1,685 research outputs found
A nonmonotone GRASP
A greedy randomized adaptive search procedure (GRASP) is an itera-
tive multistart metaheuristic for difficult combinatorial optimization problems. Each
GRASP iteration consists of two phases: a construction phase, in which a feasible
solution is produced, and a local search phase, in which a local optimum in the
neighborhood of the constructed solution is sought. Repeated applications of the con-
struction procedure yields different starting solutions for the local search and the
best overall solution is kept as the result. The GRASP local search applies iterative
improvement until a locally optimal solution is found. During this phase, starting from
the current solution an improving neighbor solution is accepted and considered as the
new current solution. In this paper, we propose a variant of the GRASP framework that
uses a new “nonmonotone” strategy to explore the neighborhood of the current solu-
tion. We formally state the convergence of the nonmonotone local search to a locally
optimal solution and illustrate the effectiveness of the resulting Nonmonotone GRASP
on three classical hard combinatorial optimization problems: the maximum cut prob-
lem (MAX-CUT), the weighted maximum satisfiability problem (MAX-SAT), and
the quadratic assignment problem (QAP)
Minimum Entropy Orientations
We study graph orientations that minimize the entropy of the in-degree
sequence. The problem of finding such an orientation is an interesting special
case of the minimum entropy set cover problem previously studied by Halperin
and Karp [Theoret. Comput. Sci., 2005] and by the current authors
[Algorithmica, to appear]. We prove that the minimum entropy orientation
problem is NP-hard even if the graph is planar, and that there exists a simple
linear-time algorithm that returns an approximate solution with an additive
error guarantee of 1 bit. This improves on the only previously known algorithm
which has an additive error guarantee of log_2 e bits (approx. 1.4427 bits).Comment: Referees' comments incorporate
Criticality and Universality in the Unit-Propagation Search Rule
The probability Psuccess(alpha, N) that stochastic greedy algorithms
successfully solve the random SATisfiability problem is studied as a function
of the ratio alpha of constraints per variable and the number N of variables.
These algorithms assign variables according to the unit-propagation (UP) rule
in presence of constraints involving a unique variable (1-clauses), to some
heuristic (H) prescription otherwise. In the infinite N limit, Psuccess
vanishes at some critical ratio alpha\_H which depends on the heuristic H. We
show that the critical behaviour is determined by the UP rule only. In the case
where only constraints with 2 and 3 variables are present, we give the phase
diagram and identify two universality classes: the power law class, where
Psuccess[alpha\_H (1+epsilon N^{-1/3}), N] ~ A(epsilon)/N^gamma; the stretched
exponential class, where Psuccess[alpha\_H (1+epsilon N^{-1/3}), N] ~
exp[-N^{1/6} Phi(epsilon)]. Which class is selected depends on the
characteristic parameters of input data. The critical exponent gamma is
universal and calculated; the scaling functions A and Phi weakly depend on the
heuristic H and are obtained from the solutions of reaction-diffusion equations
for 1-clauses. Computation of some non-universal corrections allows us to match
numerical results with good precision. The critical behaviour for constraints
with >3 variables is given. Our results are interpreted in terms of dynamical
graph percolation and we argue that they should apply to more general
situations where UP is used.Comment: 30 pages, 13 figure
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