Fast Polynomial Time Approximate Solution for 0-1 Knapsack Problem

0-1 Knapsack problem (KP) is NP-hard. Approximate solution is vital for solving KP exactly. In this paper, a fast polynomial time approximate solution (FPTAS) is proposed for KP. FPTAS is a local search algorithm. The best approximate solution to KP can be found in the neighborhood of the solution of upper bound for exact k-item knapsack problem (E-kKP) where k is near to the critical item s. FPTAS, in practice, often achieves high accuracy with high speed in solving KP. The computational experiments show that the approximate algorithm for KP is valid.