## Annulus and Center Location Problems

• In this work we study and investigate the minimum width annulus problem (MWAP), the circle center location or circle location problem (CLP) and the point center location or point location problem (PLP) on Rectilinear and Chebyshev planes as well as in networks. The relations between the problems have served as a basis for finding of elegant solution, algorithms for both new and well known problems. So, MWAP was formulated and investigated in Rectilinear space. In contrast to Euclidean metric, MWAP and PLP have at least one common optimal point. Therefore, MWAP on Rectilinear plane was solved in linear time with the help of PLP. Hence, the solution sequence was PLP-->MWAP. It was shown, that MWAP and CLP are equivalent. Thus, CLP can be also solved in linear time. The obtained results were analysed and transfered to Chebyshev metric. After that, the notions of circle, sphere and annulus in networks were introduced. It should be noted that the notion of a circle in a network is different from the notion of a cycle. An O(mn) time algorithm for solution of MWAP was constructed and implemented. The algorithm is based on the fact that the middle point of an edge represents an optimal solution of a local minimum width annulus on this edge. The resulting complexity is better than the complexity O(mn+n^2logn) in unweighted case of the fastest known algorithm for minimizing of the range function, which is mathematically equivalent to MWAP. MWAP in unweighted undirected networks was extended to the MWAP on subsets and to the restricted MWAP. Resulting problems were analysed and solved. Also the p–minimum width annulus problem was formulated and explored. This problem is NP–hard. However, the p–MWAP has been solved in polynomial O(m^2n^3p) time with a natural assumption, that each minimum width annulus covers all vertexes of a network having distances to the central point of annulus less than or equal to the radius of its outer circle. In contrast to the planar case MWAP in undirected unweighted networks have appeared to be a root problem among considered problems. During investigation of properties of circles in networks it was shown that the difference between planar and network circles is significant. This leads to the nonequivalence of CLP and MWAP in the general case. However, MWAP was effectively used in solution procedures for CLP giving the sequence MWAP-->CLP. The complexity of the developed and implemented algorithm is of order O(m^2n^2). It is important to mention that CLP in networks has been formulated for the first time in this work and differs from the well–studied location of cycles in networks. We have constructed an O(mn+n^2logn) algorithm for well–known PLP. The complexity of this algorithm is not worse than the complexity of the currently best algorithms. But the concept of the solution procedure is new – we use MWAP in order to solve PLP building the opposite to the planar case solution sequence MWAP-->PLP and this method has the following advantages: First, the lower bounds LB obtained in the solution procedure are proved to be in any case better than the strongest Halpern’s lower bound. Second, the developed algorithm is so simple that it can be easily applied to complex networks manually. Third, the empirical complexity of the algorithm is equal to O(mn). MWAP was extended to and explored in directed unweighted and weighted networks. The complexity bound O(n^2) of the developed algorithm for finding of the center of a minimum width annulus in the unweighted case does not depend on the number of edges in a network, because the problems can be solved in the order PLP-->MWAP. In the weighted case computational time is of order O(mn^2).
• Annulus and Zentrenprobleme

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