Parametric and Postoptimality Analysis in Integer Linear Programming

Abstract : Postoptimality analysis and parametric optimization techniques are fully developed aspects of linear programming. In the context of integer linear programming, however, these aspects have barely begun to be developed. The purpose of this paper is to take stock of what is known about this topic and to lay the foundation for future progress. Our conceptual starting point is the notion that, in practical applications, typically one is faced not with a single numerical integer linear program to solve but rather with an entire family of numerical problems of interest. The members of the family may all have the same structure but differ as to the values of one or more coefficients, or they may even have different (but related) structures. The scope of this paper is limited to be first mentioned case.