Approximating incremental combinatorial optimization problems

Abstract

We consider incremental combinatorial optimization problems, in which a solution is constructed incrementally over time, and the goal is to optimize not the value of the final solution but the average value over all timesteps. We consider a natural algorithm of moving towards a global optimum solution as quickly as possible. We show that this algorithm provides an approximation guarantee of (9 + √21)/15 > 0.9 for a large class of incremental combinatorial optimization problems defined axiomatically, which includes (bipartite and non-bipartite) matchings, matroid intersections, and stable sets in claw-free graphs. Furthermore, our analysis is tight.