05C21 Flows in graphs
Refine
Language
- English (5)
Keywords
- Measure Theory (3)
- Linear Programming in Measure Spaces (2)
- Shortest Path Problem (2)
- Borel flow (1)
- Duality Theory (1)
- Extreme Points (1)
- FPTAS (1)
- Flow over Time (1)
- Infinite dimensional linear programming (1)
- MaxFlow-MinCut (1)
Project
- B18 (5)
Application Area
- B (5)
Flows over time generalize classical ``static'' network flows by introducing a temporal dimension. They can thus be used to model non-instantaneous travel times for flow and variation of flow values over time, both of which are crucial characteristics in many real-world routing problems. There exist two different models of flows over time with respect to flow conservation: one where flow might be stored temporarily at intermediate nodes and a stricter model where flow entering an intermediate node must instantaneously progress to the next arc. While the first model is in general easier to handle, the second model is often more realistic since in applications like, e.\,g., road traffic, storage of flow at intermediate nodes is undesired or even prohibited. The main contribution of this paper is a fully polynomial time approximation scheme (FPTAS) for (min-cost) multi-commodity flows over time without intermediate storage. This improves upon the best previously known $(2+\varepsilon)$-approximation algorithm presented 10 years ago by Fleischer and Skutella (IPCO~2002).
Network flows over time form a fascinating area of research. They model the temporal
dynamics of network flow problems occurring in a wide variety of
applications. Research in this area has been pursued in two different and mainly independent
directions with respect to time modeling: discrete and continuous time models.
In this paper we deploy measure theory in order to introduce a general model of network flows over time combining both discrete and continuous aspects into a single model. Here, the flow on each arc is modeled as a Borel measure on the real line (time axis) which assigns to each
suitable subset a real value, interpreted as the amount of
flow entering the arc over the subset. We focus on the maximum flow problem formulated in a network where capacities on arcs are also given as Borel measures and storage might be allowed at the nodes of the network. We generalize the concept of cuts to the case of these Borel Flows and extend the famous MaxFlow-MinCut Theorem.
This paper concerns the shortest path problem for a network in which arc costs can vary with
time, each arc has a transit time, parking with a corresponding
time-varying cost is allowed at the nodes, and time is modeled as a continuum. The resulting problem is called the {\em continuous-time dynamic shortest path problem}, which is well studied in the literature. However, the problem appears as a subproblem when one wishes to test, via an algorithm for dynamic shortest paths, the presence of negative cycles in the residual network in order to develop continuous-time analogues of several well-known optimality conditions for continuous-time dynamic network flow problems. But, in general, the residual network contains arcs with negative transit times and hence the results in the literature are useless for these purposes since all results are based on the assumption of positive transit times.
In this paper, we relax this condition to allow negative transit times. We study a corresponding linear program in space of measures and prove the existence of an optimal extreme point solution. Moreover, we define a dual problem and establish a strong duality result that shows under certain assumptions that the value of the linear program equals the value of the dual problem and both values are attained. We also present counterexamples to show that strong duality only holds under these assumptions.
We consider the dynamic shortest path problem in the continuous-time model because of its importance. This problem has been extensively studied in the literature. But so far, all contributions to this problem are based on the assumption that all transit times are strictly positive. However, in order to study dynamic network flows it is essential to support negative transit times since they occur quite naturally in residual networks.
In this paper we extend the work of Philpott [SIAM Control Opt.,~1994, pp.~538--552] to the case of arbitrary (also negative and irrational) transit times. We study a corresponding linear program in a space of measures and give a full characterization of its extreme points. In particular, we show a one-to-one correspondence between extreme points and dynamic paths.
Research on flows over time has been conducted mainly in two separate and mainly independent approaches, namely \emph{discrete} and \emph{continuous} models, depending on whether a discrete or continuous representation of time is used. Recently, Borel flows have been introduced to build a bridge between these two models.
In this paper, we consider the maximum Borel flow problem formulated in a network where capacities on arcs are given as Borel measures and storage might be allowed at the nodes of the network. This problem is formulated as a linear program in a space of measures. We define a dual problem and prove a strong duality result. We show that strong duality is closely related to a MaxFlow-MinCut Theorem.