Efficiently computing weighted tree edit distance using relaxation labeling

Abstract

This paper investigates an approach to tree edit distance problem with weighted nodes. We show that any tree obtained with a sequence of cut and relabel operations is a subtree of the transitive closure of the original tree. Furthermore, we show that the necessary condition for any subtree to be a solution can be reduced to a clique problem in a derived structure. Using this idea we transform the tree edit distance problem into a series of maximum weight clique problems and then we use relaxation labeling to find an approximate solution.