title: Efficient convex-elastic net algorithm to solve the Euclidean traveling salesman problem.
abstract: This paper describes a hybrid algorithm that combines an adaptive-type neural network algorithm and a nondeterministic iterative algorithm to solve the Euclidean traveling salesman problem (E-TSP). It begins with a brief introduction to the TSP and the E-TSP. Then, it presents the proposed algorithm with its two major components: the convex-elastic net (CEN) algorithm and the nondeterministic iterative improvement (NII) algorithm. These two algorithms are combined into the efficient convex-elastic net (ECEN) algorithm. The CEN algorithm integrates the convex-hull property and elastic net algorithm to generate an initial tour for the E-TSP. The NII algorithm uses two rearrangement operators to improve the initial tour given by the CEN algorithm. The paper presents simulation results for two instances of E-TSP: randomly generated tours and tours for well-known problems in the literature. Experimental results are given to show that the proposed algorithm ran find the nearly optimal solution for the E-TSP that outperform many similar algorithms reported in the literature. The paper concludes with the advantages of the new algorithm and possible extensions.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Inf. & Comput. Sci., King-Fahd Univ. of Pet. & Miner., Dhahran.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Al-Mulhem
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Al-Maghrabi