Max is more than min: Solving maximization problems with heuristic search

Roni Stern, Scott Kiesel, Rami Puzis, Ariel Felner, Wheeler Ruml

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

Most work in heuristic search considers problems where a low cost solution is preferred (MIN problems). In this paper, we investigate the complementary setting where a solution of high reward is preferred (MAX problems). Example MAX problems include finding a longest simple path in a graph, maximal coverage, and various constraint optimization problems. We examine several popular search algorithms for MIN problems and discover the curious ways in which they misbehave on MAX problems. We propose modifications that preserve the original intentions behind the algorithms but allow them to solve MAX problems, and compare them theoretically and empirically. Interesting results include the failure of bidirectional search and close relationships between Dijkstra's algorithm, weighted A and depth-first search.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationIJCAI 2015 - Proceedings of the 24th International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence
EditorsMichael Wooldridge, Qiang Yang
PublisherInternational Joint Conferences on Artificial Intelligence
Pages4324-4330
Number of pages7
ISBN (Electronic)9781577357384
StatePublished - 2015
Externally publishedYes
Event24th International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence, IJCAI 2015 - Buenos Aires, Argentina
Duration: 25 Jul 201531 Jul 2015

Publication series

NameIJCAI International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence
Volume2015-January
ISSN (Print)1045-0823

Conference

Conference24th International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence, IJCAI 2015
Country/TerritoryArgentina
CityBuenos Aires
Period25/07/1531/07/15

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