Semidefinite programming relaxations for graph coloring and maximal clique problems

The semidefinite programming formulation of the Lovasz theta number does not only give one of the best polynomial simultaneous bounds on the chromatic number and the clique number of a graph, but also leads to heuristics for graph coloring and extracting large cliques. This semidefinite programming formulation can be tightened toward either number by adding … Read more

The Bundle Method in Combinatorial Optimization

We propose a dynamic version of the bundle method to get approximate solutions to semidefinite programs with a nearly arbitrary number of linear inequalities. Our approach is based on Lagrangian duality, where the inequalities are dualized, and only a basic set of constraints is maintained explicitly. This leads to function evaluations requiring to solve a … Read more

Bounds for the Quadratic Assignment Problem Using the Bundle Method

Semidefinite Programming (SDP) has recently turned out to be a very powerful tool for approximating some NP-hard problems. The nature of the Quadratic Assignment Problem suggests SDP as a way to derive tractable relaxation. We recall some SDP relaxations of QAP and solve them approximately using the Bundle Method. The computational results demonstrate the efficiency … Read more

Semidefinite programming and integer programming

We survey how semidefinite programming can be used for finding good approximative solutions to hard combinatorial optimization problems. Citation Preliminary version appeared as Report PNA-R0210, CWI, Amsterdam, April 2002. To appear as Chapter in the Handbook on Discrete Optimization, K. Aardal, G. Nemhauser, R. Weismantel, eds., Elsevier Publishers. Article Download View Semidefinite programming and integer … Read more

A Simplified/Improved HKM Direction for Certain Classes of Semidefinite Programming

Semidefinite Programming (SDP) provides strong bounds for many NP-hard combinatorial problems. Arguably the most popular/efficient search direction for solving SDPs using a primal-dual interior point (p-d i-p) framework is the {\em HKM direction}. This direction is a Newton direction found from the linearization of a symmetrized version of the optimality conditions. For many of the … Read more

An infeasible active set method for convex problems with simple bounds

A primal-dual active set method for convex quadratic problems with bound constraints is presented. Based on a guess on the active set, a primal-dual pair $(x,s)$ is computed that satisfies the first order optimality condition and the complementarity condition. If $(x,s)$ is not feasible, a new active set is determined, and the process is iterated. … Read more