A polynomial-time algorithm for near-unanimity graphs

We present a simple polynomial-time algorithm that recognises reflexive, symmetric graphs admitting a near-unanimity operation. Several other characterisations of these graphs are also presented.     

A scatter search algorithm for the distributed permutation flowshop scheduling problem

The distributed permutation flowshop problem has been recently proposed as a generalization of the regular flowshop setting where more than one factory is available to process jobs. Distributed manufacturing is a common situation for large enterprises that compete in a globalized market. The problem has two dimensions: assigning jobs to factories and scheduling the jobs assigned to each factory. Despite being recently introduced, this interesting scheduling problem has attracted attention and several heuristic and metaheuristic methods have been proposed in the literature. In this paper we present a scatter search (SS) method for this problem to optimize makespan. SS has seldom been explored for flowshop settings. In the proposed algorithm we employ some advanced techniques like a reference set made up of complete and partial solutions along with other features like restarts and local search. A comprehensive computational campaign including 10 existing algorithms, together with statistical analyses, shows that the proposed scatter search algorithm produces better results than existing algorithms by a significant margin. Moreover all 720 known best solutions for this problem are improved.     

A polynomial-time algorithm for finding zero-sums

Erdös, Ginzburg and Ziv proved that any sequence of 2n−1 (not necessary distinct) members of the cyclic group Z_n contains a subsequence of length n the sum of whose elements is congruent to zero modulo n. There are several proofs of this celebrated theorem which combine combinatorial and algebraic ideas. Our main result is an alternative and constructive proof of this result. From this proof, we deduce a polynomial-time algorithm for finding a zero-sum n-sequence of the given (2n−1)-sequence of an abelian group G with n elements (a fortiori for Z_n). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first efficient algorithm for finding zero-sum n-sequences.     

A polynomial-time algorithm for the change-making problem

Optimally making change—representing a given value with the fewest coins from a set of denominations—is in general NP-hard. In most real money systems however, the greedy algorithm is optimal. We give a polynomial-time algorithm to determine, for a given coin system, whether the greedy algorithm is optimal.     

On the strong chromatic index and maximum induced matching of tree-cographs,permutation graphs and chordal bipartite graphs

We show that there exist linear-time algorithms that compute the strong chromatic index and a maximum induced matching of tree-cographs when the decomposition tree is a part of the input. We also show that there exist efficient algorithms for the strong chromatic index of (bipartite) permutation graphs and of chordal bipartite graphs.     

A computational study with a new algorithm for the three-machine permutation flow-shop problem with release times

We consider the three-machine permutation flow-shop scheduling problem with release times where the objective is to minimize the maximum completion time. A special solvable case is found for the F2/r_j/C_max problem, which sharpens the boundary between easy and hard cases and can be used to compute a tight lower bound for our problem. Two dominance rules are generalized and applied to generating initial schedules, directing the search strategy and decomposing the problem into smaller ones. The branch and bound algorithm proposed here combines an adaptive branching rule with a fuzzy search strategy to narrow the search tree and lead the search to an optimal solution as early as possible. Our extensive numerical experiments have led to a classification of ‘easy' vs. ‘hard' problems, dependent only on the relative size of the release times. The algorithm has quickly solved approximately 90% of the hardest test problem instances with up to 200 jobs and 100% of the large problems classified as easy.     

The harmonious coloring problem is NP-complete for interval and permutation graphs

In this paper, we prove that the harmonious coloring problem is NP-complete for connected interval and permutation graphs. Given a simple graph G, a harmonious coloring of G is a proper vertex coloring such that each pair of colors appears together on at most one edge. The harmonious chromatic number is the least integer k for which G admits a harmonious coloring with k colors. Extending previous work on the NP-completeness of the harmonious coloring problem when restricted to the class of disconnected graphs which are simultaneously cographs and interval graphs, we prove that the problem is also NP-complete for connected interval and permutation graphs.     

A simple algorithm to detect balance in signed graphs

We develop a natural correspondence between marked graphs and balanced signed graphs, and exploit it to obtain a simple linear time algorithm by which any signed graph may be tested for balance.     

A linear-time algorithm for the longest path problem in rectangular grid graphs

The longest path problem is a well-known NP-hard problem and so far it has been solved polynomially only for a few classes of graphs. In this paper, we give a linear-time algorithm for finding a longest path between any two given vertices in a rectangular grid graph.     

A polynomial algorithm to compute the minimum degree spanning trees of directed acyclic graphs with applications to the broadcast problem

In this paper, we focus on the directed minimum degree spanning tree problem and the minimum time broadcast problem. Firstly, we propose a polynomial time algorithm for the minimum degree spanning tree problem in directed acyclic graphs. The algorithm starts with an arbitrary spanning tree, and iteratively reduces the number of vertices of maximum degree. We can prove that the algorithm must reduce a vertex of the maximum degree for each phase, and finally result in an optimal tree. The algorithm terminates in O(mnlogn) time, where m and n are the numbers of edges and vertices of the graph, respectively. Moreover, we apply the new algorithm to the minimum time broadcast problem. Two consequences for directed acyclic graphs are: (1) the problem under the vertex-disjoint paths mode can be approximated within a factor of of the optimum in O(mnlogn)-time; (2) the problem under the edge-disjoint paths mode can be approximated within a factor of O(Δ^*/logΔ^*) of the optimum in O(mnlogn)-time, where Δ^* is the minimum k such that there is a spanning tree of the graph with maximum degree k.     

Permutation decoding for binary codes from lattice graphs

By finding explicit PD sets, we show that permutation decoding can be used for the binary code obtained from the row span over the field F₂ of an adjacency matrix of the lattice graph L₂(n) for any n?5.     

A particle swarm optimization algorithm for makespan and total flowtime minimization in the permutation flowshop sequencing problem

In this paper, a particle swarm optimization algorithm (PSO) is presented to solve the permutation flowshop sequencing problem (PFSP) with the objectives of minimizing makespan and the total flowtime of jobs. For this purpose, a heuristic rule called the smallest position value (SPV) borrowed from the random key representation of Bean [J.C. Bean, Genetic algorithm and random keys for sequencing and optimization, ORSA Journal of Computing 6(2) (1994) 154–160] was developed to enable the continuous particle swarm optimization algorithm to be applied to all classes of sequencing problems. In addition, a very efficient local search, called variable neighborhood search (VNS), was embedded in the PSO algorithm to solve the well known benchmark suites in the literature. The PSO algorithm was applied to both the 90 benchmark instances provided by Taillard [E. Taillard, Benchmarks for basic scheduling problems, European Journal of Operational Research, 64 (1993) 278–285], and the 14,000 random, narrow random and structured benchmark instances provided by Watson et al. [J.P. Watson, L. Barbulescu, L.D. Whitley, A.E. Howe, Contrasting structured and random permutation flowshop scheduling problems: Search space topology and algorithm performance, ORSA Journal of Computing 14(2) (2002) 98–123]. For makespan criterion, the solution quality was evaluated according to the best known solutions provided either by Taillard, or Watson et al. The total flowtime criterion was evaluated with the best known solutions provided by Liu and Reeves [J. Liu, C.R. Reeves, Constructive and composite heuristic solutions to the P∥∑C_i scheduling problem, European Journal of Operational Research 132 (2001) 439–452], and Rajendran and Ziegler [C. Rajendran, H. Ziegler, Ant-colony algorithms for permutation flowshop scheduling to minimize makespan/total flowtime of jobs, European Journal of Operational Research, 155(2) (2004) 426–438]. For the total flowtime criterion, 57 out of the 90 best known solutions reported by Liu and Reeves, and Rajendran and Ziegler were improved whereas for the makespan criterion, 195 out of the 800 best known solutions for the random and narrow random problems reported by Watson et al. were improved by the VNS version of the PSO algorithm.     

Cooperative metaheuristics for the permutation flowshop scheduling problem

In this work, we propose cooperative metaheuristic methods for the permutation flowshop scheduling problem considering two objectives separately: total tardiness and makespan. We use the island model where each island runs an instance of the algorithm and communications start when the islands have reached certain level of evolution, that is, communication is not allowed from the beginning of the execution. Subsequent ones occur when new better solutions are found. We carry out an exhaustive comparison of the cooperative methods against the sequential counterparts running in completely comparable scenarios. Results have been carefully analysed by means of statistical procedures and we can conclude that the cooperative methods yield much better results than the sequential algorithms and state-of-the-art methods running in the same number of processors but without communications. The proposed cooperative schemes are easy to apply to other algorithms and problems.     

Revisiting a simple algorithm for the planar multiterminal cut problem

Yeh (2001) [W.-C. Yeh, A simple algorithm for the planar multiway cut problem, J. Algorithms 39 (2001) 68-77] described a simple algorithm with time complexity for the planar minimum k-terminal cut problem. In this paper, an example showing that the algorithm could fail to return a minimum k-cut is given.     

Coloring permutation graphs in parallel

A coloring of a graph G is an assignment of colors to its vertices so that no two adjacent vertices have the same color. We study the problem of coloring permutation graphs using certain properties of the lattice representation of a permutation and relationships between permutations, directed acyclic graphs and rooted trees having specific key properties. We propose an efficient parallel algorithm which colors an n-node permutation graph in O(log² n) time using O(n²/log n) processors on the CREW PRAM model. Specifically, given a permutation π we construct a tree T^*[π], which we call coloring-permutation tree, using certain combinatorial properties of π. We show that the problem of coloring a permutation graph is equivalent to finding vertex levels in the coloring-permutation tree.     

Enhanced migrating birds optimization algorithm for the permutation flow shop problem with sequence dependent setup times

This paper presents an enhanced migrating bird optimization (MBO) algorithm and a new heuristic for solving a scheduling problem. The proposed approaches are applied to a permutation flowshop with sequence dependent setup times and the objective of minimizing the makespan. In order to augment the MBOs intensification capacity, an original problem specific heuristic is introduced. An adapted neighborhood, a tabu list, a restart mechanism and an original process for selecting a new leader also improved the MBO’s behavior. Using benchmarks from the literature, the resulting enhanced MBO (EMBO) gives state-of-the-art results when compared with other algorithms reference. A statistical analysis of the numerical experiments confirms the relative efficiency and effectiveness of both EMBO and the new heuristic.     

Two characterisations of the minimal triangulations of permutation graphs

A minimal triangulation of a graph is a chordal supergraph with an inclusion-minimal edge set. Minimal triangulations are obtained from adding edges only to minimal separators, completing minimal separators into cliques. Permutation graphs are the comparability graphs whose complements are also comparability graphs. Permutation graphs can be characterised as the intersection graphs of specially arranged line segments in the plane, which is called a permutation diagram. The minimal triangulations of permutation graphs are known to be interval graphs, and they can be obtained from permutation diagrams by applying a geometric operation, that corresponds to the completion of separators into cliques. We precisely specify this geometric completion process to obtain minimal triangulations, and we completely characterise those interval graphs that are minimal triangulations of permutation graphs.     

图的割宽最大值问题

§ 1　IntroductionThe cutwidth minimization problem for graphs arises from the circuitlayout of VLSIdesigns[1 ] .Chung pointed outthatthe cutwidth often corresponds to the area of the layoutin array layout in VLSI design[2 ] .In the layout models,the cutwidth problem deals withthe number of edges passing over a vertex when all vertices are arranged in a path.For agraph G with vertex set V(G) and edge set E(G) ,a labeling of G is a one-to-one mapping ffrom V(G) to the integers.The cutwid…