Network theory (operations research i)

Jenyfer Lissette Rodriguez Muños

Teacher: Robinson Ernesto Calvo Cano

Universidad ECCI
2022
DEF: Network modeling allows the resolution of multiple mathematical
programming problems through the implementation of special algorithms created
for this purpose, known as Network Optimization Algorithms.
Network optimization is a special type of model in linear programming. Network
models have three important advantages over linear programming.
They can be resolved very quickly. Problems that with linear programming would
have 1,000 rows and 30,000 columns can be solved in seconds. This allows
network models to be used in many applications (such as real-time decision
making) for which linear programming is not ideal.
They naturally require whole solutions. Recognizing that a problem can be
formulated as some network model will allow us to solve special types of integer
programming problems by increasing efficiency and reducing the time consumed
by classical linear programming algorithms.
They are intuitive. Network models provide a much more intuitive language for
dealing with problems than "variables, goal, constraints". Obviously network
models are not able to cover the wide range of problems that linear programming
can solve. they occur frequently enough to be considered an important tool for real
decision making.

Basic concepts in network theory

❖ Graph: A graph is a series of points called nodes that are joined by lines
called branches or arcs.

❖ Network: A network is a graph that presents some kind of flow in its

branches. For example, a graph whose flow in its branches is electricity is
an electrical network. In networks, a specific symbology is used to denote its
size and elements that constitute it, this notation is (N, A) where N
represents the number of nodes that the network contains and A represents
the number of arcs or branches.
❖ Chain: A chain corresponds to a series of branch elements that go from one
node to another. In the following case, a chain is highlighted that goes from
node 1 to node 7 and is made up of the elements [1-4, 4-7].

❖ Route: A route corresponds to the nodes that constitute a chain, in the

following case [1, 4, 7].

❖ Cycle: A Cycle corresponds to the chain that joins a node with itself, in the
following example the cycle is composed of the chain [4-2, 2-5, 5-7, 7-4]
❖ Oriented branch: An oriented branch or arc is one that has a certain
direction, that is, it has a source node and a destination node.

❖ Oriented graph: An oriented graph is one in which all its branches are
oriented.

❖ Tree: A tree is a graph in which there are no cycles, like the following
example.

❖ Spanning tree: A spanning tree is that tree that links all the nodes of the
network, in the same way it does not allow the existence of cycles.
❖ Source node: The source node is that node in which all its branches are
oriented outwards.

❖ Destination node: The destination node is that node in which all its
branches are oriented towards it.
There are many basic applications with network flow. These are the most used:

❖ Consider the following snow removal problem: The city is divided into
communes. After a snow storm, snow should be removed and disposed of
in a convenient location. In Helsinki (the city of the problem), these places
are large esplanades with an artificial drying system. Each of these
"destinations" has a capacity. The goal is to minimize the distance traveled
to transport the snow.
This problem is an example of a transportation problem. In such problems, there is
a set of nodes called sources and a set of nodes called destinations. All arcs go
from source to destination. There is a unit cost (per unit) associated with each arc.
Each source has a concept of supply and each destination handles the concept of
demand. The total quantity to be supplied is assumed to be exactly equal to the
quantity demanded. For the snow problem the network can be as shown in figure
1.4.

Figure 1.4:Snow Transport Network

A problem that corresponds to the transport model may be to assign customers to

a business in order to meet the demands. In such a case, the warehouses are the
sources, the customers are the destinations, and the costs represent the
transportation costs per unit.

❖ Assignment problem
A special case of the transportation problem is the assignment problem which
occurs when each supply is 1 and each demand is 1. In this case, integrality
implies that each supplier will be assigned to only one destination and each
destination will have only one supplier.
This is a transportation problem with all offers and demands equal to 1, an
assignment problem.
Note that a balanced problem must have the same number of supply points as
demand points, so we must add a dummy machine (corresponding to an artificial
machine) and assign a zero to the costs of assigning the dummy machine to a
plant.

❖ Shortest Paths
Consider a telephone network. A certain message may take a certain amount of
time on each line (due to congestion, switching delays, etc). This time can vary
considerably from minute to minute and telecommunications companies spend a
great deal of time and money looking into the consequences of system delays.
Assuming a centralized switcher knows its delays, then there remains the problem
of routing a call in such a way as to minimize the delays. Figure 1.1. shows the
largest delay for each path from LA to Boston. How to determine the fastest path?

This is an example of a particular type of network model, called the shortest path
problem. In such a problem, we have a network with branch costs and two special
nodes: a start node and an end node. The objective is to find a path from the start
node to the end node in such a way that the total weight is minimal.
Here we have another problem that may not seem like the shortest path at first, but
it really is:
At a small but growing airport, the local airline is purchasing a new tractor for the
baggage train to and from the aircraft. A new mechanized baggage transport
system will be installed in 3 years, therefore the tractor will not be needed
afterwards. However, since it will be in heavy use and maintenance costs are high,
it may still be profitable. economically replace the tractor after 1 or 2 years of use.
The following table gives the net cost associated with purchasing a tractor in year i
and using it in year j (where year 0 is now):

The problem is to determine how many times the tractor should be replaced (if at
all) to minimize the total costs of the tractors. How can this problem be formulated
as a shortest route model?
❖ Peak flow :Another type of model has a number on each arch, but now the
number corresponds to the capacity. This limits the flow over the arc (it is
the maximum flow per arc). For example, in a distribution system capacity
might be limited by the amount of material (say tons) that can go over a
given distribution channel. We could then be interested in the capacity of the
network, to know how much can be sent from a source node to a destination
node? Using the same network as above, treating numbers as capacities,
how much can be shipped from LA to Boston?
❖

Figure 1.2: Distribution Network

Associated with the maximum flow is the "bottleneck": a set of arcs whose
capacities are equal to their maximum flow, and when they are removed, there is
no path from origin to destination in the network. This is actually a non-trivial result
showing that the maximum flow is equal to the size of the minimum bottleneck. It is
an interesting task to try to find the bottleneck in the example.

Maximum flow models occur in applications where cost is not at stake, and the
goal is to
maximize the
number of items
handled (in a
broad
sense). Here
we have a similar
problem that
can be
treated by peak
flow.

Bibliography:
https://www.ingenieriaindustrialonline.com/investigacion-de-operaciones/teoria-de-
redes
https://es.slideshare.net/gallegolove/teoria-de-redes-45666295
https://youtu.be/rrSrCl_apd8