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Karp's 21 NP-complete Problems
In computational complexity theory, Karp's 21 NP-complete problems are a set of computational problems which are NP-complete. In his 1972 paper, "Reducibility Among Combinatorial Problems", Richard Karp used Stephen Cook's 1971 theorem that the boolean satisfiability problem is NP-complete (also called the Cook–Levin theorem) to show that there is a polynomial time many-one reduction from the boolean satisfiability problem to each of 21 combinatorial and graph theoretical computational problems, thereby showing that they are all NP-complete. This was one of the first demonstrations that many natural computational problems occurring throughout computer science are computationally intractable, and it drove interest in the study of NP-completeness and the P versus NP problem. The problems Karp's 21 problems are shown below, many with their original names. The nesting indicates the direction of the reductions used. For example, Knapsack was shown to be NP-complete by reducing Exa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Computational Complexity Theory
In theoretical computer science and mathematics, computational complexity theory focuses on classifying computational problems according to their resource usage, and explores the relationships between these classifications. A computational problem is a task solved by a computer. A computation problem is solvable by mechanical application of mathematical steps, such as an algorithm. A problem is regarded as inherently difficult if its solution requires significant resources, whatever the algorithm used. The theory formalizes this intuition, by introducing mathematical models of computation to study these problems and quantifying their computational complexity, i.e., the amount of resources needed to solve them, such as time and storage. Other measures of complexity are also used, such as the amount of communication (used in communication complexity), the number of logic gate, gates in a circuit (used in circuit complexity) and the number of processors (used in parallel computing). O ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Conjunctive Normal Form
In Boolean algebra, a formula is in conjunctive normal form (CNF) or clausal normal form if it is a conjunction of one or more clauses, where a clause is a disjunction of literals; otherwise put, it is a product of sums or an AND of ORs. In automated theorem proving, the notion "''clausal normal form''" is often used in a narrower sense, meaning a particular representation of a CNF formula as a set of sets of literals. Definition A logical formula is considered to be in CNF if it is a conjunction of one or more disjunctions of one or more literals. As in disjunctive normal form (DNF), the only propositional operators in CNF are or (\vee), and (\and), and not (\neg). The ''not'' operator can only be used as part of a literal, which means that it can only precede a propositional variable. The following is a context-free grammar for CNF: : ''CNF'' \, \to \, ''Disjunct'' \, \mid \, ''Disjunct'' \, \land \, ''CNF'' : ''Disjunct'' \, \to \, ''Literal'' \, \mid\, ''Literal'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steiner Tree Problem
In combinatorial mathematics, the Steiner tree problem, or minimum Steiner tree problem, named after Jakob Steiner, is an umbrella term for a class of problems in combinatorial optimization. While Steiner tree problems may be formulated in a number of settings, they all require an optimal interconnect for a given set of objects and a predefined objective function. One well-known variant, which is often used synonymously with the term Steiner tree problem, is the Steiner tree problem in graphs. Given an undirected graph with non-negative edge weights and a subset of vertices, usually referred to as terminals, the Steiner tree problem in graphs requires a tree of minimum weight that contains all terminals (but may include additional vertices) and minimizes the total weight of its edges. Further well-known variants are the ''Euclidean Steiner tree problem'' and the '' rectilinear minimum Steiner tree problem''. The Steiner tree problem in graphs can be seen as a generalization ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hitting Set
A strike is a directed, forceful physical attack with either a part of the human body or with a handheld object (such as a melee weapon), intended to cause blunt or penetrating trauma upon an opponent. There are many different varieties of strikes. A strike with the hand closed into a fist is called a '' punch'', a strike with a fingertip is called a ''jab'', a strike with the leg or foot is called a ''kick'', and a strike with the head is called a ''headbutt''. There are also other variations employed in martial arts and combat sports. "Buffet" or "beat" refer to repeatedly and violently striking an opponent; this is also commonly referred to as a combination, or combo, especially in boxing or fighting video games. Usage Strikes are the key focus of several sports and arts, including boxing, savate, karate, Muay Lao, taekwondo and wing chun. Some martial arts also use the fingertips, wrists, forearms, shoulders, back and hips to strike an opponent as well as the more conven ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clique Cover
In graph theory, a clique cover or partition into cliques of a given undirected graph is a collection of cliques that cover the whole graph. A minimum clique cover is a clique cover that uses as few cliques as possible. The minimum for which a clique cover exists is called the clique cover number of the given graph. Relation to coloring A clique cover of a graph may be seen as a graph coloring of the complement graph of , the graph on the same vertex set that has edges between non-adjacent vertices of . Like clique covers, graph colorings are partitions of the set of vertices, but into subsets with no adjacencies ( independent sets) rather than cliques. A subset of vertices is a clique in if and only if it is an independent set in the complement of , so a partition of the vertices of is a clique cover of if and only if it is a coloring of the complement of . Computational complexity The clique cover problem in computational complexity theory is the algorithmic problem of find ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Graph Coloring
In graph theory, graph coloring is a methodic assignment of labels traditionally called "colors" to elements of a Graph (discrete mathematics), graph. The assignment is subject to certain constraints, such as that no two adjacent elements have the same color. Graph coloring is a special case of graph labeling. In its simplest form, it is a way of coloring the Vertex (graph theory), vertices of a graph such that no two adjacent vertices are of the same color; this is called a vertex coloring. Similarly, an ''edge coloring'' assigns a color to each Edge (graph theory), edges so that no two adjacent edges are of the same color, and a face coloring of a planar graph assigns a color to each Face (graph theory), face (or region) so that no two faces that share a boundary have the same color. Vertex coloring is often used to introduce graph coloring problems, since other coloring problems can be transformed into a vertex coloring instance. For example, an edge coloring of a graph is just ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hamiltonian Path Problem
The Hamiltonian path problem is a topic discussed in the fields of complexity theory and graph theory. It decides if a directed or undirected graph, ''G'', contains a Hamiltonian path, a path that visits every vertex in the graph exactly once. The problem may specify the start and end of the path, in which case the starting vertex ''s'' and ending vertex ''t'' must be identified. The Hamiltonian cycle problem is similar to the Hamiltonian path problem, except it asks if a given graph contains a Hamiltonian cycle. This problem may also specify the start of the cycle. The Hamiltonian cycle problem is a special case of the travelling salesman problem, obtained by setting the distance between two cities to one if they are adjacent and two otherwise, and verifying that the total distance travelled is equal to ''n.'' If so, the route is a Hamiltonian cycle. The Hamiltonian path problem and the Hamiltonian cycle problem belong to the class of NP-complete problems, as shown in Michael ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Feedback Arc Set
In graph theory and graph algorithms, a feedback arc set or feedback edge set in a directed graph is a subset of the edges of the graph that contains at least one edge out of every cycle in the graph. Removing these edges from the graph breaks all of the cycles, producing an acyclic subgraph of the given graph, often called a directed acyclic graph. A feedback arc set with the fewest possible edges is a minimum feedback arc set and its removal leaves a maximum acyclic subgraph; weighted versions of these optimization problems are also used. If a feedback arc set is minimal, meaning that removing any edge from it produces a subset that is not a feedback arc set, then it has an additional property: reversing all of its edges, rather than removing them, produces a directed acyclic graph. Feedback arc sets have applications in circuit analysis, chemical engineering, deadlock resolution, ranked voting, ranking competitors in sporting events, mathematical psychology, ethology, and grap ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Feedback Vertex Set
In the mathematical discipline of graph theory, a feedback vertex set (FVS) of a graph is a set of vertices whose removal leaves a graph without cycles ("removal" means deleting the vertex and all edges adjacent to it). Equivalently, each FVS contains at least one vertex of any cycle in the graph. The feedback vertex set number of a graph is the size of a smallest FVS. Whether there exists a feedback vertex set of size at most k is an NP-complete problem; it was among the first problems shown to be NP-complete. It has wide applications in operating systems, database systems, and VLSI chip design. Definition The FVS decision problem is as follows: :INSTANCE: An (undirected or directed) graph G = (V, E) and a positive integer k. :QUESTION: Is there a subset X \subseteq V with , X, \leq k such that, when all vertices of X and their adjacent edges are deleted from G, the remainder is cycle-free? The graph G \setminus X/math> that remains after removing X from G is an induced ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Set Cover Problem
The set cover problem is a classical question in combinatorics, computer science, operations research, and complexity theory. Given a set of elements (henceforth referred to as the universe, specifying all possible elements under consideration) and a collection, referred to as , of a given subsets whose union equals the universe, the set cover problem is to identify a smallest sub-collection of whose union equals the universe. For example, consider the universe, and the collection of sets In this example, is equal to 4, as there are four subsets that comprise this collection. The union of is equal to . However, we can cover all elements with only two sets: , see picture, but not with only one set. Therefore, the solution to the set cover problem for this and has size 2. More formally, given a universe \mathcal and a family \mathcal of subsets of \mathcal, a set cover is a subfamily \mathcal\subseteq\mathcal of sets whose union is \mathcal. * In the set cover deci ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vertex Cover Problem
In graph theory, a vertex cover (sometimes node cover) of a graph is a set of vertices that includes at least one endpoint of every edge of the graph. In computer science, the problem of finding a minimum vertex cover is a classical optimization problem. It is NP-hard, so it cannot be solved by a polynomial-time algorithm if P ≠ NP. Moreover, it is hard to approximate – it cannot be approximated up to a factor smaller than 2 if the unique games conjecture is true. On the other hand, it has several simple 2-factor approximations. It is a typical example of an NP-hard optimization problem that has an approximation algorithm. Its decision version, the vertex cover problem, was one of Karp's 21 NP-complete problems and is therefore a classical NP-complete problem in computational complexity theory. Furthermore, the vertex cover problem is fixed-parameter tractable and a central problem in parameterized complexity theory. The minimum vertex cover problem can be formulated ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Set Packing
Set packing is a classical NP-complete problem in computational complexity theory and combinatorics, and was one of Karp's 21 NP-complete problems. Suppose one has a finite set ''S'' and a list of subsets of ''S''. Then, the set packing problem asks if some ''k'' subsets in the list are pairwise disjoint (in other words, no two of them share an element). More formally, given a universe \mathcal and a family \mathcal of subsets of \mathcal, a ''packing'' is a subfamily \mathcal\subseteq\mathcal of sets such that all sets in \mathcal are pairwise disjoint. The size of the packing is , \mathcal, . In the set packing decision problem, the input is a pair (\mathcal,\mathcal) and an integer t; the question is whether there is a set packing of size t or more. In the set packing optimization problem, the input is a pair (\mathcal,\mathcal), and the task is to find a set packing that uses the most sets. The problem is clearly in NP since, given t subsets, we can easily verify that they a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
