TheStackelbergMinimumSpanningTreeGame.docxVIP

The Stackelberg Minimum Spanning Tree Game Jean Cardinal · Erik D. Demaine · Samuel Fiorini · Gwenaël Joret · Stefan Langerman · Ilan Newman · OrenWeimann Outline Introduction Basic results Complexity and Inapproximability The best –out-of-k algorithm Linear programing relaxation Introduction A graph with red and blue edges. Red edges has a fixed cost(representing the competitor’s prices). The first player chooses an assignment of prices to the blue edges. The second player then buys the cheapest possible minimum spanning tree, using any combination of red and blue edges. Stackelberg Minimum Spanning Tree problem (STACKMST) APX-hard APX (an abbreviation of approximable) is the set of NP optimization problems that allow polynomial-time approximation algorithms with approximation ratio bounded by a constant (or constant-factor approximation algorithms for short). APX-hard If there is a polynomial-time algorithm to solve a problem within every fixed percentage greater than zero (one algorithm for each percentage), then the problem is said to have a polynomial-time approximation scheme (PTAS). APX-hard Unless P=NP, it can be shown that there are problems that are in APX but not in PTAS; that is, problems that can be approximated within some constant factor, but not every constant factor. APX-hard A problem is said to be APX-hard if there is a PTAS reduction from every problem in APX to that problem, and to be APX-complete if the problem is APX-hard and also in APX. As a consequence of P ≠ NP ⇒ PTAS ≠ APX, P ≠ NP ⇒ no APX-hard problem is in PTAS.   Step of the game We are given an undirected graph1 G = (V ,E) whose edge set is partitioned into a red edge set R and a blue edge set B. Each red edge e ∈ R has a nonnegative fixed cost c(e) (the best competitor’s price). The leader owns every blue edge e ∈ B and has to set a price p(e) for each of these edges. Evaluation A spanning tree T is a minimum spanning tree (MST) if its total weight is minimum. The revenue of T i