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arXiv · 2509.17029

Optimal 4-Approximation for the Correlated Pandora's Problem

Nikhil Bansal·Zhiyi Huang·Zixuan Zhu
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Abstract

The Correlated Pandora's Problem posed by Chawla et al. (2020) generalizes the classical Pandora's Problem by allowing the numbers inside the Pandora's boxes to be correlated. It also generalizes the Min Sum Set Cover problem, and is related to the Uniform Decision Tree problem. This paper gives an optimal 4-approximation for the Correlated Pandora's Problem, matching the lower bound of 4 from Min Sum Set Cover.

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Nikhil Bansal, Zhiyi Huang, Zixuan Zhu. 2025-09-21. Optimal 4-Approximation for the Correlated Pandora's Problem. https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.17029

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