Minmax regret combinatorial optimization problems: an Algorithmic Perspective

¹ Modeling and Industrial Management Department, Universidad de Talca, Curicó, Chile. acandia@utalca.cl
² Operations Management Master Program, Universidad de Talca, Curicó, Chile.
³ COPPE, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Received: 30 March 2009
Accepted: 19 May 2011

Abstract

Uncertainty in optimization is not a new ingredient. Diverse models considering uncertainty have been developed over the last 40 years. In our paper we essentially discuss a particular uncertainty model associated with combinatorial optimization problems, developed in the 90's and broadly studied in the past years. This approach named minmax regret (in particular our emphasis is on the robust deviation criteria) is different from the classical approach for handling uncertainty, stochastic approach, where uncertainty is modeled by assumed probability distributions over the space of all possible scenarios and the objective is to find a solution with good probabilistic performance. In the minmax regret (MMR) approach, the set of all possible scenarios is described deterministically, and the search is for a solution that performs reasonably well for all scenarios, i.e., that has the best worst-case performance. In this paper we discuss the computational complexity of some classic combinatorial optimization problems using MMR approach, analyze the design of several algorithms for these problems, suggest the study of some specific research problems in this attractive area, and also discuss some applications using this model.