Finding representations for an unconstrained bi-objective combinatorial optimization problem

Typically, multi-objective optimization problems give rise to a large number of optimal solutions. However, this information can be overwhelming to a decision maker. This article introduces a technique to find a representative subset of optimal solutions, of a given bounded cardinality for an unconstrained bi-objective combinatorial optimization problem in terms of ϵ -indicator. This technique extends the Nemhauser–Ullman algorithm for the knapsack problem and allows to find a representative subset in a single run. We present a discussion on the representation quality achieved by this technique, both from a theoretical and numerical perspective, with respect to an optimal representation.