Related papers: Approximation thresholds for combinatorial optimiz…
We survey results on the hardness of approximating combinatorial optimization problems.
In this paper, we compute the tightest possible bounds on the probability that the optimal value of a combinatorial optimization problem in maximization form with a random objective exceeds a given number, assuming only knowledge of the…
This article is devoted to propose some lower and upper bounds for the coupled-tasks scheduling problem in presence of compatibility constraints according to classical complexity hypothesis ($\mathcal{P} \neq \mathcal{NP}$,…
A fundamental problem in numerical analysis and approximation theory is approximating smooth functions by polynomials. A much harder version under recent consideration is to enforce bounds constraints on the approximating polynomial. In…
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…
Many combinatorial optimization problems are often considered intractable to solve exactly or by approximation. An example of such problem is maximum clique which -- under standard assumptions in complexity theory -- cannot be solved in…
We study the computational complexity of approximating general constrained Markov decision processes. Our primary contribution is the design of a polynomial time $(0,\epsilon)$-additive bicriteria approximation algorithm for finding optimal…
We introduce a new concept of approximation applicable to decision problems and functions, inspired by Bayesian probability. From the perspective of a Bayesian reasoner with limited computational resources, the answer to a problem that…
Given a redundant dictionary $\Phi$, represented by an $M \times N$ matrix ($\Phi \in \mathbb{R}^{M \times N}$) and a target signal $y \in \mathbb{R}^M$, the \emph{sparse approximation problem} asks to find an approximate representation of…
We study the efficient approximability of basic graph and logic problems in the literature when instances are specified hierarchically as in \cite{Le89} or are specified by 1-dimensional finite narrow periodic specifications as in…
The growing amount of applications that generate vast amount of data in short time scales render the problem of partial monitoring, coupled with prediction, a rather fundamental one. We study the aforementioned canonical problem under the…
Many combinatorial optimization problems can be formulated as the search for a subgraph that satisfies certain properties and minimizes the total weight. We assume here that the vertices correspond to points in a metric space and can take…
We consider the hardness of approximation of optimization problems from the point of view of definability. For many NP-hard optimization problems it is known that, unless P = NP, no polynomial-time algorithm can give an approximate solution…
We formalize the problem of selecting the optimal set of options for planning as that of computing the smallest set of options so that planning converges in less than a given maximum of value-iteration passes. We first show that the problem…
This paper is our third step towards developing a theory of testing monomials in multivariate polynomials and concentrates on two problems: (1) How to compute the coefficients of multilinear monomials; and (2) how to find a maximum…
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 study the approximability of the NP-complete \textsc{Maximum Minimal Feedback Vertex Set} problem. Informally, this natural problem seems to lie in an intermediate space between two more well-studied problems of this type:…
When implementing regular enough functions (e.g., elementary or special functions) on a computing system, we frequently use polynomial approximations. In most cases, the polynomial that best approximates (for a given distance and in a given…
We extend the concept of polynomial time approximation algorithms to apply to problems for hierarchically specified graphs, many of which are PSPACE-complete. Assuming P != PSPACE, the existence or nonexistence of such efficient…
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…