Ordering with precedence constraints and budget minimization

We introduce a variation of the scheduling with precedence constraints problem that has applications to molecular folding and production management. We are given a bipartite graph H = (B,S). Vertices in B are thought of as goods or services that must be bought to produce items in S that are to be sold. An edge from j ∈ S to i ∈ B indicates that the production of j requires the purchase of i. Each vertex in B has a cost, and each vertex in S results in some gain. The goal is to obtain an ordering of B∪S that respects the precedence constraints and maximizes the minimal net profit encountered as the vertices are processed. We call this optimal value the budget or capital investment required for the bipartite graph, and refer to our problem as the bipartite graph ordering problem. The problem is equivalent to a version of an NP-complete molecular folding problem that has been studied recently [14]. Work on the molecular folding problem has focused on heuristic algorithms and exponential-time exact algorithms for the un-weighted problem where costs are ±1 and when restricted to graphs arising from RNA folding. The present work seeks exact algorithms for solving the bipartite ordering problem. We demonstrate an algorithm that computes the optimal ordering in time O∗(2n) when n is the number of vertices in the input bipartite graph. Our main result is a general strategy that can be used to find an optimal ordering in polynomial time for bipartite graphs that satisfy certain properties. We apply the technique to a variety of graph classes, obtaining polynomial-time solutions to the bipartite graph ordering problem for bipartite graphs that are convex, trivially perfect, co-bipartite graphs, and trees. One of our ultimate goals is to completely characterize the classes of graphs for which the problem can be solved exactly in polynomial time. 1 Motivation and Introduction Job Scheduling with Precedence Constraints The setting of job scheduling with precedence constraints is a natural one that has been much studied (see, e.g., [6, 17]). A number of variations of the problem have been studied; we begin by stating one. The problem is formulated as a directed acyclic graph where the vertices are jobs and arcs between the vertices impose precedence constraints. Job j must be executed after job i is completed if there is an arc from j to i. Each job i has a weight wi and processing time ti. A given ordering of executing the jobs results in a completion time Ci for each job. Previous work has focused on minimizing the weighted completion time ∑i=n i=1 wiCi. This can be done in the single-processor or multi-processor setting, and can be considered in settings where the precedence graph is from a restricted graph class. The general problem of finding an ordering that respects the precedence constraints and minimizes the weighted completion time is NP-complete. Both approximation algorithms and hardness of approximation results are known [2, 3, 17, 20]. Our Problem – Optimizing the Budget In the present work, we consider a different objective than previous works. In our setting, each job j has a net profit (positive or negative) pj . Our focus is on the budget required to realize a given ordering or schedule, and we disregard the processing time. We imagine that the jobs are divided between those with negative pi, jobs B that must be bought, and jobs with a non-negative pi, jobs S that are sold. B could consist of raw inputs that must be ? [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] Supported By NSERC Canada and Indiana State University COMPETE grant ar X iv :1 50 7. 04 88 5v 2 [ cs .D M ] 2 2 Ju n 20 16 2 Jeff Kinne, Ján Maňuch, Akbar Rafiey, and Arash Rafiey purchased in bulk in order to produce goods S that can be sold. A directed graph H = (B,S) encodes the precedence constraints inherent in the production: an arc from j ∈ S to i ∈ B implies that item i must be bought before item j can be produced and sold. At each step 1 ≤ r ≤ n of the process, let j1, j2, ..., jr be the jobs processed thus far, and let bgr = ∑r i=1 pji be the total budget up to this point. Our goal is an ordering that respects the precedence constraints and keeps the minimal value of bgr as high as possible. One can view (the absolute value of) this optimal value as the capital investment required to realize the production schedule. In this work we assume H is a bipartite graph with all arcs from S to B. This models the situation where each item to be produced and sold depends on certain inputs that must be purchased. We call this the problem of ordering with precedence constraints and budget minimization on bipartite graphs but refer to the problem as the bipartite graph ordering problem. Applications The bipartite graph ordering problem is a natural variation of scheduling with precedence constraints problems. As described above the problem can be used to model the purchase of supplies and production of goods when purchasing in bulk. Another way to view the problem is that the items in B are training sessions that employees must complete before employees (vertices in S) can begin to work. We began studying the problem as a generalization of an optimization problem in molecular folding. The folding problem asks for the energy required for secondary RNA structures to be transformed from a given initial folding configuration C1 into a given final folding configuration C2 [9, 16, 19]. The bipartite graph ordering problem models this situation as follows: vertices in B are folds that are to be removed from C1, vertices in S are folds that are to be added, and an edge from j to i indicates that fold i must be removed before fold j can be added. The price pi of a vertex is set according to the net energy that would result from allowing the given fold to occur, with folds that must be broken requiring a positive energy and folds that are to be added given a negative energy. The goal is to determine a sequence of transformations that respects these constraints and still keeps the net energy throughout at a minimum . Figure 1 shows how an instance of the RNA folding problem is transformed into the bipartite graph ordering problem. Previous Work The molecular folding problem has been studied only in the setting of unit prices and most attention has been devoted to graph classes corresponding to typical folding patterns (in particular for so-called circle bipartite graphs). [14] shows that the molecular folding problem is NP-complete even when restricted to circle bipartite graphs; thus the bipartite graph ordering problem is NP-complete as well when restricted to circle bipartite graphs . Previous work on the folding problem has focused on exact algorithms that take exponential time and on heuristic algorithms [8]. There has been considerable study of scheduling with precedence constraints, but to our knowledge there has not been any work by that community on the objective function we propose (budget minimization).