introduce and study a discrete multi-period extension of the classical knapsack problem, dubbed generalized incremental knapsack. In this setting, we are given a set of $n$ items, each associated with a non-negative weight, and $T$ time…
We initiate a systematic study of utilizing predictions to improve over approximation guarantees of classic algorithms, without increasing the running time. We propose a systematic method for a wide class of optimization problems that ask…
We present a nearly linear work parallel algorithm for approximating the Held-Karp bound for the Metric TSP problem. Given an edge-weighted undirected graph $G=(V,E)$ on $m$ edges and $\epsilon>0$, it returns a $(1+\epsilon)$-approximation…
We address an algorithm for the least squares fitting of a subset of the eigenvalues of an unknown Hermitian matrix lying an an affine subspace, called the Lift and Projection (LP) method, due to Chen and Chu (SIAM Journal on Numerical…
This work proposes and analyzes a compressed sensing approach to polynomial approximation of complex-valued functions in high dimensions. Of particular interest is the setting where the target function is smooth, characterized by a rapidly…
We study the approximability of multiway partitioning problems, examples of which include Multiway Cut, Node-weighted Multiway Cut, and Hypergraph Multiway Cut. We investigate these problems from the point of view of two possible…
We study a generalization of the Set Cover problem called the \emph{Partial Set Cover} in the context of geometric set systems. The input to this problem is a set system $(X, \mathcal{S})$, where $X$ is a set of elements and $\mathcal{S}$…
The subject of this paper is the time complexity of approximating Knapsack, Subset Sum, Partition, and some other related problems. The main result is an $\widetilde{O}(n+1/\varepsilon^{5/3})$ time randomized FPTAS for Partition, which is…
Motivated by robotic trajectory optimization problems we consider the Augmented Lagrangian approach to constrained optimization. We first propose an alternative augmentation of the Lagrangian to handle the inequality case (not based on…
We design a Local Computation Algorithm (LCA) for the set cover problem. Given a set system where each set has size at most $s$ and each element is contained in at most $t$ sets, the algorithm reports whether a given set is in some fixed…