Approximation Algorithms

Overview & Synopsis

The lecture notes on Approximation Algorithms by Shuchi Chawla focus on techniques of designing algorithms that produce nearoptimal solutions to complex optimization problems for which finding an exact solution is computationally infeasible. These lecture notes cover general underlying techniques of approximation algorithms, comprising basic building blocks and the foundation needed to deal with problems which are difficult to solve exactly due to computational complexity. These notes by Chawla provide an outline of various methods for approaching different optimization problems and ways of solving them when exact algorithms are not practical. Further, this resource is likely to be extremely helpful with respect to devising and applying approximation algorithms returning good solutions within a reasonable amount of time, hence, this is a must for scholars and practitioners faced with hard optimization problems.