Approximation algorithms for NP-hard problems
Approximation algorithms for NP-hard problems
An improved fixed-parameter algorithm for vertex cover
Information Processing Letters
Approximating discrete collections via local improvements
Proceedings of the sixth annual ACM-SIAM symposium on Discrete algorithms
Improved approximation algorithms for the vertex cover problem in graphs and hypergraphs
SODA '00 Proceedings of the eleventh annual ACM-SIAM symposium on Discrete algorithms
Vertex cover: further observations and further improvements
Journal of Algorithms
The importance of being biased
STOC '02 Proceedings of the thiry-fourth annual ACM symposium on Theory of computing
Computers and Intractability: A Guide to the Theory of NP-Completeness
Computers and Intractability: A Guide to the Theory of NP-Completeness
On efficient fixed-parameter algorithms for weighted vertex cover
Journal of Algorithms
Vertex cover approximations on random graphs
WEA'07 Proceedings of the 6th international conference on Experimental algorithms
On the approximability of the vertex cover and related problems
AAIM'10 Proceedings of the 6th international conference on Algorithmic aspects in information and management
Strong and weak edges of a graph and linkages with the vertex cover problem
Discrete Applied Mathematics
An edge-reduction algorithm for the vertex cover problem
Operations Research Letters
A novel parameterised approximation algorithm for minimum vertex cover
Theoretical Computer Science
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The vertex cover problem is a classic NP-complete problem for which the best worst-case approximation ratio is roughly 2. In this paper, we use a collection of simple reductions, each of which guarantees an approximation ratio of $\frac{3}{2}$, to find approximate vertex covers for a large collection of test graphs from various sources. We explain these reductions and explore the interaction between them. These reductions are extremely fast and even though they, by themselves are not guaranteed to find a vertex cover, we manage to find a 3/2-approximate vertex cover for every single graph in our large collection of test examples.