Decomposition methods based on projected gradient for network equilibrium problems

In this work we consider the symmetric network equilibrium problem formulated as convex minimization problem whose variables are the path flows. In order to take into account the difficulties related to the large dimension of real network problems we adopt a column generation strategy and we employ a gradient projection method within an inexact decomposition … Read more

Dynamic Graph Generation for Large Scale Operational Train Timetabling

The aim of operational train timetabling is to find a conflict free timetable for a set of passenger and freight trains with predefined stopping time windows along given routes in an infrastructure network so that station capacities and train dependent running and headway times are observed. Typical models for this problem are based on time-discretized … Read more

New developments in the primal-dual column generation technique

The classical column generation is based on optimal solutions of the restricted master problems. This strategy frequently results in an unstable behaviour and may require an unnecessarily large number of iterations. To overcome this weakness, variations of the classical approach use interior points of the dual feasible set, instead of optimal solutions. In this paper, … Read more

Exact Solution of Graph Coloring Problems via Constraint Programming and Column Generation

We consider two approaches for solving the classical minimum vertex coloring problem�that is, the problem of coloring the vertices of a graph so that adjacent vertices have different colors and minimizing the number of used colors, namely, constraint programming and column generation. Constraint programming is able to solve very efficiently many of the benchmarks but … Read more

Exactly solving a Two-level Hierarchical Location Problem with modular node capacities

In many telecommunication networks a given set of client nodes must be served by different sets of facilities, providing different services and having different capabilities, which must be located and dimensioned in the design phase. Network topology must be designed as well, by assigning clients to facilities and facilities to higher level entities, when necessary. … Read more

Modeling and Solving Location Routing and Scheduling Problems

This paper studies location routing and scheduling problems, a class of problems in which the decisions of facility location, vehicle routing, and route assignment are optimized simultaneously. For a version with capacity and time restrictions, two formulations are presented, one graph-based and one set-partitioning-based. For the set-partitioning-based formulation, valid inequalities are identified and their effectiveness … Read more

Algorithms over Arc-time Indexed Formulations for Single and Parallel Machine Scheduling Problems

This paper presents algorithms for single and parallel identical machine scheduling problems. While the overall algorithm can be viewed as a branch-cut-and-price over a very large extended formulation, a number of auxiliary techniques are necessary to make the column generation effective. Those techniques include a powerful fixing by reduced costs and a new proposed dual … Read more

A Branch-and-Price Algorithm for Combined Location and Routing Problems Under Capacity Restrictions

We investigate the problem of simultaneously determining the location of facilities and the design of vehicle routes to serve customer demands under vehicle and facility capacity restrictions. We present a set-partitioning-based formulation of the problem and study the relationship between his formulation and the graph-based formulations that have been used in previous studies of this … Read more

A conjugate-gradient based approach for approximate solutions of quadratic programs

This paper deals with numerical behaviour and convergence properties of a recently presented column generation approach for optimization of so called step-and-shoot radiotherapy treatment plans. The approach and variants of it have been reported to be efficient in practice, finding near-optimal solutions by generating only a low number of columns. The impact of different restrictions … Read more

Adaptive Constraint Reduction for Convex Quadratic Programming

We propose an adaptive, constraint-reduced, primal-dual interior-point algorithm for convex quadratic programming with many more inequality constraints than variables. We reduce the computational e ort by assembling, instead of the exact normal-equation matrix, an approximate matrix from a well chosen index set which includes indices of constraints that seem to be most critical. Starting with a … Read more