Related papers: A barrier for further approximating Sorting By Tra…
We prove the approximation ratio 8/5 for the metric $\{s,t\}$-path-TSP problem, and more generally for shortest connected $T$-joins. The algorithm that achieves this ratio is the simple "Best of Many" version of Christofides' algorithm…
This article presents the complexity of reachability decision problems for parametric Markov decision processes (pMDPs), an extension to Markov decision processes (MDPs) where transitions probabilities are described by polynomials over a…
We investigate the following generalisation of permutation networks. We say a sequence $T=(T_1,\dots,T_\ell)$ of transpositions in $S_n$ forms a $t$-reachability network if, for every choice of $t$ distinct points $x_1, \dots, x_t\in…
A sorting network (also known as a reduced decomposition of the reverse permutation), is a shortest path from $12 \cdots n$ to $n \cdots 21$ in the Cayley graph of the symmetric group $S_n$ generated by adjacent transpositions. We prove…
The Ulam distance of two permutations on $[n]$ is $n$ minus the length of their longest common subsequence. In this paper, we show that for every $\varepsilon>0$, there exists some $\alpha>0$, and an infinite set $\Gamma\subseteq…
We prove that any semi-streaming algorithm for $(1-\epsilon)$-approximation of maximum bipartite matching requires \[ \Omega(\frac{\log{(1/\epsilon)}}{{\log{(1/\beta)}}}) \] passes, where $\beta \in (0,1)$ is the largest parameter so that…
We study the diametric problem (i.e., optimal anticodes) in the space of permutations under the Ulam distance. That is, let $S_n$ denote the set of permutations on $n$ symbols, and for each $\sigma, \tau \in S_n$, define their Ulam distance…
Sphere packing, Hilbert's eighteenth problem, asks for the densest arrangement of congruent spheres in n-dimensional Euclidean space. Although relevant to areas such as cryptography, crystallography, and medical imaging, the problem remains…
We study the problem of approximating the cone of positive semidefinite (PSD) matrices with a cone that can be described by smaller-sized PSD constraints. Specifically, we ask the question: "how closely can we approximate the set of…
Twisted permutation codes, introduced recently by the second and third authors, are frequency permutation arrays. They are similar to repetition permutation codes, in that they are obtained by a repetition construction applied to a smaller…
Given permutations $\sigma \in S_k$ and $\pi \in S_n$ with $k<n$, the \emph{pattern matching} problem is to decide whether $\pi$ matches $\sigma$ as an order-isomorphic subsequence. We give a linear-time algorithm in case both $\pi$ and…
Matroid intersection is a classical optimization problem where, given two matroids over the same ground set, the goal is to find the largest common independent set. In this paper, we show that there exists a certain "sparsifer": a subset of…
The shifted boundary method (SBM) is an approximate domain method for boundary value problems, in the broader class of unfitted/embedded/immersed methods. It has proven to be quite efficient in handling problems with complex geometries,…
We revisit the classic Pandora's Box (PB) problem under correlated distributions on the box values. Recent work of arXiv:1911.01632 obtained constant approximate algorithms for a restricted class of policies for the problem that visit boxes…
The Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP) is a classic and extensively studied problem with numerous real-world applications in artificial intelligence and operations research. It is well-known that TSP admits a constant approximation ratio on…
We introduce a numerical isomorphism invariant p(T) for any triangulation T of S^3. Although its definition is purely topological (inspired by the bridge number of knots), p(T) reflects the geometric properties of T. Specifically, if T is…
We study the duplication with transposition distance between strings of length $n$ over a $q$-ary alphabet and their roots. In other words, we investigate the number of duplication operations of the form $x = (abcd) \to y = (abcbd)$, where…
Many matching, tracking, sorting, and ranking problems require probabilistic reasoning about possible permutations, a set that grows factorially with dimension. Combinatorial optimization algorithms may enable efficient point estimation,…
Trotterization is a technique that allows one to approximate a time evolution of a Hamiltonian by repeatedly evolving the individual terms of the Hamiltonian one-at-a-time for small time durations. Bounds on the error of this approximation…
Let $s$ be West's deterministic stack-sorting map. A well-known result (West) is that any length $n$ permutation can be sorted with $n-1$ iterations of $s.$ In 2020, Defant introduced the notion of highly-sorted permutations -- permutations…