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Main Authors: Basso, Saverio, Salani, Matteo
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.03760
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author Basso, Saverio
Salani, Matteo
author_facet Basso, Saverio
Salani, Matteo
contents In this work, we investigate whether machine learning can be leveraged to identify promising states in dynamic programming algorithms, focusing on Elementary Resource Constrained Shortest Path Problems (ERCSPP). More in detail, we solved 41 single resource instances from SPPRCLIB using iterative relaxation techniques through the PathWyse library, systematically collecting all generated states (i.e. labels). We designed ad-hoc features computable in constant time and constructed two datasets: one containing all generated labels (G) and another with only those inserted into data pools (I), totaling several hundred million labels. Machine learning tools are then employed to explore these datasets, revealing significant patterns between successive relaxations. Leveraging these insights, we propose a normalization approach and apply supervised learning techniques to distinguish dominating states, both within subsequent relaxations of the same problem and in previously unseen instances. Our results demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach on Dataset G, while for Dataset I, performance varies, showing strong results within the same instance but declining for unseen ones. Overall, these findings open new perspectives for the development of data-driven dynamic programming algorithms.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_03760
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Learning Dominant States in Elementary Resource Constrained Shortest Path Problems
Basso, Saverio
Salani, Matteo
Optimization and Control
90C39, 90B10
G.2.2
In this work, we investigate whether machine learning can be leveraged to identify promising states in dynamic programming algorithms, focusing on Elementary Resource Constrained Shortest Path Problems (ERCSPP). More in detail, we solved 41 single resource instances from SPPRCLIB using iterative relaxation techniques through the PathWyse library, systematically collecting all generated states (i.e. labels). We designed ad-hoc features computable in constant time and constructed two datasets: one containing all generated labels (G) and another with only those inserted into data pools (I), totaling several hundred million labels. Machine learning tools are then employed to explore these datasets, revealing significant patterns between successive relaxations. Leveraging these insights, we propose a normalization approach and apply supervised learning techniques to distinguish dominating states, both within subsequent relaxations of the same problem and in previously unseen instances. Our results demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach on Dataset G, while for Dataset I, performance varies, showing strong results within the same instance but declining for unseen ones. Overall, these findings open new perspectives for the development of data-driven dynamic programming algorithms.
title Learning Dominant States in Elementary Resource Constrained Shortest Path Problems
topic Optimization and Control
90C39, 90B10
G.2.2
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.03760