Approximation Algorithms for NP-hard Problems

Approximation Algorithms for NP-hard Problems
Author: Dorit S. Hochbaum
Publisher: Course Technology
Total Pages: 632
Release: 1997
Genre: Computers
ISBN:

This is the first book to fully address the study of approximation algorithms as a tool for coping with intractable problems. With chapters contributed by leading researchers in the field, this book introduces unifying techniques in the analysis of approximation algorithms. APPROXIMATION ALGORITHMS FOR NP-HARD PROBLEMS is intended for computer scientists and operations researchers interested in specific algorithm implementations, as well as design tools for algorithms. Among the techniques discussed: the use of linear programming, primal-dual techniques in worst-case analysis, semidefinite programming, computational geometry techniques, randomized algorithms, average-case analysis, probabilistically checkable proofs and inapproximability, and the Markov Chain Monte Carlo method. The text includes a variety of pedagogical features: definitions, exercises, open problems, glossary of problems, index, and notes on how best to use the book.

The Design of Approximation Algorithms

The Design of Approximation Algorithms
Author: David P. Williamson
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 518
Release: 2011-04-26
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 9780521195270

Discrete optimization problems are everywhere, from traditional operations research planning problems, such as scheduling, facility location, and network design; to computer science problems in databases; to advertising issues in viral marketing. Yet most such problems are NP-hard. Thus unless P = NP, there are no efficient algorithms to find optimal solutions to such problems. This book shows how to design approximation algorithms: efficient algorithms that find provably near-optimal solutions. The book is organized around central algorithmic techniques for designing approximation algorithms, including greedy and local search algorithms, dynamic programming, linear and semidefinite programming, and randomization. Each chapter in the first part of the book is devoted to a single algorithmic technique, which is then applied to several different problems. The second part revisits the techniques but offers more sophisticated treatments of them. The book also covers methods for proving that optimization problems are hard to approximate. Designed as a textbook for graduate-level algorithms courses, the book will also serve as a reference for researchers interested in the heuristic solution of discrete optimization problems.

Algorithmics for Hard Problems

Algorithmics for Hard Problems
Author: Juraj Hromkovič
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 494
Release: 2014-03-12
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 9783662046173

An introduction to the methods of designing algorithms for hard computing tasks, concentrating mainly on approximate, randomized, and heuristic algorithms, and on the theoretical and experimental comparison of these approaches according to the requirements of the practice. This is the first book to systematically explain and compare all the main possibilities of attacking hard computing problems. It also closes the gap between theory and practice by providing at once a graduate textbook and a handbook for practitioners dealing with hard computing problems.

Arc Routing

Arc Routing
Author: Angel Corberan
Publisher: SIAM
Total Pages: 404
Release: 2015-01-01
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 1611973678

This book provides a thorough and up-to-date discussion of arc routing by world-renowned researchers. Organized by problem type, the book offers a rigorous treatment of complexity issues, models, algorithms, and applications. Arc Routing: Problems, Methods, and Applications opens with a historical perspective of the field and is followed by three sections that cover complexity and the Chinese Postman and the Rural Postman problems; the Capacitated Arc Routing Problem and routing problems with min-max and profit maximization objectives; and important applications, including meter reading, snow removal, and waste collection.

Approximation Algorithms for Combinatorial Optimization

Approximation Algorithms for Combinatorial Optimization
Author: Klaus Jansen
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 280
Release: 2002-09-02
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 3540441867

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 5th International Workshop on Approximation Algorithms for Combinatorial Optimization Problems, APPROX 2002, held in Rome, Italy in September 2002. The 20 revised full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 54 submissions. Among the topics addressed are design and analysis of approximation algorithms, inapproximability results, online problems, randomization techniques, average-case analysis, approximation classes, scheduling problems, routing and flow problems, coloring and partitioning, cuts and connectivity, packing and covering, geometric problems, network design, and applications to game theory and other fields.

Approximation Algorithms

Approximation Algorithms
Author: Vijay V. Vazirani
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 380
Release: 2013-03-14
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 3662045656

Covering the basic techniques used in the latest research work, the author consolidates progress made so far, including some very recent and promising results, and conveys the beauty and excitement of work in the field. He gives clear, lucid explanations of key results and ideas, with intuitive proofs, and provides critical examples and numerous illustrations to help elucidate the algorithms. Many of the results presented have been simplified and new insights provided. Of interest to theoretical computer scientists, operations researchers, and discrete mathematicians.

Iterative Methods in Combinatorial Optimization

Iterative Methods in Combinatorial Optimization
Author: Lap Chi Lau
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 255
Release: 2011-04-18
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 1139499394

With the advent of approximation algorithms for NP-hard combinatorial optimization problems, several techniques from exact optimization such as the primal-dual method have proven their staying power and versatility. This book describes a simple and powerful method that is iterative in essence and similarly useful in a variety of settings for exact and approximate optimization. The authors highlight the commonality and uses of this method to prove a variety of classical polyhedral results on matchings, trees, matroids and flows. The presentation style is elementary enough to be accessible to anyone with exposure to basic linear algebra and graph theory, making the book suitable for introductory courses in combinatorial optimization at the upper undergraduate and beginning graduate levels. Discussions of advanced applications illustrate their potential for future application in research in approximation algorithms.

Experimental and Efficient Algorithms

Experimental and Efficient Algorithms
Author: Sotiris Nikoletseas
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 637
Release: 2005-04-28
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 3540259201

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 4th International Workshop on Experimental and Efficient Algorithms, WEA 2005, held in Santorini Island, Greece in May 2005. The 47 revised full papers and 7 revised short papers presented together with extended abstracts of 3 invited talks were carefully reviewed and selected from 176 submissions. The book is devoted to the design, analysis, implementation, experimental evaluation, and engineering of efficient algorithms. Among the application areas addressed are most fields applying advanced algorithmic techniques, such as combinatorial optimization, approximation, graph theory, discrete mathematics, scheduling, searching, sorting, string matching, coding, networking, data mining, data analysis, etc.

Handbook of Approximation Algorithms and Metaheuristics

Handbook of Approximation Algorithms and Metaheuristics
Author: Teofilo F. Gonzalez
Publisher: CRC Press
Total Pages: 780
Release: 2018-05-15
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 1351235419

Handbook of Approximation Algorithms and Metaheuristics, Second Edition reflects the tremendous growth in the field, over the past two decades. Through contributions from leading experts, this handbook provides a comprehensive introduction to the underlying theory and methodologies, as well as the various applications of approximation algorithms and metaheuristics. Volume 1 of this two-volume set deals primarily with methodologies and traditional applications. It includes restriction, relaxation, local ratio, approximation schemes, randomization, tabu search, evolutionary computation, local search, neural networks, and other metaheuristics. It also explores multi-objective optimization, reoptimization, sensitivity analysis, and stability. Traditional applications covered include: bin packing, multi-dimensional packing, Steiner trees, traveling salesperson, scheduling, and related problems. Volume 2 focuses on the contemporary and emerging applications of methodologies to problems in combinatorial optimization, computational geometry and graphs problems, as well as in large-scale and emerging application areas. It includes approximation algorithms and heuristics for clustering, networks (sensor and wireless), communication, bioinformatics search, streams, virtual communities, and more. About the Editor Teofilo F. Gonzalez is a professor emeritus of computer science at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He completed his Ph.D. in 1975 from the University of Minnesota. He taught at the University of Oklahoma, the Pennsylvania State University, and the University of Texas at Dallas, before joining the UCSB computer science faculty in 1984. He spent sabbatical leaves at the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education and Utrecht University. He is known for his highly cited pioneering research in the hardness of approximation; for his sublinear and best possible approximation algorithm for k-tMM clustering; for introducing the open-shop scheduling problem as well as algorithms for its solution that have found applications in numerous research areas; as well as for his research on problems in the areas of job scheduling, graph algorithms, computational geometry, message communication, wire routing, etc.