A polynomial-time approximation scheme for planar multiway cut

Given an undirected graph with edge lengths and a subset of nodes (called the terminals), the multiway cut (also called the multi-terminal cut) problem asks for a subset of edges, with minimum total length, whose removal disconnects each terminal from all others. The problem generalizes minimum s-t cut, but is NP-hard for planar graphs and APX-hard for general graphs [11]. In this paper, we present a PTAS for multiway cut on planar graphs.

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2012
• Where: SODA
• Authors: MohammadHossein Bateni, MohammadTaghi Hajiaghayi, Philip N. Klein, Claire Mathieu
• Keywords: Algorithms, Edge Lengths, Planar Graphs, SODA 2012, Undirected Graph