Alfred P. Sloan School of Management Tree-search Algorithms for Quadratic Assignment Problems* Tree-search Algorithms for Quadratic Assignment Problems* Tree-search Algorithms for Quadratic Assignment Problems Table of Contents

Problems having the mathematical structure of a quadratic assignment problem are found in a diversity of contexts: by the economist in assigning a number of plants or Indivisible operations to a number of different geographical locations; by the architect or industrial engineer in laying out activities, offices or departments in a building; by the human engineer in arranging the indicators and controls in an operators control room; by the electronics engineer In laying out components on a backboard; by the computer systems engineer in arranging information in drxan and disc storage; by the production scheduler in sequencing work through a production facility, and so on. In this paper we discuss several types of algorithms for solving such problems, presenting a unifying framework for some of the existing algorithms, and describing some new algorithms. All of the algorithms discussed proceed first to a feasible solution and then to better and better feasible solutions, until ultimately one Is discovered which Is shown to be optimal. In a subsequent paper we shall discuss our computational experience with a number of these algorithms.