Branch and bound algorithm for the traveling salesman problem is not a direct type algorithm

Abstract

In this paper, we consider the notion of a direct type algorithm introduced by V.A. Bondarenko in 1983. A direct type algorithm is a linear decision tree with some special properties. Until recently, it was thought that the class of direct type algorithms is wide and includes many classical combinatorial algorithms, including the branch and bound algorithm for the traveling salesman problem, proposed by J.D.C. Little, K.G. Murty, D.W. Sweeney, C. Karel in 1963. We show that this algorithm is not a direct type algorithm.