22,182 research outputs found
Monte Carlo algorithms are very effective in finding the largest independent set in sparse random graphs
The effectiveness of stochastic algorithms based on Monte Carlo dynamics in
solving hard optimization problems is mostly unknown. Beyond the basic
statement that at a dynamical phase transition the ergodicity breaks and a
Monte Carlo dynamics cannot sample correctly the probability distribution in
times linear in the system size, there are almost no predictions nor intuitions
on the behavior of this class of stochastic dynamics. The situation is
particularly intricate because, when using a Monte Carlo based algorithm as an
optimization algorithm, one is usually interested in the out of equilibrium
behavior which is very hard to analyse. Here we focus on the use of Parallel
Tempering in the search for the largest independent set in a sparse random
graph, showing that it can find solutions well beyond the dynamical threshold.
Comparison with state-of-the-art message passing algorithms reveals that
parallel tempering is definitely the algorithm performing best, although a
theory explaining its behavior is still lacking.Comment: 14 pages, 12 figure
Models and Strategies for Variants of the Job Shop Scheduling Problem
Recently, a variety of constraint programming and Boolean satisfiability
approaches to scheduling problems have been introduced. They have in common the
use of relatively simple propagation mechanisms and an adaptive way to focus on
the most constrained part of the problem. In some cases, these methods compare
favorably to more classical constraint programming methods relying on
propagation algorithms for global unary or cumulative resource constraints and
dedicated search heuristics. In particular, we described an approach that
combines restarting, with a generic adaptive heuristic and solution guided
branching on a simple model based on a decomposition of disjunctive
constraints. In this paper, we introduce an adaptation of this technique for an
important subclass of job shop scheduling problems (JSPs), where the objective
function involves minimization of earliness/tardiness costs. We further show
that our technique can be improved by adding domain specific information for
one variant of the JSP (involving time lag constraints). In particular we
introduce a dedicated greedy heuristic, and an improved model for the case
where the maximal time lag is 0 (also referred to as no-wait JSPs).Comment: Principles and Practice of Constraint Programming - CP 2011, Perugia
: Italy (2011
A reusable iterative optimization software library to solve combinatorial problems with approximate reasoning
Real world combinatorial optimization problems such as scheduling are
typically too complex to solve with exact methods. Additionally, the problems
often have to observe vaguely specified constraints of different importance,
the available data may be uncertain, and compromises between antagonistic
criteria may be necessary. We present a combination of approximate reasoning
based constraints and iterative optimization based heuristics that help to
model and solve such problems in a framework of C++ software libraries called
StarFLIP++. While initially developed to schedule continuous caster units in
steel plants, we present in this paper results from reusing the library
components in a shift scheduling system for the workforce of an industrial
production plant.Comment: 33 pages, 9 figures; for a project overview see
http://www.dbai.tuwien.ac.at/proj/StarFLIP
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