scholarly journals Solving the Minimum Label Spanning Tree Problem by Mathematical Programming Techniques

2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas M. Chwatal ◽  
Günther R. Raidl
Keyword(s):  
Integer Programming ◽  
Spanning Tree ◽  
Network Flows ◽  
Solution Process ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Branch And Cut ◽  
Mixed Integer ◽  
Programming Techniques ◽  
Speed Up ◽  
Primal Heuristics

We present exact mixed integer programming approaches including branch-and-cut and branch-and-cut-and-price for the minimum label spanning tree problem as well as a variant of it having multiple labels assigned to each edge. We compare formulations based on network flows and directed connectivity cuts. Further, we show how to use odd-hole inequalities and additional inequalities to strengthen the formulation. Label variables can be added dynamically to the model in the pricing step. Primal heuristics are incorporated into the framework to speed up the overall solution process. After a polyhedral comparison of the involved formulations, comprehensive computational experiments are presented in order to compare and evaluate the underlying formulations and the particular algorithmic building blocks of the overall branch-and-cut- (and-price) framework.

scholarly journals An exploratory computational analysis of dual degeneracy in mixed-integer programming

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 241-261 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerald Gamrath ◽  
Timo Berthold ◽  
Domenico Salvagnin
Keyword(s):  
Integer Programming ◽  
Mixed Integer Programming ◽  
Computational Study ◽  
Solution Process ◽  
Mixed Integer ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Primal Heuristics ◽  
Individual Variables ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Constraint Ratio

Abstract Dual degeneracy, i.e., the presence of multiple optimal bases to a linear programming (LP) problem, heavily affects the solution process of mixed integer programming (MIP) solvers. Different optimal bases lead to different cuts being generated, different branching decisions being taken and different solutions being found by primal heuristics. Nevertheless, only a few methods have been published that either avoid or exploit dual degeneracy. The aim of the present paper is to conduct a thorough computational study on the presence of dual degeneracy for the instances of well-known public MIP instance collections. How many instances are affected by dual degeneracy? How degenerate are the affected models? How does branching affect degeneracy: Does it increase or decrease by fixing variables? Can we identify different types of degenerate MIPs? As a tool to answer these questions, we introduce a new measure for dual degeneracy: the variable–constraint ratio of the optimal face. It provides an estimate for the likelihood that a basic variable can be pivoted out of the basis. Furthermore, we study how the so-called cloud intervals—the projections of the optimal face of the LP relaxations onto the individual variables—evolve during tree search and the implications for reducing the set of branching candidates.

scholarly journals Learning to Run Heuristics in Tree Search

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elias B. Khalil ◽  
Bistra Dilkina ◽  
George L. Nemhauser ◽  
Shabbir Ahmed ◽  
Yufen Shao
Keyword(s):  
Integer Programming ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Independent Set ◽  
Search Tree ◽  
Mixed Integer ◽  
Tree Search ◽  
Trial And Error ◽  
Benchmark Instances ◽  
Primal Heuristics ◽  
Improved Performance

``Primal heuristics'' are a key contributor to the improved performance of exact branch-and-bound solvers for combinatorial optimization and integer programming. Perhaps the most crucial question concerning primal heuristics is that of at which nodes they should run, to which the typical answer is via hard-coded rules or fixed solver parameters tuned, offline, by trial-and-error. Alternatively, a heuristic should be run when it is most likely to succeed, based on the problem instance's characteristics, the state of the search, etc. In this work, we study the problem of deciding at which node a heuristic should be run, such that the overall (primal) performance of the solver is optimized. To our knowledge, this is the first attempt at formalizing and systematically addressing this problem. Central to our approach is the use of Machine Learning (ML) for predicting whether a heuristic will succeed at a given node. We give a theoretical framework for analyzing this decision-making process in a simplified setting, propose a ML approach for modeling heuristic success likelihood, and design practical rules that leverage the ML models to dynamically decide whether to run a heuristic at each node of the search tree. Experimentally, our approach improves the primal performance of a state-of-the-art Mixed Integer Programming solver by up to 6% on a set of benchmark instances, and by up to 60% on a family of hard Independent Set instances.

scholarly journals Two-row and two-column mixed-integer presolve using hashing-based pairing methods

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 205-240
Author(s):  
Patrick Gemander ◽  
Wei-Kun Chen ◽  
Dieter Weninger ◽  
Leona Gottwald ◽  
Ambros Gleixner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Integer Programming ◽  
Linear Complexity ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Branch And Cut ◽  
Mixed Integer ◽  
Set Packing ◽  
Large Array ◽  
Model Formulation ◽  
Reduction Techniques ◽  
The Impact

Abstract In state-of-the-art mixed-integer programming solvers, a large array of reduction techniques are applied to simplify the problem and strengthen the model formulation before starting the actual branch-and-cut phase. Despite their mathematical simplicity, these methods can have significant impact on the solvability of a given problem. However, a crucial property for employing presolve techniques successfully is their speed. Hence, most methods inspect constraints or variables individually in order to guarantee linear complexity. In this paper, we present new hashing-based pairing mechanisms that help to overcome known performance limitations of more powerful presolve techniques that consider pairs of rows or columns. Additionally, we develop an enhancement to one of these presolve techniques by exploiting the presence of set-packing structures on binary variables in order to strengthen the resulting reductions without increasing runtime. We analyze the impact of these methods on the MIPLIB 2017 benchmark set based on an implementation in the MIP solver SCIP.

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