The ant colony optimization algorithm (ACO) is a fast heuristic-based method for finding favorable solutions to the traveling salesman problem (TSP). When the data set reaches larger values however, the ACO runtime increases dramatically. As a result, clustering nodes into groups is an effective way to reduce the size of the problem while leveraging the advantages of the ACO algorithm. The method for recombining groups of nodes is explored by treating the graph as a hierarchy of clusters, and modifying the original ACO heuristic to operate on a hypergraph. This method of using hierarchical clustering is significantly faster than the original ACO algorithm, even when normal clustering techniques are applied, while producing improved tour lengths.
","abstract_html":"<p>The ant colony optimization algorithm (ACO) is a fast heuristic-based method for finding favorable solutions to the traveling salesman problem (TSP). When the data set reaches larger values however, the ACO runtime increases dramatically. As a result, clustering nodes into groups is an effective way to reduce the size of the problem while leveraging the advantages of the ACO algorithm. The method for recombining groups of nodes is explored by treating the graph as a hierarchy of clusters, and modifying the original ACO heuristic to operate on a hypergraph. This method of using hierarchical clustering is significantly faster than the original ACO algorithm, even when normal clustering techniques are applied, while producing improved tour lengths.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Fischer, Bryan J."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science (MS) in Computer Science","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Computer Science and Electrical Engineering","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2023,"date_issued":"2023-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2023-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:13:16Z","subjects":["Numerical Analysis and Computation","Theory and Algorithms"],"languages":[],"rights":["Access is available to all users"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://dc.ewu.edu/theses/845","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Fischer, Bryan J."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Computer Science and Electrical Engineering"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science (MS) in Computer Science"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Numerical Analysis and Computation","Theory and Algorithms"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Access is available to all users"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://dc.ewu.edu/theses/845"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The ant colony optimization algorithm (ACO) is a fast heuristic-based method for finding favorable solutions to the traveling salesman problem (TSP). When the data set reaches larger values however, the ACO runtime increases dramatically. As a result, clustering nodes into groups is an effective way to reduce the size of the problem while leveraging the advantages of the ACO algorithm. The method for recombining groups of nodes is explored by treating the graph as a hierarchy of clusters, and modifying the original ACO heuristic to operate on a hypergraph. This method of using hierarchical clustering is significantly faster than the original ACO algorithm, even when normal clustering techniques are applied, while producing improved tour lengths.
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"],"dc:identifier":["https://dc.ewu.edu/theses/845"],"dc:rights":["Access is available to all users"],"dc:subject":["Numerical Analysis and Computation","Theory and Algorithms"],"dc:title":["A hierarchical approach to improve the ant colony optimization algorithm"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Computer Science and Electrical Engineering"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science (MS) in Computer Science"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:13:16Z"}