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Quadratic Bottleneck Assignment Problem
In mathematics, the quadratic bottleneck assignment problem (QBAP) is one of fundamental combinatorial optimization problems in the branch of optimization or operations research, from the category of the facilities location problems. It is related to the quadratic assignment problem in the same way as the linear bottleneck assignment problem is related to the linear assignment problem, the "sum" is replaced with "max" in the objective function. The problem models the following real-life problem: :There are a set of ''n'' facilities and a set of ''n'' locations. For each pair of locations, a ''distance'' is specified and for each pair of facilities a ''weight'' or ''flow'' is specified (e.g., the amount of supplies transported between the two facilities). The problem is to assign all facilities to different locations with the goal of minimizing the maximum of the distances multiplied by the corresponding flows. Computational complexity The problem is NP-hard, as it can be used to f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Combinatorial Optimization
Combinatorial optimization is a subfield of mathematical optimization that consists of finding an optimal object from a finite set of objects, where the set of feasible solutions is discrete or can be reduced to a discrete set. Typical combinatorial optimization problems are the travelling salesman problem ("TSP"), the minimum spanning tree problem ("MST"), and the knapsack problem. In many such problems, such as the ones previously mentioned, exhaustive search is not tractable, and so specialized algorithms that quickly rule out large parts of the search space or approximation algorithms must be resorted to instead. Combinatorial optimization is related to operations research, algorithm theory, and computational complexity theory. It has important applications in several fields, including artificial intelligence, machine learning, auction theory, software engineering, VLSI, applied mathematics and theoretical computer science. Some research literature considers discrete o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Optimization (mathematics)
Mathematical optimization (alternatively spelled ''optimisation'') or mathematical programming is the selection of a best element, with regard to some criterion, from some set of available alternatives. It is generally divided into two subfields: discrete optimization and continuous optimization. Optimization problems of sorts arise in all quantitative disciplines from computer science and engineering to operations research and economics, and the development of solution methods has been of interest in mathematics for centuries. In the more general approach, an optimization problem consists of maximizing or minimizing a real function by systematically choosing input values from within an allowed set and computing the value of the function. The generalization of optimization theory and techniques to other formulations constitutes a large area of applied mathematics. More generally, optimization includes finding "best available" values of some objective function given a define ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Operations Research
Operations research ( en-GB, operational research) (U.S. Air Force Specialty Code: Operations Analysis), often shortened to the initialism OR, is a discipline that deals with the development and application of analytical methods to improve decision-making. It is considered to be a subfield of mathematical sciences. The term management science is occasionally used as a synonym. Employing techniques from other mathematical sciences, such as modeling, statistics, and optimization, operations research arrives at optimal or near-optimal solutions to decision-making problems. Because of its emphasis on practical applications, operations research has overlap with many other disciplines, notably industrial engineering. Operations research is often concerned with determining the extreme values of some real-world objective: the maximum (of profit, performance, or yield) or minimum (of loss, risk, or cost). Originating in military efforts before World War II, its techniques have grown to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Facilities Location
The study of facility location problems (FLP), also known as location analysis, is a branch of operations research and computational geometry concerned with the optimal placement of facilities to minimize transportation costs while considering factors like avoiding placing hazardous materials near housing, and competitors' facilities. The techniques also apply to cluster analysis. Minimum facility location A simple facility location problem is the Weber problem, in which a single facility is to be placed, with the only optimization criterion being the minimization of the weighted sum of distances from a given set of point sites. More complex problems considered in this discipline include the placement of multiple facilities, constraints on the locations of facilities, and more complex optimization criteria. In a basic formulation, the facility location problem consists of a set of potential facility sites ''L'' where a facility can be opened, and a set of demand points ''D'' th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rainer Burkard
Rainer Ernst Burkard (born 28 January 1943, Graz, Austria ) is an Austrian mathematician. His research interests include discrete optimization, graph theory, applied discrete mathematics, and applied number theory. He earned his Ph.D. from the in 1967 and received his habilitation from the |
Quadratic Assignment Problem
The quadratic assignment problem (QAP) is one of the fundamental combinatorial optimization problems in the branch of optimization or operations research in mathematics, from the category of the facilities location problems first introduced by Koopmans and Beckmann. The problem models the following real-life problem: :There are a set of ''n'' facilities and a set of ''n'' locations. For each pair of locations, a ''distance'' is specified and for each pair of facilities a ''weight'' or ''flow'' is specified (e.g., the amount of supplies transported between the two facilities). The problem is to assign all facilities to different locations with the goal of minimizing the sum of the distances multiplied by the corresponding flows. Intuitively, the cost function encourages facilities with high flows between each other to be placed close together. The problem statement resembles that of the assignment problem, except that the cost function is expressed in terms of quadratic inequal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Linear Bottleneck Assignment Problem
In combinatorial optimization, a field within mathematics, the linear bottleneck assignment problem (LBAP) is similar to the linear assignment problem. In plain words the problem is stated as follows: :There are a number of ''agents'' and a number of ''tasks''. Any agent can be assigned to perform any task, incurring some ''cost'' that may vary depending on the agent-task assignment. It is required to perform all tasks by assigning exactly one agent to each task in such a way that the ''maximum cost'' among the individual assignments is minimized. The term "bottleneck" is explained by a common type of application of the problem, where the cost is the duration of the task performed by an agent. In this setting the "maximum cost" is "maximum duration", which is the bottleneck for the schedule of the overall job, to be minimized. Formal definition The formal definition of the bottleneck assignment problem is :Given two sets, ''A'' and ''T'', together with a weight function A weigh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Linear Assignment Problem
The assignment problem is a fundamental combinatorial optimization problem. In its most general form, the problem is as follows: :The problem instance has a number of ''agents'' and a number of ''tasks''. Any agent can be assigned to perform any task, incurring some ''cost'' that may vary depending on the agent-task assignment. It is required to perform as many tasks as possible by assigning at most one agent to each task and at most one task to each agent, in such a way that the ''total cost'' of the assignment is minimized. Alternatively, describing the problem using graph theory: :The assignment problem consists of finding, in a weighted bipartite graph, a matching of a given size, in which the sum of weights of the edges is minimum. If the numbers of agents and tasks are equal, then the problem is called ''balanced assignment''. Otherwise, it is called ''unbalanced assignment''. If the total cost of the assignment for all tasks is equal to the sum of the costs for each agent ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Objective Function
In mathematical optimization and decision theory, a loss function or cost function (sometimes also called an error function) is a function that maps an event or values of one or more variables onto a real number intuitively representing some "cost" associated with the event. An optimization problem seeks to minimize a loss function. An objective function is either a loss function or its opposite (in specific domains, variously called a reward function, a profit function, a utility function, a fitness function, etc.), in which case it is to be maximized. The loss function could include terms from several levels of the hierarchy. In statistics, typically a loss function is used for parameter estimation, and the event in question is some function of the difference between estimated and true values for an instance of data. The concept, as old as Laplace, was reintroduced in statistics by Abraham Wald in the middle of the 20th century. In the context of economics, for example, this ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
NP-hard
In computational complexity theory, NP-hardness ( non-deterministic polynomial-time hardness) is the defining property of a class of problems that are informally "at least as hard as the hardest problems in NP". A simple example of an NP-hard problem is the subset sum problem. A more precise specification is: a problem ''H'' is NP-hard when every problem ''L'' in NP can be reduced in polynomial time to ''H''; that is, assuming a solution for ''H'' takes 1 unit time, ''H''s solution can be used to solve ''L'' in polynomial time. As a consequence, finding a polynomial time algorithm to solve any NP-hard problem would give polynomial time algorithms for all the problems in NP. As it is suspected that P≠NP, it is unlikely that such an algorithm exists. It is suspected that there are no polynomial-time algorithms for NP-hard problems, but that has not been proven. Moreover, the class P, in which all problems can be solved in polynomial time, is contained in the NP class. Defi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hamiltonian Cycle
In the mathematical field of graph theory, a Hamiltonian path (or traceable path) is a path in an undirected or directed graph that visits each vertex exactly once. A Hamiltonian cycle (or Hamiltonian circuit) is a cycle that visits each vertex exactly once. A Hamiltonian path that starts and ends at adjacent vertices can be completed by adding one more edge to form a Hamiltonian cycle, and removing any edge from a Hamiltonian cycle produces a Hamiltonian path. Determining whether such paths and cycles exist in graphs (the Hamiltonian path problem and Hamiltonian cycle problem) are NP-complete. Hamiltonian paths and cycles are named after William Rowan Hamilton who invented the icosian game, now also known as ''Hamilton's puzzle'', which involves finding a Hamiltonian cycle in the edge graph of the dodecahedron. Hamilton solved this problem using the icosian calculus, an algebraic structure based on roots of unity with many similarities to the quaternions (also invented by Hami ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bottleneck Traveling Salesman Problem
The Bottleneck traveling salesman problem (bottleneck TSP) is a problem in discrete or combinatorial optimization. The problem is to find the Hamiltonian cycle (visiting each node exactly once) in a weighted graph which minimizes the weight of the highest-weight edge of the cycle.. It was first formulated by with some additional constraints, and in its full generality by . Complexity The problem is known to be NP-hard. The decision problem version of this, "for a given length is there a Hamiltonian cycle in a graph with no edge longer than ?", is NP-complete. NP-completeness follows immediately by a reduction from the problem of finding a Hamiltonian cycle.. Algorithms Another reduction, from the bottleneck TSP to the usual TSP (where the goal is to minimize the sum of edge lengths), allows any algorithm for the usual TSP to also be used to solve the bottleneck TSP. If the edge weights of the bottleneck TSP are replaced by any other numbers that have the same relative order, t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
