Collaborative optimization under a control framework for ATSP

Abstract

A collaborative optimization algorithm under a control framework is developed for the asymmetric traveling salesman problem (ATSP). The collaborative approach is not just a simple combination of two methods, but a deep collaboration in a manner like the feedback control. A notable feature of the approach is to make use of the collaboration to reduce the search space while maintaining the optimality. Compared with the previous work of the reduction procedure by Carpaneto, Dell'Amico et al. (1995) we designed a tighter and more generalized reduction procedure to make the collaborative method more powerful. Computational experiments on benchmark problems are given to exemplify the approach. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.