License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license (CC BY 3.0)
When quoting this document, please refer to the following
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.APPROX/RANDOM.2020.61
URN: urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-126643
URL: http://dagstuhl.sunsite.rwth-aachen.de/volltexte/2020/12664/
Go to the corresponding LIPIcs Volume Portal

Boyd, Sylvia ; Cheriyan, Joseph ; Cummings, Robert ; Grout, Logan ; Ibrahimpur, Sharat ; Szigeti, Zoltán ; Wang, Lu

A 4/3-Approximation Algorithm for the Minimum 2-Edge Connected Multisubgraph Problem in the Half-Integral Case

pdf-format:
LIPIcs-APPROX61.pdf (0.5 MB)

Abstract

Given a connected undirected graph G ̅ on n vertices, and non-negative edge costs c, the 2ECM problem is that of finding a 2-edge connected spanning multisubgraph of G ̅ of minimum cost. The natural linear program (LP) for 2ECM, which coincides with the subtour LP for the Traveling Salesman Problem on the metric closure of G ̅, gives a lower bound on the optimal cost. For instances where this LP is optimized by a half-integral solution x, Carr and Ravi (1998) showed that the integrality gap is at most 4/3: they show that the vector 4/3 x dominates a convex combination of incidence vectors of 2-edge connected spanning multisubgraphs of G ̅.
We present a simpler proof of the result due to Carr and Ravi by applying an extension of Lovász’s splitting-off theorem. Our proof naturally leads to a 4/3-approximation algorithm for half-integral instances. Given a half-integral solution x to the LP for 2ECM, we give an O(n²)-time algorithm to obtain a 2-edge connected spanning multisubgraph of G ̅ whose cost is at most 4/3 c^T x.

BibTeX - Entry

@InProceedings{boyd_et_al:LIPIcs:2020:12664,
  author =	{Sylvia Boyd and Joseph Cheriyan and Robert Cummings and Logan Grout and Sharat Ibrahimpur and Zolt{\'a}n Szigeti and Lu Wang},
  title =	{{A 4/3-Approximation Algorithm for the Minimum 2-Edge Connected Multisubgraph Problem in the Half-Integral Case}},
  booktitle =	{Approximation, Randomization, and Combinatorial Optimization. Algorithms and Techniques (APPROX/RANDOM 2020)},
  pages =	{61:1--61:12},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-164-1},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2020},
  volume =	{176},
  editor =	{Jaros{\l}aw Byrka and Raghu Meka},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl--Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/opus/volltexte/2020/12664},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-126643},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.APPROX/RANDOM.2020.61},
  annote =	{Keywords: 2-Edge Connectivity, Approximation Algorithms, Subtour LP for TSP}
}

Keywords: 2-Edge Connectivity, Approximation Algorithms, Subtour LP for TSP
Collection: Approximation, Randomization, and Combinatorial Optimization. Algorithms and Techniques (APPROX/RANDOM 2020)
Issue Date: 2020
Date of publication: 11.08.2020

DROPS-Home | Fulltext Search | Imprint | Privacy Published by LZI