Fixed-parameter single objective search heuristics for minimum vertex cover

We consider how well-known branching approaches for the classical minimum vertex cover problem can be turned into randomized initialization strategies with provable performance guarantees and investigate them by experimental investigations. Furthermore, we show how these techniques can be built into local search components and analyze a basic local search variant that is similar to a state-of-the-art approach called NuMVC. Our experimental results for the two local search approaches show that making use of more complex branching strategies in the local search component can lead to better results on various benchmark graphs.Wanru Gao, Tobias Friedrich, and Frank Neuman

Finding Near-Optimal Independent Sets at Scale

The independent set problem is NP-hard and particularly difficult to solve in large sparse graphs. In this work, we develop an advanced evolutionary algorithm, which incorporates kernelization techniques to compute large independent sets in huge sparse networks. A recent exact algorithm has shown that large networks can be solved exactly by employing a branch-and-reduce technique that recursively kernelizes the graph and performs branching. However, one major drawback of their algorithm is that, for huge graphs, branching still can take exponential time. To avoid this problem, we recursively choose vertices that are likely to be in a large independent set (using an evolutionary approach), then further kernelize the graph. We show that identifying and removing vertices likely to be in large independent sets opens up the reduction space---which not only speeds up the computation of large independent sets drastically, but also enables us to compute high-quality independent sets on much larger instances than previously reported in the literature.Comment: 17 pages, 1 figure, 8 tables. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1502.0168

From the Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm to a Quantum Alternating Operator Ansatz

The next few years will be exciting as prototype universal quantum processors emerge, enabling implementation of a wider variety of algorithms. Of particular interest are quantum heuristics, which require experimentation on quantum hardware for their evaluation, and which have the potential to significantly expand the breadth of quantum computing applications. A leading candidate is Farhi et al.'s Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm, which alternates between applying a cost-function-based Hamiltonian and a mixing Hamiltonian. Here, we extend this framework to allow alternation between more general families of operators. The essence of this extension, the Quantum Alternating Operator Ansatz, is the consideration of general parametrized families of unitaries rather than only those corresponding to the time-evolution under a fixed local Hamiltonian for a time specified by the parameter. This ansatz supports the representation of a larger, and potentially more useful, set of states than the original formulation, with potential long-term impact on a broad array of application areas. For cases that call for mixing only within a desired subspace, refocusing on unitaries rather than Hamiltonians enables more efficiently implementable mixers than was possible in the original framework. Such mixers are particularly useful for optimization problems with hard constraints that must always be satisfied, defining a feasible subspace, and soft constraints whose violation we wish to minimize. More efficient implementation enables earlier experimental exploration of an alternating operator approach to a wide variety of approximate optimization, exact optimization, and sampling problems. Here, we introduce the Quantum Alternating Operator Ansatz, lay out design criteria for mixing operators, detail mappings for eight problems, and provide brief descriptions of mappings for diverse problems.Comment: 51 pages, 2 figures. Revised to match journal pape

Minimum Makespan Multi-vehicle Dial-a-Ride

Dial a ride problems consist of a metric space (denoting travel time between vertices) and a set of m objects represented as source-destination pairs, where each object requires to be moved from its source to destination vertex. We consider the multi-vehicle Dial a ride problem, with each vehicle having capacity k and its own depot-vertex, where the objective is to minimize the maximum completion time (makespan) of the vehicles. We study the "preemptive" version of the problem, where an object may be left at intermediate vertices and transported by more than one vehicle, while being moved from source to destination. Our main results are an O(log^3 n)-approximation algorithm for preemptive multi-vehicle Dial a ride, and an improved O(log t)-approximation for its special case when there is no capacity constraint. We also show that the approximation ratios improve by a log-factor when the underlying metric is induced by a fixed-minor-free graph.Comment: 22 pages, 1 figure. Preliminary version appeared in ESA 200

Parameterized Complexity Analysis of Randomized Search Heuristics

This chapter compiles a number of results that apply the theory of parameterized algorithmics to the running-time analysis of randomized search heuristics such as evolutionary algorithms. The parameterized approach articulates the running time of algorithms solving combinatorial problems in finer detail than traditional approaches from classical complexity theory. We outline the main results and proof techniques for a collection of randomized search heuristics tasked to solve NP-hard combinatorial optimization problems such as finding a minimum vertex cover in a graph, finding a maximum leaf spanning tree in a graph, and the traveling salesperson problem.Comment: This is a preliminary version of a chapter in the book "Theory of Evolutionary Computation: Recent Developments in Discrete Optimization", edited by Benjamin Doerr and Frank Neumann, published by Springe