117,896 research outputs found
Finite Domain Bounds Consistency Revisited
A widely adopted approach to solving constraint satisfaction problems
combines systematic tree search with constraint propagation for pruning the
search space. Constraint propagation is performed by propagators implementing a
certain notion of consistency. Bounds consistency is the method of choice for
building propagators for arithmetic constraints and several global constraints
in the finite integer domain. However, there has been some confusion in the
definition of bounds consistency. In this paper we clarify the differences and
similarities among the three commonly used notions of bounds consistency.Comment: 12 page
The energy scheduling problem: Industrial case-study and constraint propagation techniques
This paper deals with production scheduling involving energy constraints, typically electrical energy.
We start by an industrial case-study for which we propose a two-step integer/constraint programming method. From the industrial problem we derive a generic problem,the Energy Scheduling Problem (EnSP). We propose an extension of specific resource constraint propagation techniques to efficiently prune the search space for EnSP solving. We also present a branching scheme to solve the problem via
tree search.Finally,computational results are provided
Adjusted ADM systems and their expected stability properties: constraint propagation analysis in Schwarzschild spacetime
In order to find a way to have a better formulation for numerical evolution
of the Einstein equations, we study the propagation equations of the
constraints based on the Arnowitt-Deser-Misner formulation. By adjusting
constraint terms in the evolution equations, we try to construct an
"asymptotically constrained system" which is expected to be robust against
violation of the constraints, and to enable a long-term stable and accurate
numerical simulation. We first provide useful expressions for analyzing
constraint propagation in a general spacetime, then apply it to Schwarzschild
spacetime. We search when and where the negative real or non-zero imaginary
eigenvalues of the homogenized constraint propagation matrix appear, and how
they depend on the choice of coordinate system and adjustments. Our analysis
includes the proposal of Detweiler (1987), which is still the best one
according to our conjecture but has a growing mode of error near the horizon.
Some examples are snapshots of a maximally sliced Schwarzschild black hole. The
predictions here may help the community to make further improvements.Comment: 23 pages, RevTeX4, many figures. Revised version. Added subtitle,
reduced figures, rephrased introduction, and a native checked. :-
Distributed splitting of constraint satisfaction problems
Constraint propagation aims to reduce a constraint satisfaction problem into an equivalent but simpler one. However, constraint propagation must be interleaved with a splitting mechanism in order to compose a complete solver. In~cite{monfroy:sac2000 a framework for constraint propagation based on a control-driven coordination model was presented. In this paper we extend this framework in order to integrate a distributed splitting mechanism. This technique has three main advantages: 1),in a single distributed and generic framework, propagation and splitting can be interleaved in order to realize complete distributed solvers, 2), by changing only one agent, we can perform different kinds of search, and 3), splitting of variables can be dynamically triggered before the fixed point of a propagation is reached
A Constraint-directed Local Search Approach to Nurse Rostering Problems
In this paper, we investigate the hybridization of constraint programming and
local search techniques within a large neighbourhood search scheme for solving
highly constrained nurse rostering problems. As identified by the research, a
crucial part of the large neighbourhood search is the selection of the fragment
(neighbourhood, i.e. the set of variables), to be relaxed and re-optimized
iteratively. The success of the large neighbourhood search depends on the
adequacy of this identified neighbourhood with regard to the problematic part
of the solution assignment and the choice of the neighbourhood size. We
investigate three strategies to choose the fragment of different sizes within
the large neighbourhood search scheme. The first two strategies are tailored
concerning the problem properties. The third strategy is more general, using
the information of the cost from the soft constraint violations and their
propagation as the indicator to choose the variables added into the fragment.
The three strategies are analyzed and compared upon a benchmark nurse rostering
problem. Promising results demonstrate the possibility of future work in the
hybrid approach
Interval propagation and search on directed acyclic graphs for numerical constraint solving
The fundamentals of interval analysis on directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) for global optimization and constraint propagation have recently been proposed in Schichl and Neumaier (J. Global Optim. 33, 541-562, 2005). For representing numerical problems, the authors use DAGs whose nodes are subexpressions and whose directed edges are computational flows. Compared to tree-based representations [Benhamou etal. Proceedings of the International Conference on Logic Programming (ICLP'99), pp. 230-244. Las Cruces, USA (1999)], DAGs offer the essential advantage of more accurately handling the influence of subexpressions shared by several constraints on the overall system during propagation. In this paper we show how interval constraint propagation and search on DAGs can be made practical and efficient by: (1) flexibly choosing the nodes on which propagations must be performed, and (2) working with partial subgraphs of the initial DAG rather than with the entire graph. We propose a new interval constraint propagation technique which exploits the influence of subexpressions on all the constraints together rather than on individual constraints. We then show how the new propagation technique can be integrated into branch-and-prune search to solve numerical constraint satisfaction problems. This algorithm is able to outperform its obvious contenders, as shown by the experiment
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
- …