1,902 research outputs found
Strongly polynomial algorithm for a class of minimum-cost flow problems with separable convex objectives
A well-studied nonlinear extension of the minimum-cost flow problem is to
minimize the objective over feasible flows ,
where on every arc of the network, is a convex function. We give
a strongly polynomial algorithm for the case when all 's are convex
quadratic functions, settling an open problem raised e.g. by Hochbaum [1994].
We also give strongly polynomial algorithms for computing market equilibria in
Fisher markets with linear utilities and with spending constraint utilities,
that can be formulated in this framework (see Shmyrev [2009], Devanur et al.
[2011]). For the latter class this resolves an open question raised by Vazirani
[2010]. The running time is for quadratic costs,
for Fisher's markets with linear utilities and
for spending constraint utilities.
All these algorithms are presented in a common framework that addresses the
general problem setting. Whereas it is impossible to give a strongly polynomial
algorithm for the general problem even in an approximate sense (see Hochbaum
[1994]), we show that assuming the existence of certain black-box oracles, one
can give an algorithm using a strongly polynomial number of arithmetic
operations and oracle calls only. The particular algorithms can be derived by
implementing these oracles in the respective settings
Separable Convex Optimization with Nested Lower and Upper Constraints
We study a convex resource allocation problem in which lower and upper bounds
are imposed on partial sums of allocations. This model is linked to a large
range of applications, including production planning, speed optimization,
stratified sampling, support vector machines, portfolio management, and
telecommunications. We propose an efficient gradient-free divide-and-conquer
algorithm, which uses monotonicity arguments to generate valid bounds from the
recursive calls, and eliminate linking constraints based on the information
from sub-problems. This algorithm does not need strict convexity or
differentiability. It produces an -approximate solution for the
continuous problem in time
and an integer solution in time, where is
the number of decision variables, is the number of constraints, and is
the resource bound. A complexity of is also achieved
for the linear and quadratic cases. These are the best complexities known to
date for this important problem class. Our experimental analyses confirm the
good performance of the method, which produces optimal solutions for problems
with up to 1,000,000 variables in a few seconds. Promising applications to the
support vector ordinal regression problem are also investigated
Concave Generalized Flows with Applications to Market Equilibria
We consider a nonlinear extension of the generalized network flow model, with
the flow leaving an arc being an increasing concave function of the flow
entering it, as proposed by Truemper and Shigeno. We give a polynomial time
combinatorial algorithm for solving corresponding flow maximization problems,
finding an epsilon-approximate solution in O(m(m+log n)log(MUm/epsilon))
arithmetic operations and value oracle queries, where M and U are upper bounds
on simple parameters. This also gives a new algorithm for linear generalized
flows, an efficient, purely scaling variant of the Fat-Path algorithm by
Goldberg, Plotkin and Tardos, not using any cycle cancellations.
We show that this general convex programming model serves as a common
framework for several market equilibrium problems, including the linear Fisher
market model and its various extensions. Our result immediately extends these
market models to more general settings. We also obtain a combinatorial
algorithm for nonsymmetric Arrow-Debreu Nash bargaining, settling an open
question by Vazirani.Comment: Major revision. Instead of highest gain augmenting paths, we employ
the Fat-Path framework. Many parts simplified, running time for the linear
case improve
A Decomposition Algorithm for Nested Resource Allocation Problems
We propose an exact polynomial algorithm for a resource allocation problem
with convex costs and constraints on partial sums of resource consumptions, in
the presence of either continuous or integer variables. No assumption of strict
convexity or differentiability is needed. The method solves a hierarchy of
resource allocation subproblems, whose solutions are used to convert
constraints on sums of resources into bounds for separate variables at higher
levels. The resulting time complexity for the integer problem is , and the complexity of obtaining an -approximate
solution for the continuous case is , being
the number of variables, the number of ascending constraints (such that ), a desired precision, and the total resource. This
algorithm attains the best-known complexity when , and improves it when
. Extensive experimental analyses are conducted with four
recent algorithms on various continuous problems issued from theory and
practice. The proposed method achieves a higher performance than previous
algorithms, addressing all problems with up to one million variables in less
than one minute on a modern computer.Comment: Working Paper -- MIT, 23 page
Combinatorial Optimization
Combinatorial Optimization is a very active field that benefits from bringing together ideas from different areas, e.g., graph theory and combinatorics, matroids and submodularity, connectivity and network flows, approximation algorithms and mathematical programming, discrete and computational geometry, discrete and continuous problems, algebraic and geometric methods, and applications. We continued the long tradition of triannual Oberwolfach workshops, bringing together the best researchers from the above areas, discovering new connections, and establishing new and deepening existing international collaborations
Fast approximation schemes for multi-criteria combinatorial optimization
Cover title.Includes bibliographical references (p. 38-44).by Hershel M. Safer, James B. Orlin
Quadratic nonseparable resource allocation problems with generalized bound constraints
We study a quadratic nonseparable resource allocation problem that arises in
the area of decentralized energy management (DEM), where unbalance in
electricity networks has to be minimized. In this problem, the given resource
is allocated over a set of activities that is divided into subsets, and a cost
is assigned to the overall allocated amount of resources to activities within
the same subset. We derive two efficient algorithms with
worst-case time complexity to solve this problem. For the special case where
all subsets have the same size, one of these algorithms even runs in linear
time given the subset size. Both algorithms are inspired by well-studied
breakpoint search methods for separable convex resource allocation problems.
Numerical evaluations on both real and synthetic data confirm the theoretical
efficiency of both algorithms and demonstrate their suitability for integration
in DEM systems
On a reduction for a class of resource allocation problems
In the resource allocation problem (RAP), the goal is to divide a given
amount of resource over a set of activities while minimizing the cost of this
allocation and possibly satisfying constraints on allocations to subsets of the
activities. Most solution approaches for the RAP and its extensions allow each
activity to have its own cost function. However, in many applications, often
the structure of the objective function is the same for each activity and the
difference between the cost functions lies in different parameter choices such
as, e.g., the multiplicative factors. In this article, we introduce a new class
of objective functions that captures the majority of the objectives occurring
in studied applications. These objectives are characterized by a shared
structure of the cost function depending on two input parameters. We show that,
given the two input parameters, there exists a solution to the RAP that is
optimal for any choice of the shared structure. As a consequence, this problem
reduces to the quadratic RAP, making available the vast amount of solution
approaches and algorithms for the latter problem. We show the impact of our
reduction result on several applications and, in particular, we improve the
best known worst-case complexity bound of two important problems in vessel
routing and processor scheduling from to
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