Modern network interdiction problems and algorithms

Abstract

A network interdiction problem usually involves two players who compete in a min-max or max-min game. One player, the network owner, tries to optimize its objective over the network, for example, as measured by a shortest path, maximum flow, or minimum cost flow. The opposing player, called the interdictor, alters the owner's network to maximally impair the owner's objective (e.g., by destroying arcs that maximize the owner's shortest path). This chapter summarizes the impressive recent development of this field. The first part of this chapter emphasizes interdiction foundations, applications, and emerging research areas. The links between this field and business competition models are then developed, followed by a comparison of interdiction research with parallel developments in robust optimization and survivable network design.