Semi-Lagrangian relaxation

Lagrangian relaxation is commonly used in combinatorial optimization to generate lower bounds for a minimization problem. We propose a modified Lagrangian relaxation which used in (linear) combinatorial optimization with equality constraints generates an optimal integer solution. We call this new concept semi-Lagrangian relaxation and illustrate its practical value by solving large-scale instances of the p-median … Read more

Survivable IP network design with OSPF routing

Internet protocol (IP) traffic follows rules established by routing protocols. Shortest path based protocols, such as Open Shortest Path First (OSPF), direct traffic based on arc weights assigned by the network operator. Each router computes shortest paths and creates destination tables used for routing flow on the shortest paths. If a router has multiple outgoing … Read more

Domination between traffic matrices

A traffic matrix $D^1$ dominates a traffic matrix $D^2$ if $D^2$ can be routed on every (capacitated) network where $D^1$ can be routed. We prove that $D^1$ dominates $D^2$ if and only if $D^1$, considered as a capacity vector, supports $D^2$. We show several generalizations of this result. CitationCentro Vito Volterra, Universita’ di Roma Tor … Read more

Complex Quadratic Optimization and Semidefinite Programming

In this paper we study the approximation algorithms for a class of discrete quadratic optimization problems in the Hermitian complex form. A special case of the problem that we study corresponds to the max-3-cut model used in a recent paper of Goemans and Williamson. We first develop a closed-form formula to compute the probability of … Read more

A GRASP algorithm for the multi-objective knapsack problem

In this article, we propose a Greedy Randomized Adaptive Search Procedure (GRASP) to generate a good approximation of the efficient or Pareto optimal set of a multi-objective combinatorial optimization problem. The algorithm is applied for the 0/1 knapsack problem with r objective functions. This problem is formulated as r classic 0/1 knapsack problems. n items, … Read more

Note: A Graph-Theoretical Approach to Level of Repair Analysis

Level of Repair Analysis (LORA) is a prescribed procedure for defence logistics support planning. For a complex engineering system containing perhaps thousands of assemblies, sub-assemblies, components, etc. organized into several levels of indenture and with a number of possible repair decisions, LORA seeks to determine an optimal provision of repair and maintenance facilities to minimize … Read more

Faster approximation algorithms for packing and covering problems

We adapt a method due to Nesterov so as to obtain an algorithm for solving block-angular fractional packing or covering problems to relative tolerance epsilon, while using a number of iterations that grows polynomially in the size of the problem and whose dependency on epsilon is proportional to 1/epsilon. CitationCORC report TR-2004-09, Computational Optimization Research … Read more

Approximate fixed-rank closures of set covering problems

We show that for any fixed rank, the closure of a set covering problem (and related problems) can be approximated in polynomial time — we can epsilon-approximate any linear program over the closure in polynomial time. CitationCORC report TR-2003-01, Computational Optimization Research Center, Columbia UniversityArticleDownload View PDF

On cost matrices with two and three distinct values of Hamiltonian paths and cycles

Polynomially testable characterization of cost matrices associated with a complete digraph on $n$ nodes such that all the Hamiltonian cycles (tours) have the same cost is well known. Tarasov~\cite{TARA81} obtained a characterization of cost matrices where tour costs take two distinct values. We provide a simple alternative characterization of such cost matrices that can be … Read more