We present randomized approximation algorithms for the maximum cut (MAX CUT) and maximum 2-satisfiability (MAX 2SAT) problems that always deliver solutions of expected value at least .87856 times the optimal value. These algorithms use a simple and elegant technique that randomly rounds the solution to a nonlinear programming relaxation. This relaxation can be interpreted both as a semidefinite program and as an eigenvalue minimization problem. The best previously known approximation algorithms for these problems had performance guarantees of ...

In this paper we explore some implications of view-ing graphs as geometric objects. This approach of-fers a new perspective on a number of graph-theoretic and algorithmic problems. There are several ways to model graphs geometrically and our main concern here is with geometric representations that respect the met-ric of the (possibly weighted) graph. Given a graph G we map its vertices to a normed space in an attempt to (i) Keep down the dimension of the host space and (ii) Guarantee a small distortion, i.e., make sure that distances between vertices in G closely match the dis-tances between their geometric images. In this paper we develop efficient algorithms for em-bedding graphs low-dimensionally with a small distor-tion. Further algorithmic applications include: 0 A simple, unified approach to a number of prob-lems on multicommodity flows, including the Leighton-Rae Theorem [29] and some of its ex-tensions. 0 For graphs embeddable in low-dimensional spaces with a small distortion, we can find low-diameter decompositions (in the sense of [4] and [34]). The parameters of the decomposition depend only on the dimension and the distortion and not on the size of the graph. 0 In graphs embedded this way, small balanced separators can be found efficiently. Faithful low-dimensional representations of statisti-cal data allow for meaningful and efficient cluster-ing, which is one of the most basic tasks in pattern-recognition. For the (mostly heuristic) methods used

We propose a new interior point based method to minimize a linear function of a matrix variable subject to linear equality and inequality constraints over the set of positive semidefinite matrices. We show that the approach is very efficient for graph bisection problems, such as max-cut. Other applications include max-min eigenvalue problems and relaxations for the stable set problem.

We give a O( log n)-approximation algorithm for sparsest cut, balanced separator, and graph conductance problems. This improves the O(log n)-approximation of Leighton and Rao (1988). We use a well-known semidefinite relaxation with triangle inequality constraints. Central to our analysis is a geometric theorem about projections of point sets in , whose proof makes essential use of a phenomenon called measure concentration.

This is the nineteenth edition of a (usually) quarterly column that covers new developments in the theory of NP-completeness. The presentation is modeled on that used by M. R. Garey and myself in our book ‘‘Computers and Intractability: A Guide to the Theory of NP-Completeness,’ ’ W. H. Freeman & Co., New York, 1979 (hereinafter referred to as ‘‘[G&J]’’; previous columns will be referred to by their dates). A background equivalent to that provided by [G&J] is assumed, and, when appropriate, cross-references will be given to that book and the list of problems (NP-complete and harder) presented there. Readers who have results they would like mentioned (NP-hardness, PSPACE-hardness, polynomial-time-solvability, etc.) or open problems they would like publicized, should

a coloring is called the chromatic number of�, and is usually denoted by��.Determining the chromatic number of a graph is known to be NP-hard (cf. [19]). Besides its theoretical significance as a canonical NPhard problem, graph coloring arises naturally in a variety of applications such as register allocation [11, 12, 13] is the maximum degree of any vertex. Be-and timetable/examination scheduling [8, 40]. In many We consider the problem of coloring�-colorable graphs with the fewest possible colors. We give a randomized polynomial time algorithm which colors a 3-colorable graph on vertices with� � ���� colors where sides giving the best known approximation ratio in terms of, this marks the first non-trivial approximation result as a function of the maximum degree. This result can be generalized to�-colorable graphs to obtain a coloring using�� � ��� � � � �colors. Our results are inspired by the recent work of Goemans and Williamson who used an algorithm for semidefinite optimization problems, which generalize linear programs, to obtain improved approximations for the MAX CUT and MAX 2-SAT problems. An intriguing outcome of our work is a duality relationship established between the value of the optimum solution to our semidefinite program and the Lovász�-function. We show lower bounds on the gap between the optimum solution of our semidefinite program and the actual chromatic number; by duality this also demonstrates interesting new facts about the�-function. 1

It is well known that two prover proof systems are a convenient tool for establishing hardness of approximation results. In this paper, we show that two prover proof systems are also convenient starting points for establishing easiness of approximation results. Our approach combines the Feage-Lovdsz (STOC92) semidefinite programming relaxation of one-round two-prover proof systems, together with rounding techniques for the solutions of semidefinite progmms, as introduced by Goemans and Williamson (STO C94). As a consequence of our approach, we present improved approximation algorithms for MAX 2SAT and MAX DICUT. The algorithms are guamnteed to deliver solutions within a factor of 0.931 of the optimum for MAX 2SAT and within a factor of 0.859 for MAX DICUT, improving upon the guarantees of 0.878 and 0.796 of Goemans and Williamson.

Abstract. The paper is essentially a survey of known results about the spectrum of the Laplacian matrix of graphs with special emphasis on the second smallest Lapla-cian eigenvalue λ2 and its relation to numerous graph invariants, including connectivity, expanding properties, isoperimetric number, maximum cut, independence number, genus, diameter, mean distance, and bandwidth-type parameters of a graph. Some new results and generalizations are added. † This article appeared in “Graph Theory, Combinatorics, and Applications”, Vol. 2,

We present a dual-scaling interior-point algorithm and show how it exploits the structure and sparsity of some large scale problems. We solve the positive semidefinite relaxation of combinatorial and quadratic optimization problems subject to boolean constraints. We report the first computational results of interior-point algorithms for approximating the maximum cut semidefinite programs with dimension up-to 3000.

We describe a few applications of semide nite programming in combinatorial optimization.