The choice of a good annealing schedule is necessary for good performance of simulated annealing for combinatorial optimization problems. In this paper, we pose the simulated annealing task decision-theoretically for the first time, allowing the user to explicitly define utilities of time and solution quality. We then demonstrate the application of reinforcement learning techniques towards appr...

We develop a quantum algorithm to solve combinatorial optimization problems through quantum simulation of a classical annealing process. Our algorithm combines techniques from quantum walks, quantum phase estimation, and quantum Zeno effect. It can be viewed as a quantum analogue of the discrete-time Markov chain Monte Carlo implementation of classical simulated annealing. Our implementation re...

There is a deep and useful connection between statistical mechanics (the behavior of systems with many degrees of freedom in thermal equilibrium at a finite temperature) and multivariate or combinatorial optimization (finding the minimum of a given function depending on many parameters). A detailed analogy with annealing in solids provides a framework for optimization of the properties of very ...

The question of satissability for a given proposi-tional formula arises in many areas of AI. Especially nding a model for a satissable formula is very important though known to be NP-complete. There exist complete algorithms for satissability testing like the Davis-Putnam-Algorithm, but they often do not construct a satisfying assignment for the formula , are not practically applicable for more...

We propose a variant of the Simulated Annealing method for optimization in the multivariate analysis of diierentiable functions. The method uses the Hybrid Monte Carlo algorithm for the proposal of new conngurations. We show how this choice can improve the performance of simulated annealing methods by allowing much faster annealing schedules.

An algorithm is developed to statistically find the best global fit of a nonlinear non-convex cost-function over a D-dimensional space. It is argued that this algorithm permits an annealing schedule for ''temperature'' T decreasing exponentially in annealing-time k, T = T 0 exp(−ck 1/D). The introduction of re-annealing also permits adaptation to changing sensitivities in the multi-dimensional ...

We propose a new stochastic algorithm (generalized simulated annealing) for computationally finding the global minimum of a given (not necessarily convex) energy/cost function defined in a continuous D-dimensional space. This algorithm recovers, as particular cases, the so called classical (“Boltzmann machine”) and fast (“Cauchy machine”) simulated annealings, and can be quicker than both. Key-...

We applied simulated annealing algorithm to nurse scheduling problem. For time complexity problem of simulated annealing, we suggested an efficient transition rule using cost matrix for simulated annealing. The experimental results showed that the suggested method generated a nurse scheduling faster in time and better in quality compared to traditional simulated annealing.

Simulated annealing is known to be an efficient method for combinatorial optimization problems. Its usage for real-life problems has been limited by the long execution time. This report presents a new approach to asynchronous simulated annealing for parallel thread oriented multiprocessor operating systems. Experimental results of the 100to 1000-city traveling salesman problems on the two-proce...