Related papers: 2-Approximation for Prize-Collecting Steiner Fores…
In this paper, we consider the Uniform Cost-Distance Steiner Tree Problem in metric spaces, a generalization of the well-known Steiner tree problem. Cost-distance Steiner trees minimize the sum of the total length and the weighted path…
Finding the most parsimonious tree inside a phylogenetic network with respect to a given character is an NP-hard combinatorial optimization problem that for many network topologies is essentially inapproximable. In contrast, if the network…
Given a metric space on n points, an {\alpha}-approximate universal algorithm for the Steiner tree problem outputs a distribution over rooted spanning trees such that for any subset X of vertices containing the root, the expected cost of…
Given a set $P$ of terminals in the plane and a partition of $P$ into $k$ subsets $P_1, ..., P_k$, a two-level rectilinear Steiner tree consists of a rectilinear Steiner tree $T_i$ connecting the terminals in each set $P_i$ ($i=1,...,k$)…
We introduce a problem class we call Polynomial Constraint Satisfaction Problems, or PCSP. Where the usual CSPs from computer science and optimization have real-valued score functions, and partition functions from physics have monomials,…
Packing problems are an important class of optimization problems. The probably most well-known problem if this type is knapsack and many generalizations of it have been studied in the literature like Two-dimensional Geometric Knapsack…
The seminar assignment problem is a variant of the generalized assignment problem in which items have unit size and the amount of space allowed in each bin is restricted to an arbitrary set of values. The problem has been shown to be…
Approximation algorithms for classical constraint satisfaction problems are one of the main research areas in theoretical computer science. Here we define a natural approximation version of the QMA-complete local Hamiltonian problem and…
Robust optimization is a widely studied area in operations research, where the algorithm takes as input a range of values and outputs a single solution that performs well for the entire range. Specifically, a robust algorithm aims to…
A promising approach for obtaining improved approximation algorithms for Steiner tree is to use the bidirected cut relaxation (BCR). The integrality gap of this relaxation is at least $36/31$, and it has long been conjectured that its true…
We give the first constant-factor approximation algorithm for quasi-bipartite instances of Directed Steiner Tree on graphs that exclude fixed minors. In particular, for $K_r$-minor-free graphs our approximation guarantee is…
The quantum k-Local Hamiltonian problem is a natural generalization of classical constraint satisfaction problems (k-CSP) and is complete for QMA, a quantum analog of NP. Although the complexity of k-Local Hamiltonian problems has been well…
We present new distributed algorithms for constructing a Steiner Forest in the CONGEST model. Our deterministic algorithm finds, for any given constant $\epsilon>0$, a $(2+\epsilon)$-approximation in $\tilde{O}(sk+\sqrt{\min(st,n)})$…
The Directed Steiner Tree (DST) problem is defined on a directed graph $G=(V,E)$, where we are given a designated root vertex $r$ and a set of $k$ terminals $K \subseteq V \setminus {r}$. The goal is to find a minimum-cost subgraph that…
The Wasserstein barycenter problem seeks a probability measure that minimizes the weighted average of the Wasserstein distances to a given collection of probability measures. We study the discrete setting, where each measure has finite…
The Matching Augmentation Problem (MAP) has recently received significant attention as an important step towards better approximation algorithms for finding cheap $2$-edge connected subgraphs. This has culminated in a…
We propose a $O(\log k \log n)$-competitive randomized algorithm for online node-weighted Steiner forest. This is essentially optimal and significantly improves over the previous bound of $O(\log^2 k \log n)$ by Hajiaghayi et al. [2017]. In…
An important objective in scheduling literature is to minimize the sum of weighted flow times. We are given a set of jobs where each job is characterized by a release time, a processing time, and a weight. Our goal is to find a preemptive…
Given two sets of points in the plane, $P$ of $n$ terminals and $S$ of $m$ Steiner points, a Steiner tree of $P$ is a tree spanning all points of $P$ and some (or none or all) points of $S$. A Steiner tree with length of longest edge…
We consider the fundamental derandomization problem of deterministically finding a satisfying assignment to a CNF formula that has many satisfying assignments. We give a deterministic algorithm which, given an $n$-variable…