Heuristics based on greedy randomized adaptive search and variable neighbourhood search for the minimum labelling spanning tree problem

This paper studies heuristics for the minimum labelling spanning tree (MLST) problem. The purpose is to find a spanning tree using edges that are as similar as possible. Given an undirected labelled connected graph, the minimum labelling spanning tree problem seeks a spanning tree whose edges have the smallest number of distinct labels. This problem has been shown to be NP-complete. A Greedy Randomized Adaptive Search Procedure (GRASP) and different versions of Variable Neighbourhood Search (VNS) are proposed. They are compared with other algorithms recommended in the literature: the Modified Genetic Algorithm and the Pilot Method. Nonparametric statistical tests show that the heuristics based on GRASP and VNS outperform the other algorithms tested. Furthermore, a comparison with the results provided by an exact approach shows that we may quickly obtain optimal or near-optimal solutions with the proposed heuristics

Greedy Randomized Adaptive Search and Variable Neighbourhood Search for the minimum labelling spanning tree problem

This paper studies heuristics for the minimum labelling spanning tree (MLST) problem. The purpose is to find a spanning tree using edges that are as similar as possible. Given an undirected labelled connected graph, the minimum labelling spanning tree problem seeks a spanning tree whose edges have the smallest number of distinct labels. This problem has been shown to be NP-hard. A Greedy Randomized Adaptive Search Procedure (GRASP) and a Variable Neighbourhood Search (VNS) are proposed in this paper. They are compared with other algorithms recommended in the literature: the Modified Genetic Algorithm and the Pilot Method. Nonparametric statistical tests show that the heuristics based on GRASP and VNS outperform the other algorithms tested. Furthermore, a comparison with the results provided by an exact approach shows that we may quickly obtain optimal or near-optimal solutions with the proposed heuristics

Variable neighbourhood search for the minimum labelling Steiner tree problem

We present a study on heuristic solution approaches to the minimum labelling Steiner tree problem, an NP-hard graph problem related to the minimum labelling spanning tree problem. Given an undirected labelled connected graph, the aim is to find a spanning tree covering a given subset of nodes of the graph, whose edges have the smallest number of distinct labels. Such a model may be used to represent many real world problems in telecommunications and multimodal transportation networks. Several metaheuristics are proposed and evaluated. The approaches are compared to the widely adopted Pilot Method and it is shown that the Variable Neighbourhood Search that we propose is the most effective metaheuristic for the problem, obtaining high quality solutions in short computational running time

Variable neighbourhood search for the minimum labelling Steiner tree problem

We present a study on heuristic solution approaches to the minimum labelling Steiner tree problem, an NP-hard graph problem related to the minimum labelling spanning tree problem. Given an undirected labelled connected graph, the aim is to find a spanning tree covering a given subset of nodes of the graph, whose edges have the smallest number of distinct labels. Such a model may be used to represent many real world problems in telecommunications and multimodal transportation networks. Several metaheuristics are proposed and evaluated. The approaches are compared to the widely adopted Pilot Method and it is shown that the Variable Neighbourhood Search metaheuristic is the most effective approach to the problem, obtaining high quality solutions in short computational running times

The development and application of metaheuristics for problems in graph theory: A computational study

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.It is known that graph theoretic models have extensive application to real-life discrete optimization problems. Many of these models are NP-hard and, as a result, exact methods may be impractical for large scale problem instances. Consequently, there is a great interest in developing e±cient approximate methods that yield near-optimal solutions in acceptable computational times. A class of such methods, known as metaheuristics, have been proposed with success. This thesis considers some recently proposed NP-hard combinatorial optimization problems formulated on graphs. In particular, the min- imum labelling spanning tree problem, the minimum labelling Steiner tree problem, and the minimum quartet tree cost problem, are inves- tigated. Several metaheuristics are proposed for each problem, from classical approximation algorithms to novel approaches. A compre- hensive computational investigation in which the proposed methods are compared with other algorithms recommended in the literature is reported. The results show that the proposed metaheuristics outper- form the algorithms recommended in the literature, obtaining optimal or near-optimal solutions in short computational running times. In addition, a thorough analysis of the implementation of these methods provide insights for the implementation of metaheuristic strategies for other graph theoretic problems

Discrete Particle Swarm Optimization for the minimum labelling Steiner tree problem

Particle Swarm Optimization is an evolutionary method inspired by the social behaviour of individuals inside swarms in nature. Solutions of the problem are modelled as members of the swarm which fly in the solution space. The evolution is obtained from the continuous movement of the particles that constitute the swarm submitted to the effect of the inertia and the attraction of the members who lead the swarm. This work focuses on a recent Discrete Particle Swarm Optimization for combinatorial optimization, called Jumping Particle Swarm Optimization. Its effectiveness is illustrated on the minimum labelling Steiner tree problem: given an undirected labelled connected graph, the aim is to find a spanning tree covering a given subset of nodes, whose edges have the smallest number of distinct labels

Performance Analysis of Evolutionary Algorithms for the Minimum Label Spanning Tree Problem

Some experimental investigations have shown that evolutionary algorithms (EAs) are efficient for the minimum label spanning tree (MLST) problem. However, we know little about that in theory. As one step towards this issue, we theoretically analyze the performances of the (1+1) EA, a simple version of EAs, and a multi-objective evolutionary algorithm called GSEMO on the MLST problem. We reveal that for the MLST$_{b}$ problem the (1+1) EA and GSEMO achieve a $\frac{b+1}{2}$-approximation ratio in expected polynomial times of $n$ the number of nodes and $k$ the number of labels. We also show that GSEMO achieves a $(2ln(n))$-approximation ratio for the MLST problem in expected polynomial time of $n$ and $k$. At the same time, we show that the (1+1) EA and GSEMO outperform local search algorithms on three instances of the MLST problem. We also construct an instance on which GSEMO outperforms the (1+1) EA

The k-labeled spanning forest problem : complexity, approximability, formulations and algorithms

In this work, we study the k-labeled spanning forest problem (KLSF). The input of the KLSF is an undirected graph with labeled edges and a positive integer k. The goal is to find a spanning forest of the graph with at most k different labels associated with the edges, that minimizes the number of components. KLSF finds practical applications in different scenarios related to networks design and telecommunications. Its solutions may help to reduce the negative impact of electromagnetic fields exposure on the population health or to increase profits of internet management companies, among others. The in terest in the KLSF problem is not only practical but also theoretical since the problem generalizes the best-known NP-hard minimum labeling spanning tree problem (MLST). This work reinforces the NP-hardness of the KLSF and ensures that, even for the simple instances where the components of the original graph are only triangles and edges, the problem is NP-hard. Also as a theoretical result, an inapproximability proof is presented for it, ensuring that unless P = NP there is no polynomial time algorithm with approxi mation factor polynomial in the number of the labels. To complete the theoretical results a trivial 3-approximation result is presented for the particular case where the input graph components are edges or triangles. From the application side, to approach KLSF, we propose a fix-and-optimize matheuristic that was tested over several instances, achieving high-quality solutions in reasonable computational time. When compared to the best known algorithms in the literature, our matheuristic outperformed the other proposals in most cases, finding better solutions in less computational time for the most challenging instances

Efficient algorithms for online learning over graphs

In this thesis we consider the problem of online learning with labelled graphs, in particular designing algorithms that can perform this problem quickly and with low memory requirements. We consider the tasks of Classification (in which we are asked to predict the labels of vertices) and Similarity Prediction (in which we are asked to predict whether two given vertices have the same label). The first half of the thesis considers non- probabilistic online learning, where there is no probability distribution on the labelling and we bound the number of mistakes of an algorithm by a function of the labelling’s complexity (i.e. its “naturalness"), often the cut- size. The second half of the thesis considers probabilistic machine learning in which we have a known probability distribution on the labelling. Before considering probabilistic online learning we first analyse the junction tree algorithm, on which we base our online algorithms, and design a new ver- sion of it, superior to the otherwise current state of the art. Explicitly, the novel contributions of this thesis are as follows: • A new algorithm for online prediction of the labelling of a graph which has better performance than previous algorithms on certain graph and labelling families. • Two algorithms for online similarity prediction on a graph (a novel problem solved in this thesis). One performs very well whilst the other not so well but which runs exponentially faster. • A new (better than before, in terms of time and space complexity) state of the art junction tree algorithm, as well as an application of it to the problem of online learning in an Ising model. • An algorithm that, in linear time, finds the optimal junction tree for online inference in tree-structured Ising models, the resulting online junction tree algorithm being far superior to the previous state of the art. All claims in this thesis are supported by mathematical proofs