Related papers: Handelman's hierarchy for the maximum stable set p…
We study the graphs formed from instances of the stable matching problem by connecting pairs of elements with an edge when there exists a stable matching in which they are matched. Our results include the NP-completeness of recognizing…
Sparse-dense partitions was introduced by Feder, Hell, Klein, and Motwani [STOC 1999, SIDMA 2003] as a tool to solve partitioning problems. In this paper, the following result concerning independent sets in graphs having sparse-dense…
A large number of NP-hard graph problems can be solved in $f(w)n^{O(1)}$ time and space when the input graph is provided together with a tree decomposition of width $w$, in many cases with a modest exponential dependence $f(w)$ on $w$.…
We consider the problem of finding the smallest or largest entry of a tensor of order N that is specified via its rank decomposition. Stated in a different way, we are given N sets of R-dimensional vectors and we wish to select one vector…
In geometric, algebraic, and topological combinatorics, the unimodality of combinatorial generating polynomials is frequently studied. Unimodality follows when the polynomial is (real) stable, a property often deduced via the theory of…
The stable set problem and the graph coloring problem are classes of NP-hard optimization problems on graphs. It is well known that even near-optimal solutions for these problems are difficult to find in polynomial time. The Lov\'asz theta…
We consider the problem of minimizing a fixed-degree polynomial over the standard simplex. This problem is well known to be NP-hard, since it contains the maximum stable set problem in combinatorial optimization as a special case. In this…
The Seat Arrangement Problem is a problem of finding a desirable seat arrangement for given preferences of agents and a seat graph that represents a configuration of seats. In this paper, we consider decision problems of determining if an…
In this thesis, we design algorithms for several NP-hard problems in both worst and beyond worst case settings. In the first part of the thesis, we apply the traditional worst case methodology and design approximation algorithms for the Hub…
A Hamiltonian path (a Hamiltonian cycle) in a graph is a path (a cycle, respectively) that traverses all of its vertices. The problems of deciding their existence in an input graph are well-known to be NP-complete, in fact, they belong to…
We study the maximization of sums of heterogeneous quadratic forms over the Stiefel manifold, a nonconvex problem that arises in several modern signal processing and machine learning applications such as heteroscedastic probabilistic…
Homology features of spaces which appear in applications, for instance 3D meshes, are among the most important topological properties of these objects. Given a non-trivial cycle in a homology class, we consider the problem of computing a…
Rabern recently proved that any graph with omega >= (3/4)(Delta+1) contains a stable set meeting all maximum cliques. We strengthen this result, proving that such a stable set exists for any graph with omega > (2/3)(Delta+1). This is tight,…
It was recently proved that any graph satisfying $\omega > \frac 23(\Delta+1)$ contains a stable set hitting every maximum clique. In this note we prove that the same is true for graphs satisfying $\omega \geq \frac 23(\Delta+1)$ unless the…
Max-min bilinear optimization models, where one agent maximizes and an adversary minimizes a common bilinear objective, serve as canonical saddle-point formulations in optimization theory. They capture, among others, two-player zero-sum…
We propose a model for recoverable robust optimization with commitment. Given a combinatorial optimization problem and uncertainty about elements that may fail, we ask for a robust solution that, after the failing elements are revealed, can…
We give a combinatorial polynomial-time algorithm to find a maximum weight independent set in perfect graphs of bounded degree that do not contain a prism or a hole of length four as an induced subgraph. An even pair in a graph is a pair of…
Motivated by the analogous questions in graphs, we study the complexity of coloring and stable set problems in hypergraphs with forbidden substructures and bounded edge size. Letting $\nu(G)$ denote the maximum size of a matching in $H$, we…
Set packing is a fundamental problem that generalises some well-known combinatorial optimization problems and knows a lot of applications. It is equivalent to hypergraph matching and it is strongly related to the maximum independent set…
Strongly stable monomial ideals are important in algebraic geometry, commutative algebra, and combinatorics. Prompted, for example, by combinatorial approaches for studying Hilbert schemes and the existence of maximal total Betti numbers…