Approximation Algorithms for Traveling Salesman Problems

Vera Traub has been Professor at the University of Bonn since 2023. Her research has received multiple awards, particularly her work on approximation algorithms for network design and the traveling salesman problem, including in 2023 the Maryam Mirzakhani New Frontiers Prize and the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prize. She is a member of the Hausdorff Center for Mathematics. Jens Vygen has been Professor at the University of Bonn since 2003. His work comprises many aspects of combinatorial optimization and its applications, notably to chip design and vehicle routing. He has co-authored two textbooks, organized several workshops and conferences, and has been co-editor of several scientific journals and books. He is a member of the Hausdorff Center for Mathematics.

Preface; 1. Introduction; 2. Linear programming relaxations of the Symmetric TSP; 3. Linear programming relaxations of the Asymmetric TSP; 4. Duality, cuts, and uncrossing; 5. Thin trees and random trees; 6. Asymmetric Graph TSP; 7. Constant-factor approximation for the Asymmetric TSP; 8. Algorithms for subtour cover; 9. Asymmetric Path TSP; 10. Parity correction of random trees; 11. Proving the main payment theorem for hierarchies; 12. Removable pairings; 13. Ear-Decompositions, matchings, and matroids; 14. Symmetric Path TSP and T-tours; 15. Best-of-Many Christofides and variants; 16. Path TSP by dynamic programming; 17. Further results, related problems; 18. State of the art, open problems; Bibliography; Index.