Abstract

TORRICO, Lucio. Heuristic algorithm for exact cover problem. Rev Inv Tec [online]. 2014, vol.3, n.1, pp. 5-10. ISSN 2306-0522.

In general, exact solutions for the exact cover problem are obtained through intractable algorithms because the problem is NP. The famous Knuth's algorithm (DLX) is one ofthem. We present a heuristic algorithm that implements a the idea of taking subsets by pairs, applying a feasibility metric based on the number of subsets that (not)collide with the chosen pair, and the Hamming distance between them. By taking pairs we reduce the computation time, and the choice of the most feasible pairs, according to the metric, finda solution fáster (on average) , ifit exists. The metric can also be used to abandon the search after a certain feasibility limit, guessing the non existence of solution. His algorithm seems toperform quite wellfor experiments.

Keywords : heuristic algorithm; exact cover; DLX.