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MITx 6.00.2x - Introduction To Computational Thinking and Data Science

The document discusses optimization problems and introduces the knapsack problem. It describes the knapsack problem as choosing which items to include within a limited weight capacity. It also provides a formalization of the 0/1 knapsack problem and discusses brute force and exponential solutions.

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Marcelo Fonseca Barbosa
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48 views

MITx 6.00.2x - Introduction To Computational Thinking and Data Science

The document discusses optimization problems and introduces the knapsack problem. It describes the knapsack problem as choosing which items to include within a limited weight capacity. It also provides a formalization of the 0/1 knapsack problem and discusses brute force and exponential solutions.

Uploaded by

Marcelo Fonseca Barbosa
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Optimization Problems,

Lecture 1, Segment 1
John Guttag
MIT Department of Electrical Engineering and
Computer Science

6.00.1X LECTURE 1
Computational Models
Using computation to help understand the world in
which we live
Experimental devices that help us to understand
something that has happened or to predict the future

CC BY Seattle Municipal Archives CC BY Rodrigo Denúbila

Optimization models
Statistical models
Simulation models
6.00.2X LECTURE 2
What Is an Optimization Model?

 An objective function that is to be maximized or


minimized, e.g.,
◦ Minimize time spent traveling from New York to Boston
A set of constraints (possibly empty) that must be
honored, e.g.,
◦ Cannot spend more than $100
◦ Must be in Boston before 5:00PM

6.00.1X LECTURE 3
Takeaways

Many problems of real importance can be formulated


as an optimization problem
Reducing a seemingly new problem to an instance of a
well-known problem allows one to use pre-existing
methods for solving them
Solving optimization problems is computationally
challenging
A greedy algorithm is often a practical approach to
finding a pretty good approximate solution to an
optimization problem

6.00.1X LECTURE 4
Knapsack and Bin-packing Problems

CC BY Mike Mozart

CC BY JOADL

CC BY Tm
6.00.1X LECTURE 5
Knapsack Problem

You have limited strength, so there is a maximum


weight knapsack that you can carry
You would like to take more stuff than you can carry
How do you choose which stuff to take and which to
leave behind?
Two variants
◦ 0/1 knapsack problem
◦ Continuous or fractional knapsack problem

versus

6.00.1X LECTURE 6
My Least-favorite Knapsack Problem

CC BY File Upload Bot (Magnus Manske) CC BY ZooFari

1500
Calorie
Capacity
CC BY maebmjj

CC BY JOADL

CC BY Zantastik~commonswiki CC BY Gorivero
6.00.2X LECTURE 7
0/1 Knapsack Problem, Formalized
Each item is represented by a pair, <value, weight>
The knapsack can accommodate items with a total
weight of no more than w
A vector, L, of length n, represents the set of
available items. Each element of the vector is an
item
A vector, V, of length n, is used to indicate whether
or not items are taken. If V[i] = 1, item I[i] is taken.
If V[i] = 0, item I[i] is not taken

6.00.2X LECTURE 8
0/1 Knapsack Problem, Formalized

6.00.2X LECTURE 9
Brute Force Algorithm
1. Enumerate all possible combinations of items. That
is to say, generate all subsets of the set of subjects.
This is called the power set.
2. Remove all of the combinations whose total units
exceeds the allowed weight.
3. From the remaining combinations choose any one
whose value is the largest.

6.00.2X LECTURE 10
Often Not Practical
How big is power set?
Recall
◦ A vector, V, of length n, is used to indicate whether or not
items are taken. If V[i] = 1, item I[i] is taken. If V[i] = 0, item I[i]
is not taken
How many possible different values can V have?
◦ As many different binary numbers as can be represented
in n bits

For example, if there are 100 items to choose from, the


power set is of size
126,765,060,022,822,940,149,670,320,5376

6.00.2X LECTURE 11
Are We Just Being Stupid?
Alas, no
0/1 knapsack problem is inherently exponential
But don’t despair

CC BY Monumenteer2014

6.00.2X LECTURE 12

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