Approximation Algorithms

When precise algorithmic solutions are difficult to compute, the use of approximation algorithms can help. Design and Analysis of Approximation Algorithms is a textbook for a graduate course in theoretical computer science taught globally in universities. It can also be used as a reference work for researchers in the area of design and analysis algorithms. There are few texts available for this standard course, and those that do exist mainly follow a problem-oriented format. This text follows a structured, technique-oriented presentation. Approximation algorithms are organized into chapters based on the design techniques for the algorithms, enabling the reader to study algorithms of the same nature with ease, and providing an improved understanding of the design and analysis techniques for approximation algorithms. Instructors benefit from this approach allowing for an easy way to present the ideas and techniques of algorithms with a unified approach.

This book covers the dominant theoretical approaches to the approximate solution of hard combinatorial optimization and enumeration problems. It contains elegant combinatorial theory, useful and interesting algorithms, and deep results about the intrinsic complexity of combinatorial problems. Its clarity of exposition and excellent selection of exercises will make it accessible and appealing to all those with a taste for mathematics and algorithms.