Automated Discovery of Branching Rules with Optimal Complexity for the Maximum Independent Set Problem

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Gao, Xuan-Zhao, Wang, Yi-Jia, Zhang, Pan, Liu, Jin-Guo
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Gao, Xuan-Zhao
Wang, Yi-Jia
Zhang, Pan
Liu, Jin-Guo
author_facet Gao, Xuan-Zhao
Wang, Yi-Jia
Zhang, Pan
Liu, Jin-Guo
contents The branching algorithm is a fundamental technique for designing fast exponential-time algorithms to solve combinatorial optimization problems exactly. It divides the entire solution space into independent search branches using predetermined branching rules, and ignores the search on suboptimal branches to reduce the time complexity. The complexity of a branching algorithm is primarily determined by the branching rules it employs, which are often designed by human experts. In this paper, we show how to automate this process with a focus on the maximum independent set problem. The main contribution is an algorithm that efficiently generate optimal branching rules for a given sub-graph with tens of vertices. Its efficiency enables us to generate the branching rules on-the-fly, which is provably optimal and significantly reduces the number of branches compared to existing methods that rely on expert-designed branching rules. Numerical experiment on 3-regular graphs shows an average complexity of O(1.0441^n) can be achieved, better than any previous methods.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2412_07685
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Automated Discovery of Branching Rules with Optimal Complexity for the Maximum Independent Set Problem
Gao, Xuan-Zhao
Wang, Yi-Jia
Zhang, Pan
Liu, Jin-Guo
Optimization and Control
Data Structures and Algorithms
Combinatorics
The branching algorithm is a fundamental technique for designing fast exponential-time algorithms to solve combinatorial optimization problems exactly. It divides the entire solution space into independent search branches using predetermined branching rules, and ignores the search on suboptimal branches to reduce the time complexity. The complexity of a branching algorithm is primarily determined by the branching rules it employs, which are often designed by human experts. In this paper, we show how to automate this process with a focus on the maximum independent set problem. The main contribution is an algorithm that efficiently generate optimal branching rules for a given sub-graph with tens of vertices. Its efficiency enables us to generate the branching rules on-the-fly, which is provably optimal and significantly reduces the number of branches compared to existing methods that rely on expert-designed branching rules. Numerical experiment on 3-regular graphs shows an average complexity of O(1.0441^n) can be achieved, better than any previous methods.
title Automated Discovery of Branching Rules with Optimal Complexity for the Maximum Independent Set Problem
topic Optimization and Control
Data Structures and Algorithms
Combinatorics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2412.07685