We give a 1.25 approximation algorithm for the Steiner Tree Problem with distances one and two, improving on the best known bound for that problem.

We consider <i>minimum equivalent digraph</i> (<i>directed network</i>) problem (also known as the <i>strong transitive reduction</i>), its maximum optimization variant, and some extensions of those two types of problems. We prove the existence of polynomial time approximation algorithms with ratios 1.5 for all the minimization problems and 2 for all the ... more >>>

In this paper, we consider the weighted online set k-multicover problem. In this problem, we have an universe V of elements, a family SS of subsets of V with a positive real cost for every S\in SS, and a ``coverage factor'' (positive integer) k. A subset \{i_0,i_1,\ldots\ \subseteq V of ... more >>>

In our problem we are given a set of customers, their positions on the
plane and their demands. Geometrically, directional antenna with
parameters $\alpha,\rho,R$ is a set
of points with radial coordinates $(\theta,r)$ such that
$\alpha \le \theta \le \alpha+\rho$ and $r \le R$. Given a set of
possible directional ... more >>>

We design a polynomial time 8/7-approximation algorithm for the Traveling Salesman Problem in which all distances are either one or two. This improves over the best known approximation factor of 7/6 for that problem. As a direct application we get a 7/6-approximation algorithm for the Maximum Path Cover Problem, similarily ... more >>>

We prove results on the computational complexity of instances of 3SAT in which every variable occurs 3 or 4 times.

We prove upper and lower bounds for computing Merkle tree
traversals, and display optimal trade-offs between time
and space complexity of that problem.

We prove that the problems of minimum bisection on k-uniform
hypergraphs are almost exactly as hard to approximate,
up to the factor k/3, as the problem of minimum bisection
on graphs. On a positive side, our argument gives also the
first approximation ... more >>>

We prove approximation hardness of short symmetric instances
of MAX-3SAT in which each literal occurs exactly twice, and
each clause is exactly of size 3. We display also an explicit
approximation lower bound for that problem. The bound two on
the number ... more >>>

We study approximation hardness and satisfiability of bounded
occurrence uniform instances of SAT. Among other things, we prove
the inapproximability for SAT instances in which every clause has
exactly 3 literals and each variable occurs exactly 4 times,
and display an explicit ... more >>>

We improve a number of approximation lower bounds for
bounded occurrence optimization problems like MAX-2SAT,
E2-LIN-2, Maximum Independent Set and Maximum-3D-Matching.

In this paper we present some new results on the approximate parallel
construction of Huffman codes. Our algorithm achieves linear work
and logarithmic time, provided that the initial set of elements
is sorted. This is the first parallel algorithm for that problem
with the optimal time and ... more >>>

We give improved trade-off results on approximating general
minimum cost scheduling problems.

This paper studies the existence of efficient (small size)
amplifiers for proving explicit inaproximability results for bounded degree
and bounded occurrence combinatorial optimization problems, and gives
an explicit construction for such amplifiers. We use this construction
also later to improve the currently best known approximation lower bounds
more >>>

Analysis of genomes evolving by inversions leads to a general
combinatorial problem of {\em Sorting by Reversals}, MIN-SBR, the problem of
sorting a permutation by a minimum number of reversals.
This combinatorial problem has a long history, and a number of other
motivations. It was studied in a great ... more >>>

We consider bounded occurrence (degree) instances of a minimum
constraint satisfaction problem MIN-LIN2 and a MIN-BISECTION problem for
graphs. MIN-LIN2 is an optimization problem for a given system of linear
equations mod 2 to construct a solution that satisfies the minimum number
of them. E3-OCC-MIN-E3-LIN2 ... more >>>

We consider the following optimization problem:
given a system of m linear equations in n variables over a certain field,
a feasible solution is any assignment of values to the variables, and the
minimized objective function is the number of equations that are not
satisfied. For ... more >>>

We consider the problem of scheduling permanent jobs on related machines
in an on-line fashion. We design a new algorithm that achieves the
competitive ratio of $3+\sqrt{8}\approx 5.828$ for the deterministic
version, and $3.31/\ln 2.155 \approx 4.311$ for its randomized variant,
improving the previous competitive ratios ... more >>>

Improved inaproximability results are given, including the
best up to date explicit approximation thresholds for bounded
occurence satisfiability problems, like MAX-2SAT and E2-LIN-2,
and problems in bounded degree graphs, like MIS, Node Cover
and MAX CUT. We prove also for the first time inapproximability
more >>>

We prove a number of improved inaproximability results,
including the best up to date explicit approximation
thresholds for MIS problem of bounded degree, bounded
occurrences MAX-2SAT, and bounded degree Node Cover. We
prove also for the first time inapproximability of the
problem of Sorting by ... more >>>