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Approximation Algorithms pp 306–333Cite as

Hardness of Approximation

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Abstract

A remarkable achievement of the theory of exact algorithms is that it has provided a fairly complete characterization1 of the intrinsic complexity of natural computational problems, modulo some strongly believed conjectures. Recent impressive developments raise hopes that we will some day have a comprehensive understanding of the approximability of NP-hard optimization problems as well. In this chapter we will give a brief overview of these developments.

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Notes

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Georgia Institute of Technology, College of Computing, 801 Atlantic Avenue, 30332-0280, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Vijay V. Vazirani

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  1. Vijay V. Vazirani
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© 2003 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Vazirani, V.V. (2003). Hardness of Approximation. In: Approximation Algorithms. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-04565-7_29

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-04565-7_29

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-08469-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-662-04565-7

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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