Attempting the Impossible: Enumerating Extremal Submodular Functions for n = 6

Enumerating the extremal submodular functions defined on subsets of a fixed base set has only been done for base sets up to five elements. This paper reports the results of attempting to generate all such functions on a six-element base set. Using improved tools from polyhedral geometry, we have com...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Elod P. Csirmaz, Laszlo Csirmaz
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2024-12-01
Series:Mathematics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7390/13/1/97
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1841549125308383232
author Elod P. Csirmaz
Laszlo Csirmaz
author_facet Elod P. Csirmaz
Laszlo Csirmaz
author_sort Elod P. Csirmaz
collection DOAJ
description Enumerating the extremal submodular functions defined on subsets of a fixed base set has only been done for base sets up to five elements. This paper reports the results of attempting to generate all such functions on a six-element base set. Using improved tools from polyhedral geometry, we have computed 360 billion of them, and provide the first reasonable estimate of their total number, which is expected to be between 1000 and 10,000 times this number. The applied Double Description and Adjacency Decomposition methods require an insertion order of the defining inequalities. We introduce two novel orders, which speed up the computations significantly, and provide additional insight into the highly symmetric structure of submodular functions. We also present an improvement to the combinatorial test used as part of the Double Description method, and use statistical analyses to estimate the degeneracy of the polyhedral cone used to describe these functions. The statistical results also highlight the limitations of the applied methods.
format Article
id doaj-art-27854dc8ca104ac2a8644a630443c649
institution Kabale University
issn 2227-7390
language English
publishDate 2024-12-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Mathematics
spelling doaj-art-27854dc8ca104ac2a8644a630443c6492025-01-10T13:18:15ZengMDPI AGMathematics2227-73902024-12-011319710.3390/math13010097Attempting the Impossible: Enumerating Extremal Submodular Functions for n = 6Elod P. Csirmaz0Laszlo Csirmaz1Alfréd Rényi Institute of Mathematics, 1053 Budapest, HungaryAlfréd Rényi Institute of Mathematics, 1053 Budapest, HungaryEnumerating the extremal submodular functions defined on subsets of a fixed base set has only been done for base sets up to five elements. This paper reports the results of attempting to generate all such functions on a six-element base set. Using improved tools from polyhedral geometry, we have computed 360 billion of them, and provide the first reasonable estimate of their total number, which is expected to be between 1000 and 10,000 times this number. The applied Double Description and Adjacency Decomposition methods require an insertion order of the defining inequalities. We introduce two novel orders, which speed up the computations significantly, and provide additional insight into the highly symmetric structure of submodular functions. We also present an improvement to the combinatorial test used as part of the Double Description method, and use statistical analyses to estimate the degeneracy of the polyhedral cone used to describe these functions. The statistical results also highlight the limitations of the applied methods.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7390/13/1/97vertex enumerationdouble description methodsubmodular functions
spellingShingle Elod P. Csirmaz
Laszlo Csirmaz
Attempting the Impossible: Enumerating Extremal Submodular Functions for n = 6
Mathematics
vertex enumeration
double description method
submodular functions
title Attempting the Impossible: Enumerating Extremal Submodular Functions for n = 6
title_full Attempting the Impossible: Enumerating Extremal Submodular Functions for n = 6
title_fullStr Attempting the Impossible: Enumerating Extremal Submodular Functions for n = 6
title_full_unstemmed Attempting the Impossible: Enumerating Extremal Submodular Functions for n = 6
title_short Attempting the Impossible: Enumerating Extremal Submodular Functions for n = 6
title_sort attempting the impossible enumerating extremal submodular functions for n 6
topic vertex enumeration
double description method
submodular functions
url https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7390/13/1/97
work_keys_str_mv AT elodpcsirmaz attemptingtheimpossibleenumeratingextremalsubmodularfunctionsforn6
AT laszlocsirmaz attemptingtheimpossibleenumeratingextremalsubmodularfunctionsforn6