A Local Search Algorithm for the Min-Sum Submodular Cover Problem

Lisa Hellerstein, Thomas Lidbetter, R. Teal Witter

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

    Abstract

    We consider the problem of solving the Min-Sum Submodular Cover problem using local search. The Min-Sum Submodular Cover problem generalizes the NP-complete Min-Sum Set Cover problem, replacing the input set cover instance with a monotone submodular set function. A simple greedy algorithm achieves an approximation factor of 4, which is tight unless P=NP [Streeter and Golovin, NeurIPS, 2008]. We complement the greedy algorithm with analysis of a local search algorithm. Building on work of Munagala et al. [ICDT, 2005], we show that, using simple initialization, a straightforward local search algorithm achieves a (4+ϵ)-approximate solution in time O(n3 log(n/ϵ)), provided that the monotone submodular set function is also second-order supermodular. Second-order supermodularity has been shown to hold for a number of submodular functions of practical interest, including functions associated with set cover, matching, and facility location. We present experiments on two special cases of Min-Sum Submodular Cover and find that the local search algorithm can outperform the greedy algorithm on small data sets.

    Original languageEnglish (US)
    Title of host publication33rd International Symposium on Algorithms and Computation, ISAAC 2022
    EditorsSang Won Bae, Heejin Park
    PublisherSchloss Dagstuhl- Leibniz-Zentrum fur Informatik GmbH, Dagstuhl Publishing
    ISBN (Electronic)9783959772587
    DOIs
    StatePublished - Dec 1 2022
    Event33rd International Symposium on Algorithms and Computation, ISAAC 2022 - Virtual, Online, Korea, Republic of
    Duration: Dec 19 2022Dec 21 2022

    Publication series

    NameLeibniz International Proceedings in Informatics, LIPIcs
    Volume248
    ISSN (Print)1868-8969

    Conference

    Conference33rd International Symposium on Algorithms and Computation, ISAAC 2022
    Country/TerritoryKorea, Republic of
    CityVirtual, Online
    Period12/19/2212/21/22

    Keywords

    • Local search
    • min-sum set cover
    • second-order supermodularity
    • submodularity

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Software

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