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Generalized polymatroids and submodular flows

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Abstract

Polyhedra related to matroids and sub- or supermodular functions play a central role in combinatorial optimization. The purpose of this paper is to present a unified treatment of the subject. The structure of generalized polymatroids and submodular flow systems is discussed in detail along with their close interrelation. In addition to providing several applications, we summarize many known results within this general framework.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer Science, Eötvös University Budapest, Mathematical Institute, Múzeum körút 6-8, 1088, Budapest VIII, Hungary

    András Frank & Éva Tardos

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  1. András Frank
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  2. Éva Tardos
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Supported by a grant from the Alexander von Humboldt Stiftung and by the Institut für Ökonometrie und Operations Research of the University of Bonn, Bonn, Nassestr. 2, Federal Republic of Germany.

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Frank, A., Tardos, É. Generalized polymatroids and submodular flows. Mathematical Programming 42, 489–563 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01589418

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