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The Parameterized Complexity of the Rectangle Stabbing Problem and Its Variants

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Frontiers in Algorithmics (FAW 2008)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNTCS,volume 5059))

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Abstract

We study an NP-complete geometric covering problem called d -Dimensional Rectangle Stabbing, where, given a set of axis-parallel d-dimensional hyperrectangles, a set of axis-parallel (d − 1)-dimensional hyperplanes and a positive integer k, the question is whether one can select at most k of the hyperplanes such that every hyperrectangle is intersected by at least one of these hyperplanes. This problem is well-studied from the approximation point of view, while its parameterized complexity remained unexplored so far. Here we show, by giving a nontrivial reduction from a problem called Multicolored Clique, that for d ≥ 3 the problem is W[1]-hard with respect to the parameter k. For the case d = 2, whose parameterized complexity is still open, we consider several natural restrictions and show them to be fixed-parameter tractable.

Supported by the DAAD-DST exchange program D/05/57666.

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Franco P. Preparata Xiaodong Wu Jianping Yin

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© 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Dom, M., Sikdar, S. (2008). The Parameterized Complexity of the Rectangle Stabbing Problem and Its Variants. In: Preparata, F.P., Wu, X., Yin, J. (eds) Frontiers in Algorithmics. FAW 2008. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 5059. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-69311-6_30

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-69311-6_30

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-69310-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-69311-6

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