Lagrangian Smoothing Heuristic for Max-Cut

This paper presents smoothing heuristics for an NP-hard combinatorial problem based on Lagrangian relaxation. We formulate the Lagrangian dual for this nonconvex quadratic problem and propose eigenvalue nonsmooth unconstrained optimization to solve the dual problem with bundle or subgradient methods. Derived heuristics are considered to obtain good primal solutions through pathfollowing methods using a projected … Read more

Solving the knapsack problem via Z-transform

Given vectors $a,c\in Z^n$ and $b\in Z$, we consider the (unbounded) knapsack optimization problem $P:\,\min\{c’x\,\vert\, a’x=b;\,x\in N^n\}$. We compute the minimum value $p^*$ using techniques from complex analysis, namely Cauchy residue technique to integrate a function in $C^2$, the $Z$-transform of an appropriate function related to $P$. The computational complexity depends on $s:=\sum_{a_j} a_j$, not … Read more

Lower bound for the number of iterations in semidefinite hierarchies for the cut polytope

Hierarchies of semidefinite relaxations for $0/1$ polytopes have been constructed by Lasserre (2001a) and by Lov\’asz and Schrijver (1991), permitting to find the cut polytope of a graph on $n$ nodes in $n$ steps. We show that $\left\lceil {n\over 2} \right\rceil$ iterations are needed for finding the cut polytope of the complete graph $K_n$. CitationMathematics … Read more

On graphs with stability number equal to the optimal value of a convex quadratic program

Since the Motzkin-Straus result on the clique number of graphs, published in 1965, where they show that the size of the largest clique in a graph can be obtained by solving a quadratic programming problem, several results on the continuous approach to the determination of the clique number of a graph or, equivalently, to the … Read more

Two-connected networks with rings of bounded cardinality

We study the problem of designing at minimum cost a two-connected network such that each edge belongs to a cycle using at most K edges. This problem is a particular case of the two-connected networks with bounded meshes problem studied by Fortz, Labbé and Maffioli. In this paper, we compute a lower bound on the … Read more

Randomized heuristics for the MAX-CUT problem

Given an undirected graph with edge weights, the MAX-CUT problem consists in finding a partition of the nodes into two subsets, such that the sum of the weights of the edges having endpoints in different subsets is maximized. It is a well-known NP-hard problem with applications in several fields, including VLSI design and statistical physics. … Read more

Fractional Packing of T-joins

Given a graph with nonnegative capacities on its edges, it is well known that the weight of a minimum T-cut is equal to the value of a maximum packing of T-joins. Padberg-Rao’s algorithm finds a minimum weight T-cut but it does not produce a T-join packing, we present a polynomial combinatorial algorithm for finding an … Read more

An Improved Semidefinite Programming Relaxation for the Satisfiability Problem

The satisfiability (SAT) problem is a central problem in mathematical logic, computing theory, and artificial intelligence. An instance of SAT is specified by a set of boolean variables and a propositional formula in conjunctive normal form. Given such an instance, the SAT problem asks whether there is a truth assignment to the variables such that … Read more

Near-optimal solutions of large-scale Single Machine Scheduling Problems

We present a lagrangean heuristic based on the time-indexed formulation of the Single Machine Scheduling Problem with Release Dates. We observe that lagrangian relaxation of job constraints leads to a Weighted Stable Set problem on an Interval Graph. The problem is polynomially solvable by a dynamic programming algorithm. Computational experience is reported on instances up … Read more

Clique Family Inequalities for the Stable Set Polytope of Quasi-Line Graphs

In one of fundamental work in combinatorial optimization Edmonds gave a complete linear description of the matching polytope. Matchings in a graph are equivalent to stable sets its line graph. Also the neighborhood of any vertex in a line graph partitions into two cliques: graphs with this latter property are called quasi-line graphs. Quasi-line graphs … Read more