What's up in
Traveling salesperson problem
Latest Articles
Researchers Approach New Speed Limit for Seminal Problem
Integer linear programming can help find the answer to a variety of real-world problems. Now researchers have found a much faster way to do it.
What Makes Quantum Computing So Hard to Explain?
To understand what quantum computers can do — and what they can’t — avoid falling for overly simple explanations.
Computer Scientists Break Traveling Salesperson Record
After 44 years, there’s finally a better way to find approximate solutions to the notoriously difficult traveling salesperson problem.
Mystery Math Whiz and Novelist Advance Permutation Problem
A new proof from the Australian science fiction writer Greg Egan and a 2011 proof anonymously posted online are now being hailed as significant advances on a puzzle mathematicians have been studying for at least 25 years.
One-Way Salesman Finds Fast Path Home
The real-world version of the famous “traveling salesman problem” finally gets a good-enough solution.
‘Outsiders’ Crack 50-Year-Old Math Problem
Three computer scientists have solved a problem central to a dozen far-flung mathematical fields.
Computer Scientists Take Road Less Traveled
An infinitesimal advance in the traveling salesman problem breathes new life into the search for improved approximate solutions.