Saturday, October 15, 2016

MIP Modeling: from Sudoku to KenKen via Logarithms

The Mixed Integer Programming formulations for solving the puzzles Sudoku and KenKen have a major trait they share: the basic data structure is a binary decision variable:

\[x_{i,j,k} = \begin{cases}1 & \text{if cell $(i,j)$ has the value $k$}\\
                                    0 & \text{otherwise}\end{cases}\]

Such a binary variable allows us to easily formulate so-called ‘all-different’ constructs (1). E.g. if each row \(i\) having \(n\) cells must have different values \(1..n\) in each cell, we can write:

\[\boxed{\begin{align}&\sum_j x_{i,j,k} = 1 &&\forall i, k&& \text{value $k$ appears once in row $i$}\\
                       &\sum_k x_{i,j,k} = 1&&\forall i, j&&\text{cell $(i,j)$ contains one value}\\
                       &x_{i,j,k} \in \{0,1\}
              \end{align}}\]

If we want to recover the value of a cell \((i,j)\) we can introduce a variable \(v_{i,j}\) with:

\[v_{i,j} = \sum_k k \cdot x_{i,j,k}\]

Detail: this is essentially what is sometimes called a set of accounting rows. We could also do this in post-processing outside the optimization model.

Below I extend this basic structure to a model that solves the Sudoku problem. Next we tackle the KenKen problem. We do this along the lines of (6) but we use a different, more straightforward logarithmic linearization technique for the multiplications and divisions. 

Sudoku

A typical Sudoku puzzle grid, with nine rows and nine columns that intersect at square spaces. Some of the spaces are filled with one number each; others are blank spaces for a solver to fill with a number.The previous puzzle, solved with additional numbers that each fill a blank space.

On the left we have a Sudoku puzzle and on the right we see the solution (2).

In Sudoku we need uniqueness along the rows, the columns and inside the 3 x 3 sub-squares. The constraints that enforce these uniqueness conditions are:

\[\boxed{\begin{align}&\sum_j x_{i,j,k} = 1 &&\forall i, k&& \text{value $k$ appears once in row $i$}\\
&\sum_j x_{i,j,k} = 1 &&\forall j, k&& \text{value $k$ appears once in column $j$}\\
&\sum_{i,j|u_{s,i,j}} x_{i,j,k} = 1 &&\forall s, k&& \text{value $k$ appears once in square $s$}\\
                       &\sum_k x_{i,j,k} = 1&&\forall i, j&&\text{cell $(i,j)$ contains one value}
              \end{align}}\]

Here \(u_{s,i,j}\) contains the elements \(i,j\) for square \(s\). With this we have two issues left: How can we build up \(u_{s,i,j}\) and how can we fix the given values in the Sudoku problem.

Populate areas

We number the squares as follows:

image

Let’s see if we can populate \(u_{s,i,j}\) without entering data manually and without using loops. We can invent a function \(s=f(i,j)\) that takes a row and column number and returns the number of the square as follows:

\[f(i,j) = 3\left\lceil i/3 \right\rceil + \left\lceil j/3 \right\rceil – 3\]

Here the funny brackets indicate the ceiling function. E.g. \(f(4,7)= 3\left\lceil 4/3 \right\rceil + \left\lceil 7/3 \right\rceil –3 = 3\cdot 2+3-3=6\). This means we can populate \(u\) as in:

image

When we take a step back, we can consider rows and columns as just another particularly shaped block. So we add to our set \(u\) the individual rows and columns:

image

To verify we get the correct data structure, you may want to display u:

----     23 SET u  areas with unique values

               c1          c2          c3          c4          c5          c6          c7          c8          c9

r1.r1         YES         YES         YES         YES         YES         YES         YES         YES         YES
r2.r2         YES         YES         YES         YES         YES         YES         YES         YES         YES
r3.r3         YES         YES         YES         YES         YES         YES         YES         YES         YES
r4.r4         YES         YES         YES         YES         YES         YES         YES         YES         YES
r5.r5         YES         YES         YES         YES         YES         YES         YES         YES         YES
r6.r6         YES         YES         YES         YES         YES         YES         YES         YES         YES
r7.r7         YES         YES         YES         YES         YES         YES         YES         YES         YES
r8.r8         YES         YES         YES         YES         YES         YES         YES         YES         YES
r9.r9         YES         YES         YES         YES         YES         YES         YES         YES         YES
c1.r1         YES
c1.r2         YES
c1.r3         YES
c1.r4         YES
c1.r5         YES
c1.r6         YES
c1.r7         YES
c1.r8         YES
c1.r9         YES
c2.r1                     YES
c2.r2                     YES
c2.r3                     YES
c2.r4                     YES
c2.r5                     YES
c2.r6                     YES
c2.r7                     YES
c2.r8                     YES
c2.r9                     YES
c3.r1                                 YES
c3.r2                                 YES
c3.r3                                 YES
c3.r4                                 YES
c3.r5                                 YES
c3.r6                                 YES
c3.r7                                 YES
c3.r8                                 YES
c3.r9                                 YES
c4.r1                                             YES
c4.r2                                             YES
c4.r3                                             YES
c4.r4                                             YES
c4.r5                                             YES
c4.r6                                             YES
c4.r7                                             YES
c4.r8                                             YES
c4.r9                                             YES
c5.r1                                                         YES
c5.r2                                                         YES
c5.r3                                                         YES
c5.r4                                                         YES
c5.r5                                                         YES
c5.r6                                                         YES
c5.r7                                                         YES
c5.r8                                                         YES
c5.r9                                                         YES
c6.r1                                                                     YES
c6.r2                                                                     YES
c6.r3                                                                     YES
c6.r4                                                                     YES
c6.r5                                                                     YES
c6.r6                                                                     YES
c6.r7                                                                     YES
c6.r8                                                                     YES
c6.r9                                                                     YES
c7.r1                                                                                 YES
c7.r2                                                                                 YES
c7.r3                                                                                 YES
c7.r4                                                                                 YES
c7.r5                                                                                 YES
c7.r6                                                                                 YES
c7.r7                                                                                 YES
c7.r8                                                                                 YES
c7.r9                                                                                 YES
c8.r1                                                                                             YES
c8.r2                                                                                             YES
c8.r3                                                                                             YES
c8.r4                                                                                             YES
c8.r5                                                                                             YES
c8.r6                                                                                             YES
c8.r7                                                                                             YES
c8.r8                                                                                             YES
c8.r9                                                                                             YES
c9.r1                                                                                                         YES
c9.r2                                                                                                         YES
c9.r3                                                                                                         YES
c9.r4                                                                                                         YES
c9.r5                                                                                                         YES
c9.r6                                                                                                         YES
c9.r7                                                                                                         YES
c9.r8                                                                                                         YES
c9.r9                                                                                                         YES
s1.r1         YES         YES         YES
s1.r2         YES         YES         YES
s1.r3         YES         YES         YES
s2.r1                                             YES         YES         YES
s2.r2                                             YES         YES         YES
s2.r3                                             YES         YES         YES
s3.r1                                                                                 YES         YES         YES
s3.r2                                                                                 YES         YES         YES
s3.r3                                                                                 YES         YES         YES
s4.r4         YES         YES         YES
s4.r5         YES         YES         YES
s4.r6         YES         YES         YES
s5.r4                                             YES         YES         YES
s5.r5                                             YES         YES         YES
s5.r6                                             YES         YES         YES
s6.r4                                                                                 YES         YES         YES
s6.r5                                                                                 YES         YES         YES
s6.r6                                                                                 YES         YES         YES
s7.r7         YES         YES         YES
s7.r8         YES         YES         YES
s7.r9         YES         YES         YES
s8.r7                                             YES         YES         YES
s8.r8                                             YES         YES         YES
s8.r9                                             YES         YES         YES
s9.r7                                                                                 YES         YES         YES
s9.r8                                                                                 YES         YES         YES
s9.r9                                                                                 YES         YES         YES

This means we can reduce the model equations to just:

\[\boxed{\begin{align}&\sum_{i,j|u_{a,i,j}} x_{i,j,k} = 1 &&\forall a, k&& \text{value $k$ appears once in area $a$}\\
                       &\sum_k x_{i,j,k} = 1&&\forall i, j&&\text{cell $(i,j)$ contains one value}\\
                       &x_{i,j,k} \in \{0,1\}
              \end{align}}\]
Fixing initial values

If we use the variables \(v_{i,j}\) in the model, we can use them to fix the initial values.

image

If we don’t have the \(v\) variables in the model we can fix the underlying \(x\) variables:

image

Complete model

image

The input is most conveniently organized as a table:

table v0(i,j)
  
c1 c2 c3 c4 c5 c6 c7 c8 c9

r1  5  3        7
r2  6        1  9  5
r3     9  8              6
r4  8           6           3
r5  4        8     3        1
r6  7           2           6
r7     6              2  8
r8           4  1  9        5
r9              8        7  9

;

The output looks like:

----     49 PARAMETER v 

         c1       c2       c3       c4       c5       c6       c7       c8       c9

r1        5        3        4        6        7        8        9        1        2
r2        6        7        2        1        9        5        3        4        8
r3        1        9        8        3        4        2        5        6        7
r4        8        5        9        7        6        1        4        2        3
r5        4        2        6        8        5        3        7        9        1
r6        7        1        3        9        2        4        8        5        6
r7        9        6        1        5        3        7        2        8        4
r8        2        8        7        4        1        9        6        3        5
r9        3        4        5        2        8        6        1        7        9

 

KenKen

On the left we have a KenKen puzzle and on the right we see the solution (4).

In the KenKen puzzle we need to have unique values along the rows and the columns. As we have seen in Sudoku example, this is straightforward. We can formulate this as:

\[\boxed{\begin{align}&\sum_j x_{i,j,k} = 1 &&\forall i, k&& \text{value $k$ appears once in row $i$}\\
&\sum_i x_{i,j,k} = 1 &&\forall j, k&& \text{value $k$ appears once in column $j$}\\
&\sum_k x_{i,j,k} = 1&&\forall i, j&&\text{cell $(i,j)$ contains one value}\\

                       &x_{i,j,k} \in \{0,1\}
              \end{align}}\]

As in the Sudoku example, we can combine the first two constraints into a single one:

\[\sum_{i,j|u_{s,i,j}} x_{i,j,k} = 1 \>\>\forall s,k\]
Lemma

In the subsequent discussion we will make use of the following logarithmic transformation:

Given the construct

\[v_{i,j} = \sum_k k \cdot x_{i,j,k}\]

where \(x_{i,j,k}\in \{0,1\}\),  \(k=1,\dots,K\) and \(\displaystyle\sum_k x_{i,j,k}=1\) we have

\[\log(v_{i,j}) = \sum_k \log(k) \cdot x_{i,j,k}\]

In addition to these uniqueness constraints we have a slew of restrictions related to collections of cells - these are called the cages. Each cage has a rule and a given answer. For instance the first cage in the example above with rule 11+ means that the values of the cells in the cage need to add up to 11 (the solution turns out to be 5+6). Let’s discuss them in detail:

  1. n this is a single cell with a given value. This case is not present in the data set in our example above. The rule is easy: just put the number in the cell \((i,j)\): \(v_{i,j} = n\),
    image 
    For this example we would fix this cell to the value 1.
  2. n+ indicates we add up the values in the cage and the result should be n. This is a simple linear constraint: \[\sum_{i,j|C{i,j}} v_{i,j} = n\]
  3. n- is a cage with just two cells where the absolute value difference between the values of the two cells is n. I.e. \[|v_{i_1,j_1}- v_{i_2,j_2}|=n\] In (6) it is proposed to model this in a linear fashion with the help of an additional binary variable as: \[v_{i_1,j_1}- v_{i_2,j_2}=n(2 \delta-1)\] where \(\delta \in \{0,1\}\). 
  4. n* indicates we multiply all values in the cage: \[\prod_{i,j|C{i,j}} v_{i,j} = n\] In (6) a number of possible linearizations are mentioned, some of them rather complicated with such things as prime number factorizations. Let me suggest a much simpler approach using logarithms. We have: \[\begin{align}&\prod_{i,j|C{i,j}} v_{i,j} = n\\ \Longrightarrow\>\> & \sum_{i,j|C_{i,j}} \log(v_{i,j}) = \log(n)\\ \Longrightarrow\>\> & \sum_{i,j|C_{i,j}} \sum_k \log(k) x_{i,j,k} = \log(n)\end{align}\] The last constraint is linear in the decision variables \(x_{i,j,k}\)!. We have used here that \(\log(v_{i,j})=\sum_k \log(k) x_{i,j,k}\). This simpler linearization is not mentioned in (6).
    Note that we can always evaluate \(\log(k)\) and \(\log(n)\) as \(k\ge 1\) and \(n \ge 1\).
  5. this operation has two cells, and indicates division and can be described more formally: \[\frac{v_{i_1,j_1}}{v_{i_2,j_2}}=n \>\text{or}\>\frac{v_{i_2,j_2}}{v_{i_1,j_1}}=n\] In (6) the following linearization is proposed:\[\begin{align} &v_{i_1,j_1}-n\cdot v_{i_2,j_2} \ge 0-M\cdot \delta\\&v_{i_1,j_1}-n\cdot v_{i_2,j_2} \le 0+M\cdot \delta\\&v_{i_2,j_2}-n\cdot v_{i_1,j_1} \ge 0-M\cdot (1-\delta)\\&v_{i_2,j_2}-n\cdot v_{i_1,j_1} \le 0+M\cdot (1-\delta)\\&\delta\in\{0,1\}\end{align}\] Again I would suggest a simpler linearization: \[\begin{align}&\frac{v_{i_1,j_1}}{v_{i_2,j_2}}=n \>\text{or}\>\frac{v_{i_2,j_2}}{v_{i_1,j_1}}=n\\ \Longrightarrow\>\>&\log(v_{i_1,j_1})-\log(v_{i_2,j_2})=\log(n) \> \text{or} \>\log(v_{i_2,j_2})-\log(v_{i_1,j_1})=\log(n)\\ \Longrightarrow\>\>&|\log(v_{i_1,j_1})-\log(v_{i_2,j_2})|=\log(n)\\  \Longrightarrow\>\>&\log(v_{i_1,j_1})-\log(v_{i_2,j_2})=\log(n)(2\delta-1)\\  \Longrightarrow\>\>&\sum_k \log(k) x_{i_1,j_1,k}-\sum_k \log(k) x_{i_2,j_2,k}=\log(n)(2\delta-1)\end{align}\]
    I believe we can assume \(n\ge 1\) even for subtraction, hence we can safely apply the logarithm.
Complete Model

We have now all the pieces to assemble the complete model.

image

The sets are almost identical to the Sudoku model. We have introduced new sets \(op\), \(p\) and \(c\). The unique values will be handled through a set \(u\) as before, only now this set is simpler: only rows and columns (no squares).

We have a somewhat complicated parameter that holds the problem data:

image

The data can be entered as follows:

parameter operation(c,op,i,j) /
 
cage1 .plus.(r1,r2).c1              11
 
cage2 .div .r1.(c2,c3)               2
 
cage3 .min .r2.(c2,c3)               3
 
cage4 .mul .(r1,r2).c4              20
 
cage5 .mul .(r1.c5, (r1,r2,r3).c6)   6
 
cage6 .div .(r2,r3).c5               3
 
cage7 .mul .(r3,r4).(c1,c2)        240
 
cage8 .mul .r3.(c3,c4)               6
 
cage9 .mul .(r4,r5).c3               6
 
cage10.plus.((r4,r5).c4, r5.c5)      7
 
cage11.mul .r4.(c5,c6)              30
 
cage12.mul .r5.(c1,c2)               6
 
cage13.plus.(r5,r6).c6               9
 
cage14.plus.r6.(c1*c3)               8
 
cage15.div .r6.(c4,c5)               2
/
;

We need to extract data from this data structure to make things easier:

image

The sets \(cells\), \(cellp\) and the parameter \(n\) look like:

----     53 SET cells  cells in cage

                   c1          c2          c3          c4          c5          c6

cage1 .r1         YES
cage1 .r2         YES
cage2 .r1                     YES         YES
cage3 .r2                     YES         YES
cage4 .r1                                             YES
cage4 .r2                                             YES
cage5 .r1                                                         YES         YES
cage5 .r2                                                                     YES
cage5 .r3                                                                     YES
cage6 .r2                                                         YES
cage6 .r3                                                         YES
cage7 .r3         YES         YES
cage7 .r4         YES         YES
cage8 .r3                                 YES         YES
cage9 .r4                                 YES
cage9 .r5                                 YES
cage10.r4                                             YES
cage10.r5                                             YES         YES
cage11.r4                                                         YES         YES
cage12.r5         YES         YES
cage13.r5                                                                     YES
cage13.r6                                                                     YES
cage14.r6         YES         YES         YES
cage15.r6                                             YES         YES


----     53 SET cellp  ordered cell numbers

cage1 .p1.r1.c1
cage1 .p2.r2.c1
cage2 .p1.r1.c2
cage2 .p2.r1.c3
cage3 .p1.r2.c2
cage3 .p2.r2.c3
cage4 .p1.r1.c4
cage4 .p2.r2.c4
cage5 .p1.r1.c5
cage5 .p2.r1.c6
cage5 .p3.r2.c6
cage5 .p4.r3.c6
cage6 .p1.r2.c5
cage6 .p2.r3.c5
cage7 .p1.r3.c1
cage7 .p2.r3.c2
cage7 .p3.r4.c1
cage7 .p4.r4.c2
cage8 .p1.r3.c3
cage8 .p2.r3.c4
cage9 .p1.r4.c3
cage9 .p2.r5.c3
cage10.p1.r4.c4
cage10.p2.r5.c4
cage10.p3.r5.c5
cage11.p1.r4.c5
cage11.p2.r4.c6
cage12.p1.r5.c1
cage12.p2.r5.c2
cage13.p1.r5.c6
cage13.p2.r6.c6
cage14.p1.r6.c1
cage14.p2.r6.c2
cage14.p3.r6.c3
cage15.p1.r6.c4
cage15.p2.r6.c5


----     53 PARAMETER n  value for each cage

cage1   11.000,    cage2    2.000,    cage3    3.000,    cage4   20.000,    cage5    6.000,    cage6    3.000
cage7  240.000,    cage8    6.000,    cage9    6.000,    cage10   7.000,    cage11  30.000,    cage12   6.000
cage13   9.000,    cage14   8.000,    cage15   2.000

The variables in the model are as follows:

image

The loop to fix some cells is not used in this data set as we don’t have fixed values in the data. The rest of the model looks like:

image

The summations in the subtraction and divisions are a little bit misleading. These just pick the value of the first (p1) and second (p2) cell in the cage c. In the division equation we pick up the logarithm of the value. Here are the actually generated MIP rows:

---- subtraction  =E=  cages with subtraction

subtraction(cage3)..  v(r2,c2) - v(r2,c3) + 6*delta(cage3) =E= 3 ; (LHS = 0, INFES = 3 ****)
    

---- division  =E=  cages with division

division(cage2)..  logv(r1,c2) - logv(r1,c3) + 1.38629436111989*delta(cage2) =E= 0.693147180559945 ;
    
      (LHS = 0, INFES = 0.693147180559945 ****)
    
division(cage6)..  logv(r2,c5) - logv(r3,c5) + 2.19722457733622*delta(cage6) =E= 1.09861228866811 ;
    
      (LHS = 0, INFES = 1.09861228866811 ****)
    
division(cage15)..  logv(r6,c4) - logv(r6,c5) + 1.38629436111989*delta(cage15) =E= 0.693147180559945 ;
    
      (LHS = 0, INFES = 0.693147180559945 ****)

In equations \(calclogv\) we could restrict the calculation of \(logv\) only for those cells \((i,j)\) where we have a multiplication or division. Similarly, we can calculate \(v_{i,j}\) only for cells where we do addition or subtraction. Now we calculate too many \(logv\)’s and \(v\)'s. For this small case this is not an issue. Furthermore a good LP/MIP presolver will probably detect a variable that is not used anywhere else, and will remove the variable and the accompanying equation. 

The final result looks like:

----    101 VARIABLE v.L  value

            c1          c2          c3          c4          c5          c6

r1       5.000       6.000       3.000       4.000       1.000       2.000
r2       6.000       1.000       4.000       5.000       2.000       3.000
r3       4.000       5.000       2.000       3.000       6.000       1.000
r4       3.000       4.000       1.000       2.000       5.000       6.000
r5       2.000       3.000       6.000       1.000       4.000       5.000
r6       1.000       2.000       5.000       6.000       3.000       4.000

Conclusion

To solve the KenKen puzzle as a Mixed Integer Program, we can start with a data structure similar as used in the Sodoku formulation: \(x_{i,j,k}\in\{0,1\}\). Using different linearizations from the ones shown in (6) we can solve then KenKen problem easily with a MIP solver.

References

  1. All-different and Mixed Integer Programming, http://yetanothermathprogrammingconsultant.blogspot.com/2016/05/all-different-and-mixed-integer.html
  2. Sudoku, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudoku
  3. Sudoku Puzzle, http://www.nytimes.com/crosswords/game/sudoku/hard
  4. KenKen, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KenKen
  5. KenKen Puzzle, http://www.nytimes.com/ref/crosswords/kenken.html
  6. Vardges Melkonian, “An Integer Programming Model for the KenKen Problem”, American Journal of Operations Research, 2016, 6, 213-225. [link] Contains a complete AMPL model.
  7. Andrew C. Bartlett, Timothy P. Chartier, Amy N. Langville, Timothy D. Rankin, “An Integer Programming Model for the Sudoku Problem”, The Journal of Online Mathematics and Its Applications, Vol.8, 2008, [link]

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