On Dependent Randomized Rounding Algorithms

In recent years, approximation algorithms based on randomized rounding of fractional optimal solutions have been applied to several classes of discrete optimization problems. In this paper, we describe a class of rounding methods that exploits the structure and geometry of the underlying problem to round fractional solution to 0–1 solution. This is achieved by introducing dependencies in the rounding process. We show that this technique can be used to establish the integrality of several classical polyhedra (min cut, uncapacitated lot-sizing, Boolean optimization, k-median on cycle) and produces an improved approximation bound for the min-k-sat problem. c © 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.