10 research outputs found
Minimum d-dimensional arrangement with fixed points
In the Minimum -Dimensional Arrangement Problem (d-dimAP) we are given a
graph with edge weights, and the goal is to find a 1-1 map of the vertices into
(for some fixed dimension ) minimizing the total
weighted stretch of the edges. This problem arises in VLSI placement and chip
design.
Motivated by these applications, we consider a generalization of d-dimAP,
where the positions of some of the vertices (pins) is fixed and specified as
part of the input. We are asked to extend this partial map to a map of all the
vertices, again minimizing the weighted stretch of edges. This generalization,
which we refer to as d-dimAP+, arises naturally in these application domains
(since it can capture blocked-off parts of the board, or the requirement of
power-carrying pins to be in certain locations, etc.). Perhaps surprisingly,
very little is known about this problem from an approximation viewpoint.
For dimension , we obtain an -approximation
algorithm, based on a strengthening of the spreading-metric LP for 2-dimAP. The
integrality gap for this LP is shown to be . We also show that
it is NP-hard to approximate 2-dimAP+ within a factor better than
\Omega(k^{1/4-\eps}). We also consider a (conceptually harder, but
practically even more interesting) variant of 2-dimAP+, where the target space
is the grid , instead of
the entire integer lattice . For this problem, we obtain a -approximation using the same LP relaxation. We complement
this upper bound by showing an integrality gap of , and an
\Omega(k^{1/2-\eps})-inapproximability result.
Our results naturally extend to the case of arbitrary fixed target dimension
Convex Relaxations for Permutation Problems
Seriation seeks to reconstruct a linear order between variables using
unsorted, pairwise similarity information. It has direct applications in
archeology and shotgun gene sequencing for example. We write seriation as an
optimization problem by proving the equivalence between the seriation and
combinatorial 2-SUM problems on similarity matrices (2-SUM is a quadratic
minimization problem over permutations). The seriation problem can be solved
exactly by a spectral algorithm in the noiseless case and we derive several
convex relaxations for 2-SUM to improve the robustness of seriation solutions
in noisy settings. These convex relaxations also allow us to impose structural
constraints on the solution, hence solve semi-supervised seriation problems. We
derive new approximation bounds for some of these relaxations and present
numerical experiments on archeological data, Markov chains and DNA assembly
from shotgun gene sequencing data.Comment: Final journal version, a few typos and references fixe
Ordering a sparse graph to minimize the sum of right ends of edges
Motivated by a warehouse logistics problem we study mappings of the vertices of a graph onto prescribed points on the real line that minimize the sum (or equivalently, the average) of the coordinates of the right ends of all edges. We focus on graphs whose edge numbers do not exceed the vertex numbers too much, that is, graphs with few cycles. Intuitively, dense subgraphs should be placed early in the ordering, in order to finish many edges soon. However, our main âcalculation trickâ is to compare the objective function with the case when (almost) every vertex is the right end of exactly one edge. The deviations from this case are described by âchargesâ that can form âdipolesâ. This reformulation enables us to derive polynomial algorithms and NP-completeness results for relevant special cases, and FPT results
Of keyboards and beyond - optimization in human-computer interaction
In this thesis, we present optimization frameworks in the area of Human-Computer Interaction. At first, we discuss keyboard layout problems with a special focus on a project we participated in, which aimed at designing the new French keyboard standard. The special nature of this national-scale project and its optimization ingredients are discussed in detail; we specifically highlight our algorithmic contribution to this project. Exploiting the special structure of this design problem, we propose an optimization framework that was efficiently computes keyboard layouts and provides very good optimality guarantees in form of tight lower bounds. The optimized layout that we showed to be nearly optimal was the basis of the new French keyboard standard recently published in the National Assembly in Paris. Moreover, we propose a relaxation for the quadratic assignment problem (a generalization of keyboard layouts) that is based on semidefinite programming. In a branch-and-bound framework, this relaxation achieves competitive results compared to commonly used linear programming relaxations for this problem. Finally, we introduce a modeling language for mixed integer programs that especially focuses on the challenges and features that appear in participatory optimization problems similar to the French keyboard design process.Diese Arbeit behandelt AnsĂ€tze zu Optimierungsproblemen im Bereich Human-Computer Interaction. Zuerst diskutieren wir Tastaturbelegungsprobleme mit einem besonderen Fokus auf einem Projekt, an dem wir teilgenommen haben: die Erstellung eines neuen Standards fĂŒr die französische Tastatur. Wir gehen auf die besondere Struktur dieses Problems und unseren algorithmischen Beitrag ein: ein Algorithmus, der mit Optimierungsmethoden die Struktur dieses speziellen Problems ausnutzt. Mithilfe dieses Algorithmus konnten wir effizient Tastaturbelegungen berechnen und die QualitĂ€t dieser Belegungen effektiv (in Form von unteren Schranken) nachweisen. Das finale optimierte Layout, welches mit unserer Methode bewiesenermaĂen nahezu optimal ist, diente als Grundlage fĂŒr den kĂŒrzlich in der französischen Nationalversammlung veröffentlichten neuen französischen Tastaturstandard. DarĂŒberhinaus beschreiben wir eine Relaxierung fĂŒr das quadratische Zuweisungsproblem (eine Verallgemeinerung des Tastaturbelegungsproblems), die auf semidefinieter Programmierung basiert. Wir zeigen, dass unser Algorithmus im Vergleich zu ĂŒblich genutzten linearen Relaxierung gut abschneidet. AbschlieĂend definieren und diskutieren wir eine Modellierungssprache fĂŒr gemischt integrale Programme. Diese Sprache ist speziell auf die besonderen Herausforderungen abgestimmt, die bei interaktiven Optimierungsproblemen auftreten, welche einen Ă€hnlichen Charakter haben wie der Prozess des Designs der französischen Tastatur