Lesson plan

Ring star problem

The ring star problem (RSP) is a NP-hard problem in combinatorial optimization. In a complete weighted mixed graph, the ring star problem aims to find a minimum cost ring star subgraph formed by a cycle (ring part) and a set of arcs (star part) such that each arc's child node belongs to the cycle and each arc's parent node does not. The costs for the arcs are usually different from the cycle's costs. The cycle must contain at least one node designated as the depot or the root. RSP is a generalization of the traveling salesman problem. When the costs of the arcs are infinite and the ring contains all nodes, the RSP reduces to TSP. Some applications of RSP arise in the context of telecommunications, transports or logistics.

Back to article

Article summary

The ring star problem (RSP) is a NP-hard problem in combinatorial optimization. In a complete weighted mixed graph, the ring star problem aims to find a minimum cost ring star subgraph formed by a cycle (ring part) and a set of arcs (star part) such that each arc's child node belongs to the cycle and each arc's parent node does not. The costs for the arcs are usually different from the cycle's costs. The cycle must contain at least one node designated as the depot or the root. RSP is a generalization of the traveling salesman problem. When the costs of the arcs are infinite and the ring contains all nodes, the RSP reduces to TSP. Some applications of RSP arise in the context of telecommunications, transports or logistics.

Key claims

No claims recorded.

Discussion questions

  1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
  2. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
  3. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

No sources recorded.

Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.