The asymmetric traveling salesman problem: Algorithms, instance generators, and tests

Jill Cirasella, David S. Johnson, Lyle A. McGeoch, Weixiong Zhang

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

100 Scopus citations

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to provide a preliminary report on the first broad-based experimental comparison of modern heuristics for the asymmetric traveling salesmen problem (ATSP). There are currently three general classes of such heuristics: classical tour construction heuristics such as Nearest Neighbor and the Greedy algorithm, local search algorithms based on re-arranging segments of the tour, as exemplified by the Kanellakis-Papadimitriou algorithm [KP80], and algorithms based on patching together the cycles in a minimum cycle cover, the best of which are variants on an algorithm proposed by Zhang [Zha93]. We test implementations of the main contenders from each class on a variety of instance types, introducing a variety of new random instance generators modeled on real-world applications of the ATSP. Among the many tentative conclusions we reach is that no single algorithm is dominant over all instance classes, although for each class the best tours are found either by Zhang’s algorithm or an iterated variant on Kanellakis- Papadimitriou.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationAlgorithm Engineering and Experimentation - 3rd International Workshop, ALENEX 2001, Revised Papers
EditorsAdam L. Buchsbaum, Jack Snoeyink
PublisherSpringer Verlag
Pages32-59
Number of pages28
ISBN (Print)3540425608, 9783540425601
DOIs
StatePublished - 2001
Event3rd International Workshop on Algorithm Engineering and Experimentation, ALENEX 2001 - Washington, United States
Duration: Jan 5 2001Jan 6 2001

Publication series

NameLecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)
Volume2153
ISSN (Print)0302-9743
ISSN (Electronic)1611-3349

Conference

Conference3rd International Workshop on Algorithm Engineering and Experimentation, ALENEX 2001
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityWashington
Period01/5/0101/6/01

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