Combinatorial optimization problems with concave costs

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, Operations Research Center, 2009.

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Stratila, Dan
Other Authors: Thomas Magnanti.
Format: Thesis
Language:eng
Published: Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2009
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/46661
_version_ 1811094451715571712
author Stratila, Dan
author2 Thomas Magnanti.
author_facet Thomas Magnanti.
Stratila, Dan
author_sort Stratila, Dan
collection MIT
description Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, Operations Research Center, 2009.
first_indexed 2024-09-23T16:00:17Z
format Thesis
id mit-1721.1/46661
institution Massachusetts Institute of Technology
language eng
last_indexed 2024-09-23T16:00:17Z
publishDate 2009
publisher Massachusetts Institute of Technology
record_format dspace
spelling mit-1721.1/466612019-04-11T00:36:56Z Combinatorial optimization problems with concave costs Stratila, Dan Thomas Magnanti. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Operations Research Center. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Operations Research Center. Operations Research Center. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, Operations Research Center, 2009. Includes bibliographical references (p. 83-89). In the first part, we study the problem of minimizing a separable concave function over a polyhedron. We assume the concave functions are nonnegative nondecreasing on R+, and the polyhedron is in RI' (these assumptions can be relaxed further under suitable technical conditions). We show how to approximate this problem to 1+ E precision in optimal value by a piecewise linear minimization problem so that the number of resulting pieces is polynomial in the input size of the original problem and linear in 1/c. For several concave cost problems, the resulting piecewise linear problem can be reformulated as a classical combinatorial optimization problem. As a result of our bound, a variety of polynomial-time heuristics, approximation algorithms, and exact algorithms for classical combinatorial optimization problems immediately yield polynomial-time heuristics, approximation algorithms, and fully polynomial-time approximation schemes for the corresponding concave cost problems. For example, we obtain a new approximation algorithm for concave cost facility location, and a new heuristic for concave cost multi commodity flow. In the second part, we study several concave cost problems and the corresponding combinatorial optimization problems. We develop an algorithm design technique that yields a strongly polynomial primal-dual algorithm for a concave cost problem whenever such an algorithm exists for the corresponding combinatorial optimization problem. (cont.) Our technique preserves constant-factor approximation ratios as well as ratios that depend only on certain problem parameters, and exact algorithms yield exact algorithms. For example, we obtain new approximation algorithms for concave cost facility location and concave cost joint replenishment, and a new exact algorithm for concave cost lot-sizing. In the third part, we study a real-time optimization problem arising in the operations of a leading internet retailer. The problem involves the assignment of orders that arrive via the retailer's website to the retailer's warehouses. We model it as a concave cost facility location problem, and employ existing primal-dual algorithms and approximations of concave cost functions to solve it. On past data, we obtain solutions on average within 1.5% of optimality, with running times of less than 100ms per problem. by Dan Stratila. Ph.D. 2009-08-26T17:14:47Z 2009-08-26T17:14:47Z 2009 2009 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/46661 427554148 eng M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 89 p. application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology
spellingShingle Operations Research Center.
Stratila, Dan
Combinatorial optimization problems with concave costs
title Combinatorial optimization problems with concave costs
title_full Combinatorial optimization problems with concave costs
title_fullStr Combinatorial optimization problems with concave costs
title_full_unstemmed Combinatorial optimization problems with concave costs
title_short Combinatorial optimization problems with concave costs
title_sort combinatorial optimization problems with concave costs
topic Operations Research Center.
url http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/46661
work_keys_str_mv AT stratiladan combinatorialoptimizationproblemswithconcavecosts