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Enhancing computations of nondominated solutions in MOLFP via reference points

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Abstract

In previous work, Costa and Alves (J Math Sci 161:(6)820–831, 2009; 2011) have presented Branch & Bound and Branch & Cut techniques that allow for the effective computation of nondominated solutions, associated with reference points, of multi-objective linear fractional programming (MOLFP) problems of medium dimensions (ten objective functions, hundreds of variables and constraints). In this paper we present some results that enhance those computations. Firstly, it is proved that the use of a special kind of achievement scalarizing function guarantees that the computation error does not depend on the dimension of the problem. Secondly, a new cut for the Branch & Cut technique is presented. The proof that this new cut is better than the one in Costa and Alves (2011) is presented, guaranteeing that it reduces the region to explore. Some computational tests to assess the impact of the new cut on the performance of the Branch & Cut technique are presented.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank to two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments that helped to improve the paper.

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Correspondence to João Paulo Costa.

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This work has been partially supported by FCT under project grant Pest-C/EEI/UI0308/2011, and by project EMSURE-Energy and Mobility for Sustainable Regions (CENTRO-07-0224-FEDER-002004). We would also like to recognize the support from the Faculty of Economics of University of Coimbra under the initiative “40th Anniversary of FEUC”.

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Costa, J.P., Alves, M.J. Enhancing computations of nondominated solutions in MOLFP via reference points. J Glob Optim 57, 617–631 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10898-013-0074-x

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