Advanced Multilevel Node Separator Algorithms

A node separator of a graph is a subset S of the nodes such that removing S and its incident edges divides the graph into two disconnected components of about equal size. In this work, we introduce novel algorithms to find small node separators in large graphs. With focus on solution quality, we introduce novel flow-based local search algorithms which are integrated in a multilevel framework. In addition, we transfer techniques successfully used in the graph partitioning field. This includes the usage of edge ratings tailored to our problem to guide the graph coarsening algorithm as well as highly localized local search and iterated multilevel cycles to improve solution quality even further. Experiments indicate that flow-based local search algorithms on its own in a multilevel framework are already highly competitive in terms of separator quality. Adding additional local search algorithms further improves solution quality. Our strongest configuration almost always outperforms competing systems while on average computing 10% and 62% smaller separators than Metis and Scotch, respectively

Computational Optimization Techniques for Graph Partitioning

Partitioning graphs into two or more subgraphs is a fundamental operation in computer science, with applications in large-scale graph analytics, distributed and parallel data processing, and fill-reducing orderings in sparse matrix algorithms. Computing balanced and minimally connected subgraphs is a common pre-processing step in these areas, and must therefore be done quickly and efficiently. Since graph partitioning is NP-hard, heuristics must be used. These heuristics must balance the need to produce high quality partitions with that of providing practical performance. Traditional methods of partitioning graphs rely heavily on combinatorics, but recent developments in continuous optimization formulations have led to the development of hybrid methods that combine the best of both approaches. This work describes numerical optimization formulations for two classes of graph partitioning problems, edge cuts and vertex separators. Optimization-based formulations for each of these problems are described, and hybrid algorithms combining these optimization-based approaches with traditional combinatoric methods are presented. Efficient implementations and computational results for these algorithms are presented in a C++ graph partitioning library competitive with the state of the art. Additionally, an optimization-based approach to hypergraph partitioning is proposed

Computational Optimization Techniques for Graph Partitioning

Partitioning graphs into two or more subgraphs is a fundamental operation in computer science, with applications in large-scale graph analytics, distributed and parallel data processing, and fill-reducing orderings in sparse matrix algorithms. Computing balanced and minimally connected subgraphs is a common pre-processing step in these areas, and must therefore be done quickly and efficiently. Since graph partitioning is NP-hard, heuristics must be used. These heuristics must balance the need to produce high quality partitions with that of providing practical performance. Traditional methods of partitioning graphs rely heavily on combinatorics, but recent developments in continuous optimization formulations have led to the development of hybrid methods that combine the best of both approaches. This work describes numerical optimization formulations for two classes of graph partitioning problems, edge cuts and vertex separators. Optimization-based formulations for each of these problems are described, and hybrid algorithms combining these optimization-based approaches with traditional combinatoric methods are presented. Efficient implementations and computational results for these algorithms are presented in a C++ graph partitioning library competitive with the state of the art. Additionally, an optimization-based approach to hypergraph partitioning is proposed

Relaxation-Based Coarsening for Multilevel Hypergraph Partitioning

Multilevel partitioning methods that are inspired by principles of multiscaling are the most powerful practical hypergraph partitioning solvers. Hypergraph partitioning has many applications in disciplines ranging from scientific computing to data science. In this paper we introduce the concept of algebraic distance on hypergraphs and demonstrate its use as an algorithmic component in the coarsening stage of multilevel hypergraph partitioning solvers. The algebraic distance is a vertex distance measure that extends hyperedge weights for capturing the local connectivity of vertices which is critical for hypergraph coarsening schemes. The practical effectiveness of the proposed measure and corresponding coarsening scheme is demonstrated through extensive computational experiments on a diverse set of problems. Finally, we propose a benchmark of hypergraph partitioning problems to compare the quality of other solvers

Recent Advances in Graph Partitioning

We survey recent trends in practical algorithms for balanced graph partitioning together with applications and future research directions

Schnelle Löser für partielle Differentialgleichungen

The workshop Schnelle Löser für partielle Differentialgleichungen, organised by Randolph E. Bank (La Jolla), Wolfgang Hackbusch(Leipzig), Gabriel Wittum (Heidelberg) was held May 22nd - May 28th, 2005. This meeting was well attended by 47 participants with broad geographic representation from 9 countries and 3 continents. This workshop was a nice blend of researchers with various backgrounds

Multilevel Combinatorial Optimization Across Quantum Architectures

Emerging quantum processors provide an opportunity to explore new approaches for solving traditional problems in the Post Moore\u27s law supercomputing era. However, the limited number of qubits makes it infeasible to tackle massive real-world datasets directly in the near future, leading to new challenges in utilizing these quantum processors for practical purposes. Hybrid quantum-classical algorithms that leverage both quantum and classical types of devices are considered as one of the main strategies to apply quantum computing to large-scale problems. In this paper, we advocate the use of multilevel frameworks for combinatorial optimization as a promising general paradigm for designing hybrid quantum-classical algorithms. In order to demonstrate this approach, we apply this method to two well-known combinatorial optimization problems, namely, the Graph Partitioning Problem, and the Community Detection Problem. We develop hybrid multilevel solvers with quantum local search on D-Wave\u27s quantum annealer and IBM\u27s gate-model based quantum processor. We carry out experiments on graphs that are orders of magnitudes larger than the current quantum hardware size and observe results comparable to state-of-the-art solvers

Multilevel Combinatorial Optimization Across Quantum Architectures

Emerging quantum processors provide an opportunity to explore new approaches for solving traditional problems in the post Moore's law supercomputing era. However, the limited number of qubits makes it infeasible to tackle massive real-world datasets directly in the near future, leading to new challenges in utilizing these quantum processors for practical purposes. Hybrid quantum-classical algorithms that leverage both quantum and classical types of devices are considered as one of the main strategies to apply quantum computing to large-scale problems. In this paper, we advocate the use of multilevel frameworks for combinatorial optimization as a promising general paradigm for designing hybrid quantum-classical algorithms. In order to demonstrate this approach, we apply this method to two well-known combinatorial optimization problems, namely, the Graph Partitioning Problem, and the Community Detection Problem. We develop hybrid multilevel solvers with quantum local search on D-Wave's quantum annealer and IBM's gate-model based quantum processor. We carry out experiments on graphs that are orders of magnitudes larger than the current quantum hardware size, and we observe results comparable to state-of-the-art solvers in terms of quality of the solution