求解TSP问题的多级归约算法

TSP(traveling salesman problem)问题是最经典的NP-hard组合优化问题之一.长期以来,人们一直在寻求快速、高效的近似算法,以便在合理的计算时间内解决大规模问题.由于对较大规模的问题,目前的近似算法尚不能在较短的时间内给出高质量的解,因此提出了多重归约算法.该算法的基本原理是通过对TSP问题的局部最优解与全局最优解之间关系的分析,发现对局部最优解的简单的相交操作能以很高的概率得到全局最优解的部分解.利用这些部分解可以大大缩小原问题的搜索空间,同时也不会降低搜索的性能.这就是所谓的归约原理.再通过多次归约使问题的规模降到足够小,然后对这个较小规模的实例直接用已有的算法求解,最后通过相反的次序拼接部分解,最终得到一个合法的解.在TSPLIB(traveling salesman problem library)中,典型实例上的实验结果表明,此算法在求解质量和求解速度上与目前已知的算法相比有较大的改进.     

SizeScale:求解旅行商问题(TSP)的新算法

旅行商（TSP）问题是组合优化中最典型的NP－Hard问题之一，目前关于该问题的启发式算法主要分布为两类：环路构造算法和环路改进算法，对于第1类算法，首次提出了在环路构造中成批加入顶点，同时在构造过程对环路进行局部优化的思想，由上得到了一种新的算法：SizeScale-Construct，它的解质量极大地改进了现有的环路构造算法，对于2类算法，在分析局部最优解与全局最优解之间关系的基础上，提出了另一个采用局部最优解的交集作为初始环路的新算法：SizeScale-Improve，实验结果表明该算法在解的质量和求解速度上都较大地改进了现有最好的环路改进算法；另一方面，理论上对于最坏情况和平均情况时间复杂度的分析表明这两个算法是实用的。     

求解k中间点问题的新局部搜索算法

为有效求解大规模k中间点问题,利用适应度距离相关性方法分析,发现该问题局部最优解的适应度与其到全局最优解的距离无太大关系,且多个局部最优解求交所得子集以极大概率包含全局最优解中的元素,进而提出一种基于求交操作的k中间点问题局部搜索算法。实验结果表明该算法在求解质量上与目前已知算法相比有较大改进。     

图着色问题的一个最小冲突权值学习算法

图着色问题(GCP)是NP完全问题．近年来求解GCP的启发式局部搜索算法引起人们的关注,GSAT是最著名的局部搜索算法之一．许多局部搜索算法引入跳出局部极小的机制来提高搜索效率,权值学习是一种被广泛采用的方式之一．我们从一些权值学习局部搜索算法抽象出一个通用的权值学习算法(SWLA),进一步把SWLA和GSAT相结合提出了最小冲突权值学习算法(MCWLA),算法还应用还原策略和“权值交叉”算子来提高搜索后期的效率．算法在求解一些难解测试范例时显示出较高的效率,能求得GSAT及SWLA无法求得的最优解．     

柔性作业车间调度问题的多目标优化算法

柔性作业车间调度问题具有解集多样化与解空间复杂的特点,传统多目标优化算法求解时容易陷入局部最优且丢失解的多样性。在建立以最大完工时间、最大能耗、机器总负荷为优化目标的柔性作业车间调度模型的情况下,提出一种改进的非支配排序遗传算法（Improved Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II, INSGA-II）求解该模型。INSGA-II算法先将随机式初始化与启发式初始化方法混合,提高种群多样性;然后对工序部分与机器部分采用针对性的交叉、变异策略,提高算法全局搜索能力;最后设计自适应的交叉、变异算子以兼顾算法的全局收敛与局部寻优能力。在mk01～mk07标准数据集上的实验结果显示INSGA-II算法有着更优的算法收敛性与解集多样性。     

一种结合局部搜索策略的求解TSP的演化算法

介绍了一种结合局部搜索策略的求解流动旅行商问题（TSP）的演化算法。该算法的主要思想是将局部搜索策略在邻域内搜索的快速性与演化方法在全局搜索上的鲁棒性结合起来，从而跳离局部最优。将该算法用于TSPLIB中部分TSP实例上的试验结果表明：与传统的各种求解TSP的演化方法相比，该算法在获得全局最优解的精确度上有了一定的改善。     

求解TSP的改进信息素二次更新与局部优化蚁群算法

针对蚁群（ACO）算法收敛速度慢、容易陷入局部最优的缺陷,提出了一种改进信息素二次更新局部优化蚁群算法（IPDULACO）。该算法对蚁群搜索到的当前全局最优解中路径贡献度大于给定的路径贡献阈值的子路径信息素进行二次更新,以提高构成潜在最优解的子路径被选择的概率,从而加快算法的收敛。然后,在搜索过程中,当蚁群陷入局部最优时,使用随机插入法对局部最优解中城市的排序进行调整,以增强算法跳出局部最优解的能力。将改进算法应用于若干经典的旅行售货商问题（TSP）进行仿真实验,实验结果表明,对于小规模的TSP,IPDULACO可以在较少的迭代次数内获得已知最优解;对于较大规模的TSP,IPDULACO可以在较少的迭代次数内获得更精确的解。因此,IPDULACO具有更强的搜索全局最优解的能力和更快的收敛速度,可以高效求解TSP。     

一种多目标不等面积设施布局问题的启发式算法

多目标不等面积设施布局问题（UA-FLP）是将一些不等面积设施放置在车间内进行布局,要求优化多个目标并满足一定的限制条件。以物料搬运成本最小和非物流关系强度最大来建立生产车间的多目标优化模型,并提出一种启发式算法进行求解。算法采用启发式布局更新策略更新构型,通过结合基于自适应步长梯度法的局部搜索机制和启发式设施变形策略来处理设施之间的干涉性约束。为了得到问题的Pareto最优解集,提出了基于Pareto优化的局部搜索和基于小生境技术的全局优化方法。通过两个典型算例对算法性能进行测试,实验结果表明,所提出的启发式算法是求解多目标UA-FLP的有效方法。     

混合启发式算法在排课问题上的应用

对排课问题做出了形式化描述,提出了一种用于排课的混合启发式算法,该算法合并使用了模拟退火和迭代局部搜索两种算法。先依据图着色算法产生初始可行解,然后应用模拟退火算法寻找最优解,为使算法更好地跳出局部最优,实现全局搜索,在模拟退火算法应用过程中,迭代使用两个邻域,标准邻域和双Kempe链邻域。实验结果表明,此算法能够很好地提高解的质量。     

蚁群算法的优化及在TSP问题上的应用

蚁群算法是一种模仿真实蚂蚁群集体行为的全局启发式随机搜索算法．目前蚁群算法存在易陷入局部最优、搜索时间长等问题。提出一种改进的蚁群算法,加入扰动策略、挥发因子动态调整策略以避免算法陷入局部最优值．采用奖励策略提高搜索效率。通过在旅行商问题上验证得知,改进后的算法可以获得已知最优值,与最大最小蚁群算法相比,解的平均值、出现最优值的概率都有提高。     

基于斐波那契树优化算法的切削参数多方案优化方法

针对切削参数优化问题,以生产成本最小化为优化目标,基于斐波那契法最优化原理与黄金分割法,提出斐波那契树优化算法(FTO)进行优化求解.该算法通过全局探索与局部寻优交替进行,达到快速收敛到全局最优解的目的,避免陷入局部最优;通过设置距离参数保留多个有价值的全局最优解和局部最优解,可以一次性得到多个全局最优的优化设计方案.8个典型多峰函数的测试结果表明,FTO算法具有较强的全局寻优能力和较高的寻优精度.利用FTO算法对切削参数进行优化,仿真结果表明,所提出算法能够找到多个满足约束条件的切削参数优化结果.采用多方案优化方法不仅能一次性得到多个生产成本最低的最优解,还能给出切削参数的优化组合取值.多方案优化方法使优化算法应用于工程优化问题具有现实意义.     

A NEW APPROACH TO THE VERTEX COLORING PROBLEM

The vertex coloring problem is a well-known classical optimization problem in graph theory in which a color is assigned to each vertex of the graph in such a way that no two adjacent vertices have the same color. The minimum vertex coloring problem is known to be an NP-hard problem in an arbitrary graph, and a host of approximation solutions are available. In this article, a learning automata–based approximation algorithm is proposed to solve the minimum vertex coloring problem. The proposed algorithm iteratively finds the different possible colorings of the graph and compares it at each stage with the best coloring found so far. If the number of distinct colors in the chosen coloring is less than that of the best coloring, the chosen coloring is rewarded; otherwise, it is penalized. Convergence of the proposed algorithm to the optimal solution is proven. The proposed vertex coloring algorithm is compared with the well-known coloring techniques and the results show the superiority of the proposed algorithm over the others both in terms of the color set size and running time of algorithm.     

A graph coloring heuristic using partial solutions and a reactive tabu scheme

Most of the recent heuristics for the graph coloring problem start from an infeasible k-coloring (adjacent vertices may have the same color) and try to make the solution feasible through a sequence of color exchanges. In contrast, our approach (called FOO-PARTIALCOL), which is based on tabu search, considers feasible but partial solutions and tries to increase the size of the current partial solution. A solution consists of k disjoint stable sets (and, therefore, is a feasible, partial k-coloring) and a set of uncolored vertices. We introduce a reactive tabu tenure which substantially enhances the performance of both our heuristic as well as the classical tabu algorithm (called TABUCOL) proposed by Hertz and de Werra [Using tabu search techniques for graph coloring, Computing 1987;39:345–51]. We will report numerical results on different benchmark graphs and we will observe that FOO-PARTIALCOL, though very simple, outperforms TABUCOL on some instances, provides very competitive results on a set of benchmark graphs which are known to be difficult, and outperforms the best-known methods on the graph flat300_28_0. For this graph, FOO-PARTIALCOL finds an optimal coloring with 28 colors. The best coloring achieved to date uses 31 colors. Algorithms very close to TABUCOL are still used as intensification procedures in the best coloring methods, which are evolutionary heuristics. FOO-PARTIALCOL could then be a powerful alternative. In conclusion FOO-PARTIALCOL is one of the most efficient simple local search coloring methods yet available.     

一种自适应变步长的Alopex算法

Alopex算法是一种启发式与随机优化相结合的算法.本文在改进的Alopex算法的基础上,提出了一种具有自适应能力的变步长的Alopex算法,使其能够更好的跳出局部最优解和逼近全局最优解;并且为了进一步提高改进的Alopex算法的逼近精度以及消除该算法在后期可能出现的振荡现象,提出了一种合理的改变δ_(in)的方法.仿真试验表明,这种改进是可行的,而且是有效的.     

A hierarchical parallel genetic approach for the graph coloring problem

Graph Coloring Problems (GCPs) are constraint optimization problems with various applications including time tabling and frequency allocation. The GCP consists in finding the minimum number of colors for coloring the graph vertices such that adjacent vertices have distinct colors. We propose a hierarchical approach based on Parallel Genetic Algorithms (PGAs) to solve the GCP. We call this new approach Hierarchical PGAs (HPGAs). In addition, we have developed a new operator designed to improve PGAs when solving constraint optimization problems in general and GCPs in particular. We call this new operator Genetic Modification (GM). Using the properties of variables and their relations, GM generates good individuals at each iteration and inserts them into the PGA population in the hope of reaching the optimal solution sooner. In the case of the GCP, the GM operator is based on a novel Variable Ordering Algorithm (VOA) that we propose. Together with the new crossover and the estimator of the initial solution we have developed, GM allows our solving approach to converge towards the optimal solution sooner than the well known methods for solving the GCP, even for hard instances. This was indeed clearly demonstrated by the experiments we conducted on the GCP instances taken from the well known DIMACS website.     

Hybrid evolutionary algorithm with extreme machine learning fitness function evaluation for two-stage capacitated facility location problems

This paper considers the two-stage capacitated facility location problem (TSCFLP) in which products manufactured in plants are delivered to customers via storage depots. Customer demands are satisfied subject to limited plant production and limited depot storage capacity. The objective is to determine the locations of plants and depots in order to minimize the total cost including the fixed cost and transportation cost. However, the problem is known to be NP-hard. A practicable exact algorithm is impossible to be developed. In order to solve large-sized problems encountered in the practical decision process, an efficient alternative approximate method becomes more valuable. This paper aims to propose a hybrid evolutionary algorithm framework with machine learning fitness approximation for delivering better solutions in a reasonable amount of computational time. In our study, genetic operators are adopted to perform the search process and a local search strategy is used to refine the best solution found in the population. To avoid the expensive consumption of computational time during the fitness evaluating process, the framework uses extreme machine learning to approximate the fitness of most individuals. Moreover, two heuristics based on the characteristics of the problem is incorporated to generate a good initial population. Computational experiments are performed on two sets of test instances from the recent literature. The performance of the proposed algorithm is evaluated and analyzed. Compared with other algorithms in the literature, the proposed algorithm can find the optimal or near-optimal solutions in a reasonable amount of computational time. By employing the proposed algorithm, facilities can be positioned more efficiently, which means the fixed cost and the transportation cost can be decreased significantly, and organizations can enhance competitiveness by using the optimized facility location scheme.     

Scheduling Sport Tournaments using Constraint Logic Programming

We tackle the problem of scheduling the matches of a round robin tournament for a sport league. We formally define the problem, state its computational complexity, and present a solution algorithm using a two-step approach. The first step is the creation of a tournament pattern and is based on known graph-theoretic results. The second one is an assignment problem and it is solved using a constraint-based depth-first branch and bound procedure that assigns actual teams to numbers in the pattern. The procedure is implemented using the finite domain library of the constraint logic programming language \eclipse. Experimental results show that, in practical cases, the optimal solution of the assignment problem (which is not necessarily optimal for the overall problem) can be found in reasonable time, despite the fact that the problem is NP-complete. In addition, a local search procedure has been developed in order to provide, when necessary, an approximate solution in shorter time.     

Iterated Local Search for single-machine scheduling with sequence-dependent setup times to minimize total weighted tardiness

We present an Iterated Local Search (ILS) algorithm for solving the single-machine scheduling problem with sequence-dependent setup times to minimize the total weighted tardiness. The proposed ILS algorithm exhibits several distinguishing features, including a new neighborhood structure called Block Move and a fast incremental evaluation technique, for evaluating neighborhood solutions. Applying the proposed algorithm to solve 120 public benchmark instances widely used in the literature, we achieve highly competitive results compared with a recently proposed exact algorithm and five sets of best solutions of state-of-the-art metaheuristic algorithms in the literature. Specifically, ILS obtains the optimal solutions for 113 instances within a reasonable time, and it outperforms the previous best-known results obtained by metaheuristic algorithms for 34 instances and matches the best results for 82 instances. In addition, ILS is able to obtain the optimal solutions for the remaining seven instances under a relaxed time limit, and its computational efficiency is comparable with the state-of-the-art exact algorithm by Tanaka and Araki (Comput Oper Res 40:344–352, 2013). Finally, on analyzing some important features that affect the performance of ILS, we ascertain the significance of the proposed Block Move neighborhood and the fast incremental evaluation technique.     

Backbone analysis and algorithm design for the quadratic assignment problem

As the hot line in NP-hard problems research in recent years, backbone analysis is crucial for phase transition, hardness, and algorithm design. Whereas theoretical analysis of backbone and its applications in algorithm design are still at a begin- ning state yet, this paper took the quadratic assignment problem （QAP） as a case study and proved by theoretical analysis that it is NP-hard to find the backbone, i.e., no algorithm exists to obtain the backbone of a QAP in polynomial time. Results of this paper showed that it is reasonable to acquire approximate backbone by inter- section of local optimal solutions. Furthermore, with the method of constructing biased instances, this paper proposed a new meta-heuristic -- biased instance based approximate backbone （BI-AB）, whose basic idea is as follows： firstly, construct a new biased instance for every QAP instance （the optimal solution of the new instance is also optimal for the original one）; secondly, the approximate backbone is obtained by intersection of multiple local optimal solutions computed by some existing algorithm; finally, search for the optimal solutions in the reduced space by fixing the approximate backbone. Work of the paper enhanced the research area of theoretical analysis of backbone. The meta-heuristic proposed in this paper provided a new way for general algorithm design of NP-hard problems as well.