2,833 research outputs found
Combinatorial Continuous Maximal Flows
Maximum flow (and minimum cut) algorithms have had a strong impact on
computer vision. In particular, graph cuts algorithms provide a mechanism for
the discrete optimization of an energy functional which has been used in a
variety of applications such as image segmentation, stereo, image stitching and
texture synthesis. Algorithms based on the classical formulation of max-flow
defined on a graph are known to exhibit metrication artefacts in the solution.
Therefore, a recent trend has been to instead employ a spatially continuous
maximum flow (or the dual min-cut problem) in these same applications to
produce solutions with no metrication errors. However, known fast continuous
max-flow algorithms have no stopping criteria or have not been proved to
converge. In this work, we revisit the continuous max-flow problem and show
that the analogous discrete formulation is different from the classical
max-flow problem. We then apply an appropriate combinatorial optimization
technique to this combinatorial continuous max-flow CCMF problem to find a
null-divergence solution that exhibits no metrication artefacts and may be
solved exactly by a fast, efficient algorithm with provable convergence.
Finally, by exhibiting the dual problem of our CCMF formulation, we clarify the
fact, already proved by Nozawa in the continuous setting, that the max-flow and
the total variation problems are not always equivalent.Comment: 26 page
A note on hierarchical hubbing for a generalization of the VPN problem
Robust network design refers to a class of optimization problems that occur
when designing networks to efficiently handle variable demands. The notion of
"hierarchical hubbing" was introduced (in the narrow context of a specific
robust network design question), by Olver and Shepherd [2010]. Hierarchical
hubbing allows for routings with a multiplicity of "hubs" which are connected
to the terminals and to each other in a treelike fashion. Recently, Fr\'echette
et al. [2013] explored this notion much more generally, focusing on its
applicability to an extension of the well-studied hose model that allows for
upper bounds on individual point-to-point demands. In this paper, we consider
hierarchical hubbing in the context of a previously studied (and extremely
natural) generalization of the hose model, and prove that the optimal
hierarchical hubbing solution can be found efficiently. This result is relevant
to a recently proposed generalization of the "VPN Conjecture".Comment: 14 pages, 1 figur
Robust distributed linear programming
This paper presents a robust, distributed algorithm to solve general linear
programs. The algorithm design builds on the characterization of the solutions
of the linear program as saddle points of a modified Lagrangian function. We
show that the resulting continuous-time saddle-point algorithm is provably
correct but, in general, not distributed because of a global parameter
associated with the nonsmooth exact penalty function employed to encode the
inequality constraints of the linear program. This motivates the design of a
discontinuous saddle-point dynamics that, while enjoying the same convergence
guarantees, is fully distributed and scalable with the dimension of the
solution vector. We also characterize the robustness against disturbances and
link failures of the proposed dynamics. Specifically, we show that it is
integral-input-to-state stable but not input-to-state stable. The latter fact
is a consequence of a more general result, that we also establish, which states
that no algorithmic solution for linear programming is input-to-state stable
when uncertainty in the problem data affects the dynamics as a disturbance. Our
results allow us to establish the resilience of the proposed distributed
dynamics to disturbances of finite variation and recurrently disconnected
communication among the agents. Simulations in an optimal control application
illustrate the results
Convex Relaxation of Optimal Power Flow, Part I: Formulations and Equivalence
This tutorial summarizes recent advances in the convex relaxation of the
optimal power flow (OPF) problem, focusing on structural properties rather than
algorithms. Part I presents two power flow models, formulates OPF and their
relaxations in each model, and proves equivalence relations among them. Part II
presents sufficient conditions under which the convex relaxations are exact.Comment: Citation: IEEE Transactions on Control of Network Systems,
15(1):15-27, March 2014. This is an extended version with Appendices VIII and
IX that provide some mathematical preliminaries and proofs of the main
result
Euclidean distance geometry and applications
Euclidean distance geometry is the study of Euclidean geometry based on the
concept of distance. This is useful in several applications where the input
data consists of an incomplete set of distances, and the output is a set of
points in Euclidean space that realizes the given distances. We survey some of
the theory of Euclidean distance geometry and some of the most important
applications: molecular conformation, localization of sensor networks and
statics.Comment: 64 pages, 21 figure
Linear convergence of accelerated conditional gradient algorithms in spaces of measures
A class of generalized conditional gradient algorithms for the solution of
optimization problem in spaces of Radon measures is presented. The method
iteratively inserts additional Dirac-delta functions and optimizes the
corresponding coefficients. Under general assumptions, a sub-linear
rate in the objective functional is obtained, which is sharp
in most cases. To improve efficiency, one can fully resolve the
finite-dimensional subproblems occurring in each iteration of the method. We
provide an analysis for the resulting procedure: under a structural assumption
on the optimal solution, a linear convergence rate is
obtained locally.Comment: 30 pages, 7 figure
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