New models for and numerical tests of the Hamiltonian p-median problem

Abstract

The Hamiltonian p-median problem (HpMP) was introduced by [Branco90]. It is closely related to two well-known problems, namely the Travelling Salesman problem (TSP) and the Vehicle Routing problem (VRP). The HpMP is to find exactly p node-disjoint cycles of minimum edge cost, such that each node of the graph is contained in exactly one cycle. We present three new models for the HpMP problem which differ with regard to the constraints that enforce a maximum number of cycles. We demonstrate that one of the models (SEC) is dominated by another model (PCON) with regard to the LP relaxation. Further, we introduce a class of symmetry breaking constraints. We present results regarding the quality of the lower bounds provided by the respective LP relaxations for two of the models, and provide computational results that demonstrate the computational efficiency. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.