Related papers: When the Optimum is also Blind: a New Perspective …
In one of our earlier works, we proposed to approximate Pareto fronts to multiobjective optimization problems by two-sided approximations, one from inside and another from outside of the feasible objective set, called, respectively, lower…
Consider the following problem: given a set system (U,I) and an edge-weighted graph G = (U, E) on the same universe U, find the set A in I such that the Steiner tree cost with terminals A is as large as possible: "which set in I is the most…
Mappings to structured output spaces (strings, trees, partitions, etc.) are typically learned using extensions of classification algorithms to simple graphical structures (eg., linear chains) in which search and parameter estimation can be…
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…
The central object of this PhD thesis is known under different names in the fields of computer science and statistical mechanics. In computer science, it is called the Maximum Cut problem, one of the famous twenty-one Karp's original…
The goal of a sequential decision making problem is to design an interactive policy that adaptively selects a group of items, each selection is based on the feedback from the past, in order to maximize the expected utility of selected…
We consider optimal route planning when the objective function is a general nonlinear and non-monotonic function. Such an objective models user behavior more accurately, for example, when a user is risk-averse, or the utility function needs…
Topological mapping of a large physical system on a graph, and its decomposition using universal measures is proposed. We find inherent limits to the potential for optimization of a given system and its approximate representations by…
The superiorization methodology can be thought of as lying conceptually between feasibility-seeking and constrained minimization. It is not trying to solve the full-fledged constrained minimization problem composed from the modeling…
We introduce a parameterized version of set cover that generalizes several previously studied problems. Given a ground set V and a collection of subsets S_i of V, a feasible solution is a partition of V such that each subset of the…
This paper considers pairs of optimization problems that are defined from a single input and for which it is desired to find a good approximation to either one of the problems. In many instances, it is possible to efficiently find an…
Krentel [J. Comput. System. Sci., 36, pp.490--509] presented a framework for an NP optimization problem that searches an optimal value among exponentially-many outcomes of polynomial-time computations. This paper expands his framework to a…
We consider a natural generalization of the Partial Vertex Cover problem. Here an instance consists of a graph G = (V,E), a positive cost function c: V-> Z^{+}, a partition $P_1,..., P_r$ of the edge set $E$, and a parameter $k_i$ for each…
We study the discrete bin covering problem where a multiset of items from a fixed set $S \subseteq (0,1]$ must be split into disjoint subsets while maximizing the number of subsets whose contents sum to at least $1$. We study the online…
Constraint satisfaction problems (CSPs) consist of a set of variables taking values from some finite domain and a set of local constraints on these variables. The objective is to find an assignment to the variables that maximizes the…
The dynamic set cover problem has been subject to growing research attention in recent years. In this problem, we are given as input a dynamic universe of at most $n$ elements and a fixed collection of $m$ sets, where each element appears…
Interdiction problems ask about the worst-case impact of a limited change to an underlying optimization problem. They are a natural way to measure the robustness of a system, or to identify its weakest spots. Interdiction problems have been…
Covert planning refers to a class of constrained planning problems where an agent aims to accomplish a task with minimal information leaked to a passive observer to avoid detection. However, existing methods of covert planning often…
We consider a variant of the set covering problem with uncertain parameters, which we refer to as the chance-constrained set multicover problem (CC-SMCP). In this problem, we assume that there is uncertainty regarding whether a selected set…
We consider the problem of covering multiple submodular constraints. Given a finite ground set $N$, a cost function $c: N \rightarrow \mathbb{R}_+$, $r$ monotone submodular functions $f_1,f_2,\ldots,f_r$ over $N$ and requirements…