Stochastic optimization has established itself as a major method to handle uncertainty in various optimization problems by modeling the uncertainty by a probability distribution over possible realizations.Traditional...Stochastic optimization has established itself as a major method to handle uncertainty in various optimization problems by modeling the uncertainty by a probability distribution over possible realizations.Traditionally,the main focus in stochastic optimization has been various stochastic mathematical programming(such as linear programming,convex programming).In recent years,there has been a surge of interest in stochastic combinatorial optimization problems from the theoretical computer science community.In this article,we survey some of the recent results on various stochastic versions of classical combinatorial optimization problems.Since most problems in this domain are NP-hard(or#P-hard,or even PSPACE-hard),we focus on the results which provide polynomial time approximation algorithms with provable approximation guarantees.Our discussions are centered around a few representative problems,such as stochastic knapsack,stochastic matching,multi-armed bandit etc.We use these examples to introduce several popular stochastic models,such as the fixed-set model,2-stage stochastic optimization model,stochastic adaptive probing model etc,as well as some useful techniques for designing approximation algorithms for stochastic combinatorial optimization problems,including the linear programming relaxation approach,boosted sampling,content resolution schemes,Poisson approximation etc.We also provide some open research questions along the way.Our purpose is to provide readers a quick glimpse to the models,problems,and techniques in this area,and hopefully inspire new contributions.展开更多
The minimum vertex cover problem(MVCP)is a well-known combinatorial optimization problem of graph theory.The MVCP is an NP(nondeterministic polynomial)complete problem and it has an exponential growing complexity with...The minimum vertex cover problem(MVCP)is a well-known combinatorial optimization problem of graph theory.The MVCP is an NP(nondeterministic polynomial)complete problem and it has an exponential growing complexity with respect to the size of a graph.No algorithm exits till date that can exactly solve the problem in a deterministic polynomial time scale.However,several algorithms are proposed that solve the problem approximately in a short polynomial time scale.Such algorithms are useful for large size graphs,for which exact solution of MVCP is impossible with current computational resources.The MVCP has a wide range of applications in the fields like bioinformatics,biochemistry,circuit design,electrical engineering,data aggregation,networking,internet traffic monitoring,pattern recognition,marketing and franchising etc.This work aims to solve the MVCP approximately by a novel graph decomposition approach.The decomposition of the graph yields a subgraph that contains edges shared by triangular edge structures.A subgraph is covered to yield a subgraph that forms one or more Hamiltonian cycles or paths.In order to reduce complexity of the algorithm a new strategy is also proposed.The reduction strategy can be used for any algorithm solving MVCP.Based on the graph decomposition and the reduction strategy,two algorithms are formulated to approximately solve the MVCP.These algorithms are tested using well known standard benchmark graphs.The key feature of the results is a good approximate error ratio and improvement in optimum vertex cover values for few graphs.展开更多
This paper describes an extremely fast polynomial time algorithm, the NOVCA (Near Optimal Vertex Cover Algorithm) that produces an optimal or near optimal vertex cover for any known undirected graph G (V, E). NOVC...This paper describes an extremely fast polynomial time algorithm, the NOVCA (Near Optimal Vertex Cover Algorithm) that produces an optimal or near optimal vertex cover for any known undirected graph G (V, E). NOVCA is based on the idea of(l) including the vertex having maximum degree in the vertex cover and (2) rendering the degree of a vertex to zero by including all its adjacent vertices. The three versions of algorithm, NOVCA-I, NOVCA-II, and NOVCA-random, have been developed. The results identifying bounds on the size of the minimum vertex cover as well as polynomial complexity of algorithm are given with experimental verification. Future research efforts will be directed at tuning the algorithm and providing proof for better approximation ratio with NOVCA compared to any available vertex cover algorithms.展开更多
提出了一种带有启动空间的约束装箱问题(start-up bin packing problem,简称SBPP),即不同类型的物品放入同一箱子中需要一个启动空间.该问题在工作分配、任务调度和日常生活中的包装等问题中有着广泛的应用背景.给出了一个求解SBPP的线...提出了一种带有启动空间的约束装箱问题(start-up bin packing problem,简称SBPP),即不同类型的物品放入同一箱子中需要一个启动空间.该问题在工作分配、任务调度和日常生活中的包装等问题中有着广泛的应用背景.给出了一个求解SBPP的线性脱线算法C-NF,其最坏情况渐近性能比为2,与启动空间的大小无关.对该算法的平均性能进行了实验分析.另外,还分析了SBPP的在线特性,指出大量的经典在线装箱算法应用于SBPP都不存在确定的最坏情况渐近性能比,也给出了一种具有确定的最坏情况渐近性能比的在线算法.展开更多
基金the National Basic Research Program of China(Nos.2015CB358700,2011CBA00300 and 2011CBA00301)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.61202009,61033001 and 61361136003).
文摘Stochastic optimization has established itself as a major method to handle uncertainty in various optimization problems by modeling the uncertainty by a probability distribution over possible realizations.Traditionally,the main focus in stochastic optimization has been various stochastic mathematical programming(such as linear programming,convex programming).In recent years,there has been a surge of interest in stochastic combinatorial optimization problems from the theoretical computer science community.In this article,we survey some of the recent results on various stochastic versions of classical combinatorial optimization problems.Since most problems in this domain are NP-hard(or#P-hard,or even PSPACE-hard),we focus on the results which provide polynomial time approximation algorithms with provable approximation guarantees.Our discussions are centered around a few representative problems,such as stochastic knapsack,stochastic matching,multi-armed bandit etc.We use these examples to introduce several popular stochastic models,such as the fixed-set model,2-stage stochastic optimization model,stochastic adaptive probing model etc,as well as some useful techniques for designing approximation algorithms for stochastic combinatorial optimization problems,including the linear programming relaxation approach,boosted sampling,content resolution schemes,Poisson approximation etc.We also provide some open research questions along the way.Our purpose is to provide readers a quick glimpse to the models,problems,and techniques in this area,and hopefully inspire new contributions.
文摘The minimum vertex cover problem(MVCP)is a well-known combinatorial optimization problem of graph theory.The MVCP is an NP(nondeterministic polynomial)complete problem and it has an exponential growing complexity with respect to the size of a graph.No algorithm exits till date that can exactly solve the problem in a deterministic polynomial time scale.However,several algorithms are proposed that solve the problem approximately in a short polynomial time scale.Such algorithms are useful for large size graphs,for which exact solution of MVCP is impossible with current computational resources.The MVCP has a wide range of applications in the fields like bioinformatics,biochemistry,circuit design,electrical engineering,data aggregation,networking,internet traffic monitoring,pattern recognition,marketing and franchising etc.This work aims to solve the MVCP approximately by a novel graph decomposition approach.The decomposition of the graph yields a subgraph that contains edges shared by triangular edge structures.A subgraph is covered to yield a subgraph that forms one or more Hamiltonian cycles or paths.In order to reduce complexity of the algorithm a new strategy is also proposed.The reduction strategy can be used for any algorithm solving MVCP.Based on the graph decomposition and the reduction strategy,two algorithms are formulated to approximately solve the MVCP.These algorithms are tested using well known standard benchmark graphs.The key feature of the results is a good approximate error ratio and improvement in optimum vertex cover values for few graphs.
文摘This paper describes an extremely fast polynomial time algorithm, the NOVCA (Near Optimal Vertex Cover Algorithm) that produces an optimal or near optimal vertex cover for any known undirected graph G (V, E). NOVCA is based on the idea of(l) including the vertex having maximum degree in the vertex cover and (2) rendering the degree of a vertex to zero by including all its adjacent vertices. The three versions of algorithm, NOVCA-I, NOVCA-II, and NOVCA-random, have been developed. The results identifying bounds on the size of the minimum vertex cover as well as polynomial complexity of algorithm are given with experimental verification. Future research efforts will be directed at tuning the algorithm and providing proof for better approximation ratio with NOVCA compared to any available vertex cover algorithms.
文摘提出了一种带有启动空间的约束装箱问题(start-up bin packing problem,简称SBPP),即不同类型的物品放入同一箱子中需要一个启动空间.该问题在工作分配、任务调度和日常生活中的包装等问题中有着广泛的应用背景.给出了一个求解SBPP的线性脱线算法C-NF,其最坏情况渐近性能比为2,与启动空间的大小无关.对该算法的平均性能进行了实验分析.另外,还分析了SBPP的在线特性,指出大量的经典在线装箱算法应用于SBPP都不存在确定的最坏情况渐近性能比,也给出了一种具有确定的最坏情况渐近性能比的在线算法.