Greedy Randomized Adaptive Search Procedure for the Maximum Co-k-plex Problem

The focus of this thesis is a degree based relaxation of independent sets in graphs called co-k-plexes and the related combinatorial optimization problem of finding a maximum cardinality co-k-plex in G. This thesis develops a metaheuristic approach for solving the maximum co-k-plex problem which is known to be NP-hard. The approach is further extended for finding a maximum weighted co-k-plex in G where vertices of G are associated with specific weights. As the maximum co-k-plex problem in G is equivalent to the maximum k-plex problem in complement graph of G, many applications of this problem can be found in clustering and data mining social networks, biological networks, internet graphs and stock market graphs among others. In this thesis, a Greedy Randomized Adaptive Search Procedure (GRASP) is developed to solve the maximum co-k-plex and maximum weighted co-k-plex problems. Computational experiments are performed to study the effectiveness of the proposed metaheuristic on benchmark instances. Finally, the performance of the developed GRASP algorithms for both versions was confirmed by comparing the running time and solution quality with results obtained by an exact algorithm.Industrial Engineering & Managemen

Clique Generalizations and Related Problems

A large number of real-world problems can be model as optimization problems in graphs. The clique model was introduced to aid the study of network structure for social interaction. Each vertex represented an actor and the edges represented the relations between them. Nevertheless, the model has been shown to be restrictive for modeling real-world problems, since it leaves out subgraphs that do not have all pos- sible edges. As a consequence, clique generalizations were introduced to overcome the disadvantages of the clique model. In this thesis, I present three computationally dif- ficult combinatorial optimization problems related to clique generalization problems: co-2-plexes and k-cores. A k-core is a subgraph with minimum degree greater than or equal to k. In this work, I discuss the minimal k-core problem and the minimum k-core problem. I present a backtracking algorithm to find all minimal k-cores of a given undirected graph and its applications to the study of associative memory. The proposed method is a modification of the Bron and Kerbosch algorithm for finding all cliques of an undirected graph. In addition, I study the polyhedral structure of the k-core polytope. The minimum k-core problem is modeled as a binary integer program and relaxed as a linear program. Since the relaxation yields to a non-integral solution, cuts must be added in order to improve the solution. I show that edge and cycle transversals of the graph give valid inequalities for the convex hull of k-cores. A set of pairwise non-adjacent vertices defines a stable set. A stable set is the complement of a clique. A co-2-plex is a subgraph with degree less than or equal to one, and it is a stable set relaxation. I introduce a study of the maximum weighted co-2-plex (MWC2P) problem for {claw, bull}-free graphs and present two polynomial time algorithms to solve it. One of the algorithms transforms the original graph to solve an instance of the maximum weighted stable set problem utilizing Minty’s algorithm. The second algorithm is an extension of Minty’s algorithm and solves the problem in the original graph. All the algorithms discussed in this thesis were implemented and tested. Numerical results are provided for each one of them

A controlled migration genetic algorithm operator for hardware-in-the-loop experimentation

In this paper, we describe the development of an extended migration operator, which combats the negative effects of noise on the effective search capabilities of genetic algorithms. The research is motivated by the need to minimize the num- ber of evaluations during hardware-in-the-loop experimentation, which can carry a significant cost penalty in terms of time or financial expense. The authors build on previous research, where convergence for search methods such as Simulated Annealing and Variable Neighbourhood search was accelerated by the implementation of an adaptive decision support operator. This methodology was found to be effective in searching noisy data surfaces. Providing that noise is not too significant, Genetic Al- gorithms can prove even more effective guiding experimentation. It will be shown that with the introduction of a Controlled Migration operator into the GA heuristic, data, which repre- sents a significant signal-to-noise ratio, can be searched with significant beneficial effects on the efficiency of hardware-in-the- loop experimentation, without a priori parameter tuning. The method is tested on an engine-in-the-loop experimental example, and shown to bring significant performance benefits

GraphCombEx: A Software Tool for Exploration of Combinatorial Optimisation Properties of Large Graphs

We present a prototype of a software tool for exploration of multiple combinatorial optimisation problems in large real-world and synthetic complex networks. Our tool, called GraphCombEx (an acronym of Graph Combinatorial Explorer), provides a unified framework for scalable computation and presentation of high-quality suboptimal solutions and bounds for a number of widely studied combinatorial optimisation problems. Efficient representation and applicability to large-scale graphs and complex networks are particularly considered in its design. The problems currently supported include maximum clique, graph colouring, maximum independent set, minimum vertex clique covering, minimum dominating set, as well as the longest simple cycle problem. Suboptimal solutions and intervals for optimal objective values are estimated using scalable heuristics. The tool is designed with extensibility in mind, with the view of further problems and both new fast and high-performance heuristics to be added in the future. GraphCombEx has already been successfully used as a support tool in a number of recent research studies using combinatorial optimisation to analyse complex networks, indicating its promise as a research software tool