Exact Exponential Algorithms

✍ Scribed by Fedor V. Fomin, Dieter Kratsch

• Publisher: Springer
• Year: 2010
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 218
• Series: Texts in Theoretical Computer Science. An EATCS Series
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Today most computer scientists believe that NP-hard problems cannot be solved by polynomial-time algorithms. From the polynomial-time perspective, all NP-complete problems are equivalent but their exponential-time properties vary widely. Why do some NP-hard problems appear to be easier than others? Are there algorithmic techniques for solving hard problems that are significantly faster than the exhaustive, brute-force methods? The algorithms that address these questions are known as exact exponential algorithms.

The history of exact exponential algorithms for NP-hard problems dates back to the 1960s. The two classical examples are Bellman, Held and Karp’s dynamic programming algorithm for the traveling salesman problem and Ryser’s inclusion–exclusion formula for the permanent of a matrix. The design and analysis of exact algorithms leads to a better understanding of hard problems and initiates interesting new combinatorial and algorithmic challenges. The last decade has witnessed a rapid development of the area, with many new algorithmic techniques discovered. This has transformed exact algorithms into a very active research field. This book provides an introduction to the area and explains the most common algorithmic techniques, and the text is supported throughout with exercises and detailed notes for further reading.

The book is intended for advanced students and researchers in computer science, operations research, optimization and combinatorics.

✦ Table of Contents

Front Matter....Pages i-xiii
Introduction....Pages 1-11
Branching....Pages 13-30
Dynamic Programming....Pages 31-49
Inclusion-Exclusion....Pages 51-75
Treewidth....Pages 77-100
Measure & Conquer....Pages 101-124
Subset Convolution....Pages 125-139
Local Search and SAT....Pages 141-151
Split and List....Pages 153-160
Time Versus Space....Pages 161-170
Miscellaneous....Pages 171-185
Conclusions, Open Problems and Further Directions....Pages 187-188
Back Matter....Pages 189-203

✦ Subjects

Algorithm Analysis and Problem Complexity; Optimization; Combinatorics