Previous article Next article Full AccessSIGESThttps://doi.org/10.1137/SIREAD000041000004000775000001PDFBibTexSections ToolsAdd to favoritesExport CitationTrack CitationsEmail SectionsAboutAbstractThis issue's SIGEST paper, "The ring loading problem,' by Alexander Schrijver, Paul Seymour, and Peter Winkler, appeared originally in volume 11 of SIAM Journal on Discrete Mathematics, February 1998. Beginning with an application of great and growing practical importance to modern communication networks, the authors show that the associated mathematical formulation, a highly special integer multicommodity flow problem, is NP-complete. They then describe their (ultimately successful) search for a fast algorithm that provably produces a solution within 5% of the optimum load. The paper is a lively, appealing mix of algorithmic theoretical computer science, operations research, and graph theory and has already inspired several other papers in the area. The exposition is outstanding, allowing even novices to understand both theoretical and practical aspects of the problem. The continuing, fruitful interactions between mathematics and numerical experiments are exceptionally interesting. For the paper's appearance in SIGEST, the authors have added a new approximation algorithm and comments about a further application area. We are grateful to them for their contribution to SIAM Review. Previous article Next article FiguresRelatedReferencesCited ByDetails Volume 41, Issue 4| 1999SIAM Review635-851 History Published online:02 August 2006 InformationCopyright © 1999 Society for Industrial and Applied MathematicsPDF Download Article & Publication DataArticle DOI:10.1137/SIREAD000041000004000775000001Article page range:pp. 775-775ISSN (print):0036-1445ISSN (online):1095-7200Publisher:Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics