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As a classical combinatorial optimization problem, the traveling salesman problem (TSP) has been extensively investigated in the fields of Artificial Intelligence and Operations Research. Due to being NP-complete, it is still rather challenging to solve both effectively and efficiently. Because of its high theoretical significance and wide practical applications, great effort has been undertaken to solve it from the point of view of intelligent search. In this paper, we propose a two-stage probe-based search optimization algorithm for solving both symmetric and asymmetric TSPs through the stages of route development and a self-escape mechanism. Specifically, in the first stage, a reasonable proportion threshold filter of potential basis probes or partial routes is set up at each step during the complete route development process. In this way, the poor basis probes with longer routes are filtered out automatically. Moreover, four local augmentation operators are further employed to improve these potential basis probes at each step. In the second stage, a self-escape mechanism or operation is further implemented on the obtained complete routes to prevent the probe-based search from being trapped in a locally optimal solution. The experimental results on a collection of benchmark TSP datasets demonstrate that our proposed algorithm is more effective than other state-of-the-art optimization algorithms. In fact, it achieves the best-known TSP benchmark solutions in many datasets, while, in certain cases, it even generates solutions that are better than the best-known TSP benchmark solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mathematical side of applied problems in multiple subject areas (biology, pattern recognition, etc.) is reduced to the problem of discrete optimization in the following mathematical method. We were provided a network and graphs in its leaves, for which we needed to find a rearrangement of graphs by non-leaf nodes, in which the given functional reached its minimum. Such a problem, even in the simplest case, is NP-hard, which means unavoidable restrictions on the network, on graphs, or on the functional. In this publication, this problem is addressed in the case of all graphs being so-called "structures", meaning directed-loaded graphs consisting of paths and cycles, and the functional as the sum (over all edges in the network) of distances between structures at the endpoints of every edge. The distance itself is equal to the minimal length of sequence from the fixed list of operations, the composition of which transforms the structure at one endpoint of the edge into the structure at its other endpoint. The list of operations (and their costs) on such a graph is fixed. Under these conditions, the given discrete optimization problem is called the reconstruction problem. This paper presents novel algorithms for solving the reconstruction problem, along with full proofs of their low error and low polynomial complexity. For example, for the network, the problem is solved with a zero error algorithm that has a linear polynomial computational complexity; and for the tree the problem is solved using an algorithm with a multiplicative error of at most two, which has a second order polynomial computational complexity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, metaheuristic methods have shown remarkable efficacy in resolving complex combinatorial challenges across a broad spectrum of fields. Nevertheless, the escalating complexity of these problems necessitates the continuous development of innovative techniques to enhance the performance and reliability of these methods. This paper aims to contribute to this endeavor by examining the impact of solution initialization methods on the performance of a hybrid algorithm applied to the set union knapsack problem (SUKP). Three distinct solution initialization methods, random, greedy, and weighted, have been proposed and evaluated. These have been integrated within a sine cosine algorithm employing k-means as a binarization procedure. Through testing on medium- and large-sized SUKP instances, the study reveals that the solution initialization strategy influences the algorithm's performance, with the weighted method consistently outperforming the other two. Additionally, the obtained results were benchmarked against various metaheuristics that have previously solved SUKP, showing favorable performance in this comparison. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hybridized algorithms are commonly employed to improve the performance of any existing method. However, an optimal learning algorithm composed of evolutionary and swarm intelligence can radically improve the quality of the final neuron states and has not received creative attention yet. Considering this issue, this paper presents a novel metaheuristics algorithm combined with several objectives—introduced as the Hybrid Election Algorithm (HEA)—with great results in solving optimization and combinatorial problems over a binary search space. The core and underpinning ideas of this proposed HEA are inspired by socio-political phenomena, consisting of creative and powerful mechanisms to achieve the optimal result. A non-systematic logical structure can find a better phenomenon in the study of logic programming. In this regard, a non-systematic structure known as Random k Satisfiability (RANkSAT) with higher-order is hosted here to overcome the interpretability and dissimilarity compared to a systematic, logical structure in a Discrete Hopfield Neural Network (DHNN). The novelty of this study is to introduce a new multi-objective Hybrid Election Algorithm that achieves the highest fitness value and can boost the storage capacity of DHNN along with a diversified logical structure embedded with RANkSAT representation. To attain such goals, the proposed algorithm tested four different types of algorithms, such as evolutionary types (Genetic Algorithm (GA)), swarm intelligence types (Artificial Bee Colony algorithm), population-based (traditional Election Algorithm (EA)) and the Exhaustive Search (ES) model. To check the performance of the proposed HEA model, several performance metrics, such as training–testing, energy, similarity analysis and statistical analysis, such as the Friedman test with convergence analysis, have been examined and analyzed. Based on the experimental and statistical results, the proposed HEA model outperformed all the mentioned four models in this research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Process planning is a typical combinatorial optimization problem. When the scale of the problem increases, combinatorial explosion occurs, which makes it difficult for traditional precise algorithms to solve the problem. A hybrid particle swarm optimization (HPSO) algorithm is proposed in this paper to solve problems of process planning. A hierarchical coding method including operation layer, machine layer and logic layer is designed in this algorithm. Each layer of coding corresponds to the decision of a sub-problem of process planning. Several genetic operators of the genetic algorithm are designed to replace the update formula of particle position and velocity in the particle swarm optimization algorithm. The results of the benchmark example in case study show that the algorithm proposed in this paper has better performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The graph bandwidth problem, where one looks for a labeling of graph vertices that gives the minimum difference between the labels over all edges, is a classical NP-hard problem that has drawn a lot of attention in recent decades. In this paper, we focus on the so-called Embed and Project Algorithm (EPA) introduced by Blum et al. in 2000, which in the main part has to solve a semidefinite programming relaxation with exponentially many linear constraints. We present several theoretical properties of this special semidefinite programming problem (SDP) and a cutting-plane-like algorithm to solve it, which works very efficiently in combination with interior-point methods or with the bundle method. Extensive numerical results demonstrate that this algorithm, which has only been studied theoretically so far, in practice gives very good labeling for graphs with n ≤ 1000 . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are various situations in which real-world problems can be modeled and solved as minimum flow problems. Sometimes, in these situations, minor data changes may occur, leading to corresponding changes of the networks in which the practical problems are modeled as flow problems, such as slight variations in capacity or lower bound. For instance, the capacity or the lower bound of an arc may increase or decrease in time, leaving one with no other choice than finding the new minimum network flow. Given both the various ways in which the networks can be changed and the high frequency of these changes, it is desirable to find as fast a computation method for minimum flow as possible. This paper is focused on the cases that concern increasing and decreasing the capacity or the lower bound of an arc. For these cases, both the minimum flow algorithms and the dynamic minimum flow algorithms that are already known are inefficient. Our incremental algorithms for determining minimum flow in the modified network are more efficient than both the above-mentioned types of algorithms. The proposed method starts from the initial network minimum flow and solves the minimum flow problem in a significantly faster way than recalculating the new network minimum flow starting from scratch. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study the problem of developing new combinatorial generation algorithms. The main purpose of our research is to derive and improve general methods for developing combinatorial generation algorithms. We present basic general methods for solving this task and consider one of these methods, which is based on AND/OR trees. This method is extended by using the mathematical apparatus of the theory of generating functions since it is one of the basic approaches in combinatorics (we propose to use the method of compositae for obtaining explicit expression of the coefficients of generating functions). As a result, we also apply this method and develop new ranking and unranking algorithms for the following combinatorial sets: permutations, permutations with ascents, combinations, Dyck paths with return steps, labeled Dyck paths with ascents on return steps. For each of them, we construct an AND/OR tree structure, find a bijection between the elements of the combinatorial set and the set of variants of the AND/OR tree, and develop algorithms for ranking and unranking the variants of the AND/OR tree. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zero-one quadratic programming is a classical combinatorial optimization problem that has many real-world applications. However, it is well known that zero-one quadratic programming is non-deterministic polynomial-hard (NP-hard) in general. On one hand, the exact solution algorithms that can guarantee the global optimum are very time consuming. And on the other hand, the heuristic algorithms that generate the solution quickly can only provide local optimum. Due to this reason, identifying polynomially solvable subclasses of zero-one quadratic programming problems and their corresponding algorithms is a promising way to not only compromise these two sides but also offer theoretical insight into the complicated nature of the problem. By combining the basic algorithm and dynamic programming method, we propose an effective algorithm in this paper to solve the general linearly constrained zero-one quadratic programming problem with a k-diagonal matrix. In our algorithm, the value of k is changeable that covers different subclasses of the problem. The theoretical analysis and experimental results reveal that our proposed algorithm is reasonably effective and efficient. In addition, the placement of the phasor measurement units problem in the power system is adopted as an example to illustrate the potential real-world applications of this algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]