Multicriteria Global Minimum Cuts

We consider two multicriteria versions of the global minimum cut problem in undirected graphs. In the k-criteria setting, each edge of the input graph has k non-negative costs associated with it. These costs are measured in separate, non interchangeable, units. In the AND-version of the problem, purchasing an edge requires the payment of all the k costs associated with it. In the OR-version, an edge can be purchased by paying any one of the k-costs associated with it. Given k bounds b1, b2, . . . , bk, the basic multicriteria decision problem is whether there exists a cut C of the graph that can be purchased using a budget of bi units of the i-th criterion, for 1 ≤ i ≤ k. We show that the AND-version of the multicriteria global minimum cut problem is polynomial for any fixed number k of criteria. The OR-version of the problem, on the other hand, is NP-hard even for k = 2, but can be solved in pseudo-polynomial time for any fixed number k of criteria. It also admits an FPTAS. Fur...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2004
• Where: ISAAC
• Authors: Amitai Armon, Uri Zwick
• Keywords: Global Minimum Cut, ISAAC 2004, Minimum Cut Problem, Multicriteria Versions