Parameterized inapproximability of Morse matching
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We study the problem of minimizing the number of critical simplices from the point of view of inapproximability and parameterized complexity. We first show inapproximability of Min-Morse Matching within a factor of 2^log^(1-ϵ)n. Our second result shows that Min-Morse Matching is W[P]-hard with respect to the standard parameter. Next, we show that Min-Morse Matching with standard parameterization has no FPT approximation algorithm for any approximation factor ρ. The above hardness results are applicable to complexes of dimension ≥ 2. On the positive side, we provide a factor O(n/log n) approximation algorithm for Min-Morse Matching on 2-complexes, noting that no such algorithm is known for higher dimensional complexes. Finally, we devise discrete gradients with very few critical simplices for typical instances drawn from a fairly wide range of parameter values of the Costa-Farber model of random complexes.
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