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Main Authors: Grobben, Kobe, Moura, Phablo F. S., Yaman, Hande
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.02571
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author Grobben, Kobe
Moura, Phablo F. S.
Yaman, Hande
author_facet Grobben, Kobe
Moura, Phablo F. S.
Yaman, Hande
contents This paper presents an algorithmic study of a class of covering mixed-integer linear programming problems which encompasses classic cover problems, including multidimensional knapsack, facility location and supplier selection problems. We first show some properties of optimal solutions, which are then used to decompose the problem into instances of the multidimensional knapsack cover problem with a single continuous variable per dimension. The proposed decomposition is used to design a polynomial-time approximation scheme for the problem with a fixed number of constraints. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first approximation scheme for such a general class of covering mixed-integer linear programs. Moreover, we design a fully polynomial-time approximation scheme and an approximate linear programming formulation for the case with a single constraint. These results improve upon the previously best-known 2-approximation algorithm for the knapsack cover problem with a single continuous variable. Finally, we show a perfect compact formulation for the case where all variables have the same lower and upper bounds. Analogous results are derived for the packing and more general variants of the problem.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2512_02571
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Covering and packing mixed-integer linear programs with a fixed number of constraints: Approximation and convex hull
Grobben, Kobe
Moura, Phablo F. S.
Yaman, Hande
Data Structures and Algorithms
68W25, 68W40, 90Cxx
This paper presents an algorithmic study of a class of covering mixed-integer linear programming problems which encompasses classic cover problems, including multidimensional knapsack, facility location and supplier selection problems. We first show some properties of optimal solutions, which are then used to decompose the problem into instances of the multidimensional knapsack cover problem with a single continuous variable per dimension. The proposed decomposition is used to design a polynomial-time approximation scheme for the problem with a fixed number of constraints. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first approximation scheme for such a general class of covering mixed-integer linear programs. Moreover, we design a fully polynomial-time approximation scheme and an approximate linear programming formulation for the case with a single constraint. These results improve upon the previously best-known 2-approximation algorithm for the knapsack cover problem with a single continuous variable. Finally, we show a perfect compact formulation for the case where all variables have the same lower and upper bounds. Analogous results are derived for the packing and more general variants of the problem.
title Covering and packing mixed-integer linear programs with a fixed number of constraints: Approximation and convex hull
topic Data Structures and Algorithms
68W25, 68W40, 90Cxx
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.02571