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Scheduling Conference Sessions Efficiently

1. The variables are the seven conference sessions (PC, AC, etc.) and the domains are the time slots (T1, T2, etc.). 2. The constraint graph has the sessions as nodes and edges between sessions that have overlapping interests. 3. The smallest number of time slots needed is four, as shown by a four-coloring of the constraint graph where sessions of the same color can be scheduled at the same time.

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Sihem Belabbes - IUT Montreuil
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15 views3 pages

Scheduling Conference Sessions Efficiently

1. The variables are the seven conference sessions (PC, AC, etc.) and the domains are the time slots (T1, T2, etc.). 2. The constraint graph has the sessions as nodes and edges between sessions that have overlapping interests. 3. The smallest number of time slots needed is four, as shown by a four-coloring of the constraint graph where sessions of the same color can be scheduled at the same time.

Uploaded by

Sihem Belabbes - IUT Montreuil
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

A scheduling problem

Suppose you are organising a mathematics conference. You have several people setting
up special sessions in their area of expertise. You are trying to find a way to schedule the
sessions so that if there are overlapping interests, you can make sure the sessions happen
at different times. To that end, you have asked each session organiser to tell you what
broad fields of mathematics their topic concerns. You have the following list:

- Probabilistic Combinatorics (PC): of interest to Analysts, Combinatorialists, and


Probabilists.

- Algebraic Combinatorics (AC): of interest to Algebraists and Combinatorialists.

- Enumerative Combinatorics (EC): of interest to Combinatorialists and Representa-


tion Theorists.

- Ramsey Theory (RT): of interest to Combinatorialists and Probabilists.

- Markov Chains (MC): of interest to Probabilists.

- Brownian Motion (BM): of interest to Probabilists and Analysts.

- Operator Theory (OT): of interest to Analysts.

You would like to schedule the shortest conference possible, using as few time slots as
possible so you do not have to pay for the rooms for too long. Now answer these questions.

1. Define the variables and their domains for this scheduling problem.

2. Provide the constraint graph for this problem.

3. Determine the smallest number of time slots you could use to accommodate every
session, where no two topics run at the same time if they have overlapping interests.

Solution
1. Variables and domains
Choosing variables and domains in CSP problems can be somewhat tricky. You have to
consider the goal you are working towards. However, the best place to start is normally
to regard the limited resource as the starting point for the domains (and thus the thing
needing the resource as the variables). Another way of thinking about this is to say the
items we are contending for would be the domains, the items that would like to make use
of them (contend for them) would be the variables.
In the given problem, time slots are limited: the sessions are contending for their use –
so we regard the time slots as the domain. Therefore the variables are the seven sessions.

- Let X be the set of variables. X = {PC, AC, EC, RT, MC, BM, OT}.

- Let DX be the domain for the variables. DX = {T1 , T2 , . . . , Tn }.


Here n is the total number of available times slots and each Ti (for i = 1, 2, . . . , n)
represents a time slot. All the variables have the same domain.

1
2. Constraint graph
The nodes of the graph represent the variables, thus the conference sessions. The con-
straints of the graph represent the conflicts of interest about the different topics. So we
draw an edge between two sessions if they have a conflicting area of interest, as shown in
the graph in Figure 1.

Figure 1: The constraint graph for the scheduling problem

3. Solution to the problem


We would like to determine the smallest number of time slots to accommodate the different
sessions without conflicts of interest. This can be phrased as follows: divide the nodes
of the graph into sets so that no nodes with an edge between them belong to the same
set. This amounts to finding an assignment of colours to the nodes of the graph so that
if there is an edge between nodes u and v, then the colours assigned to nodes u and v are
different.
In other words, if we can colour the constraint graph with the fewest number of colours
possible, we can schedule the conference as follows: schedule all sessions that has the same
colour at the same time. Since we know that two nodes cannot be linked by an edge if
they have the same colour, this means that we cannot have any scheduling conflicts.
In Figure 2, we have a colouring of the constraint graph that satisfies the requirement
we set. That is, no two nodes that are linked by an edge have the same colour. In this
colouring, we have used four colours, which means we can hold the conference sessions in
four time slots so that there are no conflicts. Specifically we have:

• PC = T1 , (blue)

• RT = OT = T2 , (yellow)

• MC = AC = T3 , (red)

• EC = BM = T4 , (green).

Note that the order of assigning time slots to the sessions does not really matter as long
as sessions with different colours are held at different times.

2
Figure 2: A colouring of the constraint graph for the scheduling problem

Common questions

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Conflicts of interest in organizing conference sessions can be handled by creating a constraint graph where nodes represent sessions and edges represent overlapping interests. Then, a graph coloring approach is used to assign sessions to time slots such that no two sessions with a conflict (i.e., sharing an edge) are scheduled at the same time .

The main challenges include correctly identifying what constitutes the variables and what should be considered the domain. In this scheduling context, the sessions are the variables competing for limited resources, i.e., time slots, which form the domain. It requires careful consideration of the goals of the scheduling and the necessity to handle overlapping interests .

Overlapping interests determine which sessions cannot occur simultaneously because they share common audiences who may wish to attend both sessions. These overlaps are modeled as edges between nodes in the constraint graph, dictating the scheduling as sessions linked by edges must be placed in separate time slots .

Combinatorial topics relate through shared academic interest groups, like Analysts, Combinatorialists, and Probabilists. These relationships influence scheduling by necessitating that topics with common interest groups (and hence potential attendee overlap) be scheduled at different times, as represented in the constraint graph with edges indicating overlapping interests .

In this scheduling problem, the variables are the seven sessions to be scheduled: Probabilistic Combinatorics (PC), Algebraic Combinatorics (AC), Enumerative Combinatorics (EC), Ramsey Theory (RT), Markov Chains (MC), Brownian Motion (BM), and Operator Theory (OT). The domain for these variables is the set of time slots available, represented by {T1, T2, ..., Tn}, where each Ti denotes a specific time slot. The aim is to assign each session a time slot such that no two sessions with overlapping interests occur simultaneously .

The minimum number of time slots required is four. This is determined by coloring the constraint graph with the fewest possible number of colors. Since the graph was successfully colored using four colors without any two adjacent nodes sharing the same color, it indicates that no sessions with overlapping interests share the same time slot .

Graph coloring is used to solve the scheduling problem by assigning colors to nodes (sessions) such that no two adjacent nodes share the same color. This ensures that sessions with overlapping interests (represented by edges in the graph) are scheduled at different times. In this problem, four colors are sufficient, leading to the following schedule: PC is scheduled at T1 (blue), RT and OT at T2 (yellow), MC and AC at T3 (red), and EC and BM at T4 (green).

Assigning colors in a graph is analogous to scheduling sessions to ensure non-overlapping interests. Each color represents a distinct time slot, and no two connected nodes (sessions with overlapping interests) can be assigned the same color. Thus, graph coloring ensures that overlapping sessions are scheduled at different times .

The constraint graph is a tool used to represent conflicts that arise due to overlapping interests between sessions. Each node in the graph corresponds to a session, and an edge between any two nodes indicates that the corresponding sessions have overlapping mathematical interests. This structure helps in visualizing and enforcing constraints where sessions with a shared interest cannot happen at the same time .

Time slots are the domain because they represent the limited resource that the sessions are competing to use. Each session, as a variable, must be assigned one of the available time slots while satisfying the constraint of not overlapping with sessions of shared interest .

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