The quadratic assignment problem is easy for Robinsonian matrices with Toeplitz structure

Abstract

We present a new polynomially solvable case of the Quadratic Assignment Problem in Koopmans-Beckman form $QAP(A,B)$, by showing that the identity permutation is optimal when $A$ and $B$ are respectively a Robinson similarity and dissimilarity matrix and one of $A$ or $B$ is a Toeplitz matrix. A Robinson (dis)similarity matrix is a symmetric matrix whose entries (increase) decrease monotonically along rows and columns when moving away from the diagonal, and such matrices arise in the classical seriation problem.