Question 11
Recall that in the vertex cover problem, we are trying to find a smallest subset of vertices in a graph such that is an independent set; in other words, for every edges in the graph , we have that is non-empty.
Consider the algorithm that repeats the following steps as long as the graph has at least one edge available: select a vertex of maximum degree (say ), and include in the solution; thereafter, delete and all edges incident to .
Based on the above data, answer the given subquestions.
Consider the algorithm in the given question. Does the algorithm always output a 2-approximate vertex cover?
Yes
No