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Spring2324 IE303 Recitation VI

The document discusses three questions related to optimization modeling and methods. Question 1 involves using Dijkstra's algorithm to find the shortest distance between two cities on a graph. Question 2 explores properties and examples related to Dijkstra's algorithm. Question 3 examines finding the maximum flow in a network using the max-flow min-cut theorem.

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Osman Şentürk
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51 views3 pages

Spring2324 IE303 Recitation VI

The document discusses three questions related to optimization modeling and methods. Question 1 involves using Dijkstra's algorithm to find the shortest distance between two cities on a graph. Question 2 explores properties and examples related to Dijkstra's algorithm. Question 3 examines finding the maximum flow in a network using the max-flow min-cut theorem.

Uploaded by

Osman Şentürk
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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IE 303 Modeling and Methods in

Optimization

Recitation VII Questions

Ali Eren Demir


Bora Çetin
İrem Bahtiyar

Bilkent University
Department of Industrial Engineering
Spring 2023-2024
IE 303 Recitations

Question 1 (Warm Up)


Suppose you would like to send a parcel from your house in Bornova, Izmir to your friend residing
in Mamak, Ankara. When you arrive at the post office, you have been informed that the OR
specialist of the company went on a strike and is not working. Therefore, you are allowed to
choose the transportation route of your parcel from Izmir to Ankara. Consider the following
directed graph G1 = (V, A) with arc lengths as distances in kilometers.

The cost you will be paying is proportional to the distance your parcel travels, hence it is
enough to find the shortest distance for your route. Use Dijkstra’s Algorithm to find the shortest
distance from Izmir to Ankara.

Question 2 (Dijkstra’s Nightmares)


Consider any graph of the form G2 = (V, A).

a) Suppose the cost values are positive for all arcs and there are cycles in this graph. Show
that in the shortest path solution there cannot be any cycles, i.e., we never visit a node two
times.

b) Now suppose the arc lengths can take non negative values. Let a, b, c ∈ V . Then prove or
disprove the following claim: If D is the shortest path from a to c, by passing through b,
then the shortest path from a to b is included in D.

c) Now suppose arc weights can take negative values. Remember that in the lecture notes we
assumed for Dijkstra’s Algorithm to work that we need non-negative arc weights. Show by
an example that Dijkstra’s Algorithm fails under the presence of negative arc weights.

d) Suppose the arc lengths are real numbers, i.e., cij ∈ R. Construct an example graph where
the shortest path length is −∞, that is, there exists no lower bound K ∈ R such that the
shortest path length is greater than K.

1 March 21, 2024


IE 303 Recitations

e) Suppose we are in the setting where the Dijkstra’s Algorithm works. Can we find the longest
path between two edges using the ”max” version of the algorithm? If so, prove your claim.
If not, give a counterexample.

Question 3 (Max Flow - Min Cut Relationship)


Consider the following graph G3 = (V, A).

This time, the numbers on the arcs represent the maximum number of trucks that can travel at the
same time. Starting from Izmir, what is the maximum number of trucks you can send to Ankara
simultaneously? We will analyze this from the perspective of Min Cut/ Max Flow networks.

a) Find three feasible cuts to this network. Does this provide an upper bound or a lower bound
to the Maximum Number of trucks?

b) Find three feasible flows from Izmir to Ankara. Does this provide an upper bound or a lower
bound to the Maximum Number of trucks?

c) So far, what are your upper and lower bounds? What is the optimality gap?

d) Start from one of the feasible flows of part b) and run Ford-Fulkerson Algorithm until you
find the optimum solution. What is the maximum number of trucks that can move simulta-
neously?

e) What is the Minimum Cut to this graph?

2 March 21, 2024

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