English

Belief Propagation Min-Sum Algorithm for Generalized Min-Cost Network Flow

Machine Learning 2021-09-15 v2 Data Structures and Algorithms

Abstract

Belief Propagation algorithms are instruments used broadly to solve graphical model optimization and statistical inference problems. In the general case of a loopy Graphical Model, Belief Propagation is a heuristic which is quite successful in practice, even though its empirical success, typically, lacks theoretical guarantees. This paper extends the short list of special cases where correctness and/or convergence of a Belief Propagation algorithm is proven. We generalize formulation of Min-Sum Network Flow problem by relaxing the flow conservation (balance) constraints and then proving that the Belief Propagation algorithm converges to the exact result.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1710.07600,
  title  = {Belief Propagation Min-Sum Algorithm for Generalized Min-Cost Network Flow},
  author = {Andrii Riazanov and Yury Maximov and Michael Chertkov},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1710.07600},
  year   = {2021}
}
R2 v1 2026-06-22T22:20:39.731Z