On Sparse Covers of Minor Free Graphs, Low Dimensional Metric Embeddings, and other applications

Given a metric space $(X,d_X)$, a $(β,s,Δ)$-sparse cover is a collection of clusters $\mathcal{C}\subseteq P(X)$ with diameter at most $Δ$, such that for every point $x\in X$, the ball $B_X(x,\fracΔβ)$ is fully contained in some cluster $C\in \mathcal{C}$, and $x$ belongs to at most $s$ clusters in $\mathcal{C}$. Our main contribution is to show that the shortest path metric of every $K_r$-minor free graphs admits $(O(r),O(r^2),Δ)$-sparse cover, and for every $ε>0$, $(4+ε,O(\frac1ε)^r,Δ)$-sparse cover (for arbitrary $Δ>0$). We then use this sparse cover to show that every $K_r$-minor free graph embeds into $\ell_\infty^{\tilde{O}(\frac1ε)^{r+1}\cdot\log n}$ with distortion $3+ε$ (resp. into $\ell_\infty^{\tilde{O}(r^2)\cdot\log n}$ with distortion $O(r)$). Further, among other applications, this sparse cover immediately implies an algorithm for the oblivious buy-at-bulk problem in fixed minor free graphs with the tight approximation factor $O(\log n)$ (previously nothing beyond general graphs was known).