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arXiv · 1804.06637

An Economic-Based Analysis of RANKING for Online Bipartite Matching

Alon Eden·Michal Feldman·Amos Fiat·Kineret Segal
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Abstract

In their seminal paper, Karp, Vazirani and Vazirani (STOC'90) introduce the online bipartite matching problem, and the RANKING algorithm, which admits a tight $1-\frac{1}{e}$ competitive ratio. Since its publication, the problem has received considerable attention, including a sequence of simplified proofs. In this paper we present a new proof that gives an economic interpretation of the RANKING algorithm -- further simplifying the proof and avoiding arguments such as duality. The new proof gives a new perspective on previous proofs.

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Alon Eden, Michal Feldman, Amos Fiat, Kineret Segal. 2018-04-18. An Economic-Based Analysis of RANKING for Online Bipartite Matching. https://arxiv.org/abs/1804.06637

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