Inference on graphs via semidefinite programming

Abstract

Inference problems on graphs arise naturally when trying to make sense of network data. Oftentimes, these problems are formulated as intractable optimization programs. This renders the need for fast heuristics to find adequate solutions and for the study of their performance. For a certain class of problems, Javanmard et al. (1) successfully use tools from statistical physics to analyze the performance of semidefinite programming relaxations, an important heuristic for intractable problems.