Complexity of the Critical Node Problem over trees

In this paper we deal with the Critical Node Problem (CNP), i.e., the problem of searching for a given number K of nodes in a graph G, whose removal minimizes the number of connections between pairs of nodes in the residual graph. While the NP-completeness of this problem for general graphs has been already established … Read more

Intractability of approximate multi-dimensional nonlinear optimization on independence systems

We consider optimization of nonlinear objective functions that balance $d$ linear criteria over $n$-element independence systems presented by linear-optimization oracles. For $d=1$, we have previously shown that an $r$-best approximate solution can be found in polynomial time. Here, using an extended Erdos-Ko-Rado theorem of Frankl, we show that for $d=2$, finding a $\rho n$-best solution … Read more

The Maximum Flow Problem with Disjunctive Constraints

We study the maximum flow problem subject to binary disjunctive constraints in a directed graph: A negative disjunctive constraint states that a certain pair of arcs in a digraph cannot be simultaneously used for sending flow in a feasible solution. In contrast to this, positive disjunctive constraints force that for certain pairs of arcs at … Read more

The minimum spanning tree problem with conflict constraints and its variations

We consider the minimum spanning tree problem with conflict constraints (MSTC). It is observed that computing an $\epsilon$-optimal solution to MSTC is NP-hard for any $\epsilon >0$. For a general conflict graph, computing even a feasible solution is NP-hard. When the underlying graph is a cactus, we show that the feasibility problem is polynomially bounded … Read more

Most tensor problems are NP-hard

We show that multilinear (tensor) analogues of many efficiently computable problems in numerical linear algebra are NP-hard. Our list here includes: determining the feasibility of a system of bilinear equations, deciding whether a tensor possesses a given eigenvalue, singular value, or spectral norm; approximating an eigenvalue, eigenvector, singular vector, or spectral norm; determining a best … Read more

A simple branching scheme for Vertex Coloring Problems

We present a branching scheme for some Vertex Coloring Problems based on a new graph operator called extension. The extension operator is used to generalize the branching scheme proposed by Zykov for the basic problem to a broad class of coloring problems, such as the graph multicoloring, where each vertex requires a multiplicity of colors, … Read more

Paths, Trees and Matchings under Disjunctive Constraints

We study the minimum spanning tree problem, the maximum matching problem and the shortest path problem subject to binary disjunctive constraints: A negative disjunctive constraint states that a certain pair of edges cannot be contained simultaneously in a feasible solution. It is convenient to represent these negative disjunctive constraints in terms of a so-called conflict … Read more

Trioid: A generalization of matroid and the associated polytope

We consider a generalization of the well known greedy algorithm, called $m$-step greedy algorithm, where $m$ elements are examined in each iteration. When $m=1$ or $2$, the algorithm reduces to the standard greedy algorithm. For $m=3$ we provide a complete characterization of the independence system, called trioid, where the $m$-step greedy algorithm guarantees an optimal … Read more

Graph Realizations Associated with Minimizing the Maximum Eigenvalue of the Laplacian

In analogy to the absolute algebraic connectivity of Fiedler, we study the problem of minimizing the maximum eigenvalue of the Laplacian of a graph by redistributing the edge weights. Via semidefinite duality this leads to a graph realization problem in which nodes should be placed as close as possible to the origin while adjacent nodes … Read more