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Recent Advances in Algorithms and Combinatorics pp 195–243Cite as

Approximability of NP-Optimization Problems

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Abstract

Probably every computer science student knows the short comics story from the introduction of the fundamental textbook by Garey and Johnson [35]. It indicates in a pictorial way why an a priori seemingly theoretical concept as the notion of NP-completeness has been so successful. Till today, the first attempt of every student, researcher, algorithm designer with a new problem for which he can’t find a polynomial-time algorithm immediately is to try proving that it is NP-complete.

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Authors
  1. A. Steger
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Equipe Combinatoire, CNRS, Paris, France

    Bruce A. Reed

  2. McGill University, Montreal, Canada

    Bruce A. Reed

  3. Departamento de Computacao—LIA, Universidade Federal do Ceara, Campus do Pici—Bloco 910, CEP 60455-760, Fortaleza, CE, Brasil

    Cláudia L. Sales

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Steger, A. (2003). Approximability of NP-Optimization Problems. In: Reed, B.A., Sales, C.L. (eds) Recent Advances in Algorithms and Combinatorics. CMS Books in Mathematics / Ouvrages de mathématiques de la SMC. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-22444-0_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-22444-0_7

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4684-9268-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-0-387-22444-2

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