English

Generalized minimum 0-extension problem and discrete convexity

Computational Complexity 2024-01-22 v4 Metric Geometry

Abstract

Given a fixed finite metric space (V,μ)(V,\mu), the {\em minimum 00-extension problem}, denoted as 0\mboxExt[μ]{\tt 0\mbox{-}Ext}[\mu], is equivalent to the following optimization problem: minimize function of the form minxVnifi(xi)+ijcijμ(xi,xj)\min\limits_{x\in V^n} \sum_i f_i(x_i) + \sum_{ij}c_{ij}\mu(x_i,x_j) where cij,cvic_{ij},c_{vi} are given nonnegative costs and fi:VRf_i:V\rightarrow \mathbb R are functions given by fi(xi)=vVcviμ(xi,v)f_i(x_i)=\sum_{v\in V}c_{vi}\mu(x_i,v). The computational complexity of 0\mboxExt[μ]{\tt 0\mbox{-}Ext}[\mu] has been recently established by Karzanov and by Hirai: if metric μ\mu is {\em orientable modular} then 0\mboxExt[μ]{\tt 0\mbox{-}Ext}[\mu] can be solved in polynomial time, otherwise 0\mboxExt[μ]{\tt 0\mbox{-}Ext}[\mu] is NP-hard. To prove the tractability part, Hirai developed a theory of discrete convex functions on orientable modular graphs generalizing several known classes of functions in discrete convex analysis, such as LL^\natural-convex functions. We consider a more general version of the problem in which unary functions fi(xi)f_i(x_i) can additionally have terms of the form cuv;iμ(xi,{u,v})c_{uv;i}\mu(x_i,\{u,v\}) for {u,v}F\{u,v\}\in F, where set F(V2)F\subseteq\binom{V}{2} is fixed. We extend the complexity classification above by providing an explicit condition on (μ,F)(\mu,F) for the problem to be tractable. In order to prove the tractability part, we generalize Hirai's theory and define a larger class of discrete convex functions. It covers, in particular, another well-known class of functions, namely submodular functions on an integer lattice. Finally, we improve the complexity of Hirai's algorithm for solving 0\mboxExt[μ]{\tt 0\mbox{-}Ext}[\mu] on orientable modular graphs.

Cite

@article{arxiv.2109.10203,
  title  = {Generalized minimum 0-extension problem and discrete convexity},
  author = {Martin Dvorak and Vladimir Kolmogorov},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2109.10203},
  year   = {2024}
}

Comments

accepted to "Mathematical Programming"

R2 v1 2026-06-24T06:11:07.131Z