Quadratic assignment problem

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The quadratic assignment problem (QAP) is one of fundamental combinatorial
optimization problems in the branch of optimization or operations research in mathematics,
from the category of the facilities location problems.
The problem models the following real-life problem:
There are a set of n facilities and a set of n locations. For each pair of locations, a
distance is specified and for each pair of facilities a weight or flow is specified (e.g.,
the amount of supplies transported between the two facilities). The problem is to
assign all facilities to different locations with the goal of minimizing the sum of the
distances multiplied by the corresponding flows.
The problem statement resembles that of the assignment problem, only the cost function is
expressed in terms of quadratic inequalities, hence the name.

Contents
[hide]
• 1 Formal mathematical definition
• 2 Computational complexity
• 3 Applications
• 4 See also
• 5 References

[edit] Formal mathematical definition

The formal definition of the quadratic assignment problem is as follows:
Given two sets, P ("facilities") and L ("locations"), of equal size, together with a
weight function w : P × P → R and a distance function d : L × L → R. Find the
bijection f : P → L ("assignment") such that the cost function:

is minimized.
Usually weight and distance functions are viewed as square real-valued matrices, so that the
cost function is written down as:

[edit] Computational complexity

The problem is NP-hard, so there is no known algorithm for solving this problem in
polynomial time, and even small instances may require long computation time. The
Travelling salesman problem may be seen as a special case of QAP if one assumes that the
flows connect all facilities only along a single ring, all flows have the same non-zero
(constant) value. Many other problems of standard combinatorial optimization problems may
be written in this form.
[edit] Applications
In addition to the original plant location formulation, QAP is a mathematical model for the
problem of placement of interconnected electronic components onto a printed circuit board or
on a microchip, which is part of the place and route stage of computer aided design in the
electronics industry.
[edit] See also
• Quadratic bottleneck assignment problem
[edit] References
• Michael R. Garey and David S. Johnson (1979). Computers and Intractability: A
Guide to the Theory of NP-Completeness. W.H. Freeman. ISBN 0-7167-1045-5.
A2.5: ND43, pg.218.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quadratic_assignment_problem"
Categories: NP-hard problems | Combinatorial optimization
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