Bidirectional Search That Is Guaranteed to Meet in the Middle
AAAI, pp. 3411-3417, 2016.
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Abstract:
We present MM, the first bidirectional heuristic search algorithm whose forward and backward searches are guaranteed to \"meet in the middle\", i.e. never expand a node beyond the solution midpoint. We also present a novel framework for comparing MM, A*, and brute-force search, and identify conditions favoring each algorithm. Finally, we ...More
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Introduction
- A central assumption made by Barker and Korf is that the forward and backward searches comprising the bidirectional search never expand a node whose g-value exceeds C∗/2.
- The authors say that a bidirectional search “meets in the middle” if it has this property.
- This assumption raises a difficulty in applying their theory, because no known Bi-HS algorithm is guaranteed to meet in the middle under all circumstances.
- Papers on “front-to-front”1 Bi-HS typically claim their searches meet
Highlights
- Introduction and overview
Bidirectional search algorithms interleave two separate searches, a normal search forward from the start state, and a search backward from the goal.
Barker and Korf (2015)’s comparison of unidirectional heuristic search (Uni-HS, e.g. A*), bidirectional heuristic search (Bi-HS), and bidirectional brute-force search (Bi-BS) has two main conclusions: BK1: Uni-HS will expand fewer nodes than bidirectional heuristic search if more than half of the nodes expanded by Uni-HS have g ≤ C∗/2, where C∗ is the optimal solution cost.
BK2: If fewer than half of the nodes expanded by Uni-HS using heuristic h have g ≤ C∗/2, adding h to bidirectional brute-force search will not decrease the number of nodes it expands.
A central assumption made by Barker and Korf is that the forward and backward searches comprising the bidirectional search never expand a node whose g-value exceeds C∗/2 - We present a new framework for comparing MM0, unidirectional brute-force search (Uni-BS), MM, and A* that allows a precise characterization of the regions of the state space that will be expanded by one method but not another
- In this paper we introduced MM, the first bidirectional heuristic search algorithm guaranteed to meet in the middle
- (2) A thorough experimental comparison should be done on more domains and with more bidirectional search algorithms
Methods
- The purpose of the experiments is to verify the correctness the general rules (GR1–GR3).
- Since some rules refer to a heuristic’s relative accuracy, the authors used at least two heuristics of different accuracy in each domain.
- The two domains used in the study are the 10-Pancake Puzzle and Rubik’s Cube.
- In both domains all problems are bi-friendly.
- Because GR1–GR3 make predictions about the number of nodes expanded, that is the only quantity the authors measure in the experiments
Conclusion
- In this paper the authors introduced MM, the first Bi-HS algorithm guaranteed to meet in the middle.
- The authors introduced a framework that divides the state-space into disjoint regions and allows a careful analysis of the behavior of the different algorithms in each of the regions.
- The authors studied the various types of algorithms and provided some general rules that were confirmed by the experiments.
- This paper initiated this direction.
- Future work will continue as follows: (1) A deeper analysis on current and new MM variants may further deepen the knowledge in this issue. (2) A thorough experimental comparison should be done on more domains and with more bidirectional search algorithms. (3) Heuristics that are designed for MM, i.e., that only return values larger than C∗/2 are needed
Summary
Introduction:
A central assumption made by Barker and Korf is that the forward and backward searches comprising the bidirectional search never expand a node whose g-value exceeds C∗/2.- The authors say that a bidirectional search “meets in the middle” if it has this property.
- This assumption raises a difficulty in applying their theory, because no known Bi-HS algorithm is guaranteed to meet in the middle under all circumstances.
- Papers on “front-to-front”1 Bi-HS typically claim their searches meet
Methods:
The purpose of the experiments is to verify the correctness the general rules (GR1–GR3).- Since some rules refer to a heuristic’s relative accuracy, the authors used at least two heuristics of different accuracy in each domain.
- The two domains used in the study are the 10-Pancake Puzzle and Rubik’s Cube.
- In both domains all problems are bi-friendly.
- Because GR1–GR3 make predictions about the number of nodes expanded, that is the only quantity the authors measure in the experiments
Conclusion:
In this paper the authors introduced MM, the first Bi-HS algorithm guaranteed to meet in the middle.- The authors introduced a framework that divides the state-space into disjoint regions and allows a careful analysis of the behavior of the different algorithms in each of the regions.
- The authors studied the various types of algorithms and provided some general rules that were confirmed by the experiments.
- This paper initiated this direction.
- Future work will continue as follows: (1) A deeper analysis on current and new MM variants may further deepen the knowledge in this issue. (2) A thorough experimental comparison should be done on more domains and with more bidirectional search algorithms. (3) Heuristics that are designed for MM, i.e., that only return values larger than C∗/2 are needed
Tables
- Table1: Table 1
- Table2: Rubik’s Cube results. M=million, B=billion
Funding
- Financial support for this research was in part provided by Canada’s Natural Science and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) and by Israel Science Foundation (ISF) grant #417/13
- This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No 1551406
Reference
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