Logarithmic Approximations for Fair k-Set Selection

Fuente: arXiv
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Li, Shi, Xu, Chenyang, Zhang, Ruilong
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866916742164381696
author Li, Shi
Xu, Chenyang
Zhang, Ruilong
author_facet Li, Shi
Xu, Chenyang
Zhang, Ruilong
contents We study the fair k-set selection problem where we aim to select $k$ sets from a given set system such that the (weighted) occurrence times that each element appears in these $k$ selected sets are balanced, i.e., the maximum (weighted) occurrence times are minimized. By observing that a set system can be formulated into a bipartite graph $G:=(L\cup R, E)$, our problem is equivalent to selecting $k$ vertices from $R$ such that the maximum total weight of selected neighbors of vertices in $L$ is minimized. The problem arises in a wide range of applications in various fields, such as machine learning, artificial intelligence, and operations research. We first prove that the problem is NP-hard even if the maximum degree $Δ$ of the input bipartite graph is $3$, and the problem is in P when $Δ=2$. We then show that the problem is also in P when the input set system forms a laminar family. Based on intuitive linear programming, we show that a dependent rounding algorithm achieves $O(\frac{\log n}{\log \log n})$-approximation on general bipartite graphs, and an independent rounding algorithm achieves $O(\logΔ)$-approximation on bipartite graphs with a maximum degree $Δ$. We demonstrate that our analysis is almost tight by providing a hard instance for this linear programming. Finally, we extend all our algorithms to the weighted case and prove that all approximations are preserved.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2505_12123
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Logarithmic Approximations for Fair k-Set Selection
Li, Shi
Xu, Chenyang
Zhang, Ruilong
Data Structures and Algorithms
We study the fair k-set selection problem where we aim to select $k$ sets from a given set system such that the (weighted) occurrence times that each element appears in these $k$ selected sets are balanced, i.e., the maximum (weighted) occurrence times are minimized. By observing that a set system can be formulated into a bipartite graph $G:=(L\cup R, E)$, our problem is equivalent to selecting $k$ vertices from $R$ such that the maximum total weight of selected neighbors of vertices in $L$ is minimized. The problem arises in a wide range of applications in various fields, such as machine learning, artificial intelligence, and operations research. We first prove that the problem is NP-hard even if the maximum degree $Δ$ of the input bipartite graph is $3$, and the problem is in P when $Δ=2$. We then show that the problem is also in P when the input set system forms a laminar family. Based on intuitive linear programming, we show that a dependent rounding algorithm achieves $O(\frac{\log n}{\log \log n})$-approximation on general bipartite graphs, and an independent rounding algorithm achieves $O(\logΔ)$-approximation on bipartite graphs with a maximum degree $Δ$. We demonstrate that our analysis is almost tight by providing a hard instance for this linear programming. Finally, we extend all our algorithms to the weighted case and prove that all approximations are preserved.
title Logarithmic Approximations for Fair k-Set Selection
topic Data Structures and Algorithms
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.12123