p-median location interdiction on trees

Abstract

In p-median location interdiction the aim is to find a subset of edges in a graph, such that the objective value of the p-median problem in the same graph without the selected edges is as large as possible. We prove that this problem is NP-hard even on acyclic graphs. Restricting the problem to trees with unit lengths on the edges, unit interdiction costs, and a single edge interdiction, we provide an algorithm which solves the problem in polynomial time. Furthermore, we investigate path graphs with unit and arbitrary lengths. For the former case, we present an algorithm, where multiple edges can get interdicted. Furthermore, for the latter case, we present a method to compute an optimal solution for one interdiction step which can also be extended to multiple interdicted edges.