Related papers: Unweighted Stochastic Local Search can be Effectiv…
Various unsupervised greedy selection methods have been proposed as computationally tractable approximations to the NP-hard subset selection problem. These methods rely on sequentially selecting the variables that best improve performance…
We define and study a statistical mechanics ensemble that characterizes connected solutions in constraint satisfaction problems (CSPs). Built around a well-known local entropy bias, it allows us to better identify hardness transitions in…
Backtracking search algorithms are often used to solve the Constraint Satisfaction Problem (CSP). The efficiency of backtracking search depends greatly on the variable ordering heuristics. Currently, the most commonly used heuristics are…
Local search is an important class of incomplete algorithms for solving Distributed Constraint Optimization Problems (DCOPs) but it often converges to poor local optima. While Generalized Distributed Breakout Algorithm (GDBA) provides a…
In this work we introduce a novel approach, based on sampling, for finding assignments that are likely to be solutions to stochastic constraint satisfaction problems and constraint optimisation problems. Our approach reduces the size of the…
Stochastic local search algorithms are frequently used to numerically solve hard combinatorial optimization or decision problems. We give numerical and approximate analytical descriptions of the dynamics of such algorithms applied to random…
In model-free deep reinforcement learning (RL) algorithms, using noisy value estimates to supervise policy evaluation and optimization is detrimental to the sample efficiency. As this noise is heteroscedastic, its effects can be mitigated…
We present new refinement heuristics for the balanced graph partitioning problem that break with an age-old rule. Traditionally, local search only permits moves that keep the block sizes balanced (below a size constraint). In this work, we…
The class PLS (Polynomial Local Search) captures the complexity of finding a solution that is locally optimal and has proven to be an important concept in the theory of local search. It has been shown that local search versions of various…
We give a Markov chain based perfect sampler for uniform sampling solutions of constraint satisfaction problems (CSP). Under some mild Lov\'asz local lemma conditions where each constraint of the CSP has a small number of forbidden local…
Utility-Based Shortfall Risk (UBSR) is a risk metric that is increasingly popular in financial applications, owing to certain desirable properties that it enjoys. We consider the problem of estimating UBSR in a recursive setting, where…
Scheduling problems in manufacturing, logistics and project management have frequently been modeled using the framework of Resource Constrained Project Scheduling Problems with minimum and maximum time lags (RCPSP/max). Due to the…
This manuscript presents the following: (1) an improved version of the Binary Simultaneous Perturbation Stochastic Approximation (SPSA) Method for feature selection in machine learning (Aksakalli and Malekipirbazari, Pattern Recognition…
Generalized linear mixed models are useful in studying hierarchical data with possibly non-Gaussian responses. However, the intractability of likelihood functions poses challenges for estimation. We develop a new method suitable for this…
In this paper, a new structure of cooperative learning automata so-called extended learning automata (eDLA) is introduced. Based on the proposed structure, a new iterative randomized heuristic algorithm for finding optimal sub-graph in a…
There are two competing paradigms in successful SAT solvers: Conflict-driven clause learning (CDCL) and stochastic local search (SLS). CDCL uses systematic exploration of the search space and has the ability to learn new clauses. SLS…
Optimization problems such as the NP-complete 3-SAT provide an important benchmark for the difficult task of finding ground-states in strongly correlated many-body systems with rugged energy landscapes. The study of random 3-SAT problems as…
This article proposes a new population-based optimization algorithm called the Tangent Search Algorithm (TSA) to solve optimization problems. The TSA uses a mathematical model based on the tangent function to move a given solution toward a…
We present a novel adaptive random subspace learning algorithm (RSSL) for prediction purpose. This new framework is flexible where it can be adapted with any learning technique. In this paper, we tested the algorithm for regression and…
In this paper we study convex stochastic search problems where a noisy objective function value is observed after a decision is made. There are many stochastic search problems whose behavior depends on an exogenous state variable which…