Hey, quick question about the objective function for the Sudoku. Are we actually optimizing with respect to this objective function or is it just used to "sort" the branches? If we are optimizing with respect to it, how do we do it? (As the function isn't linear).
They don't care about the value of the objective function. They just keep branching, then relaxing to solve the linear programming (LP), and go down the first branches that are feasible, then branch again + relax again + LP again until all binary variables are integral. The use of an arbitrary objective function is that the linear programming of the relaxed problem can be solved. A nice objective function makes LP solve faster.
Hey, quick question about the objective function for the Sudoku.
Are we actually optimizing with respect to this objective function or is it just used to "sort" the branches?
If we are optimizing with respect to it, how do we do it? (As the function isn't linear).
They don't care about the value of the objective function. They just keep branching, then relaxing to solve the linear programming (LP), and go down the first branches that are feasible, then branch again + relax again + LP again until all binary variables are integral. The use of an arbitrary objective function is that the linear programming of the relaxed problem can be solved. A nice objective function makes LP solve faster.