LP Relaxation of the Potts Labeling Problem Is as Hard as Any Linear Program.

Abstract

In our recent work, we showed that solving the LP relaxation of the pairwise min-sum labeling problem (also known as MAP inference in graphical models or discrete energy minimization) is not much easier than solving any linear program. Precisely, the general linear program reduces in linear time (assuming the Turing model of computation) to the LP relaxation of the min-sum labeling problem. The reduction is possible, though in quadratic time, even to the min-sum labeling problem with planar structure. Here we prove similar results for the pairwise min-sum labeling problem with attractive Potts interactions (also known as the uniform metric labeling problem).