Median Cycle Problem


In the Median Cycle Problem the aim is to determine a simple cycle containing a subset of vertices of a graph, while considering two types of cost: routing costs associated with the cycle itself, and the cost of assigning vertices not on the cycle to vertices of the cycle. Two versions of the problem are investigated. In the first, the objective function is the sum of routing and assignment costs. In the second, routing costs are minimized, subject to an upper bound on the total assignment cost. The two versions are formulated as integer linear programs. The polyhedral structure of the first model is analyzed and the second model is strengthened through the introduction of additional valid inequalities. Separation procedures are developed. Heuristic procedures and an exact branch-and-cut algorithm are described. Computational results on benchmark instances and on randomly generated problems confirm the efficiency of the proposed algorithms.

My contributions with M. Labbé, G. Laporte and I. Rodríguez are:


  • The Median Cycle Problem, working paper University of Montreal, may 1999.