English

Group Control for Procedural Rules: Parameterized Complexity and Consecutive Domains

Computer Science and Game Theory 2023-01-30 v2

Abstract

We consider Group Control by Adding Individuals (GCAI) in the setting of group identification for two procedural rules -- the consensus-start-respecting rule and the liberal-start-respecting rule. It is known that GCAI for both rules are NP-hard, but whether they are fixed-parameter tractable with respect to the number of distinguished individuals remained open. We resolve both open problems in the affirmative. In addition, we strengthen the NP-hardness of GCAI by showing that, with respect to the natural parameter the number of added individuals, GCAI for both rules are W[2]-hard. Notably, the W[2]-hardness for the liberal-start-respecting rule holds even when restricted to a very special case where the qualifications of individuals satisfy the so-called consecutive ones property. However, for the consensus-start-respecting rule, the problem becomes polynomial-time solvable in this special case. We also study a dual restriction where the disqualifications of individuals fulfill the consecutive ones property, and show that under this restriction GCAI for both rules turn out to be polynomial-time solvable. Our reductions for showing W[2]-hardness also imply several lower bounds concerning kernelization and exact algorithms.

Cite

@article{arxiv.2203.16872,
  title  = {Group Control for Procedural Rules: Parameterized Complexity and Consecutive Domains},
  author = {Yongjie Yang and Dinko Dimitrov},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2203.16872},
  year   = {2023}
}
R2 v1 2026-06-24T10:33:01.833Z