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Exploiting Dual Degeneracy in Branching

Please always quote using this URN: urn:nbn:de:0297-zib-73028
  • Branch-and-bound methods for mixed-integer programming (MIP) are traditionally based on solving a linear programming (LP) relaxation and branching on a variable which takes a fractional value in the (single) computed relaxation optimum. In this paper, we study branching strategies for mixed-integer programs that exploit the knowledge of multiple alternative optimal solutions (a cloud ) of the current LP relaxation. These strategies naturally extend common methods like most infeasible branching, strong branching, pseudocost branching, and their hybrids, but we also propose a novel branching rule called cloud diameter branching. We show that dual degeneracy, a requirement for alternative LP optima, is present for many instances from common MIP test sets. Computational experiments show significant improvements in the quality of branching decisions as well as reduced branching effort when using our modifications of existing branching rules. We discuss different ways to generate a cloud of solutions and present extensive computational results showing that through a careful implementation, cloud modifications can speed up full strong branching by more than 10 % on standard test sets. Additionally, by exploiting degeneracy, we are also able to improve the state-of-the-art hybrid branching rule and reduce the solving time on affected instances by almost 20 % on average.

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Author:Timo BertholdORCiD, Gerald GamrathORCiD, Domenico SalvagninORCiD
Document Type:ZIB-Report
Tag:branching rule; dual degeneracy; mixed integer programming; search strategy
MSC-Classification:90-XX OPERATIONS RESEARCH, MATHEMATICAL PROGRAMMING / 90Cxx Mathematical programming [See also 49Mxx, 65Kxx] / 90C10 Integer programming
90-XX OPERATIONS RESEARCH, MATHEMATICAL PROGRAMMING / 90Cxx Mathematical programming [See also 49Mxx, 65Kxx] / 90C11 Mixed integer programming
90-XX OPERATIONS RESEARCH, MATHEMATICAL PROGRAMMING / 90Cxx Mathematical programming [See also 49Mxx, 65Kxx] / 90C57 Polyhedral combinatorics, branch-and-bound, branch-and-cut
Date of first Publication:2019/04/29
Series (Serial Number):ZIB-Report (19-17)
ISSN:1438-0064
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