On Tensor Powers of Integer Programs

We de ne a natural product on integer programming problems with nonnegative coe cients. Hypergraph covering problems are a special case of such integer programs, and the product we de ne is a generalization of the usual hypergraph product. The main theorem of this paper gives a su cient condition under which the solution to the nth power of an integer program is asymptotically as good as the solution to the same nth power when the variables are not necessarily integral but may be arbitrary nonnegative real numbers.