We consider the problem of maximizing a monotone submodular function subject to a knapsack constraint. Our main contribution is an algorithm that achieves a nearly-optimal, 1 - 1/e - epsilon approximation, using (1/epsilon)^{O(1/epsilon^4)} n log^2{n} function evaluations and arithmetic operations. Our algorithm is impractical but theoretically interesting, since it overcomes a fundamental running time bottleneck of the multilinear extension relaxation framework. This is the main approach for obtaining nearly-optimal approximation guarantees for important classes of constraints but it leads to Omega(n^2) running times, since evaluating the multilinear extension is expensive. Our algorithm maintains a fractional solution with only a constant number of entries that are strictly fractional, which allows us to overcome this obstacle.
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A Nearly-linear Time Algorithm for Submodular Maximization with a Knapsack Constraint
We consider the problem of maximizing a monotone submodular function subject to a knapsack constraint. Our main contribution is an algorithm that achieves a nearly-optimal, $1 - 1/e - \epsilon$ approximation, using $(1/\epsilon)^{O(1/\epsilon^4)} n \log^2{n}$ function evaluations and arithmetic operations. Our algorithm is impractical but theoretically interesting, since it overcomes a fundamental running time bottleneck of the multilinear extension relaxation framework. This is the main approach for obtaining nearly-optimal approximation guarantees for important classes of constraints but it leads to $\Omega(n^2)$ running times, since evaluating the multilinear extension is expensive. Our algorithm maintains a fractional solution with only a constant number of entries that are strictly fractional, which allows us to overcome this obstacle.
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- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10105031
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming
- Volume:
- 132
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 53:1--53:12
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
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