Length:  20 hours - 4 cfu

Abstract:

Combinatorial Optimization is a huge domain of study, focused on optimization problems with a finite set of solutions.

It has important practical applications to manifold fields, including artificial intelligence, machine learning, routing, scheduling, location, network analysis and design.

As many Combinatorial Optimization problems are NP-hard, heuristics are a natural solution approach.

The teaching surveys the heuristics based on solution manipulations, classifying them into three families:

constructive/destructive heuristics, exchange heuristics and recombination heuristics.

It introduces the fundamental scheme of each family and discusses the properties that determine the efficacy of an algorithm (solution quality) and its efficiency (computational time and space), depending on the problem to which it is applied. It also discusses the introduction of mechanisms based on randomisation and memory, that turn the classical heuristics into the so called metaheuristics.

A part of the teaching is dedicated to the methods to assess the performance of optimisation algorithms.

Dates & Venue

Suggested Readings:

Lecturer:

Prof. Roberto Cordone - Dipartimento di Informatica

Assessor:

Prof. Roberto Cordone - Dipartimento di Informatica