A Computational Study of Conflict Graphs and Aggressive Cut Separation in Integer Programming

This work explores the fast creation of densely populated conflict graphs at the root node of the search tree for integer programs. We show that not only the Generalized Upper Bound (GUB) constraints are useful for the fast detection of cliques: these can also be quickly detected in less structured constraints in O(nlog⁡n). Routines for the aggressive separation and lifting of cliques and odd-holes are proposed. Improved bounds and a faster convergence to strong bounds were observed when comparing to the default separation routines found in the current version of the COmputation INfrastructure for Operations Research (COIN-OR) Branch and Cut solver.