Interdiction Problems on Planar Graphs

Interdiction problems are leader-follower games in which the leader is allowed to delete a certain number of edges from the graph in order to maximally impede the follower, who is trying to solve an optimization problem on the impeded graph. We introduce approximation algorithms and strong NP-completeness results for interdiction problems on planar graphs. We give a multiplicative $(1 + \epsilon)$-approximation for the maximum matching interdiction problem on weighted planar graphs. The algorithm runs in pseudo-polynomial time for each fixed $\epsilon > 0$. We also show that weighted maximum matching interdiction, budget-constrained flow improvement, directed shortest path interdiction, and minimum perfect matching interdiction are strongly NP-complete on planar graphs. To our knowledge, our budget-constrained flow improvement result is the first planar NP-completeness proof that uses a one-vertex crossing gadget.Comment: 25 pages, 9 figures. Extended abstract in APPROX-RANDOM 201

Efficient Contact State Graph Generation for Assembly Applications

An important aspect in the design of many automated assembly strategies is the ability to automatically generate the set of contact states that may occur during an assembly task. In this paper, we present an efficient means of constructing the set of all geometrically feasible contact states that may occur within a bounded set of misalignments (bounds determined by robot inaccuracy). This set is stored as a graph, referred to as an Assembly Contact State Graph (ACSG), which indicates neighbor relationships between feasible states. An ACSG is constructed without user intervention in two stages. In the first stage, all hypothetical primitive principle contacts (PPCs; all contact states allowing 5 degrees of freedom) are evaluated for geometric feasibility with respect to part-imposed and robot-imposed restrictions on relative positioning (evaluated using optimization). In the second stage, the feasibility of each of the various combinations of PPCs is efficiently evaluated, first using topological existence and uniqueness criteria, then using part-imposed and robot-imposed geometric criteria

Robust Procedures for Obtaining Assembly Contact State Extremal Configurations

Two important components in the selection of an admittance that facilitates force-guided assembly are the identification of: 1) the set of feasible contact states, and 2) the set of configurations that span each contact state, i.e., the extremal configurations. We present a procedure to automatically generate both sets from CAD models of the assembly parts. In the procedure, all possible combinations of principle contacts are considered when generating hypothesized contact states. The feasibility of each is then evaluated in a genetic algorithm based optimization procedure. The maximum and minimum value of each of the 6 configuration variables spanning each contact state are obtained by again using genetic algorithms. Together, the genetic algorithm approach, the hierarchical data structure containing the states, the relationships among the states, and the extremals within each state are used to provide a reliable means of identifying all feasible contact states and their associated extremal configurations

M-body Pure State Entanglement

The simple entanglement of N-body N-particle pure states is extended to the more general M-body or M-body N-particle states where $N\neq M$. Some new features of the M-body N-particle pure states are discussed. An application of the measure to quantify quantum correlations in a Bose-Einstien condensate model is demonstrated.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figure

Asymptotic Laplacian-Energy-Like Invariant of Lattices

Let $\mu_1\ge \mu_2\ge\cdots\ge\mu_n$ denote the Laplacian eigenvalues of $G$ with $n$ vertices. The Laplacian-energy-like invariant, denoted by $LEL(G)= \sum_{i=1}^{n-1}\sqrt{\mu_i}$, is a novel topological index. In this paper, we show that the Laplacian-energy-like per vertex of various lattices is independent of the toroidal, cylindrical, and free boundary conditions. Simultaneously, the explicit asymptotic values of the Laplacian-energy-like in these lattices are obtained. Moreover, our approach implies that in general the Laplacian-energy-like per vertex of other lattices is independent of the boundary conditions.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figure