Database Reference
In-Depth Information
Flow problems
Another reallyinterestingieldofgraphtheoryapplicationsislowproblems,also
known as
maximum low problems
.Inessence,thisieldispartofalargerieldof
optimization problems, which is trying to establish the best possible path across a
lownetwork.Flownetworksareatypeofgraphinwhichthenodes/verticesof
thegraphareconnectedbyrelationships/edgesthatspecifythecapacityofthat
particularrelationship.Examplescanbefoundinieldssuchastelecomnetworks,
gas networks, airline networks, package delivery networks, and many others,
where graph-based models are then used in combination with complex algorithms.
Thefollowingdiagramisanexampleofsuchanetwork,asyoucaninditon
An example of a flow network
These algorithms are then usedtoidentifythecalculatedoptimalpath,ind
bottlenecks, plan maintenance activities, conduct long-term capacity planning,
and many other operations.
