Decision Problems

Decision Problems- DPm

Yes/No problems

A decision problem is the problem of determining an answer to

a class of Yes/No questions about some objects of interest

Any optimization problem can be restated in a form of decision

problem

Example:
Is the optimal profit of 0/1 knapsack >= v ???
Is the optimal cost of TSP <=D ???
Decision problems- DPm
 Decision problems- DPm
• Decision problems can be further be classified
in:
• decidable, where we have a way to solve
them, or
• undecidable, for which there cannot be or has
not been yet discovered a way to solve them.
‫حتمية – احتمالية – كمية ‪ -‬غير حتمية‬
 DPRm
• Theory developed in terms of yes/no
problems
Example:
– Independent set
• Given a graph G and an integer K; does G have an
independent set of size at least K?
– Vertex cover
• Given a graph G and an integer K, does the graph have
a vertex cover of size at most K?.
 Deterministic and non-Deterministic
• Deterministic: if we can write a computer
program for a decision problem that is Y or N in a
finite time. The output of every problem is
defined uniquely.

• Non-deterministic
The outcome of each operation is not defined
uniquely, but restricted to a set of possibilities.
Can’t be executed on conventional machines ( ‫االت‬
‫)تقليدية‬, but on hypothetical machines ‫أجهزة افتراضية‬
based on the following steps/ points of guessing and
checking
steps/ points of guessing and checking:
1- choice(s): arbitrary chooses one of element of s.
2- failure: signals on unsuccessful completion
3. success: signals on successful completion

Example:
search a target x in unordered array A on n
elements
• Example: search a target x in unordered array A on n
elements

It is required to determine an index j such that A[j]=x or

j=0 if x is ∉ in A

NDet Search (A,n,x)

{
j = choose(1:n)
if (A[j]=x)
then success ……Ɵ(1)
else
failure
}
 Non-deterministic sorting
NdetSort(A,n)
{
for i=1 to n
{choice(1:n)→j
B[i]=A[j]
}
for i=1 to n-1
{if (B[i]>B[i+1])
failure
}
success
}
 Non-deterministic 0-1 knapsack
Ndetnpk(w,p,n,M)
{
for i=1 to n
x[i]=choice(1:n)

If (∑ xiwi<=M)
i=1->n

then success
else
failure
}
 Class P and NP
P:yes/no NP: yes/no problem with a polynomial time checking
P: Polynomial; the set of all decision problems solvable by deterministic algorithm in polynomial time.
O(nk), k:const
That is; Class of problems that can be solved in polynomial time
A polynomial is an expression consisting of variables (like x) raised to non-negative integer powers

NP: set of all decision problems solvable by non-deterministic algorithms in polynomial time and also
verifiable in polynomial time.
• Problems solvable in non-deterministic polynomial time . . .
• Problems where “yes” instances have polynomial time checkable certificates
That is: if we were given somehow a solution (certificate), we could verify that certificate is correct in poly
time.
ie, Hamiltonian path:
Given a sequence <v1,v2,…,v|v|> of |V| vertices,
we can easily check in poly time that (vi, vi+1)ϵ E for =1,2,…, |v|-1 and (v|v|,v1) ϵ E as well.

ie, 3-CNF SAT

Certificate: Assignment of values to variables.
We can check in poly time that the assignment satisfies the Boolean formula.
 ?
Any problem in P is also NP: why??
Since a problem is in P, then we can solve it in poly
time without even being supplied a certificate. That
is
P is subset of NP.
?
P ⊆ NP, is P a proper subset of NP?? Open
question P ⊂ NP
Is P=NP
Is P≠NP
 NP-C
• The problem is in NP-C iff the problem is in NP
and as hard as any problem in NP. (intractable)
(no efficient alg is likely to exist)
• If any problem in NP-C can be solved in poly
time, then every problem in NP has a poly
time alg.
• NP-C are intractable up till now.
P, NP
 Classes
1. P Problems (Polynomial Time):
– Sorting: Given a list of elements, arrange them in ascending or descending order.
– Searching: Given a sorted list of elements, determine if a specific element is present in the list.
– Matrix Multiplication: Given two matrices, compute their product.
– Primality Testing: Given an integer, determine whether it is a prime number.
– Shortest Path Problem (Dijkstra's Algorithm): Given a weighted graph, find the shortest path between two
vertices.
– MST
2. NP problems (Nondeterministic Polynomial Time):
– Hamiltonian Path: Given a graph, determine whether there exists a path that visits every vertex exactly
once.
– Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP): Given a list of cities and the distances between each pair of cities,
find the shortest possible route that visits each city exactly once and returns to the original city.
3. NP-complete problems (These are the hardest problems in NP, and if any one of them is solved in
polynomial time, then all NP problems are solvable in polynomial time):
– Knapsack Problem: Given a set of items, each with a weight and a value, determine the maximum value
that can be obtained by selecting a subset of the items such that the total weight does not exceed a given
limit.
– Vertex Cover: Given a graph, find the smallest set of vertices such that every edge in the graph is incident
to at least one vertex in the set.
4. NP-hard problems (These problems are at least as hard as the hardest problems in NP but may not
necessarily be in NP themselves):
– Graph Coloring: Given a graph, assign colors to its vertices such that no two adjacent vertices have the
same color, using the fewest possible colors.