Constant factor FPT approximation for capacitated k-median

TL;DR

This paper presents an FPT-time algorithm for the capacitated k-median problem that guarantees solutions with no violations in capacity or number of facilities, achieving a constant approximation ratio of 7+ε.

Contribution

It introduces the first fixed-parameter tractable approximation algorithm that preserves both capacity and facility count without violations.

Findings

Runs in time 2^{O(k log k)} n^{O(1)}

Achieves a 7+ε approximation ratio

Preserves capacity and number of facilities without violations

Abstract

Capacitated k-median is one of the few outstanding optimization problems for which the existence of a polynomial time constant factor approximation algorithm remains an open problem. In a series of recent papers algorithms producing solutions violating either the number of facilities or the capacity by a multiplicative factor were obtained. However, to produce solutions without violations appears to be hard and potentially requires different algorithmic techniques. Notably, if parameterized by the number of facilities $k$, the problem is also $W[2]$ hard, making the existence of an exact FPT algorithm unlikely. In this work we provide an FPT-time constant factor approximation algorithm preserving both cardinality and capacity of the facilities. The algorithm runs in time $2^{\mathcal{O}(k\log k)}n^{\mathcal{O}(1)}$ and achieves an approximation ratio of $7+\varepsilon$.