arXiv subjects

Max Bannach

Publications and source records attributed to Max Bannach.

22 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2018

Computing Kernels in Parallel: Lower and Upper Bounds

Parallel fixed-parameter tractability studies how parameterized problems can be solved in parallel. A surprisingly large number of parameterized problems admit a high level of parallelization, but this does not mean that we can also efficiently compute small problem kernels in parallel: known kernelization algorithms are typically highly sequential. In the present paper, we establish a number of upper and lower bounds concerning the sizes of kernels that can be computed in parallel. An intriguing finding is that there are complex trade-offs between kernel size and the depth of the circuits needed to compute them: For the vertex cover problem, an exponential kernel can be computed by AC$^0$-circuits, a quadratic kernel by TC$^0$-circuits, and a linear kernel by randomized NC-circuits with derandomization being possible only if it is also possible for the matching problem. Other natural problems for which similar (but quantitatively different) effects can be observed include tree decomposition problems parameterized by the vertex cover number, the undirected feedback vertex set problem, the matching problem, or the point line cover problem. We also present natural problems for which computing kernels is inherently sequential.

cs.CC↗

arXiv2018

Practical Access to Dynamic Programming on Tree Decompositions

Parameterized complexity theory has lead to a wide range of algorithmic breakthroughs within the last decades, but the practicability of these methods for real-world problems is still not well understood. We investigate the practicability of one of the fundamental approaches of this field: dynamic programming on tree decompositions. Indisputably, this is a key technique in parameterized algorithms and modern algorithm design. Despite the enormous impact of this approach in theory, it still has very little influence on practical implementations. The reasons for this phenomenon are manifold. One of them is the simple fact that such an implementation requires a long chain of non-trivial tasks (as computing the decomposition, preparing it,...). We provide an easy way to implement such dynamic programs that only requires the definition of the update rules. With this interface, dynamic programs for various problems, such as 3-coloring, can be implemented easily in about 100 lines of structured Java code. The theoretical foundation of the success of dynamic programming on tree decompositions is well understood due to Courcelle's celebrated theorem, which states that every MSO-definable problem can be efficiently solved if a tree decomposition of small width is given. We seek to provide practical access to this theorem as well, by presenting a lightweight model-checker for a small fragment of MSO. This fragment is powerful enough to describe many natural problems, and our model-checker turns out to be very competitive against similar state-of-the-art tools.

cs.DS↗

arXiv2018

Computing Hitting Set Kernels By AC^0-Circuits

Given a hypergraph $H = (V,E)$, what is the smallest subset $X \subseteq V$ such that $e \cap X \neq \emptyset$ holds for all $e \in E$? This problem, known as the hitting set problem, is a basic problem in parameterized complexity theory. There are well-known kernelization algorithms for it, which get a hypergraph $H$ and a number $k$ as input and output a hypergraph $H'$ such that (1) $H$ has a hitting set of size $k$ if, and only if, $H'$ has such a hitting set and (2) the size of $H'$ depends only on $k$ and on the maximum cardinality $d$ of edges in $H$. The algorithms run in polynomial time, but are highly sequential. Recently, it has been shown that one of them can be parallelized to a certain degree: one can compute hitting set kernels in parallel time $O(d)$ -- but it was conjectured that this is the best parallel algorithm possible. We refute this conjecture and show how hitting set kernels can be computed in constant parallel time. For our proof, we introduce a new, generalized notion of hypergraph sunflowers and show how iterated applications of the color coding technique can sometimes be collapsed into a single application.

cs.CC↗

arXiv2015

Fast Parallel Fixed-Parameter Algorithms via Color Coding

Fixed-parameter algorithms have been successfully applied to solve numerous difficult problems within acceptable time bounds on large inputs. However, most fixed-parameter algorithms are inherently \emph{sequential} and, thus, make no use of the parallel hardware present in modern computers. We show that parallel fixed-parameter algorithms do not only exist for numerous parameterized problems from the literature -- including vertex cover, packing problems, cluster editing, cutting vertices, finding embeddings, or finding matchings -- but that there are parallel algorithms working in \emph{constant} time or at least in time \emph{depending only on the parameter} (and not on the size of the input) for these problems. Phrased in terms of complexity classes, we place numerous natural parameterized problems in parameterized versions of AC$^0$. On a more technical level, we show how the \emph{color coding} method can be implemented in constant time and apply it to embedding problems for graphs of bounded tree-width or tree-depth and to model checking first-order formulas in graphs of bounded degree.

cs.CC↗