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A 2-Approximation Algorithm for Sorting by Prefix Reversals

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Algorithms – ESA 2005 (ESA 2005)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNTCS,volume 3669))

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Abstract

Sorting by Prefix Reversals, also known as Pancake Flipping, is the problem of transforming a given permutation into the identity permutation, where the only allowed operations are reversals of a prefix of the permutation. The problem complexity is still unknown, and no algorithm with an approximation ratio better than 3 is known. We present the first polynomial-time 2-approximation algorithm to solve this problem. Empirical tests suggest that the average performance is in fact better than 2.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. LFE Bioinformatik und Praktische Informatik, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Amalienstr. 17, D-80333, München

    Johannes Fischer & Simon W. Ginzinger

Authors
  1. Johannes Fischer
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  2. Simon W. Ginzinger
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. BRICS, MADALGO, Department of Computer Science, University of Aarhus, Denmark

    Gerth Stølting Brodal

  2. University of Rome “La Sapienza”, Rome, Italy

    Stefano Leonardi

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Fischer, J., Ginzinger, S.W. (2005). A 2-Approximation Algorithm for Sorting by Prefix Reversals. In: Brodal, G.S., Leonardi, S. (eds) Algorithms – ESA 2005. ESA 2005. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 3669. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/11561071_38

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/11561071_38

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-29118-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-31951-1

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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