Unit-4

Discrete Variable Optimization

• An optimization problem with discrete variables is known as a
discrete optimization, in which an object such as an integer,
permutation or graph must be found from a countable set
Branch and Bound

• Branch and bound algorithms are used to find the optimal solution for combinatory,
discrete, and general mathematical optimization problems. In general, given an NP-Hard
problem, a branch and bound algorithm explores the entire search space of possible
solutions and provides an optimal solution.
• The Branch and Bound (BB or B&B) algorithm is first proposed by A. H. Land and A. G. Doig
in 1960 for discrete programming. It is a general algorithm for finding optimal solutions of
various optimization problems, especially in discrete and combinatorial optimization
• It is suitable for Minimization problems
• Queue-FIFO-BB
• Stock-LIFO-BB
• Least Cost-LC-BB
Variable size
Solution
Fixed size
Solution
Exhaustive Search