1,721,077 research outputs found
Branching on nonchimerical fractionalities
No full textWe address methods for selecting the branching variable in an enumerative algorithm for Mixed-Integer Programs, providing heuristics to speed-up strong branching computation and to reduce the set of variables candidate for branching. Extensive computational results on instances from the literature show that, even in our proof-of-concept implementation, a certain speedup can be achieved with respect to state-of-the-art branching strategies
Cutting plane versus compact formulations for uncertain (integer) linear programs
No full textRobustness is about reducing the feasible set of a given nominal optimization problem by cutting “risky” solutions away. To this end, the most popular approach in the literature is to extend the nominal model with a polynomial number of additional variables and constraints, so as to obtain its robust counterpart. Robustness can also be enforced by adding a possibly exponential family of cutting planes, which typically leads to an exponential formulation where cuts have to be generated at run time. Both approaches have pros and cons, and it is not clear which is the best one when approaching a specific problem. In this paper we computationally compare the two options on some prototype problems with different characteristics. We first address robust optimization à la Bertsimas and Sim for linear programs, and show through computational experiments that a considerable speedup (up to 2 orders of magnitude) can be achieved by exploiting a dynamic cut generation scheme. For integer linear problems, instead, the compact formulation exhibits a typically better performance. We then move to a probabilistic setting and introduce the uncertain set covering problem where each column has a certain probability of disappearing, and each row has to be covered with high probability. A related uncertain graph connectivity problem is also investigated, where edges have a certain probability of failure. For both problems, compact ILP models and cutting plane solution schemes are presented and compared through extensive computational tests. The outcome is that a compact ILP formulation (if available) can be preferable because it allows for a better use of the rich arsenal of preprocessing/cut generation tools available in modern ILP solvers. For the cases where such a compact ILP formulation is not available, as in the uncertain connectivity problem, we propose a restart solution strategy and computationally show its practical effectiveness
Exploiting erraticism in search
Full text linkHigh sensitivity to initial conditions is generally viewed as a drawback of tree search methods because it leads to erratic behavior to be mitigated somehow. In this paper we investigate the opposite viewpoint and consider this behavior as an opportunity to exploit. Our working hypothesis is that erraticism is in fact just a consequence of the exponential nature of tree search that acts as a chaotic amplifier, so it is largely unavoidable. We propose a bet-and-run approach to actually turn erraticism to one’s advantage. The idea is to make a number of short sample runs with randomized initial conditions, to bet on the “most promising” run selected according to certain simple criteria, and to bring it to completion. Computational results on a large testbed of mixed integer linear programs from the literature are presented, showing the potential of this approach even when embedded in a proof-of-concept implementation
Backdoor Branching
No full textWe present an exact mixed-integer programming (MIP) solution scheme where a set-covering model is used to find a small set of first-choice branching variables. In a preliminary “sampling” phase, our method quickly collects a number of relevant low-cost fractional solutions that qualify as obstacles for the linear programming (LP) relaxation bound improvement. Then a set covering model is solved to detect a small subset of variables (a “backdoor,” in the artificial intelligence jargon) that “cover the fractionality” of the collected fractional solutions. These backdoor variables are put in a priority branching list, and a black-box MIP solver is eventually run—in its default mode—by taking this list into account, thus avoiding any other interference with its highly optimized internal mechanisms. Computational results on a large set of instances from the literature are presented, showing that some speedup can be achieved even with respect to a state-of-the-art solver such as IBM ILOG CPLEX 12.2
How tight is the corner relaxation?
No full textGiven a mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) model and an optimal basis of the associated linear programming relaxation, the Gomory’s corner relaxation is obtained by dropping nonnegativity constraints on the basic variables. Although this relaxation received a considerable attention in the literature in the last 40 years, the crucial issue of evaluating the practical quality of the corner-relaxation bound was not addressed so far. In the present paper we report, for the first time, the optimal value of the corner relaxation (in two possible variants) for a very large set of MILP instances from the literature, thus providing a missing yet very important piece of information about the practical relevance of this relaxation. The outcome of our experiments is that the corner relaxation often gives a tight approximation of the integer hull, the main so for MILPs with general-integer variables—the approximation tends to be less satisfactory when a consistent number of binary variables exists
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Optimizing over the first Chvatal closure
No full textHow difficult is, in practice, to optimize exactly over the first Chvátal closure of a generic ILP? Which fraction of the integrality gap can be closed this way, e.g., for some hard problems in the MIPLIB library? Can the first-closure optimization be useful as a research (off-line) tool to guess the structure of some relevant classes of inequalities, when a specific combinatorial problem is addressed? In this paper we give answers to the above questions, based on an extensive computational analysis.Our approach is to model the rank-1 Chvátal- Gomory separation problem, which is known to be NP-hard, through a MIP model, which is then solved through a general-purpose MIP solver. As far as we know, this approach was never implemented and evaluated computationally by previous authors, though it gives a very useful separation tool for general ILP problems. We report the optimal value over the first Chvátal closure for a set of ILP problems from MIPLIB 3.0 and 2003. We also report, for the first time, the optimal solution of a very hard instance from MIPLIB 2003, namely nsrand-ipx, obtained by using our cut separation procedure to preprocess the original ILP model. Finally, we describe a new class of ATSP facets found with the help of our separation procedure
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
- …
