Parallelizable Search-Space Decomposition for Large-Scale Combinatorial Optimization Problems Using Ising Machines

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel parallelizable search-space decomposition method leveraging Ising machines to efficiently solve large-scale combinatorial optimization problems by reducing problem size and enabling parallel processing.

Contribution

It presents a new decomposition approach that uses Ising-model solvers to split large problems into smaller, independent subproblems for faster, more efficient solutions.

Findings

Enhanced feasible solution rates

Accelerated convergence from 30 min to 1 min

Reduced variable size by up to 95.32%

Abstract

Combinatorial optimization problems are crucial in industry. However, many COPs are NP-hard, causing the search space to grow exponentially with problem size and rendering large-scale instances computationally intractable. Conventional solvers typically treat problems as monolithic entities, leading to significant efficiency degradation as structural complexity increases. To address this issue, we propose a novel search-space decomposition method that leverages the inherent structure of variables to systematically reduce the size of the master problem. We formulate interaction costs between variables and individual variable costs as a constrained maximum cut problem and convert it into a quadratic unconstrained binary optimization formulation using penalty terms. An Ising-model solver is used to rapidly decompose the problem into independent small-scale subproblems, which are subsequently solved in parallel using mathematical optimization solvers. We validated this method on the capacitated vehicle routing problem. Results demonstrate three significant benefits: a substantial enhancement in feasible solution rates, accelerated convergence, achieving in 1 min the accuracy that the naive method required 30 min to reach, and a variable reduction of up to 95.32\%. These findings suggest that search-space decomposition is a promising strategy for efficiently solving large-scale combinatorial optimization problems.