Dynamic k-center clustering with lifetimes
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arXiv
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2026
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| _version_ | 1866915887535095808 |
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| author | Moretti, Simone Pellizzoni, Paolo Pietracaprina, Andrea Pucci, Geppino |
| author_facet | Moretti, Simone Pellizzoni, Paolo Pietracaprina, Andrea Pucci, Geppino |
| contents | The $k$-center problem is a fundamental clustering variant with applications in learning systems and data summarization. In several real-world scenarios, the dataset to be clustered is not static, but evolves over time, as new data points arrive and old ones become stale. To account for dynamicity, the $k$-center problem has been mainly studied under the sliding window setting, where only the $N$ most recent points are considered non-stale, or the fully dynamic setting, where arbitrary sequences of point arrivals and deletions without prior notice may occur. In this paper, we introduce the dynamic setting with lifetimes, which bridges the two aforementioned classical settings by still allowing arbitrary arrivals and deletions, but making the deletion time of each point known upon its arrival. Under this new setting, we devise a deterministic $(2+\varepsilon)$-approximation algorithm with $\tilde{O}(k/\varepsilon)$ amortized update time and memory usage linear in the number of currently active points. Moreover, we develop a deterministic $(6+\varepsilon)$-approximation algorithm that, under tame update sequences, has $\tilde{O}(k/\varepsilon)$ worst-case update time and heavily sublinear working memory. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_23348 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Dynamic k-center clustering with lifetimes Moretti, Simone Pellizzoni, Paolo Pietracaprina, Andrea Pucci, Geppino Data Structures and Algorithms The $k$-center problem is a fundamental clustering variant with applications in learning systems and data summarization. In several real-world scenarios, the dataset to be clustered is not static, but evolves over time, as new data points arrive and old ones become stale. To account for dynamicity, the $k$-center problem has been mainly studied under the sliding window setting, where only the $N$ most recent points are considered non-stale, or the fully dynamic setting, where arbitrary sequences of point arrivals and deletions without prior notice may occur. In this paper, we introduce the dynamic setting with lifetimes, which bridges the two aforementioned classical settings by still allowing arbitrary arrivals and deletions, but making the deletion time of each point known upon its arrival. Under this new setting, we devise a deterministic $(2+\varepsilon)$-approximation algorithm with $\tilde{O}(k/\varepsilon)$ amortized update time and memory usage linear in the number of currently active points. Moreover, we develop a deterministic $(6+\varepsilon)$-approximation algorithm that, under tame update sequences, has $\tilde{O}(k/\varepsilon)$ worst-case update time and heavily sublinear working memory. |
| title | Dynamic k-center clustering with lifetimes |
| topic | Data Structures and Algorithms |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.23348 |