Success guarantee of dual search in integer programming:: p-th power Lagrangian method

Although the Lagrangian method is a powerful dual search approach in integer programming, it often fails to identify an optimal solution of the primal problem. The p-th power Lagrangian method developed in this paper offers a success guarantee for the dual search in generating an optimal solution of the primal integer programming problem in an equivalent setting via two key transformations. One other prominent feature of the p-th power Lagrangian method is that the dual search only involves a one-dimensional search within [0,1]. Some potential applications of the method as well as the issue of its implementation are discussed.