Improved Algorithms for Overlapping and Robust Clustering of Edge-Colored Hypergraphs: An LP-Based Combinatorial Approach

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Lee, Changyeol, Shin, Yongho, An, Hyung-Chan
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Lee, Changyeol
Shin, Yongho
An, Hyung-Chan
author_facet Lee, Changyeol
Shin, Yongho
An, Hyung-Chan
contents Clustering is a fundamental task in both machine learning and data mining. Among various methods, edge-colored clustering (ECC) has emerged as a useful approach for handling categorical data. Given a hypergraph with (hyper)edges labeled by colors, ECC aims to assign vertex colors to minimize the number of edges where the vertex color differs from the edge's color. However, traditional ECC has inherent limitations, as it enforces a nonoverlapping and exhaustive clustering. To tackle these limitations, three versions of ECC have been studied: Local ECC and Global ECC, which allow overlapping clusters, and Robust ECC, which accounts for vertex outliers. For these problems, both linear programming (LP) rounding algorithms and greedy combinatorial algorithms have been proposed. While these LP-rounding algorithms provide high-quality solutions, they demand substantial computation time; the greedy algorithms, on the other hand, run very fast but often compromise solution quality. In this paper, we present an algorithmic framework that combines the strengths of LP with the computational efficiency of combinatorial algorithms. Both experimental and theoretical analyses show that our algorithms efficiently produce high-quality solutions for all three problems: Local, Global, and Robust ECC. We complement our algorithmic contributions with complexity-theoretic inapproximability results and integrality gap bounds, which suggest that significant theoretical improvements are unlikely. Our results also answer two open questions previously raised in the literature.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2505_18043
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publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Improved Algorithms for Overlapping and Robust Clustering of Edge-Colored Hypergraphs: An LP-Based Combinatorial Approach
Lee, Changyeol
Shin, Yongho
An, Hyung-Chan
Machine Learning
Databases
Data Structures and Algorithms
Clustering is a fundamental task in both machine learning and data mining. Among various methods, edge-colored clustering (ECC) has emerged as a useful approach for handling categorical data. Given a hypergraph with (hyper)edges labeled by colors, ECC aims to assign vertex colors to minimize the number of edges where the vertex color differs from the edge's color. However, traditional ECC has inherent limitations, as it enforces a nonoverlapping and exhaustive clustering. To tackle these limitations, three versions of ECC have been studied: Local ECC and Global ECC, which allow overlapping clusters, and Robust ECC, which accounts for vertex outliers. For these problems, both linear programming (LP) rounding algorithms and greedy combinatorial algorithms have been proposed. While these LP-rounding algorithms provide high-quality solutions, they demand substantial computation time; the greedy algorithms, on the other hand, run very fast but often compromise solution quality. In this paper, we present an algorithmic framework that combines the strengths of LP with the computational efficiency of combinatorial algorithms. Both experimental and theoretical analyses show that our algorithms efficiently produce high-quality solutions for all three problems: Local, Global, and Robust ECC. We complement our algorithmic contributions with complexity-theoretic inapproximability results and integrality gap bounds, which suggest that significant theoretical improvements are unlikely. Our results also answer two open questions previously raised in the literature.
title Improved Algorithms for Overlapping and Robust Clustering of Edge-Colored Hypergraphs: An LP-Based Combinatorial Approach
topic Machine Learning
Databases
Data Structures and Algorithms
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.18043