A binary constraint, in mathematical optimization, is a constraint that involves exactly two variables.
For example, consider the n-queens problem, where the goal is to place n chess queens on an n-by-n chessboard such that none of the queens can attack each other (horizontally, vertically, or diagonally). The formal set of constraints are therefore "Queen 1 can't attack Queen 2", "Queen 1 can't attack Queen 3", and so on between all pairs of queens. Each constraint in this problem is binary, in that it only considers the placement of two individual queens. [1]
Linear programs in which all constraints are binary can be solved in strongly polynomial time, a result that is not known to be true for more general linear programs. [2]
The eight queens puzzle is the problem of placing eight chess queens on an 8×8 chessboard so that no two queens threaten each other; thus, a solution requires that no two queens share the same row, column, or diagonal. There are 92 solutions. The problem was first posed in the mid-19th century. In the modern era, it is often used as an example problem for various computer programming techniques.
Linear programming (LP), also called linear optimization, is a method to achieve the best outcome in a mathematical model whose requirements are represented by linear relationships. Linear programming is a special case of mathematical programming.
In computational complexity theory, a decision problem is P-complete if it is in P and every problem in P can be reduced to it by an appropriate reduction.
In computer science, brute-force search or exhaustive search, also known as generate and test, is a very general problem-solving technique and algorithmic paradigm that consists of systematically checking all possible candidates for whether or not each candidate satisfies the problem's statement.
The assignment problem is a fundamental combinatorial optimization problem. In its most general form, the problem is as follows:
In theoretical computer science, the time complexity is the computational complexity that describes the amount of computer time it takes to run an algorithm. Time complexity is commonly estimated by counting the number of elementary operations performed by the algorithm, supposing that each elementary operation takes a fixed amount of time to perform. Thus, the amount of time taken and the number of elementary operations performed by the algorithm are taken to be related by a constant factor.
An integer programming problem is a mathematical optimization or feasibility program in which some or all of the variables are restricted to be integers. In many settings the term refers to integer linear programming (ILP), in which the objective function and the constraints are linear.
In computer science, 2-satisfiability, 2-SAT or just 2SAT is a computational problem of assigning values to variables, each of which has two possible values, in order to satisfy a system of constraints on pairs of variables. It is a special case of the general Boolean satisfiability problem, which can involve constraints on more than two variables, and of constraint satisfaction problems, which can allow more than two choices for the value of each variable. But in contrast to those more general problems, which are NP-complete, 2-satisfiability can be solved in polynomial time.
Curve fitting is the process of constructing a curve, or mathematical function, that has the best fit to a series of data points, possibly subject to constraints. Curve fitting can involve either interpolation, where an exact fit to the data is required, or smoothing, in which a "smooth" function is constructed that approximately fits the data. A related topic is regression analysis, which focuses more on questions of statistical inference such as how much uncertainty is present in a curve that is fit to data observed with random errors. Fitted curves can be used as an aid for data visualization, to infer values of a function where no data are available, and to summarize the relationships among two or more variables. Extrapolation refers to the use of a fitted curve beyond the range of the observed data, and is subject to a degree of uncertainty since it may reflect the method used to construct the curve as much as it reflects the observed data.
The set cover problem is a classical question in combinatorics, computer science, operations research, and complexity theory.
Karmarkar's algorithm is an algorithm introduced by Narendra Karmarkar in 1984 for solving linear programming problems. It was the first reasonably efficient algorithm that solves these problems in polynomial time. The ellipsoid method is also polynomial time but proved to be inefficient in practice.
In constraint satisfaction, local consistency conditions are properties of constraint satisfaction problems related to the consistency of subsets of variables or constraints. They can be used to reduce the search space and make the problem easier to solve. Various kinds of local consistency conditions are leveraged, including node consistency, arc consistency, and path consistency.
In mathematical optimization, constrained optimization is the process of optimizing an objective function with respect to some variables in the presence of constraints on those variables. The objective function is either a cost function or energy function, which is to be minimized, or a reward function or utility function, which is to be maximized. Constraints can be either hard constraints, which set conditions for the variables that are required to be satisfied, or soft constraints, which have some variable values that are penalized in the objective function if, and based on the extent that, the conditions on the variables are not satisfied.
In constraint satisfaction, a decomposition method translates a constraint satisfaction problem into another constraint satisfaction problem that is binary and acyclic. Decomposition methods work by grouping variables into sets, and solving a subproblem for each set. These translations are done because solving binary acyclic problems is a tractable problem.
In mathematics, the relaxation of a (mixed) integer linear program is the problem that arises by removing the integrality constraint of each variable.
The minimum-cost flow problem (MCFP) is an optimization and decision problem to find the cheapest possible way of sending a certain amount of flow through a flow network. A typical application of this problem involves finding the best delivery route from a factory to a warehouse where the road network has some capacity and cost associated. The minimum cost flow problem is one of the most fundamental among all flow and circulation problems because most other such problems can be cast as a minimum cost flow problem and also that it can be solved efficiently using the network simplex algorithm.
Polyhedral combinatorics is a branch of mathematics, within combinatorics and discrete geometry, that studies the problems of counting and describing the faces of convex polyhedra and higher-dimensional convex polytopes.
The quadratic knapsack problem (QKP), first introduced in 19th century, is an extension of knapsack problem that allows for quadratic terms in the objective function: Given a set of items, each with a weight, a value, and an extra profit that can be earned if two items are selected, determine the number of items to include in a collection without exceeding capacity of the knapsack, so as to maximize the overall profit. Usually, quadratic knapsack problems come with a restriction on the number of copies of each kind of item: either 0, or 1. This special type of QKP forms the 0-1 quadratic knapsack problem, which was first discussed by Gallo et al. The 0-1 quadratic knapsack problem is a variation of knapsack problems, combining the features of unbounded knapsack problem, 0-1 knapsack problem and quadratic knapsack problem.
MINimum Relevant Variables in Linear System (Min-RVLS) is a problem in mathematical optimization. Given a linear program, it is required to find a feasible solution in which the number of non-zero variables is as small as possible.
High-multiplicity bin packing is a special case of the bin packing problem, in which the number of different item-sizes is small, while the number of items with each size is large. While the general bin-packing problem is NP-hard, the high-multiplicity setting can be solved in polynomial time, assuming that the number of different sizes is a fixed constant.