Parameterized complexity theory is a recent branch of computational
complexity theory that provides a framework for a refined analysis of
hard algorithmic problems. The central notion of the theory,
fixed-parameter tractability, has led to the development of various new
algorithmic techniques and a whole new theory of intractability.
This book is a state-of-the-art introduction to both algorithmic
techniques for fixed-parameter tractability and the structural theory of
parameterized complexity classes, and it presents detailed proofs of
recent advanced results that have not appeared in book form before.
Several chapters are each devoted to intractability, algorithmic
techniques for designing fixed-parameter tractable algorithms, and
bounded fixed-parameter tractability and subexponential time complexity.
The treatment is comprehensive, and the reader is supported with
exercises, notes, a detailed index, and some background on complexity
theory and logic.
The book will be of interest to computer scientists, mathematicians and
graduate students engaged with algorithms and problem complexity.