UNIT V

Approximation Algorithm

1
Approximation Algorithm
 Up to now, the best algorithm for solving an
NP-complete problem requires exponential
time in the worst case. It is too time-
consuming.
 To reduce the time required for solving a
problem, we can relax the problem, and
obtain a feasible solution “close” to an
optimal solution
2
Approximation Algorithm
 One compromise is to use heuristic solutions.

 The word “heuristic” may be interpreted as

“educated guess.”

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Approximation Algorithm
An algorithm that returns near-optimal solutions is called
an approximation algorithm.

We need to find an approximation ratio bound for an

approximation algorithm.

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Approximation ratio bound
We say an approximation algorithm for the problem has a ratio
bound of  (n) if for any input size n, the cost C of the solution

produced by the approximation algorithm is within a factor of

 (n) of the C* of the optimal solution:

C C*
max{ , }   (n)
C* C
This definition applies for both minimization and maximization
problems.
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-approximation algorithm
 An approximation algorithm with an
approximation ratio bound of  is called a
-approximation algorithm or a (1+)-
approximation algorithm.

 Note that  is always larger than 1 and

=-1.

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Vertex Cover Problem
 Let G=(V, E). The subset S of V that
meets every edge of E is called the
vertex cover.
 The Vertex Cover problem is to find a
vertex cover of the minimum size. It is
NP-hard or the optimization version of
an NP-Complete decision problem.

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Examples of vertex cover

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APPROX_VERTEX_COVER(G)
1 C 
2 E'  E( G )
3 while E'  
4 do let ( u, v ) be an arbitrary edge of E'
5 C  C  {u , v}
6 remove from E' every edge incident on either u or v
7 return C
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b c d b c d

a e f g a e f g

b c d b c d

a e f g a e f g

b c d b c d

a e f g a e f g

Complexity: O(E) 10
Theorem 35.1 APPROX_VERTEX_COVER has ratio
bound of 2. C*: optimal solution
C: approximate solution
Proof. A: the set of edges selected in step 4
Let A be the set of selected edges.
| C|  2| A| When one edge is selected, 2 vertices are added into C.

| A| | C*| No two edges in A share a common

endpoint due to step 6.
| C|  2| C*|

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Bin Packing Problem
 Given n items of sizes a1, a2, …, an, 0 ai  1 for 1  i 
n, which have to be placed in bins of unit capability,
the bin packing problem is to determine the minimum
number of bins to accommodate all items.
 If we regard the items of different sizes to be the
lengths of time of executing different jobs on a
standard processor, the problem becomes to use
minimum number of processors which can finish all of
the jobs within a fixed time. //You can assume the
longest job takes one unit time, which equals to the
fixed time.

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Example of Bin Packing Problem
 E.g. Given n = 5 items with sizes 0.3, 0.5,
0.8, 0.2 0.4, the optimal solution is 3 bins.

The bin packing problem is NP-hard.

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An approximation algorithm
for the bin packing problem
 An approximation algorithm: (first-fit) place item
i into the lowest-indexed bin which can
accommodate it.
 OPT: the number of bins of the optimal solution
 FF: the number of bins in the first-fit algorithm
 C(Bi): the sum of the sizes of items packed in
bin Bi in the first-fit algorithm
 Let FF=m.

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An approximation algorithm
for the bin packing problem
 n 
 OPT    i  , ceiling of sum of sizes of all
a
 i 1 
items C(Bi): the sum of sizes of items packed in bin Bi
 C(Bi) + C(Bi+1)  1 (a)(Otherwise, the items in Bi+1
will be put in Bi.)
 C(B1) + C(Bm)  1 (b)(Otherwise, the items in Bm
will be put in B1. )
 For m nonempty bins,
C(B1)+C(B2)+…+C(B m

 Cm)m/2,
(B )i
(a)+(b)for
a
n
i=1,..,m
i

 FF = m < 2 =2  2 OPT
i 1 i 1

FF < 2 OPT 15
The traveling salesperson problem
with triangle inequality
 Given a graph G=(V, E), the TSP problem is to
find a tour, starting from any vertex, visiting every
other vertex and returning to the starting vertex,
with the minimum cost.
 Triangle inequality for the cost matrix:
c( u, w )  c( u, v )  c( v , w ) u, v , w V

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The TSP with triangle inequality

APPROX_TSP_TOUR(G,c)
1 Select a vertex r V [ G ] to be a root vertex
2 grow a MST T for G from root r using
MST_PRIM(G,c,r)
3 Let L be the list of vertices visited in a preorder
walk of T.
4 return the hamiltonian cycle H that visit the vertices in
the order L.

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a d T a d T a d
e e e
b f g b f g b f g
c h c h c h

optimal
T a d a d solution
e e
b f g b f g
c h H c h H*

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Theorem 35.2. APPROX_TSP_TOUR is an approximation
algorithm with ratio bound of 2 for TSP with triangular
inequality.
Proof.
c( T )  c( H*)

c( W )  2 c( T )  2 c( H*)

c( H )  c( W )

 c( H )  2 c( H*)
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An approximation algorithm for
Euclidean traveling salesperson
problem (ETSP)
 The ETSP is to find a shortest closed
path through a set S of n points in the
plane.
 The ETSP is NP-hard.

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Approximation Algorithm for ETSP
 Input: A set S of n points in the plane.
 Output: An approximate traveling salesperson tour
of S.
 Step 1: Find a minimum spanning tree T of S.
 Step 2: Find a minimum Euclidean weighted
matching M on the set of vertices of odd degrees
in T. Let G=M∪T.
 Step 3: Find an Eulerian cycle of G and then
traverse it to find a Hamiltonian cycle as an
approximate tour of ETSP by bypassing all
previously visited vertices.
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Eulerian Cycle
 An Eulerian path (Eulerian trail, Euler
walk) in a graph is a path that uses each
edge precisely once. If such a path exists, the
graph is called traversable.
 An Eulerian cycle (Eulerian circuit, Euler
tour) in a graph is a cycle with uses each
edge precisely once. If such a cycle exists,
the graph is called Eulerian.

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 L. Euler showed that an Eulerian cycle
exists if and only if all vertices in the graph
are of even degree and all edges are
contained in the same component.
 L. Euler also showed an Eulerian path
exists, if and only if at most two vertices in
the graph are of odd degree and all edges are
contained in the same component.

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 Leonhard Euler (April 15, 1707 - September
18, 1783) (pronounced "oiler") was a Swiss
mathematician and physicist. He is considered
(together with Gauss) to be the greatest
mathematician ever.
 Leonhard Euler stated and solved the
problem of Seven Bridges of Königsberg in
1736, which is the first formally discussed
problem in graph theory.

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Eulerian Cycle exists because
degree(V1) = 4
degree(V2) = 2
degree(V3) = 4
degree(V4) = 4.
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This is the Eulerian Cycle.

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 A Hamiltonian path (also called traceable
path) is a path that visits each vertex exactly
once.

 A Hamiltonian cycle (also called

Hamiltonian circuit, vertex tour or graph
cycle) is a cycle that visits each vertex
exactly once, except for the starting vertex.

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Minimum Euclidean Weighted
Matching (MEWM) Problem
 Given a set of points in the plane, the
minimum Euclidean weighted matching
problem is to join the points in pairs by
line segments such that the total length
is minimum.

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Approximation Algorithm for ETSP
 E.g.
Step1:

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Approximation Algorithm for ETSP
 Step2:The number of points with odd
n

degrees must be even.  d  2 E , which

i 1
i

is even One edge contributes 2 degrees

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Approximation Algorithm for ETSP
 Step3:
P3 and P4 are
visited twice.
By bypassing P3
and P4 and
connecting P6 to
P1 directly, we
obtain a
Hamiltonian cycle.

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Approximation Algorithm for ETSP
 Time complexity: O(n3)
Step 1: O(n log n)
Step 2: O(n3)
Step 3: O(n)

 How close the approximate solution to

an optimal solution?
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How good is the solution ?
 The approximate tour is within 3/2 of the optimal
one.
 Reasoning:
L: optimal ETSP tour, T: MST, Lp: a path derived
by removing one edge from L (Lp is also a
spanning tree)
 length(T)length(Lp)length(L)
 Let Lp=j1…i1j2…i2j3…i2m, where {i1, i2,…, i2m} is the
set of odd-degree vertices in T where indices of
vertices in the set are arranged in the same order
as they are in the optimal ETSP tour L.

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How good is the solution ?
Let M be the minimum Euclidean weighted matching (MEWM).
Consider the two matchings:
M1={[i1,i2],[i3,i4],…,[i2m-1,i2m]} and M2={[i2,i3],[i4,i5],…,[i2m,i1]}.
We have
(by triangular inequality)
length(L)  length(M1) + length(M2)  2 length(M )
 length(M) 1/2 length(L )
G = T∪M
 length(T) + length(M)  length(L) + 1/2 length(L)
= 3/2 length(L)

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Q&A
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