The Design of Approximation Algorithms
By: David P. Williamson, David B. Shmoys
Contributors: Shmoys, David Bernard
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2011
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 504
ISBN-13: 9780521195270
Copyright date: 2011 by David P. Williamson and David B. Shmoys
Subjects: Mathematical optimization; Approximation theory
Description: "Discrete optimization problems are everywhere, from traditional operations research planning problems, such as scheduling, facility location, and network design; to computer science problems in databases; to advertising issues in viral marketing. Yet most such problems are NP-hard. Thus unless P = NP, there are no efficient algorithms to find optimal solutions to such problems. This book shows how to design approximation algorithms: efficient algorithms that find provably near-optimal solutions. The book is organized around central algorithmic techniques for designing approximation algorithms, including greedy and local search algorithms, dynamic programming, linear and semidefinite programming, and randomization. Each chapter in the first part of the book is devoted to a single algorithmic technique, which is then applied to several different problems. The second part revisits the techniques but offers more sophisticated treatments of them. The book also covers methods for proving that optimization problems are hard to approximate. Designed as a textbook for graduate-level algorithms courses, the book will also serve as a reference for researchers interested in the heuristic solution of discrete optimization problems"--
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and indexes.